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Discussion: $120 for a well dog vet visit and fecal exam-
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meyati |
$120 for a well dog vet visit and fecal exam-
Oct 4 2010, 5:47 PM EDT
| Post edited: Oct 4 2010, 5:55 PM EDT
This is an excellent vet. I have had other vets refer me to her because she has X-ray machines, full service vet. I take the dogs to a cheap clinic for shots. I can't afford the expensive vet's prices, and I have to drive the paper work to the city animal control to get the yearly dog license. I knew it cost a little more and took some of Stonewall's droppings this am-the lab fee went up $20 since last summer and the exam went up $25. I have pet insurance that pays less this year, and seems to allow less for a vet procedure than it did last year. Before it paid a percentage of preventive care, hart gard, yearly shots, etc. We took a friend's cat in to the cheap clinic and they said it was okay. A few days later it vomited blood. Took it to the good expensive vet, and the vet had us feel the cancer tumors in the stomach. She put the poor little thing down. That's why we have been going to her if there's a problem and for a yearly health check. My son had a dog that limped, and he took it to the cheap clinic. The dog needed to go to another vet for X-rays for arthuritis, so he had to pay 2 vets. I just called the cheap clinic and they charge $50 for a well dog and the lab fees. I guess that I'll take Missy there. I went to the pound to get one coonhound. It was obvious that the 2 were soul mates and wouldn't do well without each other. Missy can take it that I leave the house, but she goes nuts when Stonewall leaves. I had spent 2 years looking for a hound. That's why I have 2, instead of one. I've called the vets around town trying to find a happy medium, but I'm not finding anything in between. When the insurance year is up, I'll probably switch. I think that I found several better plans-I hope-
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Keyword tags:
bad exams
expensive pet insurance
over-pricing
pet insurance
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stephaniesummers |
1. RE: $120 for a well dog vet visit and fecal exam-
Oct 12 2010, 12:28 AM EDT
| Post edited: Oct 12 2010, 12:30 AM EDT
You think a lot like me. I also have two vets, a cheaper one and a more thorough one. Years ago, i learned to give shots myself, and I do. I also don't give shots like I used to. I have been getting the feeling that I don't need to. There are some studies that show that once dogs and horses have gotten their first series of shots, that the antibodies are still there years later. Additionally, you can have a tider(sp) done on the dog. This will tell you if your particular dog needs a booster or not. I know a lot of dog people that just get yearly tiders instead of booster shots.I dont put a lot of weight in wellness checks. Back in the late 80s, I had a wellness check for an 11 year old lab/dobie mix. A month later he tripped, fell on his stomach, and started bleeding out. I raced him to the vet who preformed emergency (I mean emergency! I was right there with him) and found a tumor on his aorta. He was bleeding out faster than they could put it back in. He died in surgery. I do think that they are good for prevention of simpler stuff like diabetes. We have had tons of vet bills with Kate having two hip dysplacia surgeries, then this summer with Tam's intestinal blockage. My husband is now taking out monies automatically from every check and putting it in a seperate saving account. Its a health saving account, it used to be tax dectuctable, but now it is not so we have added the dogs to it. Now I can take them to the vet when I feel I need to and not worry about the money. And hopefully it will add up and we will get interest from the account. Thats why we dont have insurance, we would rather have it under our control. Cheaper vs more expensive vets: This is what I do, For little stuff, cheaper vet, second opinions, i use the expensive vet. Right now, Kate has a cough, and I am debating, and will probably take her to the expensive vet because he is more careful. 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you? |
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stephaniesummers |
2. RE: $120 for a well dog vet visit and fecal exam-
Oct 12 2010, 12:42 AM EDT
So I feel there is good and not so good about both vets. One is less expensive, that is the one who handled Tams blockage, we messed with that for three weeks! Yes, she could have died. I had her in to see them at least once per week, sometimes twice. Diagnoses is the hardest aspect for any doctor, and a lot of doctors dont want to waste your money. The trick is what is a waste, and what is not.With Tam's blockage, she was on anitbiototics, which just kept her temp lower, The vet couldnt feel the blockage. She was not hardly eating. This was a dog that is a scarfhound. She would get better, then a day or so later not be good. Always ready to work sheep though. Its just hard to judge. If you would like to read more about Tam's blockage, I wrote an article and published it on my website. "Throw Out Those Worn Dog Toys", http:// www.SheepdogHerding.com/articles.html Of course, I think it's important. Fecal exam: Dont rely on them too much. Its real easy to miss worms when you are collecting them. The worms are not always present in every fecus. 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you? |
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meyati |
3. RE: $120 for a well dog vet visit and fecal exam-
Oct 12 2010, 10:38 AM EDT
We have a pretty good lab, and I try to get the first dump of the day. Seriously, I forgot to mention that here we hace gallerdia-beaver fever. The vets say that once a dog gets it, it always has it. Stonewall had it when we got him, and hound boggy ear-fungus and bacteria. Missy didn't have anything except a severe reaction to Frontline. Stonewall cleared up and I take a gift in once a year. I pay the extra for Missy's lab just in case. I'm very lucky they don't eat poop. Hounds are prone to hypothyriodism, so I need a vet that does a good job checking glands, and knows about hounds and thyroid. The expensive vet has a Black and Tan Coonhound. Food hound isn't the word for dogs that get a blockage. The vets and sometimes other get after me because I leave food out all of the time. The deeper a chest is, the more chance of a blockage or twisted gut. That's one of the things that people comment about is how big the chest is. I find they gulp air while baying, and then do lots of burping, so I don't need them gulping extra air. On the vet sites, they are saying that air gulping seems to be a factor in blockage- air bubbles in the gut? We have a city where it's illegal to give a dog an ice cube, the toe nails must be so long-any longer and you're cited, you can loose all of your pets if your dog is outside at night. Of course they mandated vet administered shots annually. I used to give my horses and dogs their shots, but it's not worth fighting the city and losing Missy and Stonewall. A titet test for antibodies wouldn't do any good-legally unless I could hire a lawyer. These rules are made by non-pet owners-they completely ignored protests and scientific data from the AKC branches, dog owners, even the vets. I think that the vets have taken advantage of this situation and jacked up their prices. The spaying prices doubled in 90 days. That's too much of a hike-and all vets did it in the same month.
