I just spent $155 at the veterinarian's

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

because my six-month-old kitten has diarrhea. Is that what veterinary medicine costs these days?!

She got spayed two weeks ago and has had bouts of vomiting and diarrhea which may or may not be related to the surgery (infection). Or, it may just be from eating canned food. But rather than just taking her off canned food, let’s give her three shots at 30 bucks each, and then ten days worth of really expensive pills to take at home.

I sure hope this is the last time she gets sick.

Really, I love my little kitten but MAN!

2

Yes, that is indeed what it costs these days. And more. I won’t tell you how much I spent on surgery and chemotherapy for my dog, but it was a helluva lot more than $155. Hell, well-pet visits around here (shots and stuff) start at $100.

You do have alternatives:

  1. Starting a fund for vet care, in which you deposit a certain amount of money every time you get paid/once a month/whatever.

  2. Reserving a credit card for vet care expenses ONLY.

  3. Getting pet insurance, which doesn’t cover everything, but can help in emergencies.

You can also usually find shot clinics that will give basic vaccinations for less than private vets will charge - just make sure you get copies of the shot records and give them to your vet if you have one you use regularly.

I won’t suggest shopping around for a vet with price as a criteria - in my opinion, that’s a bad idea, though of course it is possible to find a competent, compassionate vet who has reasonable prices. You could always ask around among pet-owning friends to see if they have any recommendations.

Good luck, and I hope your kitty feels better very soon.

3

Sounds pretty close. A couple of weeks ago our dog was vomiting, couldn’t keep anything down. We would take him out side and he would just eat the grass.

Took him to the vet and they said he had some sort of intestinal irritation. They gave him some shots, and kept him over night. The next morning, we picked him up, and took him out side while we were waiting for the vet to finish up with another appointment, he passed what looked like a sock (we haven’t figured out his facination with undergarments yet).

Anyway, I don’t remember what it was exactly, but I think it was around $60-$80. It could have gone up considerably if he hadn’t responded to the initial treatment.

And yes, we also hoped it would be the last time he got sick.

GES

4

I spent $230 on marge one Saturday only to discover the diagnosis was “growing pains” and that I should give her a bufferin.

I glared at her all the way home.

I think I may have actually called her a wimp.

but we’re over it.

jarbaby

5

Don’t even ask. I’m probably close to $3K in the whole for vet bills this year. Maybe more. I don’t even pay attention anymore.

#$#%^@! animals…

6

I spend more on vet care than I do on my own health & dental care, and I consider my animals to be fairly healthy.

Romansperson has some good ideas on taking the bite out of it, I keep extra money reserved for those things that pop up unexpectedly. They are so worth it.

7

My cats’ annual checkup+distemper vaccine costs $47x2=$94 for them to tell me “your cats are very healthy.” But, hey, I get a chance to ask about all the little things (Smokie’s ear wax buildup is a little more than normal but nothing to worry about, for example) and put my mind at rest for the year.

You want to know from expensive vet bills? buy a horse. How about $900 for x-rays on all four legs to diagnose a limp with no apparent cause? How about $5k-$7k for intenstinal surgery when your horse develops a fatal blockage? (This is the most common surgery performed on horses, btw)

8

I spent somewhere in the $3K range on a 7 yr. old, sick, crippled, mutt. I took the dog after it had been attacked by a St. Bernard, and nearly chewed in half.(over 1500 stitches). “Bootsie” was 1/2 Dachsie and 1/2 Beagle. She was never allowed inside, and never had the doggie pleasure of gnawing on a good steak bone. She was also crippled from playing with a big ol’ Lab. She had been stepped on and had nerve damage to her front leg and limped badly. She had had the mange, and the fur on her tail never grew back. pretty ugly! She also had valley fever, a desease indigenous to the Phoenix area that can infect both dogs and humans. Needless to say she was an ugly, mean spirited little shit.

The valley fever nearly killed her and she hemorrhaged through her nose and went into a coma. The vet gave her some steroids that saved her life. The good news? When she came out of it, she didn’t remember that she was mean or crippled. Bootsie could actually walk normally. A whole new dog. Bootsie was now a sweet heart! The bad news? The valley fever meds are very strong and over the course of the next two years they caused Bootsie to go deaf and blind. But she had two good years. Slept at the foot of the bed on her little blankie, gnawed her steak bones to her hearts content. Bootsie was loved, and returned that love ten fold.

The valley fever meds eventually damaged her liver and Bootsie finally got cancer and died.

Being the macho kind of guy that I am, I didn’t shed one tear. (read, cried like a baby)

$3K? Worth every penny!

