Complaints about Vets and $

[ricardo222222]

I must say I'm impressed with the way you Americans take care of your pets. I live in Mexico and we aren't poor by any means, we are actually in a very privileged position, and there's no way that we pay hundreds of dollars per cat per year. For my 2 female cats (one common and the other looks like a Persian) I buy around 18 lb. food bags for something like 8 USD each from Costco, so that's like 16 USD a year for food. For vet care the older one was sick like 1 year ago and had to be taken in for a few days, and even after all that the price was around 100 USD. Apart from that she didn't go to the vet since like 2002 and just went a few days ago for the rabies shot. The other one also got the rabies shot a few days back and apart from that it was 2 years since her last vet visit. The new Himalayan will probably cost in food around 150 USD per year max plus the vaccines. Vets here are cheap usually. I think for my 8 year old female I've used around 200 USD max for her whole life in medical care (vaccines, one period of sickness and sterilization). For my 2 year old semi-Persian it's been like 50 USD max and for the 6 month Himalayan like 10 USD. I don't know for you guys, but here we probably would never have to ask for loans or something for vet care, it seems like something otherwordly to imagine struggling to pay the bills, even as we are right now just paying little amounts from time to time my father says like: oh that's really expensive my God, even though it doesn't affect our ability to get other things at all. It's probably the cultures and everything, in the US the vet facilities are like doctor facilities, with a desk person and everything, and they take care of animals just like they do with their children, here it is more like secondary, though we do whatever the vet says is best for our pets. Anyway, when I get a job and leave my home I will definitely take care of my pets the American way! Extra question: why are people against the vaccine for Feline Leukemia? I've given it to my 3 cats.

 

[ut0pia]

Originally Posted by ricardo222222

It's probably the cultures and everything, in the US the vet facilities are like doctor facilities, with a desk person and everything, and they take care of animals just like they do with their children, here it is more like secondary, though we do whatever the vet says is best for our pets. .

Yea, I can somewhat relate...My grandparents who grew up on farms in Bulgaria can never understand why people spend so much money on their pets, they see death for an animal as natural and there is no need to intervene, even though they love them they don't mourn. I guess living on a farm gives you a different perspective of things, like they don't really see animals as pets they see them as income ..

 

[sharky]

My cats and dog get better care than I do ... Now I have spent a BIG wad of $$$ of diagnosis and care but I have also set my boundries of what I will spend... I have Care credit for one vet and the other let me makes at will payments since that yr my two animals racked up about 5000 in vet bills

 

[cruisermaiden]

I can see both sides of this issue. I agree that people who canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t afford for the basic needs of an animal donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t need to have one. When you decide to adopt a new cat into your home you need to be prepared to provide for its needs - quality food, litter, toys, and basic veterinary care. If you cannot budget for these things, then having a pet should be reconsidered.

I donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t believe that just because you donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t have thousands of extra dollars to liquidate at any moment for emergency vet costs means you arenâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t a great pet owner. I know from personal experience that circumstances change. Business ventures fail, people are laid off from work, accidents and sicknesses happen and well planned savings are decimated just trying to get by with the day to day. A lot of people DO have the money to afford whatever may come regarding vet care when they get their pets, but cats can live 20 years and a lot changes in that kind of time. With the homeless pet problem we have today I believe it is better for an animal to be in a loving home with someone who is doing their very best for them than to be out on the street or in an already overcrowded shelter.

A lot of vets out there charge ridiculous fees, and do it far more than is absolutely necessary. They know the pet owners love their animals and are going to do whatever is necessary for them if at all possible, including putting themselves into major debt to do it. If those fees were really necessary to cover the cost of the care with a reasonable margin of profit so that the vet could upkeep his practice and pay decent salaries, I would have no problem with them. But really all it is doing is lining greedy pockets. When they want to charge you $100 just to take your cat out of the carrier and stick a thermometer in his butt, another $100 before you get shots or anything else, and are more than likely going to try to convince you to run a whole string of tests that are entirely unnecessary just to run up the bill, then the vet is looking to make money and not for the best interest of the animals, and I believe the pet owners have every right to complain.

I am blessed to have a wonderful vet practice that I have been going to since I was a child. They do not charge office fees, they accept payments if the bill is just too high, and they are very candid with you about exactly what your pet needs rather than just running every test in the book so they can charge you for it. The annual exam at my vet for each of my cats with fecal, and shots (incl. rabies) costs me $50, and when its time for antibiotics, they charge me only slightly above their cost. And yet the doctors there can live a decent life, pay the office staff and maintain a nice office without taking their clients to the cleaners every time they go. It is from this example I see the truth in what other vet practices are doing, and avoid going to them if at all possible.

In response to the OPâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s concern - when we are frustrated with our vets I think TCS members probably do need to remember that Vets and Veterinary Employees ARE reading here too and they love animals just like everyone else on these boards or they wouldnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t do what they do. At the same time, those Vets and Employees need to take what is said here with a grain of salt – unless we are clients of your practice, it isnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t a personal attack on you. A lot of places earn our frustration when it comes to our kitties, and we have the right to talk about that here.

(I apologize to all for my novel…)