Vet Fees - Page 2

Bluefreak · 15-03-2010, 04:30 AM

My local vet seems stupidly cheap after all I have read here... The wifes cat got hit by a car recently, lower k9 snapped off just above the gum, upper k9 sticking out at 45º - consultation, knock out, 2 x tooth extraction, ultrasound to check internals, x-ray to check for broken jaw and anti-biotic shot...

$145 all up...

lemon · 15-03-2010, 07:12 AM

Sorry to hear about your loss.I didn`t know about the labs having the same problems,as I have 2 labs&a goldern retriever,that I dont breed.Vet bills are a joke.

**buggerlugs** · 17-03-2010, 05:26 PM

Ok, had to get another dishlicker. It's been terrible around home. Your so used of having the big bugger wandering round patrolling the place. We've even had to lock stuff up. Unheard of....Got in contact with the German Shephard Dog Club of QLD. They put me in contact with some breeders. 2 photos. One of "Zach " at 4 weeks, one at 6 weeks. We pick him up this weekend. He is a glamour or long haired shephard.

GT-E · 17-03-2010, 06:52 PM

I have a pure bred Devon Rex cat that was hit by a car last year. $1600 later she had spent a week in hospital, operation to have her broken hip operated on and then 6 weeks in a cage at home.
In January the same cat disappeared for 3 week, only to be called by the Vet saying someone had dropped her off. She was in a bad way with a severly broken front paw. $1300 later she had a pin in her front paw 2 days in hospital and a full cast. We had to have the cast redone twice as she had pressure sores and needed to be treated. I complained about the cost and they were kind enough to do the recasting for $75. Next tuesday she has more surgery to have the pin removed. I cant wait for that bill....
We have our pets on the home insurance and got $400 each time, which makes the hit a little less, but I told the cat next time she will not come back from the vet.

Rangas GTP · 17-03-2010, 11:05 PM

Beautifull dog buggerlugs. I lost my 13 year old staffy to cancer. I have never cried so much before in my life. Had him from a pup and was with me at work everyday. Total in vet bills from birth to his passing Just over $8000. To top it off I own an Eclectus parrot who was diagnosed with chlamydia, a sexually transmitted desease passed on by a pigeon or those barstard indian minor birds flocking to his cage for a feed. Now vets are expensive but avarian doctors are in a league of there own. When he was diagnosed the vets first question to me was do you have any children? answer YES
how many and how old? answer Two under the age of 2. OH they will need to go to the doctors, highly contageous. O crap I kiss him hello every day. Well to cut a long story short, kids were fine, had to stay at inlaws for a week, house disinfected, wife going ape sh!!!!!t at me. The parrot, injections every Wednesday for 7 weeks. $1800
Thanks for coming, see you in 1 year for his annual check up.

FG XR · 18-03-2010, 12:51 AM

Sorry for your loss mate, ive got a Pedigree Labrador who is like any other dog, a part of our family.

I got "Pet Insurance" from SGIO for ($22 a month i think i pay for "top cover") and it means you can claim all vet bills, overnight stays, needles and check ups or for when your dog starts acting weird and your not sure if he has injured himself, even covers de-sexing. Saves a penny or 2!

Would hate to see my dog bitten or die by snake bite (live close to bush) and even worse hit by a car!

Puppy pic:

3 years on....

and my favourite

**buggerlugs** · 18-03-2010, 06:50 PM

Love the "Dog Beer". Beautiful Lab you have there as well . Geez, after reading a few of these posts we might have got off lightly compared to some of you guys....

FG XR · 20-03-2010, 12:15 PM

thanks, sorry insurance company is medibank not sgio

silvergsvan · 25-03-2010, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluefreak

My local vet seems stupidly cheap after all I have read here... The wifes cat got hit by a car recently, lower k9 snapped off just above the gum, upper k9 sticking out at 45º - consultation, knock out, 2 x tooth extraction, ultrasound to check internals, x-ray to check for broken jaw and anti-biotic shot...