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stephaniesummers |
4. RE: $120 for a well dog vet visit and fecal exam-
Oct 16 2010, 3:30 PM EDT
OMG, what state do you live in? I surely do not want to move there! I could not take that kind of controling of my life. You know next it will be that you dont own your dog, you will just be the caretaker. That is what they are doing in San Francisco. I did not realize that you had these laws in place, how crazy is that. I just dropped an ice cube into the dog water in the house two days ago. I told my husband, "watch, Tam will get that out" and sure enough, she did, took it over to where she has been trained to eat her cookies and ate it. No dogs outside is also crazy. Even though mine are inside, that is my choice. I just could not take that kind of government control.
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stephaniesummers |
5. RE: $120 for a well dog vet visit and fecal exam-
Oct 16 2010, 3:31 PM EDT
I am sorry that you have to accept that from the government whom has overstepped their bounds!
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meyati |
6. RE: $120 for a well dog vet visit and fecal exam-
Oct 16 2010, 7:27 PM EDT
| Post edited: Oct 16 2010, 7:50 PM EDT
I live in Albuquerque, NM. It's Naziville here. Most of the dog parks have 3-4 ft. fences and are situated next to freeway ramps. They changed the name of the agility park to dog park. It is at the end of a triangle, where trucks drive 45-60. It had 2 strands of barbed wire, now it has a 2.5 ft. wolf fence. It has a 2X4 for them to walk on and a cement culvert for them to crawl through. It's in an area infested with rattlesnakes and coyotes. Animal control won't come when a neighbor's dogs bites kids every day. One finally got run over by a trash truck, and the other one bit the trashmen when they got out of the truck. The police took care of it. Back to dog parks- you have to stop between gates that's like a small calf chute and take the leash off-then open the next gate, so the dog is loose. Dogs are mauled because nobody can control or wants to control their dogs. Teacups are put in with pit bulls and mastiffs. Judge judy, Joe Brown, Pirro and judge Alex have all handled dog maulings in Alb. The judges cannot believe the fences are so low, or the city mandates complete lack of control, when a large timid dog jumps a fence and gets run over to escape a pack of chihuahuas-teeny doxies-whatever or a large dog steps on a playful teacup and it goes squish. There isn't any water, so dogs die on hot days-visitors, etc. can't imagine that there isn't water anywhere. The vets treat about a dozen skin diseases and lots of maulings every month. My Bluetick is an old-fashioned bawl mouth, and some people think that I've done something to his vocal chords. I've actually had animal control come out and check the hound and check with my vets. He cannot bark. The poor thing realized that he was not having the desired effect when he was saying, "Howdy". He spent 2 days making strangling type of noises, trying to bark a few weeks ago. It's also illegal to increase the height of the fences. I did it anyway
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meyati |
7. RE: $120 for a well dog vet visit and fecal exam-
Oct 16 2010, 7:39 PM EDT
| Post edited: Oct 16 2010, 7:49 PM EDT
I think that the city council and animal control are tring to eliminate all dogs that weigh over 10 lbs. With the vet fees for big dogs-- We have a really high crime rate that includes cops. Right now one probably murdered his wife is at animal control, another one robbed a store with a pellet gun last week, another just started 5 years probation for raping a female prisoner-it was on VIDEO-his DNA was in her anyway-and one was put on suspension this friday for raping a cousin's young daughter for 3 years. She's 15. The father had to hire a lawyer to go to the state attorney general and get the creep out of the patrol car. Anybody else would be thrown in jail forever. I talk of going to South America for retirement-and people here say, "Why do you want to go to a corrupt country with bad cops?" Am I the only person that listens to what vets say? Am I the only person that watches the news a few times a month? I just came in from painting my new illegal fence, so it's not like I sit on my behind. A neighbor 6 houses down has a nephew in the city police. she says-don't call the police, they're so corrupt. You don't want them in your house for nothing-
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