Veterinarians- Are they a rip off?????

[bullmama]

I am a bit annoyed right now and I don't mean to sound like a whiner but for crying out loud.....

Remember back in July or August Tidus was squinting his eye? So my vet did all the eye tests and charged me $125 or so only to tell me he needs to see an optimologist for his eye ulcer.

So the very same day I am able to get into the optimologist who performs the same exact tests as my vet just did, and also puts staples around one of the eyes to hold the fold back- and charges me $250 out the door, and wants to see me in a week. Does staples to 'prevent needing eye surgery'.

Week later, Tidus gets another ulcer in the other eye, more staples- same tests again- another $200+. recheck in two weeks

2 weeks later, same tests-- do nothing but say to keep giving the ointment and the meds. $100+ recheck in two weeks

2 weeks later, same tests, do nothing but say to keep giving the ointment and the meds. $100+ recheck in 6 weeks

Take him in today. Same tests, do nothing, keep giving ointments and meds, but now they want to do the surgery when he is a year old. Recheck in two months $116

Okay, now I may be dumb, maybe--- because I am adding up the totals here and from what I am guessing, I think I could have paid for sugery now on two dogs!!!!

Between this and them selling Science Diet food- over charging for meds- and everything, I am getting pissed off. Are they in it for the dogs- or the cash?

Sorry I had to rant, but I am so sick of this.... between vets and hospitals/doctors I think this whole entire field is full of greedy _________.

/RANT!

 

[Carrie C]

That is horrible.I am a lucky girl who has a vet that works with me.My Bubba had a similar issue earlier this year after the initial ulcers and some meds we decided to not play around and he had bilateral entropian surgery done top and bottom.Also he had elongatd soft tissue removed and nuetered at the same time cost total $750.His eyes are beautiful now a little scarring (from ulcer) on one but not bad.If I had waited he surely would be blind now.My vet also trusts my ability to care for my Bulldogs since I know them better than he does.Sorry got off track my vet does not over charge for my visits any followups are free of charge also.His intrest is in the well being of the pets not the money.

 

[Gene_the demon]

I think there are a couple of honest and good vets around... somewhere... but i myself have had bad experiences with some vets. For example last year i had another baby German Shepherd, she suddenly stopped eating and wouldnt walk and just looked very ill. i fed her whatever i could by hand and with a bottle for 2 days then took her to a vet, it was a sunday so i took her to the only one open. well she had her first shots, she was tested for heartworms and parvo before and came out negative. i get to the vet and the first thing they do is tell me they will check for parvo, in desperation i said it was fine. they ran multiple test and what not. in the end they told me that i had to leave her there so it would be around 1200 dollars for the iv and treating and meds and care, i didnt have the money at the time and asked if anything could else could be done. They put a shot on her and gave me several meds and said she should be fine with that to just feed her like i was doing and give her the medication. well i get home about 30 minutes later and start feeding her and giving her the medicine and no more than 10 minutes later she died in my arms. in the end i paid about 500 for the meds, visit, the shot, and the tests they did.

i mean if they really cared for the dogs, they would have told me right then and there that she would not make it... it would have been much less painful for all of us.

 

[bullmama]

[MENTION=484]Carrie C[/MENTION] yes, you sound like you have a great vet. I have okay vets here- my mobile vet is probably the best of the group but his capabilities are limited of course. I just don't understand why we went through all the hoops if even though he is doing better, he still has staples and they still want surgery. I almost feel like we are missing something. I surely could have paid for the surgery for what I paid in follow ups and staples- sheesh. And he would have been more comfortable months ago.

[MENTION=1411]Gene_the demon[/MENTION] wow that is very sad. So they never diagnosed her with anything?

 

[TessaAndSamson]

This is a tough one. Do alot of vets overcharge? Heck yes. But honestly some may not agree with me but in alot of ways I think when you spend LOTS of time and money for a highly skilled career as a vet, doctor, etc you should be well compensated. The hard thing is saying when is enough enough you know? With the food thing I just understand that, human doctors understand and acknowledge that one of the keys to basic health is good nutrition. I can't imagine a vet doesn't truly understand that, all I can assume is that its easy revenue and that makes me sad. My co-worker was talking to me about her cocker spaniel with allergies and how she was reading that a grain free diet would help, I GREATLY encouraged that idea and suggested a few grain free foods versus the Iams she had her on. She then went to the vet that day after work to pick up her cocker because she was there being groomed, discussed this new food idea with her vet and her vet sent her home with prescription diet!!!!! And my co-worker was all stoked the next day thinking YAY I got this new food my vet recommended!!!! And why not, why shouldn't we be able to trust the word of our vet. I had to try to think of a clever way to tell her that that was a bad idea without making her think I was saying she and her vet were stupid so I sent her an email a little while later with the Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble review on prescription diet and how I "randomly" came across that information and how I wanted her to know for her pups sake and just simply as a consumer because that stuff it total crap but SUPER expensive. So now she has all the information and told me she is going to go get one of the foods I suggested. I really don't know what to tell you, seems like some are totally reasonable and some just don't give a crap. Hard finding the reasonable ones.

 

[Gene_the demon]

She was vomiting a lot and she had diarrhea so they said she had severe dehydration, but other than that i got nothing.

 

[KMARINO]

Wow...I am so lucky for two reasons, #1 Vegas is soooo healthy, besides one ear infection and some yeast problems (he is 16 months old) that is about it, and #2 my Vet is about 99 yrs. old, and is very old school, I took him in to get his anal glands internally expressed, an allergy shot, special shampoo for fungal/yeast and it cost us $30.00....Even when he had his ear infection I got antibiotics, steroids, his ear cleaned out, ear cleaner and it was $35.00...I can honestly say our Vet is in it for the animal, he ask where we boarded him and I told him a spa, although his office boards...and he said I would never board him because he could not sleep at night because it would not be cool enough for him (We live in Fl.) . I him!!!

 

[TessaAndSamson]

[MENTION=900]KMARINO[/MENTION], I'm jealous! That is an awesome vet!

 

[lexterwayne]

some vets are just in it for the money and some really care and want to help. we are lucky and our vet wants the best and doesnt charge for alot of stuff

 

[Maximus]

I hear ya ! Maximus was diagnosed with Entropion over two months ago. As a result, he was referred from the Emergency VET Clinic to a Veternary Opthomologist. Due to his age, Surgery was not an option
since his conformation is not complete. He had to have eye staples on both lower eyelids. Re-check after Re-check, two-weeks, four-weeks, etc. and each visit cost $158.00. Finally, the staples were removed.
Two weeks after the staples were removed, Maximus lacerated his cornea again due to the Entropion. DUH ! What the Vet should have done was re-stapled him and not removed the staples at all. I could have told this Vet that this would happen. And it did. So, another $213.00 to re-staple the eyes, followed by two more $158.00 visits to re-checks. So yeah, I believe that many Vets are not only STUPID, but a total Rip-off ! Now, when it comes time for Maximus' entropion surgery, I'm looking at a $3,000.00 Vet bill !

 

[Lacey28]

That is awful. I think some Vets start to for the right reasons then realize how much money they can make and do it for the wrong reasons! It really is frustrating!

 

[froggz]

Some vets are definitely in it for the money, but there are some out there that really care about the animal.

Granted they may be highly skilled, but they only deserve compensation when they do their job right. Weekly appointments when nothings being done is a waste of the consumers money to line the vets pockets.

 

[mom2bullies]

I just took the two puppies in for their last set of shot (3 each) and had a test done....they have both had diarrhea...total bill was 132.50, and I didn't think that was bad at all...