At least in my father’s practice, this is standard. You charge for the office visit and examination on every appointment. The “professional services” is what the vet does based on what the examination revealed - lab tests, treatments, and so forth.
Regards,
Shodan
A consult is a service, but there are all kinds of other services that can be performed. Everything your healthcare provider, doc or vet, does is a professional service. The more common ones typically have their own billing code, so they get listed specifically as “antibiotic injection” or “heartworm test” or whatever. Less common stuff that doesn’t have its own billing code typically gets listed under “professional services,” “miscellaneous,” or “other.” At a rough guess, I’d say the one charge was for clipping and cleaning the wound, and the other was for doing an impression cytology of the area. (The weird thing with the slide. It can be useful for determining whether a skin infection is bacterial or fungal.)
There are three vet clinics within walking distance of our new home. I’m sure they all have great vets working there.
But we have great vets (4 of them who are all fantastic) who all work at a clinic we went to near our old place. They’re worth the trip out there. A good vet and a good clinic is worth its weight in milkbones.
I love Dr. Harris (the owner of our animal hospital) and I’ll go to him in a heartbeat when all hell breaks loose in my household. When my dogs are in his hands, I know they’ll be well cared for, I know the treatment will be fair, conservative, and the best it can be with the animal’s well-being in mind.
Once you’ve found a good vet, just stick with him or her. It’ll be one of the best deision you’ll ever make for you and your pet.
Glad your pooch is okay!!
Good for you for getting the hell out of that bad vet’s office. Your poor pooch. Something you can do to spread the word about both the bad a good vet is look around for sites like Citysearch where you can review businesses in your area.
I would suggest that you post about this vet on Craigslist’s pets area. Suggestions from other pet owners have been invaluable to us.
I sympathize with you on the bad vet.
We adopted a lovely six months old Maine Coon kitty last year. Unfortunately the breeder’s vet did not catch her serious heart condition. I had her for a month and then took her to the vet to get her neutered. The vet discovered her level four heart murmur and gave her a probable lifespan of two years.
The breeder was furious at her vet. We were heartbroken. I ultimately had to return her to the breeder because I couldn’t bear to spend my time watching the cat every minute wondering when she’d die. 
My little girl spent a month asking for her over and over again.
We’ve since adopted another beautiful and healthy Maine Coon. I was informed by the original breeder that the cat in question passed away recently. Having lost two elderly and very beloved cats in the past three years I’m glad my own vet was on top of things.
I’m considerably less bitchy about the bad vet’s bill today. Hey, plumbers and electricians charge a service fee to come to your house, it’s fair to charge a consultation/office visit fee as a matter of course. And it was worth a hundred bucks to me to have my own veterinary preference validated 
Gracie (that’s her name, BTW) is feeling much better today. The swelling has gone down, the area around the wound feels normal again, and the scratch itself is less red and weepy-looking than it was. If the Benadryl has made her drowsier than normal, its hard to tell; she’s a lazy doggie most of the time anyway, but she did have her two long walks today, ate all her dinner, and seems to be her usual cheerful self. She’s digging the antibiotic… or perhaps the peanut butter we stuck it in.
We were at a neighbor’s for a dinner party this evening, and I told everyone the bad vet/good vet story, so at least 30 people more know now NOT to go to the bad vet. I have put my foot down at home, too, we stick to the tried-and-true vet (who, in addition to helping us out with Gracie, saved my cat Tee’s life four years ago.) No more experiementing.
You were there, I wasn’t, but this bit I have to play devil’s advocate on:
It’s possible that this vet has some physical ailment or disability that would make it difficult for him to get down on the floor the way the second vet did. In any case, assuming the dog when put on the table is then lying on it, this means (a) the area to be examined is at a more workable level; (b) it’s easier for the dog’s handler(s) to immobilize her during procedures that might cause her to resist and try to move away; © depending on how the lighting’s set up in the examination room, her problem could be better visualized than at a lower (on the floor) level.
I’d also wonder whether the running commentary you found so odd and off-putting might be a bad habit of talking to himself about observations and possible diagnoses that occurred to him as he examined her. Stream of veterinary consciousness, you might say.
As to the muzzle, well, it’s a mastiff, a large breed noted for its prowess as a fighter, the injury to be examined is on the nose so any violent reaction by the dog will find the vet’s hands and/or face in fast, easy reach, and, as you said, “one should never ever take any kind of chances with either a strange dog, or an injured dog, and to this vet, she was both. I’m on board with that.” I do hope you’re not including the muzzle among the catalog of grievances you’re expressing to anyone who’ll listen; were I in that vet’s shoes I might well have required one.
I’m not arguing that, overall, this guy isn’t a bad vet. No question, they’re out there. I’m just saying it may not be as black and white as you see it.
There’s any number of reasons he might have wanted her on the table - but he didn’t say “can you give me a hand getting her up here?” or “I’d prefer to examine her on the table, let’s see if we can get her up.” He looked at me and said, “Ok, put her up on the table now.” As I said, my brother was with me, and he did the bulk of the lifting. And it may just be that my overall impression was SO negative, but since my brother WAS there, I don’t know why he didn’t ask HIM to put her up. In point of fact, he never said a word to my brother. Neither he nor his assistant offered to (or in any way indicated that they’d consider dong so) help us lift her.
The muzzle, no - not an actual issue. It dismayed me, because she’s been examined by vets many times without one, but there’s no way I would approach a large injured dog I didn’t know VERY well without one, especially since examining this particular wound was obviously going to involve putting his face right up to the dog’s. In retrospect, too, the way he did handle her was so abrupt, she MIGHT have bitten him from fear, so I’m glad she was muzzled. Probably should have muzzled ME too… by the end of the visit, I was ready to bite him 
Nope. This one I’m certain of.
I really do prefer to give people the benefit of doubt, it’s not in my nature to assume that people are being jerks if there’s any possible reason for their behavior. This guy was off the freakin’ wall. Maybe he’s not always like that, maybe I caught him on an exceptionally bad day and any other time he’d have been perfectly pleasant and competent - but that’s a risk I’m not willing to take.
Fair enough. I just couldn’t help wondering, being the picky picky picky sort.