Vet bills

[Sluggoslinger]

Our dog has a case of cherry eye which all said and done will be about 1,000 to get fixed. Looks like my VS is being put on hold for a while. He is a great little puppy but it seems like every time you take him into the vet you just grab your ankles and go for the ride.

[fishsmith]

Just tell them, that is to much and they'll have to put him/her down.
Then watch for falling prices.
It sounds cruel, but like an HMO where "There's no money in a cure" for a Vet "There's no money in a dead pet".

[Sluggoslinger]

Great idea and I might try it for something else but Cherry eye isn't life threatening...

[stripersnipr]

Originally Posted by fishsmith

Just tell them, that is to much and they'll have to put him/her down.
Then watch for falling prices.
It sounds cruel, but like an HMO where "There's no money in a cure" for a Vet "There's no money in a dead pet".

Thats the honest truth. I know a girl who is a Vet assistant and she told me about training she received on how to "read" a customer and their apparent love for the pet so the rates could be set properly.

[MAC]

You could just tell them a 22 shell is only about a nickel.....

Our vet is a hunter and he told me himself that he can't charge too much when a hunter brings a dog in. He knows a lot of them would just put the animal down themselves instead of spending a lot of money.

Our dog needs to get a nasty procedure done every 3 months or so. (anal gland excretion) It costs 8 bux at our vet. My wife brought the dog to the vet closer to home once and the same procedure cost her 40 bux. So it is worth the extra 20 minute drive.

[beamie]

It is kind of crazy but I think alot of us take better care of our pets than we do ourselves.

[Slingah]

they just quoted us $500.00+ to clean ONE of our cats teeth....we got two cats......ya right

[BW from AZ]

"Our dog needs to get a nasty procedure done every 3 months or so. (anal gland excretion) It costs 8 bux at our vet. My wife brought the dog to the vet closer to home once and the same procedure cost her 40 bux. So it is worth the extra 20 minute drive."

I heard this is done at most of the better dog groomers with every bath. Having seen it done on DIRTY JOBS I wouldn't / couldn't think of doing it myself.

[Swimmer]

$250.00 for a biopsy the other night. I thought that was pretty good.

[Young Salt]

Originally Posted by Slingah

they just quoted us $500.00+ to clean ONE of our cats teeth....we got two cats......ya right

for that kind of $$ you should get one of those diamond grills that's popular with the rappers

[Slingah]

Originally Posted by Young Salt

for that kind of $$ you should get one of those diamond grills that's popular with the rappers

.....kitty bling

[teaser]

I have 2 rottweilers that have pet insurance, it's about $350.00 a year for each dog. If you love your pets then its well worth it. The 1st few visits to the vet basicaly pays for itself, shots, checkups everything is covered as long as its not a pre-existing problem. Great for puppies and kittens. My female rotty had her left knee replaced 8 months ago and now its time for the other one to get done. $3200.00 a pop! After insurance claim submitted ... $1300.00so the savings are well worth the initial investment. I wish I had it on my first rotty "Squirt", some of you here may remember me writing about him. I spent a total of $32,000.00 on him in Bridgewater to try and save him, 6 operations, 29 days in the animal hospital and I still lost him. Insurance would have been great when I had him but I thought ...who needs to spend 350.00 on pet insurance? So check out the insurance for pets if you really want to save some coin.

[labrax]

We put our dog down late summer last year, and the vet offered a number of treatments they could have subjected the dog to without any idea whether the procedures would have produced any benefit to her quality of life. I took a more pragmatic approach than my wife, as I could not see ultimately putting the dog on $75/mo. pills, acupuncture treatments, lots of follow-ups for them not being able to tell us if it would improve her outcome. In the end - my wife, who was a long term vet tech (at the same office) agreed and we decided that it was in the dog's best interest to put her down.

A co-worker is going through the same thing right now - $60/mo for the last 9 mo. + plus all the office visits for a dog that really should be put down. I and two other dog owners that went through similar situations warned him that they almost try to upsell the services knowing that the attachment to a beloved pet will get people to spend a lot of money. He has been to Tufts and his local vet and has probably spent over $1200 easily in that time frame.