How Expensive Should This Be?

We got a shelter kitten, Mojave Bob (that's his name, not breed) about a month ago, and his initial vaccination package was included with the adoption, so we started using the sponsoring vet.  I'm now starting to freak out over how much they're charging and how disorganized they seem.  Here's the story, do these fees seem reasonable?

I was told by the office that Bob should get his (shelter sponsored) rabies vaccine so I brought him in (an hour's drive accompanied by screaming, crying and panting).  The attending vet said no, since he's due for feline leukemia vaccine in two weeks, we shouldn't do rabies since they need at least three weeks between vaccines or they may counteract each other (she failed to inform the scheduling office of this fact, no one knew this.)  As I was sitting there I noticed a funny looking raw spot on his paw, so I asked if she could take a look at that.  Yes, for $50.  She looked and said it could be ringworm or it could be a sign of calisivirus (FCV).  she then did a "workup" which recommended a $145 test for ringworm and a $190 respiratory test for FCV, plus a $22 blacklight exam, plus antibiotics, bringing the "free" service to $493.  I questioned her and she said there is no actual treatment protocol for FCV (so honestly it doesn't matter if he has it or not, his care and treatment is the same), and the ringworm test wouldn't be definitive anyway.  sigh.  I said let's do the blacklight test and the antibiotics.  she did, and found it inconclusive but 'we can start him on antifungals anyway'.  I agreed.  "but he'll need a blood test to be sure his liver function is adequate."  oooh kaaay ...  And surprise, the "liver bloodwork" turned out to be a full adult wellness test for $104.

So I came home minus $278, with an antifungal miconazole spray for $26, Clavamox for $33, skinGuard kitty shampoo for $26 and 15 fluconazole tablets for $18.  I'm going to put up another post about the treatment protocol, and I'm going to stop using this vet because they're inconvenient and horribly disorganized, but are these fees what I should expect elsewhere as well?

where do u live?

I'm in CA and the $50 for a visit and $104 for blood work-up seems about in line price-wise with what I've seen. 

Make sure you get copies of those blood test results.

I've never had a cat tested for roundworm, but I am surprised that it would cost so much.

I never heard of the [color= rgb(24, 24, 24)]respiratory test for FCV.[/color]

it's ringworm, which is a fungus, different from roundworm.  I think they brush the cat with a toothbrush all over and then culture the results to see if they can grow a positive culture from any spores they pick up.  someone else posted about a $45 test - it sounded like she was supposed to brush the cat herself.  hard to imagine an extra $100 to run a toothbrush over a kitty for five minutes.
 

I guess I'm irked because my $10 gas and 2 hour commute with a screaming cat was due entirely to Their error, not only did they not offer any apologies for that, they then asked  me to pay $50 for the visit plus nearly $600 for other possibly unnecessary things.  Coincidental, perhaps, but still wrong IMHO.

I'm in southeastern AZ, small town.

oops, I typed roundworm by mistake. I don't have experience with either, though (knock on wood).

I try to figure out what my cat has and what the treatment is and then call around to different vets to see who charges the least.

Even if I am wrong, I'm generally not totally blindsided by the bill.

You should contact the shelter and tell them about this - and ask them if it is possible the cat got ringworm at the shelter.

My blood pressure rose just reading your post.  Charging for running a blacklight over a cat is crazy.  My vet charged $30-$40 for the fungal culture for ringworm (and they took the sample themselves.)  I'm not thoroughly educated on the subject, but I've gotten the impression from reading that there isn't much use in testing for the feline herpes and calcivirus.  Two of my cats probably have herpes virus, but I've never read anything that makes me think knowing for sure would make any difference.  I'm sorry you had such a horrible experience.  Ugh. 

Yes, that's what I like about my vet. They are very caring and very straight forward on cost.

Yeah, I'm about done with them.  All I found when reading about it is that ringworm typically fluoresces a bright apple green - she was looking for orange.  ???   I also love that the paperwork they sent me home with has no instructions on it about cat care - in the comments section, it reads:

"late charge applied to all accounts unpaid after 30 days.  Late charge computed by a periodic rate of 1.50% per month, which is an annual 18%." 

He's a cat, not a credit card.  

When I read the numbers, I thought they were totally unrealistic. When I lived in Ohio, the exam fee was $36 at one place, $41 at another. Nothing at annual checkups was expensive there except the blood test if a cat had one. So anytime other people say they paid hundreds of dollars on annual exams, I think that is stupidly ridiculous. Was I spoiled up there?

There is no reason to go to a vet two hours away for a cat who hates car rides. Even if I loved that vet, I would look for one near my home.

I'm kinda confused, lol, about what he had done, and what tests were done, and why they felt he needed them, lol, but, its kinda late, and I am tired.  Ring worm, I have no experience with, but will find out for you, what tests should be done, and ballpark, what they should cost.  To give you some basics.

