Saving money on consult fees

A word of advice to all pet owners out there.

If your pet is sick and requires more than simple vaccinations or special
food, do NOT go to a vet who refuses to tell you over the phone if he
generally can do such and such a procedure or operation.

Some vets play the "consult game" telling you that they cannot tell you if
they do such and such until they see your animal. Often you wind up paying a
consult fee only to be told "we cannot or will not do that here". This is
not simply a question of examining the animal, since the vet SHOULD be able
to tell you what procedures he/she can generally do. If they cannot, they
are not being honest and open with you and you should not patronize such a
veterinarian.

Many of these veterinarians advertise they are full or complete service
veterinarians when they are NOT.
Many can only do or only want to do simple stuff like vaccinations, special
foods, neutering, etc. These are fundamentally dishonest practitioners, in
my opinion.

If your pet is sick and requires more than simple vaccinations or special
food, do NOT go to a vet who refuses to tell you over the phone if he
generally can do such and such a procedure or operation.

If a pet is sick and the owner calls the vet or the office to inquire about
the illness or injury, it would be unethical to diagnose over the phone. Nor
can a vet prescribe medication without at least an exam, maybe even
diagnostic tools. That would cost him or her their license.

We don't even have a 'consultation' fee. We talk and talk and talk to
clients over the phone and do as much as we can for them in this way, but
the bottom line is we cannot diagnose or treat over the phone, except for
the occassional follow-up where a course of treatment is changed around.

Your statement above makes it sound like there are vets who won't say
whether or not they perform a certain procedure (like an ACL or FHO etc). If
someone were to ask our doctors a point blank question, (ie: Do you
surgically fix fractures with plates?"), they would tell them, "no, we refer
those to a specialist." But most people don't. They simply let us know there
is a problem. The doctor can't possibly know the exact extent of the
illness/injury just by speaking with an owner thus they can't know whether
or not they have the capability to correct or treat a problem without first
examining the patient. I don't know of ANY vet who wrangles a client into
the office without the patient, charge a consult fee just to let them know
they only do spays and neuters.

Sounds like you're trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill.

The consult fee as you call it is an office call. You go to the doctors and
pay an office call regardless of if the doctor can treat you and has to send
you elsewhere. Why should the vets office be any different. I would much
rather have my vet tell me she doesn't feel comfortable doing a procedure
she's not used to doing and send me somewhere else to someone who can.

Celeste


"John_S03_Peterson" wrote in message
...
A word of advice to all pet owners out there.

If your pet is sick and requires more than simple vaccinations or special
food, do NOT go to a vet who refuses to tell you over the phone if he
generally can do such and such a procedure or operation.

Some vets play the "consult game" telling you that they cannot tell you if
they do such and such until they see your animal. Often you wind up paying
a consult fee only to be told "we cannot or will not do that here". This
is not simply a question of examining the animal, since the vet SHOULD be
able to tell you what procedures he/she can generally do. If they cannot,
they are not being honest and open with you and you should not patronize
such a veterinarian.

Many of these veterinarians advertise they are full or complete service
veterinarians when they are NOT.
Many can only do or only want to do simple stuff like vaccinations,
special foods, neutering, etc. These are fundamentally dishonest
practitioners, in my opinion.

"Sharon Too" wrote

If a pet is sick and the owner calls the vet or the office to inquire
about the illness or injury, it would be unethical to diagnose over the
phone. Nor can a vet prescribe medication without at least an exam, maybe
even diagnostic tools. That would cost him or her their license.

Correct. Basic stuff you can ask, such as 'my cat is .... do they need a
visit' (having the first furball in 2 months, no, relax, Happens again and
cat looks distressed, bring him in, also if any other syptoms happen')

Hi, my cat's leg fell off after being attacked by a dog (yes dear, bring him
in right away and if our surgery cant handle it, we have places to get him
to).

We don't even have a 'consultation' fee. We talk and talk and talk to
clients over the phone and do as much as we can for them in this way, but
the bottom line is we cannot diagnose or treat over the phone, except for
the occassional follow-up where a course of treatment is changed around.

Yup. Thats fair. I have one like that. Cat with yeast infection problems
in one ear. Recurrant. We just call then go down to pick up her ear wash
stuff (we do this before we run out and it's same stuff as good for the
Dog's ears so we go though it a bit fast).

Sounds like you're trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill.

Probably. Me, I trust my vet.

"Spot" wrote

The consult fee as you call it is an office call. You go to the doctors
and pay an office call regardless of if the doctor can treat you and has
to send you elsewhere. Why should the vets office be any different. I
would much rather have my vet tell me she doesn't feel comfortable doing a
procedure she's not used to doing and send me somewhere else to someone
who can.

