Post
by BoBoNel » Thu Apr 16, 2009 2:23 pm
oh come on guys! having worked in the field of veterinary medicine for over 15 years i can promise you that not all VETS are highway robbers. i can tell you that...if you dont trust or like your vet....CHANGE! unfortunately with the state of the economy the last few years and prices of products and supplies steadily increasing....a lot of privately owned veterinarians have had to sell out to what we call "corporate". they will still keep the name, staff will usually remain the same, vets on staff will usually remailn (at least for a short while)........but they are run by a bigger machine. dollars matter, "selling" is common place, etc. there is a loss of empathy and sympathy, it becomes less personal and more business. THESE ARE THE PLACES TO STAY AWAY FROM.
i still have the very fortunate experience of working for a vets office that wont refuse a sick animal, we have all taken an oath to help animals. we do it for the warm fuzzy feeling inside and not the paycheck! prices go up, medicine prices increase all the time, the cost of anti-venom has doubled on cost and yet we dont raise our prices but by a few dollars. because we know the end consumer cant afford it these days.
if you only knew what happened in the back you wouldnt be so negative or ignorant in your thoughts. EMERGENCY CLINICS are highway robbers! I will give you that much. their prices are usually double a normal vets office...but you are paying for an emergency service. i dont think that its right...its unfair....but its life. you'll pay more for a plumber to come to your house on a weekend too!
as for animal treatments...it can get costly. unfortunately animals cant talk and tell us where it hurts. the only way to rule out or diagnose a problem is unfortunately to run tests, sometimes costly tests. xrays, bloodwork, ultrasounds, ekg's, medications, etc...........it all adds up but what other way is there to figure it out? and if you have a BIG DOG it will cost more. (more meds, more sedation or anesthesia, etc)
as for a $300 dental....i can tell you thats an average price for a prophy. you have pre-operative anelgesia (pain), pre-op sedation, anesthesia using isoflourane which is EXPENSIVE but SAFE, IV catheter and fluids to assist in hydration and recovery from anesthesia, ultrasonic scaling of the teeth, hand scaling of the sub-gingival area of each tooth, possible deep root planning, possible xrays or extractions, polishing to remove stains, excess tarter and rough areas where tarter will or could continue to adhere, flouride treatment, charting of all the teeth.....then we sit with the animal while it wakes up and recovers, give it more pain meds, antibiotic injection, etc.....by now we are usually 1.5-2 hours into the care of your animal. while it remains with us the rest of the day we let it out a few times to to potty, feed and water him or her, pet it a few hundred times, etc.
i've always or generally do prophys on my dogs yearly. my dogs live to be 17 years old though and have no health issues. bad teeth can lead to heart dz, organ failure, etc. its more than just tarter on the teeth.
so i'm off my soapbox now.
G-4!!!!
Trail Mom
