What do I know

[cow pollinater]

One of my old dogs got a huge lump on his jaw on Friday. I felt it and told my wife I was going to lance it and get him on antibiotics. He is retired from working and is a much loved family dog now so both my wife and daughter flipped out at the notion of me sticking a knife into him and administering antibiotics myself.
My wife looked at him and decided he'd been stung by a bee as he snaps at them. She told me to butt out and she would handle it so I agreed but told her if he wasn't better by Monday I was going to lance it.
When I got home from the breeding route this morning there was a note on the counter that said "gone to the vet". I left for the ranch and when I got home my dog was wagging his stump tail waiting to see me with half his face shaved and a big sack of skin hanging there.
"What did they do?" I asked.
"They lanced it and gave him antibiotics." she replied.
"How much did it cost?" I asked.
"$600" she replied.
I'm glad he's better but I kind of wish I knew more about stuff like this so I could save a little money on vet bills. :roll:

 

[branguscowgirl]

I know the feeling CP. Sometimes I take a beloved animal to the vet thinking they may know something that I don't. It will end up costing me hundreds, and I had told them what was wrong to begin with.
Right now I have a chicken, (yes a chicken) that I have treated with 3 different antibiotics and lanced and sucked the puss out of her sinus for over a month now. (Obviously I do not eat my chickens!) :bang:
But like you, If I can take care of it myself, I do.

 

[Hook]

Just had the same discussion with my wife over snickers. She had an obvious abscess on her jawline. My outcome was different from yours. I saved 600.00.

 

[herofan]

600? :shock:

We have a traveling vet here that has charges around $33 per visit per animal. Our last visit he gave one calf shots for light pneumonia and pulled a rotten tooth in a cow, gave antibiotics and charged $60+. He charges $33 each for delivering a calf as well. Is this about normal for this kind of procedure or cheap?

I read once(perhaps here) that if vets charged much for cattle, people complained, but it didn't matter what they charged for dogs and cats, people were willing to pay. I think there is some truth to that around here.

 

[Nesikep]

herofan, I think that's a good deal...

I had my cow that had a stroke last year, she was bahaving really funny and was getting really thin (unlike her, she was usually a barrel), and pacing a lot.
I brought her to the vet, he looked her over, took a blood sample, and gave her LA200, that was $450 bucks, and she didn't get better, she died a couple weeks later, and the blood tests didn't show anything.. infact her red and white blood cell counts were textbook perfect. I don't regret taking her to the vet, as I'd be kicking myself and saying "what if" if I hadn't

I think there should be some sort of deal that if the vet doesn't do the animal any good, there's a maximum charge of lets say $100, excluding his out of pocket expense perhaps.

I think we had a ceasarian done on a cow with a uterine torsion, and that was a fair bill too, and she was a write off too.

For anything except a ceasarian, I can handle myself.. I think I could handle a uterine prolapse as well, though hopefully I don't need to. If the vet charged even just $100 per visit I'd be much more inclined to have him come out once a year and take a look around, but as it stands, I'll do it myself and may my own wages

 

[Kingfisher]

Wow! I knew things were more $ in Cally but.....wow...;(

 

[Nesikep]

doctors, dentists and vets are all cut from the same cloth!

 

[branguscowgirl]

Here in Cali the further north you get, the more reasonably priced the vets are. I travel for work, and I take my Boston Terrior every where with me. Last summer he got a foxtail up his nose while down south.. The first vet wanted over $400 to sedate him and look for it, (So I walked out!) The second vet I spent around $260 to sedate and look for it and they never found it. Brought him home, (here in northern CA) My vet did all the same things for only $75. From now on, he has to wait to get home to have a problem!!

 

[branguscowgirl]

doctors, dentists and vets are all cut from the same cloth!

And what "cloth" is that?
If you are referring to the high prices for their fees, let me tell you what I know. (My brother is a Dentist.
I am a nurse and work with many doctors.)
The cost of insurance, office staff, office space, licenses for the drugs, continuing education, school loans, ect.ect.ect. cause the prices to seen high to us. The cost of treating patients is very high! As I have discussed in a previous thread, many are just trying to stay a float. I do not want to start a discussion about what it costs for them to just keep their doors open, or how much money they loose treating Medi Cal patients, or lack of insurance reimbursement from the crappy insurance plans that some people have. Again, as I have stated before, most that are still in business today are there because they want to take care of people. (Or animals) They are just as frustrated with the mounting cost of health care as we are! I am not saying that there are no bad apples out there, committing insurance fraud and abusing narcotic prescriptions, but far fewer than you think.

 

[Nesikep]

My mother was a nurse as well... and I can't speak for the US side of the border, but around here, I guess I could go further by including anyone who gets a paycheque from the government usually being at a giant round bale feeder and bawling whenever it isn't quite good enough. Yes, there are people who do it because they want to help others, but I would venture to guess those aren't the wheels that are always squeaking either. Around here teachers get somewhere around $70,000 a year I believe, and have about 3 months a year off, and are always on strike.

I can't just point the finger there either though, bearing in mind the source of this information (Facebook), Apparently there's a Hepatitis B drug, and around here it costs $1000... Now the kicker is you can get a round trip ticket to Egypt and back to buy the same drug for $15 for less... I'm not a fan of all his work, but Micheal Moore's film Sicko kinda pointed that out with the cost of athsma (spelling?) inhalers in the US compared to Cuba

 

[branguscowgirl]

Yes Nesi, I bet it is much different in Canada than here. That is really good pay for teachers! Ours do not make anywhere near that!

 

[Nesikep]

I guess they don't strike enough :O

 

[CKC1586]

http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/li ... nity-vets/

Thoughts?

