Vets sure now how to rip u off

[Rocketo]

my dog broke her bone in her paw this sat...and well just to go to the emergency vet service and get it aligned and splinted cost 1500

i'm just wondering what's the most costly bill people have had at a vet

[hugh_da_man]

That's really not that expensive. The vet has to pay for his/her time, assistant's time, receptionists, rent, licensing fees, equipment, materials, phone lines, internet connections, etc. Plus, the vet had to go to school to get an education and so he has to be decently compensated for his time.

You know that it would cost you a lot more to have your own bone aligned and splinted if the Canadian government wasn't picking up the tab.

[ephemera]

Check out Blue Cross animal hospital next time.

[Rocketo]

That's really not that expensive. The vet has to pay for his/her time, assistant's time, receptionists, rent, licensing fees, equipment, materials, phone lines, internet connections, etc. Plus, the vet had to go to school to get an education and so he has to be decently compensated for his time.

You know that it would cost you a lot more to have your own bone aligned and splinted if the Canadian government wasn't picking up the tab.

so you are saying that because he went to school he should charge 500 dollars an hour ? i went to school studied hard in a different field i sure as hell don't get compensated as much as they do..considering my job is a lot of more stressful and high paced...

i'm not arguing with the fact that they should get paid that much but to the fact that they take advantage of the fact that they know that you will pay for it regardless...since your dog is a loved one...if it was 3k i'd still pay it

[CSK'sMom]

I don't consider vets a ripoff, I'll say that first. When we had the farm our biggest vet bill was for a double visit on a weekend by our large animal vet. First he had to come out and pull a stubborn bull calf from a heifer. Off the vet goes, everything is fine. Four hrs later he was back as the heifer prolapsed her uterus (pushed it outside her body). Basically the heifer needed an epidural, uterus cleaned and repacked and stitched up to keep it in along with a shot to stop the contractions. Total bill for both visits was just over $1200 which was not bad considering it was 2 seperate farm visits on a long weekend.

[Bazooka Joe]

Some vets are a total ripoff. For what it's worth, $1500 is a lot for no surgery. My dog came second place in a fight with a porcupine and it only cost me $450. As for most expensive bill, I'd rather not say as I'm embarassed to have spent that kind of money on an animal that died anyways.

Finding a reasonably priced good vet is really difficult. When you find one stay with them forever.

[Rocketo]

I don't consider vets a ripoff, I'll say that first. When we had the farm our biggest vet bill was for a double visit on a weekend by our large animal vet. First he had to come out and pull a stubborn bull calf from a heifer. Off the vet goes, everything is fine. Four hrs later he was back as the heifer prolapsed her uterus (pushed it outside her body). Basically the heifer needed an epidural, uterus cleaned and repacked and stitched up to keep it in along with a shot to stop the contractions. Total bill for both visits was just over $1200 which was not bad considering it was 2 seperate farm visits on a long weekend.

ok that was a good price but all my vet did was give an xray pretty much put her to sleep and then put a splint on...i'm not arguing on whether it was worth it..cuz to fix my dog's problem i would do anything ..i'm just saying sometimes i feel that it's very expensive to go to the vet..especially an emergency one

[CSK'sMom]

Emergency vet clinics will always cost you more than your regular vet. You're paying for them to be available after regular hours. Unfortunately, it's just the way it is, just like calling a plumber out after hours. With that said, vets aren't regulated as to what they can charge. A new vet just setting up practice will unevitably charge more than an older vet who's been in practice for decades due to the initial cost of setting up the practice. More affluent areas of a city, vets will charge more based on what the market will bear. It's all economics...

[Rocketo]

Emergency vet clinics will always cost you more than your regular vet. You're paying for them to be available after regular hours. Unfortunately, it's just the way it is, just like calling a plumber out after hours. With that said, vets aren't regulated as to what they can charge. A new vet just setting up practice will unevitably charge more than an older vet who's been in practice for decades due to the initial cost of setting up the practice. More affluent areas of a city, vets will charge more based on what the market will bear. It's all economics...

i didn't go after hours...actually my vet told me to go there instead since they said they were booked for the day and they didn't have the supplies needed to get her repaired...

