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Why don't vets want to doctor cattle any more?
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<blockquote data-quote="stocky" data-source="post: 124378" data-attributes="member: 1150"><p>Vicky, All of your points have merit. However, things are considerably different in your area than in my area financially. Here, we have no secretaries earning 6 figure salaries and we have no vets working 100 hours per week. So, that comparison doesnt fit this area.</p><p> There are more beef mama cows within 125 miles of where I live than anywhere else in the United States according to the agriculture department. There are about 25 cattle auctions in that area. There is one vet who has an office 20 miles away who will come out for a cow if it is one of the days he makes house calls. He generally works 4 days per week and some of that time he will make farm calls, so it isnt easy to find an appointment time without it being quite a while in advance. He is an outstanding person and a very good vet. We get along very well. However, I know that if I have an animal that needs his attention, he will probably not be available.</p><p> A farm call costs around 75 dollars plus mileage of over 1 dollar per mile over 15 miles. There is a fee for examining the animal and a fee for any service he provides and that is all before the medicine which is billed a huge profit per cc over what it would cost in a bottle.</p><p> Most farm calls take about a half hour and the vet can make 6-8 during his working hours. If the call takes longer, there is an extra time charge. In a normal 8 hour day, the vet will take in a minimum of 600-1000 dollars for his time, not counting profit on medicine. There is such a demand for vet work here that a vet can literally work all the hours he wants to and be busy. He can decide what his income is by how many hours he wants to work.</p><p> I know there are expenses and my vet has a set of metal corrals and a headchute in an old building which has dog pens and cat pens where he spends the majority of his working time with small animals.</p><p> I know it is much easier for a vet to work at a farm in a great facility that is clean and handy. I have yet to meet a farmer who hasnt had a cow have problems in an area where she cannot be gotten to the corral. That is one of the cattle facts of life.</p><p> Lots of people on this thread have come up with very good points. I just dont agree with the argument that a vet working on large animals goes broke or does without for his or her family.</p><p> Every vet I have known in my life has had huge farms, a fancy home, all new vehicles, and been better off financially than anyone in the area. I have never seen a vet who made as little amount of money as the farmers who he worked for.</p><p> I do not begrudge anyone for getting what they can get, be it ball players, lawyers, doctors, or vets. Vets go to school a very long time and what they earn, they deserve. Economics say that a farmer can pay what he can pay. When the service is more than he can afford, he simply has to let the animal die. Right now, cattle prices are good, but when they break, many of those animals wont be worth what the vet charge will be and most farmers cant afford to doctor animals to get them well to sell at less than the vet fee.</p><p> It is a fact of life that we cant pay a vet to come out to do services that we can learn to do. It is another fact of life that if you could afford to, the vet wouldnt be available. If an animal gets sick on Friday afternoon, it has to wait until Monday or Tuesday, if Monday is a holiday, to get vet attention. If I cant perform what the animal needs, it will die. It is that simple. Farmers get very frustrated hauling the animals they need to make their payments to the dead pile because no vet works the hours that the animal needed help. </p><p> I appreciate very much any help I get from the vet. However, I know most of the time cows do not get sick during office hours or one of the days during the week when my vet works. It is a fact that a vet can make more money doing small animals just the same as a doctor can make more money being a specialist than a general medicine doctor. If a vet chooses only small animals, more power to him or her. It creates alot of frustration from owners of large animals, but the vet shouldnt be surprised at this or fail to understand the reason for it, or criticize the farmer for feeling that way. </p><p> Sorry for the long post, There are many good arguments from the vets side and from the farmers side, I just have never seen in this area where financial hardships on the vet have ever come into play.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="stocky, post: 124378, member: 1150"] Vicky, All of your points have merit. However, things are considerably different in your area than in my area financially. Here, we have no secretaries earning 6 figure salaries and we have no vets working 100 hours per week. So, that comparison doesnt fit this area. There are more beef mama cows within 125 miles of where I live than anywhere else in the United States according to the agriculture department. There are about 25 cattle auctions in that area. There is one vet who has an office 20 miles away who will come out for a cow if it is one of the days he makes house calls. He generally works 4 days per week and some of that time he will make farm calls, so it isnt easy to find an appointment time without it being quite a while in advance. He is an outstanding person and a very good vet. We get along very well. However, I know that if I have an animal that needs his attention, he will probably not be available. A farm call costs around 75 dollars plus mileage of over 1 dollar per mile over 15 miles. There is a fee for examining the animal and a fee for any service he provides and that is all before the medicine which is billed a huge profit per cc over what it would cost in a bottle. Most farm calls take about a half hour and the vet can make 6-8 during his working hours. If the call takes longer, there is an extra time charge. In a normal 8 hour day, the vet will take in a minimum of 600-1000 dollars for his time, not counting profit on medicine. There is such a demand for vet work here that a vet can literally work all the hours he wants to and be busy. He can decide what his income is by how many hours he wants to work. I know there are expenses and my vet has a set of metal corrals and a headchute in an old building which has dog pens and cat pens where he spends the majority of his working time with small animals. I know it is much easier for a vet to work at a farm in a great facility that is clean and handy. I have yet to meet a farmer who hasnt had a cow have problems in an area where she cannot be gotten to the corral. That is one of the cattle facts of life. Lots of people on this thread have come up with very good points. I just dont agree with the argument that a vet working on large animals goes broke or does without for his or her family. Every vet I have known in my life has had huge farms, a fancy home, all new vehicles, and been better off financially than anyone in the area. I have never seen a vet who made as little amount of money as the farmers who he worked for. I do not begrudge anyone for getting what they can get, be it ball players, lawyers, doctors, or vets. Vets go to school a very long time and what they earn, they deserve. Economics say that a farmer can pay what he can pay. When the service is more than he can afford, he simply has to let the animal die. Right now, cattle prices are good, but when they break, many of those animals wont be worth what the vet charge will be and most farmers cant afford to doctor animals to get them well to sell at less than the vet fee. It is a fact of life that we cant pay a vet to come out to do services that we can learn to do. It is another fact of life that if you could afford to, the vet wouldnt be available. If an animal gets sick on Friday afternoon, it has to wait until Monday or Tuesday, if Monday is a holiday, to get vet attention. If I cant perform what the animal needs, it will die. It is that simple. Farmers get very frustrated hauling the animals they need to make their payments to the dead pile because no vet works the hours that the animal needed help. I appreciate very much any help I get from the vet. However, I know most of the time cows do not get sick during office hours or one of the days during the week when my vet works. It is a fact that a vet can make more money doing small animals just the same as a doctor can make more money being a specialist than a general medicine doctor. If a vet chooses only small animals, more power to him or her. It creates alot of frustration from owners of large animals, but the vet shouldnt be surprised at this or fail to understand the reason for it, or criticize the farmer for feeling that way. Sorry for the long post, There are many good arguments from the vets side and from the farmers side, I just have never seen in this area where financial hardships on the vet have ever come into play. [/QUOTE]
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