Vet Vent!

[joebryant]

Quote:
Sorry to hear about your troubles. I guess I am extremely lucky and have an awesome vet. Not only is he extremely reasonable, but he is also very caring and understanding. Not all vets are crooks. Some "human" doctors are the same. You just have to do your research and keep looking.

Thanks, but like I said above, I have a vet now that I trust 100%. He just doesn't treat chickens. There's no way that I'll take-a-pig-in-a-poke vet; too many are like lawyers, mercenary social parasites out for the buck, hang the animal.

 

[cariboujaguar]

don't even get me started. I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE my vets, and all vets I've met in my lifetime! i live in the worlds WORST place for vets! *sigh*

 

[KellyHM]

b.hromada :

Personally, I feel that vet's prices are right up there with human doctors!

You have GOT to be joking! When's the last time you went in for an office visit for $40?! Maybe if you have insurance and that's your copay, but look on your bill and see how much they really charge!

I realize that times are hard for everyone right now, but I know vets who are going out of business b/c they've tried to be "nice" for too long and now they can't pay their bills.

As a vet who's entering the work force during this economic crisis (I graduated last Saturday) I am forced to take a job that is not at all what I was looking for. I have always wanted to do large animal medicine, but am taking a job at a small animal emergency clinic just so I can pay my bills! The large animal people are making next to nothing right now and the small animal people are just trying to stay afloat.

Sorry that I have spent 7 years and have amassed $144,000 in student loans just going to vet school (not counting undergrad), but I have to pay those back somehow! My $1000/month payment on those has to come from something! I do this because I LOVE it. If I had planned on being rich I would have gone into human medicine...talk about a rip off!

Anyways, I'm sorry that you don't like your vet, but maybe you should just go somewhere else. We're just trying to make a living like everyone else.​

 

[vfem]

Feel free to vent... I would lose my mind over that too! Or worse!!! I would be lined up with a lawsuit as well!!!!!

I guess my pet peeve is my dog is completely healthy and as of this MONTH she is not 1 year old. I've had here since September and I've shelled out a lot of money for her with no signs of illness what so ever. She's skittish as she was an abused and neglected puppy... but she has REALLY come a long way and is now very playful and outgoing compared to last September when we got her.


Mainly, she's an indoor dog.... she'll come outside in the garden with us here and there... but mainly she's inside on her pillow and playing with my daughter all day!

She just took her last heartworm pill and I will have to restock for 6 more month before June 12th.

Luckily, her new vet has 10% off heartworm tests done in June! Plus they offer some free work on 'found' or 'stray' rescue animals you want to rehome. I really think this place is looking out for the animal more so then the vet.

Either way, vets can be expensive... but I've found the most expensive one I've ever used serviced 'exotic' animals and I didn't mind because they did a lot for my ferrets when I had them years ago!

I am SURE there are excellent reasonable vets out there... and I am searching for one! Just like I am using a doctor I love and trust for my daughter... if I didn't I would switch her doctor immediately!

Family is family!

 

[Mugen]

Folks,

After some researching, you guys are correct. Safe-Guard will not work against heart worm. I just run out to a feed supply store and got myself a bottle of ivermectin. It's expensive, but still cheaper than going to see the vet or buying commercial wormer. I'd used ivermectin and pyrantel on my Komondors. It worked great. I'm going to alternate between Safe-Guard and ivermectin.

 

[KellyHM]

Quote:
A word of caution...be careful about dosing dogs with horse ivermectin (b/c of the high concentration) & if your dogs haven't been on HW preventative I would get them tested first. If they're positive and you give them ivermectin it can kill them...either through a clot of worms in their vessels or by anaphylactic reaction to the dying worms.

 

[KotaDVM]

Quote:
You have GOT to be joking! When's the last time you went in for an office visit for $40?! Maybe if you have insurance and that's your copay, but look on your bill and see how much they really charge!

I realize that times are hard for everyone right now, but I know vets who are going out of business b/c they've tried to be "nice" for too long and now they can't pay their bills.

As a vet who's entering the work force during this economic crisis (I graduated last Saturday) I am forced to take a job that is not at all what I was looking for. I have always wanted to do large animal medicine, but am taking a job at a small animal emergency clinic just so I can pay my bills! The large animal people are making next to nothing right now and the small animal people are just trying to stay afloat.

Sorry that I have spent 7 years and have amassed $144,000 in student loans just going to vet school (not counting undergrad), but I have to pay those back somehow! My $1000/month payment on those has to come from something! I do this because I LOVE it. If I had planned on being rich I would have gone into human medicine...talk about a rip off!

Anyways, I'm sorry that you don't like your vet, but maybe you should just go somewhere else. We're just trying to make a living like everyone else.

I am right with you Kelly! I am starting second year of vet school in August and I have already accrued $60,000 from my masters degree and one year of vet school. Just add on another 3 years of $40,000 each + loans for living expenses and it leaves me in 6 digit figure debt with a salary of $50,000-$55,000 to look forward to when I graduate. I am not in this field for the money, I am in it because I want to help animals and their owners.


Congrats on graduating!!!!

 

[KellyHM]

Quote:
You have GOT to be joking! When's the last time you went in for an office visit for $40?! Maybe if you have insurance and that's your copay, but look on your bill and see how much they really charge!

I realize that times are hard for everyone right now, but I know vets who are going out of business b/c they've tried to be "nice" for too long and now they can't pay their bills.

As a vet who's entering the work force during this economic crisis (I graduated last Saturday) I am forced to take a job that is not at all what I was looking for. I have always wanted to do large animal medicine, but am taking a job at a small animal emergency clinic just so I can pay my bills! The large animal people are making next to nothing right now and the small animal people are just trying to stay afloat.

Sorry that I have spent 7 years and have amassed $144,000 in student loans just going to vet school (not counting undergrad), but I have to pay those back somehow! My $1000/month payment on those has to come from something! I do this because I LOVE it. If I had planned on being rich I would have gone into human medicine...talk about a rip off!

Anyways, I'm sorry that you don't like your vet, but maybe you should just go somewhere else. We're just trying to make a living like everyone else.

I am right with you Kelly! I am starting second year of vet school in August and I have already accrued $60,000 from my masters degree and one year of vet school. Just add on another 3 years of $40,000 each + loans for living expenses and it leaves me in 6 digit figure debt with a salary of $50,000-$55,000 to look forward to when I graduate. I am not in this field for the money, I am in it because I want to help animals and their owners.


Congrats on graduating!!!!

Thanks! Glad to know there's someone else on this forum that feels my pain!! Good luck with the rest of your schooling!

 

[Mugen]

KellyHM,

Thanks for the information! I learn something everyday. Unfortunately, I just gave my dogs ivermectin. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I just came off on Zimecterin Gold (ivermectin/pyrantel) on my Komondors. I haven't used ivermectin on my Caucasian until today. My wife says that my little giant is my precious. If something happens to him, I will be devastated. He's my personal bodyguard and shadow. My little giant follows me everywhere on the farm.

 

[PattiXmas]

I don't have health insurance, and I just paid for my son's physical - it was $311! I had a vet out to our house to check our goats - one we thought had pink eye, but it was just some type of irritation, so for a staining of her eye and the meds, it came to $82.

A lot of vets aren't out there to make a huge fortune. I will not medicate any of my animals - just like I wouldn't treat my kids' illness/injuries. Sometimes, it just doesn't pay to skimp on medical care.