[hugh_da_man]

so you are saying that because he went to school he should charge 500 dollars an hour ? i went to school studied hard in a different field i sure as hell don't get compensated as much as they do..considering my job is a lot of more stressful and high paced...

i'm not arguing with the fact that they should get paid that much but to the fact that they take advantage of the fact that they know that you will pay for it regardless...since your dog is a loved one...if it was 3k i'd still pay it

No, I'm saying that because he went to school and runs a business that requires him to have office hours where he might not have any clients there (ie, after hours since it's an emergency vet) he needs to charge more to cover all of his costs and still make a decent wage for himself and his employees.

It really doesn't matter what you do. I think a vet should be compensated decently for his/her time otherwise there will be no incentive to have an after hours emergency vet.

Also, I think it's insulting to say that vets are taking advantage of you. I've been to an emergency vet and they are usually the biggest animal lovers around. They do what they do because they love animals usually. It's possible some vets are ripping you off but most I've been to charge a lot because they have to make sure their business survives.

[bionicbadger]

There is pet insurance you could have gotten.

[CSK'sMom]

Then I'd be seriously looking at your own vet and their abilities! If your own vet can't see an animal in a somewhat semi-urgent situation and isn't equipped to deal with broken bones than I would be seriously questioning the situation and even looking for another vet.

Rocketo, emergency vet clinics charge premiums period, it doesn't matter if it's after hours or not. They are usually set up as a full animal hospital that is fully equipped to deal with everything, including critical trauma cases. For example, we have a vet here in Niagara doing housecalls. He only charges $50 to come out, our regular vet charges about $45 for an office visit. In contrast, our emergency vet clinic charges $150 just to walk in the door Mon-Fri and $200 on the weekends.

[Rocketo]

Then I'd be seriously looking at your own vet and their abilities! If your own vet can't see an animal in a somewhat semi-urgent situation and isn't equipped to deal with broken bones than I would be seriously questioning the situation and even looking for another vet.

Rocketo, emergency vet clinics charge premiums period, it doesn't matter if it's after hours or not. They are usually set up as a full animal hospital that is fully equipped to deal with everything, including critical trauma cases. For example, we have a vet here in Niagara doing housecalls. He only charges $50 to come out, our regular vet charges about $45 for an office visit. In contrast, our emergency vet clinic charges $150 just to walk in the door Mon-Fri and $200 on the weekends.

yeah that's what we pretty much paid
that's what happens when you live in bayview village

[malbadon]

There was a W5 report a few months ago that I saw about the vet industry in Canada and it was less than flattering.
They had cameras in a Banff vet seminar where vets learn the best ways to take people for as much as possible, since people will pay almost anything for their pets. Different drug hawkers making special deals with vets to sell their medicine over cheaper kinds. It was all the bad things you'd ever heard about US style healthcare wrapped in and bundled into veterinary medicine.

Basically because we are so used to socialized medicine and those costs for ourselves, vets take advantage of the fact people don't realize that the vet industry doesn't work that way at all. One vet can charge $100 bucks to extract a tooth, the next one could charge $1000 bucks. It's the wild west and they charge what they figure you'll pay to not lose poor Mr. Tinkles. They even had the head of vets in BC say its not vets fault people are stupid and don't know this stuff.

Pet Meds were the worst, calling across the country they found vets charging anywhere from 12 bucks to 120 bucks for the exact same vial of medicine that costs 10 bucks to the vet.

One thing I learned from it that I didn't know is that you are allowed to ask your vet to write a prescription for you medicine and then go to a normal pharmacy to get it.

Then they compared it to England (I think) where public outrage over this practice a few years ago brought in legislation and now vets have to post what their "dispensing fee" is in their office so people can compare and surgeries, etc, are on a England-wide pay rate (I think it was like how dentists work here).

[Rocketo]

i was forward this..thanks

http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/cat_got_your_wallet/