$145 all up...

That is good value. About 10 years ago in one week I had to have a tooth out and the cat had to have a tooth out. The cat cost $50 more than me!

In regard to horse owners a mate of mine says he'd rather go out with a crack cocaine addict than a horse person, they cost less

StrokedXT · 25-03-2010, 11:35 AM

Gees, I think some vets take advantage of the bond responsible pet owners have with their animals (family) and charge accordingly.

While my vet bills add up with 2 dogs and 3 cats i have found my local vet really good, they do charge but theres been lots of times were they have gone out of their way to help us and not asked for a cent.

My bernese mountain dog got really sick late last year and we thought we would loose him, the vets and nurses there all had an attatchment to him and refused to give up they offered us to keep him at the hospital free of charge so they could keep an eye on him and gave him the best of care and he came through. There were tears flowing from all of us when he got the all clear to come home and when we go for walks he almost drags me to their door as we go past so im confident they look after him well.

Gotta find a good one that loves your mates as well as much as you do and it all evens out in the end, we have spent a fortune their but we know its worth it and they wont rip us off when it comes to emergencies during or after hours.

Sam_Boss260 · 08-11-2010, 03:01 PM

Thought that I would datamine this thread....

Our dog is currently in an animal hospital, with paralysis from a tick. Probably goign to cost us around $800 - $1000. Poor little bugger couldn't even support his own weight or stand up on his own.

Due to pick him up this afternoon, and am not looking forward to the final bill.

And just a remionder to all dog owners out their.... CHECK YOU DOG EVERY DAY FOR TICKS ! It is prime tick season right now.

FPV8U · 08-11-2010, 03:14 PM

I brush my shepherd about 3 times a week and always check for anything strange is there something else i should be doing to inspect for Ticks?

What can be done to prevent them?

Romulus · 08-11-2010, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sam_Boss260

Thought that I would datamine this thread....

Our dog is currently in an animal hospital, with paralysis from a tick. Probably goign to cost us around $800 - $1000. Poor little bugger couldn't even support his own weight or stand up on his own.

Due to pick him up this afternoon, and am not looking forward to the final bill.

And just a remionder to all dog owners out their.... CHECK YOU DOG EVERY DAY FOR TICKS ! It is prime tick season right now.

At the end of the day, if your budget can stretch I will bet you you'll feel like its the best money spent if you get your dog back fit and healthy.

**redxm** · 08-11-2010, 04:31 PM

Sorry to here about your best mate. Ive lost 2 horses this year, both from colic, that was around $1000 each
The staffy last vet trip cost me $2k for eating a rat bait.
There have been numerous trips to vets with both the dog and horses. Not game to actually add it all up but would be in the magnitude of 15k in the last 16 years.
All the vets Ive dealt with are pretty good and usually let me pay it off.
When you see a bloke up to his armpit in a horse you realise why they charge so much .

With humans you have dentists, doctors, surgeons, oncologist, etc etc
With animals the Vet is usually all of these, and any money ive spent to bring an animal back to health is worth it. Unfortunately they can not always be saved.

The new pup looks good mate. Hope you enjoy a long and happy life together

74_XB_Ute · 08-11-2010, 07:22 PM

I find vets to be pretty hit n miss with the service they provide. I had my dog put down earlier this year and when I went to pay the bill straight up the vet said "it's ok...we will send you a bill" I thought they were nice and considered the way my wife and I were feeling at the time. Anyway...6 business days later I got a bill from a Debt Collector....not happy at all!!

Yaw · 08-11-2010, 08:37 PM

Mate, I am so sorry to hear about your loss RIP

As for the vet mate, let it go, they have cost themselves a customer which is about to get a new pup. More fool them. Find a resonable one.

Our Cats Vet is Susan at Anvet Kedron. She is wonderful, and reasonable.