 

[Kingfisher]

Yea well I saw a sign or maybe heard an ad on the radio where a dentist was offering a 50% discount for cash. I'm thinking no wonder insurance is expensive. But then again nobody said you had to be a good business man to be a good doctor.....

 

[regolith]

http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/lifelong-immunity-vets/

Thoughts?

Skim-read only, so quick thoughts.
Vets like to do an annual check-up. I think that's part of the reason for annual vaccinations - to keep a routine, to maintain checks.
I have more cats than dogs, and have been told by vets that the cat vaccine will safely last two years (from that article it may well be longer, but we're likely vaccinating for different things in this country).
If it will last longer than that I really would appreciate my vet giving me that information, because my cats are not socialised and vet visits greatly stress them. My older cat I decided a while back that she was not going to a vet clinic again regardless; she's long retired and she doesn't need to be terrified for the sake of prolonging her life. She's due her annual now and it would give me great peace of mind if I thought her previous vaccine would cover her for the remainder of her life.

 

[branguscowgirl]

http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/lifelong-immunity-vets/

Thoughts?

Skim-read only, so quick thoughts.
Vets like to do an annual check-up. I think that's part of the reason for annual vaccinations - to keep a routine, to maintain checks.
I have more cats than dogs, and have been told by vets that the cat vaccine will safely last two years (from that article it may well be longer, but we're likely vaccinating for different things in this country).
If it will last longer than that I really would appreciate my vet giving me that information, because my cats are not socialised and vet visits greatly stress them. My older cat I decided a while back that she was not going to a vet clinic again regardless; she's long retired and she doesn't need to be terrified for the sake of prolonging her life. She's due her annual now and it would give me great peace of mind if I thought her previous vaccine would cover her for the remainder of her life.

Regolith aren't you able to vaccinate at home? I can order, buy from feed store, or buy from vet, any vaccine that i need for them other than the Rabies. Possibly different laws in your area?

 

[regolith]

Different laws, also you run up against clinic policy, they tend to make it difficult for me to get even blackleg vaccine to do the calves; lepto vaccine the farmer simply isn't allowed to handle. I don't know about pets but my dog had to have multiple vet visits last year because a) they couldn't get her records from previous vet to prove she'd had her initial round of vaccines and b) they didn't have all the vaccines in the clinic on the day I arranged for her booster to be done, and didn't know it, so she had to go back in for the lepto a week later.

Doing them myself would actually be a simple solution that would be much less stressful for my 'semi-feral' pet cats.
Doing what Hook did could result in prosecution... according to my local vets. There's not a great deal of common sense applied when deciding what is and isn't legal for animal owners to do.

 

[herofan]

doctors, dentists and vets are all cut from the same cloth!

And what "cloth" is that?
If you are referring to the high prices for their fees, let me tell you what I know. (My brother is a Dentist.
I am a nurse and work with many doctors.)
The cost of insurance, office staff, office space, licenses for the drugs, continuing education, school loans, ect.ect.ect. cause the prices to seen high to us. The cost of treating patients is very high! As I have discussed in a previous thread, many are just trying to stay a float. I do not want to start a discussion about what it costs for them to just keep their doors open, or how much money they loose treating Medi Cal patients, or lack of insurance reimbursement from the crappy insurance plans that some people have. Again, as I have stated before, most that are still in business today are there because they want to take care of people. (Or animals) They are just as frustrated with the mounting cost of health care as we are! I am not saying that there are no bad apples out there, committing insurance fraud and abusing narcotic prescriptions, but far fewer than you think.

I'm sure that;s true, however, I think it is sad that prices have changed so much over the years. My father is 78 and I have heard him talk about how doctor and hospital prices apparently weren't so bad when he was growing up, and even a young adult. He said he couldn't remember exact prices, but he said he does remember it not being a huge deal like it is today. He said that nobody he knew had insurance in those days, but doesn't remember an average family avoiding the doctor or hospital services because of cost.

His father had TB and many other health issues in his life and always paid from his pocket. I don't think any average person could pay all their medical bills in this day and time if they had much going on.

It's the same with mechanic work. I remember when I was a teen, I didn't have much money, but I never hesitated to have my truck worked on if needed, and I just payed from my personal account and thought nothing of it. Today, I have a full-time job and make good money, but i dread every time I have to have mechanic work done because I know it's going to be an arm, leg, and an ear. Today, they can't even sneeze in the direction of an engine unless its several hundred dollars. If they actually have to fix anything, it's ridiculous.

 

[branguscowgirl]

I agree hero. The cost of just living is too darn expensive!!
As for medical costs being so much more than in our grandparents day, a high price comes with all the new technology! Ultrasounds, blood tests, sonograms, MRI's ect. All very expensive to purchase and run. But hey, it saves lives. Right?

 

[herofan]

I agree hero. The cost of just living is too darn expensive!!
As for medical costs being so much more than in our grandparents day, a high price comes with all the new technology! Ultrasounds, blood tests, sonograms, MRI's ect. All very expensive to purchase and run. But hey, it saves lives. Right?

That's true. I suppose all modern conveniences come with a price. I remember when I was considering building a house several years ago, I mentioned it to my grandmother and about how much it would cost. She said when she was young, they didn't have much money, but they didn't need much money because they didn't have all the bills we have today. She said if I built a house like they built them when she was a girl, it wouldn't cost nearly as much. She said they had no electricity, plumbing, tv bills, or any of that. there was no cost for installation and no monthly bills.

I don't know what one does with a piece of information like that; I'm not going to build a house without those things, but it certainly was food for thought about how things have changed.