Office visit, which is an exam, they check his eyes, ears, mouth, listen to his heart and tummy, feel him all over, check his bee hind, if he is a kitten, weigh him, and ask you, how he is feeling, how he is acting, and do you have any concerns. If the vet finds something they feel is not normal, or if you come in with a sick kitty, they discuss with you, what tests they want to run, how much they cost, and what they are looking for, that is ballpark $45, emergency is $50.

Depending on what the issue is, and with the issues I been thru, I know, what tests to run, depending on what the issue is.

X-ray is ballpark $85.

CBC and Wellness blood panel is $45.

Shots are ballpark $17.

Meds, depending on what they are, are ballpark $17 for most antibiotics, some can be as high as $30 or higher, depending on what it is or what it is for.

If they feel its a liver issue, they would take 2 x-rays, one from the side, which is the norm, and one from the top, it shows more. Then they would do a CBC and Wellness blood panel, to see if the values are not normal.  The next step is an ultrasound.  

If, he has ringworm, seems like he picked it up at the shelter, and seems like to me, they should pay for the tests, and/or refund some of your money, seems like they give some kind of health guarantee, don't they.

What have I not covered, lol?   Why did they send you home with shampoo?  Ya lost me on that one, lol.  I agree with the others, lol, find another vet.

      

Thanks for all the support!

Flint, I'm almost as confused as you are.   I basically took him in for a free rabies shot.  (Which they told me he needed and scheduled, and then told me he couldn't have when I got there, because of vaccination overlap.)  We were just going to turn around and go home without seeing the vet at all, but as I was waiting - and waiting and waiting - I noticed a nasty raw spot on his paw pad and asked if they could look at it.  Which they charged me $50 to do, which would have seemed reasonable except that i was only there due to their mistake in the first place.  This escalated to them thinking he might have ringworm or he might have calisivirus, which is where all the expensive test recommendations came from.  We didn't actually do any of those tests except the black light.  The liver enzyme test was to be sure he would be ok taking an extended course of antifungal medicine for the possible ringworm, it wasn't that they suspected a liver problem.  My objection there is that they simply put through an entire adult wellness panel when a single test would have given them the info they needed.  I seriously feel like they don't Really know their whiskers from their withers, they're following some $$$ protocol with no thought process involved.  The shampoo and the pills and the spray were for possible ringworm, the antibiotic was for possible secondary infection from possible calisivirus.  The only thing they seem really confident about are the sky high bills.  It all feels sort of strange, like there's some Head Office somewhere that makes up the cost and protocol and the actual employees of the office have no say in how much they will bill - for example, Bob is supposed to go back for a recheck in a week, and I HAD to schedule with the same vet who saw him originally or get charged for a new visit vs. a recheck visit, even though there are three other vets there who could have examined him - and the first woman who tried to schedule the recheck didn't know this, which means I would have been charged another $50 if not for the input from a second supervisor.

And thank you to someone on another thread who recommended writing this up at Yelp.  I went there and found that several other people have had similar experiences with this vet, further validating my feelings about them.

Update:

Bob hated the Miconazole spray with a passion, it's mostly alcohol and between the scary hissing sound and the cold splattering and the stinging, he was a wreck.  So I bought some miconazole cream for $10 (Monistat, for women's yeast infections, truth be told, which I believe also contains an anesthetic), and put that on instead. A week later and the sores are gone, he was totally happy with the product and didn't lick or bite at it at all.  Who knows if it was a fungus or if he just needed to leave his feet alone for a few days.  He seems perfectly fine, no more sneezing, he's never had any mouth sores or trouble eating, he's gained another half a pound and is about as "lethargic" as a tazmanian devil.  Calisivirus ... not likely. 

I had the last straw of this horrid vet experience this morning, though.  I'd decided to look for another vet, and called this office yesterday to ask for Bob's vaccination records.  They emailed me this morning - with the records for someone else's three dogs.  When I finally got the record for Bob, it indicated that they gave him the rabies vaccine last week.  amazing.  "VCA" ... what does that stand for, Very Costly Apathy?

WOW!! Just read this thread! "I would be fuming!!"  I hope you find a great NEW Vet.  It's always good to ask around for friends referrals in your area.

Sense every one was giving you cost Ideas, I'm in NC, & out Vet's is a hospital as well, & an office visit is only 38.00.

Good Luck to you! Hope Bob continues to do well!

Our vets office visit is $35 (North Texas

Rabies vaccine is $25 and includes a general checkup.

Blood work & xrays are more, xrays are I think $5 a pound......... Yea kind of like cheese.
 

I go to a cats only vet clinic in Columbus OH which is a little higher than average for this area and it sounds excessive to me.  They charge a bit more for the office call and the blood work sounds about the same but I have never had every little thing added on like you did.  Maybe thats why the office call is a bit more but I have never had anything close to what you were charged for what they did for your cat.