Exactly. I paid out of pocket (vice free) to have Cash-pup (2YO mixed
beagle but mixed with Bull Mastiff they think) neutered when the heart
specialist was there. SPCA was 49$. Amazingly insurance broght his down to
just 249$ and worth every penny. He has heart damage and some odd to track
sporadic beats due to (apparenly) the heartworms when he was found
abandoned.

Dog was turned down 4 times before we were finally able to get him well
enough where the stress of 'sniffing the local ladies aroma' exceeeded the
danger of the procedure. Cash was neutered at age 2 and not even the SPCA
was willing to touch him the first 2 times he was turned down.

He came though just fine. A happy healthy 50lb (perfect weight per vet, if
off, it's under by maybe 1 lb for his mixed breed size). My vet may not be
able to do open heart surgery, but she has referrals if so. She's got a dab
hand at feeding and exercise for a heart damaged lover-boy.

The OP was not asking for that.

Then the OP needs to learn to make logical statements.

Sounds like you're trying to pick a fight, or you have a reading
comprehension problem.

Blather. Put your pacifier back in.

HAHAHAHHAHA ROTFLMAO.

"FULL SERVICE VETERINARIAN"

"COMPLETE VETERINARY SERVICES"

---

Do you do surgey xyz procedu UHHH WE DON'T DO THAT (CAN'T DO IT) That
will be $60 please.

Do you do chemotherapy?: UHHH CAN'T ANSWER THAT UNLESS YOU COME IN LIKE
A DUMBASS AND PAY OUR $50 QUESTION FEE.

Are you a bunch of lieing, greedy, dishonest, incompetent,ignorant
knuckleheads. HEY YOU GUESSED, NO CONSULT FEE!





"John_S03_Peterson" wrote in
:

A word of advice to all pet owners out there.

If your pet is sick and requires more than simple vaccinations or
special food, do NOT go to a vet who refuses to tell you over the
phone if he generally can do such and such a procedure or operation.

Some vets play the "consult game" telling you that they cannot tell
you if they do such and such until they see your animal. Often you
wind up paying a consult fee only to be told "we cannot or will not do
that here". This is not simply a question of examining the animal,
since the vet SHOULD be able to tell you what procedures he/she can
generally do. If they cannot, they are not being honest and open with
you and you should not patronize such a veterinarian.

Many of these veterinarians advertise they are full or complete
service veterinarians when they are NOT.
Many can only do or only want to do simple stuff like vaccinations,
special foods, neutering, etc. These are fundamentally dishonest
practitioners, in my opinion.

"BS_vets" wrote

Obviously a troll. (More below for you sane folks)

HAHAHAHHAHA ROTFLMAO.

"FULL SERVICE VETERINARIAN"

"COMPLETE VETERINARY SERVICES"

---

Do you do surgey xyz procedu UHHH WE DON'T DO THAT (CAN'T DO IT) That
will be $60 please.

Do you do chemotherapy?: UHHH CAN'T ANSWER THAT UNLESS YOU COME IN LIKE
A DUMBASS AND PAY OUR $50 QUESTION FEE.

Are you a bunch of lieing, greedy, dishonest, incompetent,ignorant
knuckleheads. HEY YOU GUESSED, NO CONSULT FEE!

Sadly, it *does* cost money to run an operation that treats pets. Many of
us would like to ignore that they have to pay to get gear not all that far
off from what is used for ourselves or children (2foot types). We want a 5$
vet visit using 50,000$ or more gear 'for free'. If it was a human going to
a Doc without insurance, you know it's 200$ before tests. If your docs for
humans are cheaper, enjoy it.

Trolls will be ignored if bothering to respond.

"John_S03_Peterson" wrote in message
...
A word of advice to all pet owners out there.

If your pet is sick and requires more than simple vaccinations or special
food, do NOT go to a vet who refuses to tell you over the phone if he
generally can do such and such a procedure or operation.

Ya' know... I've never seen this happen. I've never heard of it happening
either (at least not the way you describe it). Can you give some details of
a case where you've seen this happen? Where you've called a vet and said 'do
you do procedure x', and have them tell you that you'll have to go elsewhere
when you're in the office. Note, this is entirely different than calling
with 'my dog is lame can you treat him?', which requires a diagnosis, time,
skills, possibly equipment and hence a charge.
Also, try to remember that it isn't uncommon to have a client call and say
'x' is wrong with my dog 'can you treat him', only to find out that 'x' is
not wrong with the dog, its in fact 'y'. 'x' might be something you can
treat for, but 'y' isn't. 'x' might be very, very, uncommon, but 'y' very
common (so you're confident that its not *in fact* 'x', but more likely 'y',
but the client thinks is 'x', so you might in theory elect to see a patient
where the client thinks 'x' is wrong, even though you can't treat for 'x'. I
recall a case the other day when a client came in and said 'my dog's leg is
broken' when in fact he'd pulled a muscle (although we could have treated
both cases)


Some vets play the "consult game" telling you that they cannot tell you if
they do such and such until they see your animal. Often you wind up paying
a consult fee only to be told "we cannot or will not do that here". This
is not simply a question of examining the animal, since the vet SHOULD be
able to tell you what procedures he/she can generally do.