9

Dog food for my dalmatian with chronic bladder stones costs $2 per pound. Steak for me (the cheap shit that I can afford after buying dog food) costs in the neighborhood of about $1.50 a pound. What’s up with that?

10

Holy moly! There’s a lot of money being spent on veterinary care. And I really wanted to be a veterinarian when I was a kid, and some teacher in junior high told me I’d have to learn a lot of advanced math, so I gave up on it.

It’s good to hear that there are so many people who cherish their pets. I’m sorry any of your dogs and cats and horses ever got sick. May they enjoy the best of health from now on.

I was thinking, as I was writing out the check, “It’s a good thing I don’t have kids.” I’m not sure how much I’d be willing to pay for their health.

11

you people are…oops! wrong forum!

have a good weekend!

12

2 summers ago we spent just over 3k on our cat, who went into liver failure. She lived, she’s now fat and happy and it was worth every penny.

I remember when I got my previous cats spayed/neutered… it ran about $30. When we were at the vet 2 weeks ago we asked about neutering rates for a cat, because Mr. Tornado Sweaty Cool Guy’s time is up. NINETY freakin dollars! $90!!! Eeeek! And it’s gonna cost us $180 to get Sparky neutered (we wanted to wait until he was full grown before getting him neutered, which is the only reason he still has the dangly bits now at age 2 1/2)

13

We’ve got a county Humane Society clinic and it’s wonderful - their prices are not outrageous and the vets and techs are most definitely animal people. The down side is that they’re so popular, getting an appointment can be rough.

14

If you call SPAY/USA (1-800-248-SPAY), you can find low-cost clinics in your area for spaying and neutering, if it’s all right with you not to use your usual vet.

Local animal shelters can also often tell you about low-cost spay and neuter programs in your area too.

If you live near a veterinary college and need advanced care for a pet, I was surprised to find out that some of them will work on a payment plan with you. Their fees also don’t tend to be as high as the same care would be at a private specialty clinic, but the wait will usually be longer. YMMV.

15

It’s never too late, bluethree, my ex is studying to be a vet at the age of 46. She never thought that she could handle the math and science (she is definitely not the science-oriented type) but found that she could get through it with sheer persistence.

More on topic, I can definitely say that the cheapest pet care comes from having a vet or vet tech in the family! :smiley: (She has been a vet tech for about 10 years now.) Even after the divorce, (a relatively friendly one) she continues to help out with pet care, administering vaccinations, etc. at the cost of the meds.

Advantages of having a vet or vet tech in the family:

a. Vaccinations about $6 each
b. Most routine stuff free – express anal glands, tooth cleaning (interesting juxtaposition, no? :smiley: ), checkups, etc.
c. Almost everything else at cost of materials or tests

Disadvantages of having a vet or vet tech in the family:

a. Animal-loving people who have access to animals that are being discarded can be dangerous to themselves and others! At one point we had 3 dogs, 5 cats and a pot-bellied pig.

b. Interesting (?) things in the refrigerator – urine samples, etc. “Oh, honey, what’s this in the freezer, is that meatloaf?” “Uh, no, it’s a dead puppy. I was trying to save it and it didn’t make it, don’t worry, it will go back to work for disposal.” (It did, after several months.)

c. Falling in love with the job? Well, we did get divorced and she remarried a vet.

d. This one might be unique to me, since most people don’t live downstairs from their ex (I don’t anymore, we had a two-family house at the time of the divorce and it was just cheaper and easier for me to move downstairs) but it’s a little weird living downstairs from an ex who performs castrations on a regular basis! :eek:

16

bluethree, have your vet show you how to brush your cat’s teeth. A dental cleaning can cost around $250 (they have to be put under) and tooth/teeth extraction will bump it up to the $300 neighborhood. Our cat doesn’t like having his teeth brushed, but you better believe he’s gonna have to deal with it.

17

For any Utahns drifting by check out Utahpets.com They have 20 dollar off certificate to print out that are accepted by most of the vets ( at least in my area)

18

For any Utahns drifting by check out Utahpets.com They have 20 dollar off certificate to print out that are accepted by most of the vets ( at least in my area)

19

Amazing, the stray cat I am taking care of has cost me $250 bucks so far and I haven’t gotten her fixed yet.

HUGS!
Sqrl

20

I second the vote for pet insurance. Well cared for pets live a long time, and you can bet that there WILL be an emergency (or two) over the course of a pet’s life. A typical bill at the clinic I work for is 300-400 bucks, and that is for the simple stuff. If your pet has something really bad going on, requiring multiple days of hospitalization or surgery, you are looking at thousands of dollars. And we don’t take payments.