However when an emergency comes up like it did a few years ago on Good Friday at 6.30 pm My cat Oskar decided to eat a piece of cotton like a strand of spagetti, only thing is it still had a needle on the end of it. He had the needle stuck in the back of his throat. At stafford is a 24 hour vet emergency hospital. $350 later, Oskar had the needle taken out.

I never mind paying the big bucks when it is out of hours and without notice. But will stick to our usual vet any other time.

Sam_Boss260 · 08-11-2010, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FPV8U

I brush my shepherd about 3 times a week and always check for anything strange is there something else i should be doing to inspect for Ticks?

What can be done to prevent them?

What I have been told (and researched) is that you need to do multiple things, particularly between Sept and Dec as it is breeding season.

So I have bought Tick dog collars, which last upto 2 months. And also the usual Frontline type of product that is applied for fleas / ticks. The problem is that these precuations are not 100%. You still have to do manual searches every day to feel for any ticks. Places to feel for them include face, front legs, in between toes, chest and ears. Brushing may not always find them.

Also, my yard is pretty tidy, but there is one section / corner that is overgrown... not for long. So overgrown trees, bushes and grass is where these suckers can breed.

So, the little fella is back home tonight, the wallet is alot lighter and we are a little more vigilant on ticks now too.

xbgs351 · 10-11-2010, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by woodsy109

To compare it to human treatments, I recently had an ultrasound and ct scan, the ultrasound was bulk billed but I think it was around $100-150 and the ct scan cost $495. The specialist that I saw before getting a scan cost $150 per consultation.

Lets put these fees into context.

The radiologist would be getting paid around $500,000 per annum. In comparison a first year vet who has completed a five year degree gets paid a salary in the order of $38,000. This climbs to a paltry $48,000 for experienced vets.

Now if a vet wants to earn any more than that, they pretty much have to go into business for themselves. To do that costs an absolute bomb. There is the cost of fitting out the building, the ultrasound, x-ray, autoclave, anesthetic equipment, theatre lighting, operating tables, monitoring equipment , IV equipment, diagnostics equipment, medical instruments, dental equipment, computers, software, vehicles etc which is probably more like setting up a day surgery than a general practice.

Then there are the running costs. Vets have a lot more support staff then medical centres and the equipment is just as expensive to maintain. They also find themselves treated like a charity with injured wildlife being lobbed on them all the time and people who expect discounts because their pet died.

When it comes to veterinary care, there are no governmental rebates for either labour (consulting, procedures, professional development etc) nor are there any for any drugs or vaccines.

Finally there are the hours. Vets with their own practices are often on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. No surpise then that their profession has one of the highest divorce and suicide rates of any profession.

grandpa_spec_F6 · 10-11-2010, 03:20 PM

We had a great vet down the road from us, was always a tad expensive but he knew what he was doing and knew our pets names. He never tried to push things with us and was always very considerate.

Now he's moved on and this new owner is just diabolical!

My mother went in with her Maltese terrier for a routine heart worm shot, suddenly she's being told he needs his teeth cleaned, this expensive as hell dog food and some other little bits and pieces.

When my mother politely declined and said she would get his teeth cleaned when she got paid, the vet turned around and told her that "if you can't afford to pay then you should own a pet!"

Most expensive thing we ever had done was when my mothers dog managed to eat a prawn that was concealing a fishhook. We were on the beach and the dogs were going off, running about and having a good old time.

The old cheese put her fishing rod down for 10 seconds, then as we looked up, all we see is this ball of white fury lightening flying along the beach, nab up the prawn in his mouth and then collapse in a wailing heap.

That set us back quite a pretty penny (few hundred from memory plus the anesthetic)

ThaFlash · 11-11-2010, 03:24 PM

All I can say is get pet insurance http://www.petplan.com.au comes to mind, the RSPCA have a similar thing, what ever reduces the toll on you financially and mentally and let's not forget your pet.

This way you won't want to KILL your vet. Because in all honesty most of them need a moral and ethical hiding and add to that a touch Humanity and a little bit civic virtue!

Before I forget, the Vets are the sick animals here....