Yes. They should, and in my experience do, but bear in mind, with something
like fracture repair, there are varying degrees of competence required to
repair a fracture. It may require looking at the animal to determine if the
fracture can be repaired using the techniques they have available (if not,
they may be forced to refer you).

If they cannot, they are not being honest and open with you and you should
not patronize such a veterinarian.

The number one thing in choosing a vet, in my opinion is trust. You need to
find someone you can understand, and trust. If not, you're wasting your
money, and their time (as you won't likely be compliant with their
directions anyways).


Many of these veterinarians advertise they are full or complete service
veterinarians when they are NOT.

I'd be leery of any vet practice that says they can do everything, unless
they have a rather large staff, and rather large facility. There are so many
specialties, that no one person can be an expert in all of them.

Dale

"Dale Atkin" wrote in
news:NkDCk.1799$T65.620@edtnps82:



"John_S03_Peterson" wrote in message
...
A word of advice to all pet owners out there.

If your pet is sick and requires more than simple vaccinations or
special food, do NOT go to a vet who refuses to tell you over the
phone if he generally can do such and such a procedure or operation.

Ya' know... I've never seen this happen. I've never heard of it
happening either (at least not the way you describe it). Can you give
some details of a case where you've seen this happen? Where you've
called a vet and said 'do you do procedure x', and have them tell you
that you'll have to go elsewhere when you're in the office. Note, this
is entirely different than calling with 'my dog is lame can you treat
him?', which requires a diagnosis, time, skills, possibly equipment
and hence a charge. Also, try to remember that it isn't uncommon to
have a client call and say 'x' is wrong with my dog 'can you treat
him', only to find out that 'x' is not wrong with the dog, its in fact
'y'. 'x' might be something you can treat for, but 'y' isn't. 'x'
might be very, very, uncommon, but 'y' very common (so you're
confident that its not *in fact* 'x', but more likely 'y', but the
client thinks is 'x', so you might in theory elect to see a patient
where the client thinks 'x' is wrong, even though you can't treat for
'x'. I recall a case the other day when a client came in and said 'my
dog's leg is broken' when in fact he'd pulled a muscle (although we
could have treated both cases)

Please read the original post carefully. This has nothing to do with
making a diagnosis, but a simple inquiry as to whether or not a clinic
can or does do a certain procedure (not ear cropping declawing or other
bad procedures) What they are saying is we won't comment until you pay a
office call fee. Unprofessional an dishonest, no way around it. I have
even had them tell me yes, we may do it and then get to their office and
say, no way we can do that procedure, you need a specialist.



Some vets play the "consult game" telling you that they cannot tell
you if they do such and such until they see your animal. Often you
wind up paying a consult fee only to be told "we cannot or will not
do that here". This is not simply a question of examining the animal,
since the vet SHOULD be able to tell you what procedures he/she can
generally do.

Yes. They should, and in my experience do, but bear in mind, with
something like fracture repair, there are varying degrees of
competence required to repair a fracture. It may require looking at
the animal to determine if the fracture can be repaired using the
techniques they have available (if not, they may be forced to refer
you).

Why do vets and those in the profession automatically assume you are
ignorant of medical procedures? Having worked in orthopedics, I already
know all about this.



If they cannot, they are not being honest and open with you and you
should not patronize such a veterinarian.

The number one thing in choosing a vet, in my opinion is trust. You
need to find someone you can understand, and trust. If not, you're
wasting your money, and their time (as you won't likely be compliant
with their directions anyways).


How many vets have you been to as a client? Maybe it's different in
Canada, but here in Arizona, there are many, many incompetent and
unprofessional veterinary services. The State Licensing Board was found
to be negligent in their oversight of AZ veterinarians by a State
Inspector General here.



Many of these veterinarians advertise they are full or complete
service veterinarians when they are NOT.

I'd be leery of any vet practice that says they can do everything,
unless they have a rather large staff, and rather large facility.
There are so many specialties, that no one person can be an expert in
all of them.

It's very funny. The small, do nothing offices, frequently advertise
"complete" or "full-service" and are anything but. Don't they screen out
liars in veterinary schools?


Dale