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Horse vet bill vs cat vet bill

post #1 of 5
6/15/11 at 12:22pm
Thread Starter 
Last week Goofy needed his tooth looked at. They gave him a long lasting anti bio and anti inflam injection. Examined his mouth. Drew blood for two glucose tests. One that tells his bs at the time of the test and another that gives an average over the last two weeks......380.00!

Big Al had his teeth floated. Vet came to barn with an assistant and two students. She examined him since he is a new client. Sedated him, worked for about 40 mins on his teeth... 135.00

I was mortified that the bill would be something like 500.00.

So, I guess it's cheaper to own horses than cats!!

I know I am paying for the tests on Goofy. But I wonder just how much the vet pays to have the tests done?
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post #2 of 5
6/15/11 at 12:43pm
Long term, I think you'll find the horse to be considerably more. I never had a horse, but I have friends who do. I'm amazed by the costs.

But I would think that vets who work with farm animals primarily (though a horse isn't really that anymore) as opposed to pet animals (dogs and cats) charge less.


Robin
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post #3 of 5
6/15/11 at 1:46pm
I'm surprised, Farleyv. I was anticipating a comparison that would help cat owners be more appreciative of the (comparatively low) costs of their cats' care, and found the reverse. Interesting!

AC
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post #4 of 5
6/15/11 at 2:34pm
Thread Starter 
It seems I never get out of the vets office for less than 150.00.

There were 3 other horses getting their teeth done that am. She is the barn vet, so I think she charges a bit less.

But I was sure surprised when I saw all the work she did, and her bill.

Of course, my dh paid the horse bill.....I paid the cat!
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post #5 of 5
6/15/11 at 4:21pm
Thank your lucky stars that horses ARE still livestock or that 300.00 bill would be around 1500.00. A few years ago, I had the best of both worlds - vet would come, doo teet and shots on the horses, then do any cat work that needed to be done. Used to cost around 500.00 for both horses and whatever cats could be caught and contained for shots and quick check. That vet retired and I am breaking in a new one........blah. The vet I had after decided he wasn't doing cats or dogs anymore, went and took a few more courses and now gave up general practice and is strictly equine repro now.

Part of the reason for lesser charges is vaccines are cheaper for horses - here you pay 15.00 for a vial of rabies vaccine regardless of the animal - and other meds such as sedatives are easier to administer to something that weighs in excess of 1,000 pounds compared to an 8 pound cat or even a 50 pound dog; the margin of error for small animals is very narrow. The real killer on farm calls is mileage.....
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