Hi Brisbee   Mojave Bob is just adorable !!    The fees seem excessive and it all really did seem disorganized.  I would be upset about the vaccination mixup!  We have 4 cats and 2 dogs.  So we usually take 3 in at a time for their yearly visits.  We get a 25% discount on total charges if we take in 3.  Now, the last bill was for one cat and she had a round of tests for diabetes and about a dozen other things.  The final diagnosis was a bladder infection.  That round of tests cost $295.  An office visit for us is usually $20/animal.  My vet will give discounts if the animal is  a rescue which all of mine are, so we get the less expensive office visit charge.  It is usually $36.  When we are there they will get a nail trim which is usually gratis.  I love my vet.  He is really educated on nutrition and is big in animal rescue.  If I were in your situation, I'd look for a different vet that I felt comfortable with.  There has to be trust between the pet parent and the vet. 

Yeah this charge is totally crazy! Sadly, I leaned way more than I ever wanted to about Ringworm when I brought home my girl who was infected.from the shelter. Most shelters do make you sign a waiver (the language is usually buried in the adoption contract) that they are not financially responsible for any illnesses your pet may have been exposed to while at the shelter. Regardless, it should not have cost you anywhere close to what it did. I'm just caddy corner to you in Colorado and the Ringworm test here only cost $25. It's just a quick swab of the skin that they then let grow. Test results usually take 10-14 days to come back. It sounds like they didn't even do that, and what you are describing doesnt sound like RW to me. Usually RW shows up as patches of fur loss- I have never seen it just on the pad of the foot unless the cat was horribly infected everywhere else. Even if it was, just having one spot doesnt sound like a severe enough case to be treated with such heavy duty antibiotics- usually just using the shampoo will clear it up. 

Given the screw up with his records (which makes my jaw drop) I would make your own- write down exactly what they gave him, when he's due for his FVRCP vaccine and his rabies. Good luck finding a new vet!

I am not in your part of the world, but this sounds like a rip-off to me.

I decided to give them one more chance, just til Connor is through with his kitten package, which concludes with neutering next week. (YAY).  The only reason I'm doing this is that I really trust and like Vet #4 and I've been assured she will be doing the surgery.   I am so sorry she's working in this office!!!

Just on the three stooges front, I took Bob in yesterday for his final FLV booster.   Two weeks ago he'd gotten one that would have been his final except he was a few days outside "the window" (thanks to mis-scheduling and then misdiagnosis) so they wanted to do another (SIGH), which they did, along with giving him a clean bill of health.   That vet, (#4), could find absolutely nothing wrong with him, so thanks to VCA for $300 spent on nothing whatsoever.  So here I come for a final shot and vet #5 greets me with purple gloves because of the "suspected ringworm".  And tells me he's outside "the window" so he has to start his FLV series all over again. (Oh yeah, like that's gonna happen, I think they've vaccinated this poor cat 5 times now).   Apparently Vet #4's visit two weeks ago was never recorded at all. 

so I get to checkout and they've taken half off the vaccine due to "their error" (which is coldly amusing, they have absolutely no clue what their error IS), so it's $10.  HOWEVER, VCA charges a $48 wellness fee per animal every time you bring in for a vaccination - even if it's only been two freaking weeks since the last one.  Really?  Seriously?  the standard cost for one booster shot is $70???

-- Nebula, "like cheese" - love it!   This office is more like old fish: stinky, unpleasant and basically falling to pieces.

Ack! What an unorganized sales motivated clinic. At the clinic I used to work at, we didn't charge to run a black light over an animal. And yes it fluoresces green and not orange. Also to do the ringworm dermatophite test was only 30 dollars . We plucked a few hairs from the suspicious area and put them in a jar with a gel that will change color in a week if it is positive. That is the simplified version. Also, they shouldn't have sent ketoconizle home without a definitive diagnosis. That stuff is harsh on the liver and if he didn't have ringworm why give the meds! I mean did the do skin scrapes to see if it was other types of skin issues like démodé tic mange or sarcoptes mange? (very rare in cats and way more common in dogs, but still it is good to check for other stuff too ). Also they seem to be nonchalant about vaccines. It is so easy to get complacent thinking vaccines are harmless. That is why so many animals are over vaccinated nowadays. Coincidently there is also a rise in allergies, cancer and autoimmune disorders. I've backed way off of vaccines on my own pets, but they are all older and if they don't have immunity now,cthey never will.
Anyways, I hope you get to go to a better closer vet, I've had a vet horror story recently with my own kitty. A cat only vet that thought my cat had gi lymphoma with no proof of diagnosis. He did a abdominal tap and got stool which he thought was pus?! Anyways I took my cat to my dogs most excellent vet who gave her a clean bill of health and thought the other vet was a quack. Well he didn't say it but implied it lol! To think that he said my baby was so sick and probably wouldn't make it to October! He even was implying that I might think about putting her down! This makes me livid and wonder how many other people's cats he misdiagnosed. If you find a good vet stick with them because there are alot of crappy ones out there!