Watch this video to see how unnecessary testing, unnecessary vaccinations, unnecessary surgery, unnecessary specialist foods and overpriced medicines force veterinary bills up. We should not be surprised that veterinarians have a habit of finding ways, which might seem unethical, to make more money. We expect veterinarians to be pillars of society, whiter than white and decent-minded people of high integrity. Some are but the majority are not. They are in business and all businesses do the same.
This video, which was made in Canada, I believe, sums it up. It sums up what we already know but it is nice to see hard confirmation.
What should pet owners do to avoid high and inflated veterinary bills? Well, there is pet insurance (but that also allows vets to charge more). Other than that pet owners should know about the basics of pet health care and question their veterinarian by which I mean challenge him/her especially regarding vaccinations and testing. There is nearly always no need to buy pet food from a vet.
If a vet recommends that I buy cat food from his clinic, I immediately know he is trying to make more money out of me and that he has transmogrified into a salesman. I don’t go to the vet to meet a salesman.
My thanks to Sandy for finding the video and telling me about it.
Many vets (and human doctors) are of the mind to charge people whatever they can and having been in the vet field for many years I have found that many vets don’t even like animals. They see it as a field where they can scam the owners and make money. Little did they know -vets make less than human doctors. But they also didn’t have the owners now asking pointed questions. My beloved family do NOT get any more vax. When I need to visit the vet-who has been a trusted friend to us for many years-I have a list of questions I need to ask. Together the decision is made to treat or to let go. People need to check on the doctors, their creds, what other clients’ opinions are, what labs they use, and how they treat the pet and the pet’s reaction to the doctor and staff are.
Well done Susan. You are great. All cat owners should be like you.
Please forgive typos*
I had a cat in terrible condition 9 due to a bad mistake leaving him with an idiot while away on a mini vacation] When I returned he was taken to the vet with the clear understanding To be put down, or so I thought. things did not work out in the animals favor. The new fill in vet for that day thought she would try to save him at the cost of $500- I was not in the right frame of mind and so grief stricken that I was useless, and not the warrior I should have been. I returned home in complete shock, but thinking he was euthanized and I would come back in a couple hours to pk up his remains and pay the bill, as they were swamped that day. A call came in 4-hours later> actually asking me if I wanted to put my cat down?? Imagine my shock repeating itself.This action, or lack of I must stress, made the situation 10-times worse for my Maine Coon and myself.[I pray that all vets and animal caregivers will start making the right choices for the injured victims A Top Priority.]
In the final analysis I discovered sadly that they tried to play God and that the new vet did secretly blame me for ‘ Zebediah’s condition” My pet paid the ultimate price, lingering in severe pain for many hours longer than he needed to. He was a Beautiful cat silver and black with a Beautiful ,Sweet personality who didn’t deserve to go that way. It has been over 6+years and I am still very angry. I would have paid her $500- to end his suffering the moment I walked in the clinic; if I had to do it all over.
Eva_
Along with the price is the demand by pet owners for state of the art treatment.
Thank you for posting this, Michael. More shall be revealed…about vaccines, but unfortunately some of us are bound by law to vaccinate yearly. More money for vets, and for the cities.