Article about pet health care costs

great article! Very informative and helpful to those uf us on a budget!! Thanks!!

Thank you. I have been looking for an article like this for a good while now.

Thats an excellent article for the members Tricia

As a vet tech, I can vouch that you get what you pay for- services or food. It drives me crazy when people are more concerned over their budget than quality healthcare from a good vet. Our markup is about 75%, which helps pay employees and operating costs. The benefit is we know your pet, care about its condition, and are able to answer specific questions/concerns. Does that human pharmacist know sensativities that cat's may have to a variety of drugs-especially OTC's? No. Will you call him in the middle of the night with a problem? No. Would you expect your dentist to advise you on your urinary tract infection? No.
And food- everything you can buy at the grocery is JUNK! Especially for cats that are carnivores! Cats shouldn't be eating corn and other fillers...they need a high quality protein and low carbs. Would you eat what they scrape off the floor, overcook until its unrecognizable, and the add artificial colors, flavors, and vitamins to pass AAFCO's minimal standards? I sure wouldn't.

I understand everyone has a budget and can't break the bank, so save $10 or 15 a week and when your pet needs care, it'll be there. If you can't set the money aside for health care and quality food, should you have the pet?!?

Originally Posted by JenScuffins

Does that human pharmacist know sensativities that cat's may have to a variety of drugs-especially OTC's? No. Will you call him in the middle of the night with a problem? No.

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I must disagree about getting prescriptions from a human pharmacy. This can save money for those treating their cat while on a tight budget. My vet is more than willing to call in prescriptions to the pharmacy of my choice. Since the medication is prescribed by the vet, I still ask the vet questions about it (though only the emergency vets, not my vet, are open at night). Also, vets do often recommend over-the-counter products that they do not sell. When my cat had gas, my vet suggested an over-the-counter product. When he continued to throw-up while on metronidazole, she suggested another over-the-counter product to help settle his stomach. My vet's office no longer does compounding, so I have to go to an independent pharmacy for that. My pharmacy works with the vets to provide liquid medications, transdermals, chews, and capsules, in addition to the pills. The vet often carries only the pills or only the liquid varieties of these medications.

I would never recommend seeking the advice of a human pharmacist about a product for a cat, but I would not hesitate to suggest that people ask about having their prescriptions called in to human pharmcies by their vets, especially for long-term medication. I have spent thousands of dollars on Spot in the 18 months he has lived with me, so saving a few dollars on his monthly methimazole prescription helps over time.

My experience has been that my vets' office gives prescriptions for medications that they don't have on hand or which have to be made up, and the prescriptions give details of the species, weight and age of the pet. Our pharmacist, Fritz, always chuckled when he filled prescriptions for Fritz the Boxer, who needed thyroid pills for years.
The pharmacies carry medications specifically for animals, and the pharmacists have been trained accordingly. That may not be the case everywhere, but that has been my experience in Germany. Many of the advertisements for non-prescription pet products here, e.g., Bayer spot-in products, point out that they are only available at pharmacies.