Vet's prices - going up up up

Just out of curiosity, how much is your vet charging for exams? Mine
now charges $54 for a senior semi-annual exam. Last year it was $46.
All the other vet's in the area charge about the same. I think this is
ridiculous, the economy can't be that bad that they have to jack up
their prices that much. Everytime I go there they are super busy so I
can't figure out why they need to raise all their prices. It's not
like they're hurting for business.

I'm going to make several anonymous suggestions about how they should
give discounts to certain people or start a special discount program.
I think senior citizens and people who get tax relief should get
discounts on everything, all the time. When I got my cats I had no
idea things would get this bad. Of course, I didn't choose my cats,
they chose me. They just showed up here. I haven't picked out my own
cat in over 15 years, these are all strays that I took in. If I had
taken them to the animal shelter, 4 out of 5 would be dead because
they're ill and the animal shelter has stupid policies on those sorts
of things.

M.S. wrote:

Just out of curiosity, how much is your vet charging for exams? Mine
now charges $54 for a senior semi-annual exam. Last year it was $46.
All the other vet's in the area charge about the same. I think this is
ridiculous, the economy can't be that bad that they have to jack up
their prices that much. Everytime I go there they are super busy so I
can't figure out why they need to raise all their prices. It's not
like they're hurting for business.

I'm going to make several anonymous suggestions about how they should
give discounts to certain people or start a special discount program.
I think senior citizens and people who get tax relief should get
discounts on everything, all the time. When I got my cats I had no
idea things would get this bad. Of course, I didn't choose my cats,
they chose me. They just showed up here. I haven't picked out my own
cat in over 15 years, these are all strays that I took in. If I had
taken them to the animal shelter, 4 out of 5 would be dead because
they're ill and the animal shelter has stupid policies on those sorts
of things.

Around here, it's $60 plus additional fees like "record maintenance".
A veterinary practice is a business. To survive, it must be profitable
and the only upper limit to prices is competition. Businesses give
discounts when it results in more bottom-line profit. A few might lower
prices to some based on conscience but I think that's fading.

At the hospital I used to use, those very pricey dentals are performed
by an assistant who has no formal training or credentials. That's
illegal in this state. But it's more profitable than paying a tech.
It's safe for the business because the state veterinary board always
announces a visit days in advance. And the cat can't tell.

My family doctor spent an hour giving me a physical exam. The insurance
company paid him $85. His liability insurance is huge. Your cat's
exam probably took 15 minutes. The vet's malpractice exposure is
small.

If your kid wants to be a doctor, send him/her to vet school instead.

"M.S." wrote in message
...
Just out of curiosity, how much is your vet charging for exams? Mine
now charges $54 for a senior semi-annual exam. Last year it was $46.


Everything is going up. Everything always goes up, except in rare
situations like great sales.

Vets pay more for supplies, and more to get to their offices due
to gas prices. Vets are paying more for food, and hopefully paying
their staff more to deal with inflation.

Several times a year my MIL does the whole "chicken little"
thing, "I just called to tell you, your health insurance premiums
are going up!" Like they don't nearly every damned year.

I know it is hard for those on a fixed income, and nobody wants
to pay more. But it is not unreasonable, nor is it unfair.

What you can do is shop around.

"M.S." wrote in message
...
Just out of curiosity, how much is your vet charging for exams? Mine
now charges $54 for a senior semi-annual exam. Last year it was $46.
All the other vet's in the area charge about the same. I think this is
ridiculous, the economy can't be that bad that they have to jack up
their prices that much. Everytime I go there they are super busy so I
can't figure out why they need to raise all their prices. It's not
like they're hurting for business.

If you can't vet 'em, don't get 'em.
Vets operate on very low profit margins. Everything is getting more
expensive.
Suck it up.

dejablues wrote:
"M.S." wrote in message
...
Just out of curiosity, how much is your vet charging for exams? Mine
now charges $54 for a senior semi-annual exam. Last year it was $46.
All the other vet's in the area charge about the same. I think this is
ridiculous, the economy can't be that bad that they have to jack up
their prices that much. Everytime I go there they are super busy so I
can't figure out why they need to raise all their prices. It's not
like they're hurting for business.

If you can't vet 'em, don't get 'em.
Vets operate on very low profit margins. Everything is getting more
expensive.
Suck it up.


I had my cats a long time before prices got this bad. Two years ago it
cost me $28 per cat for an exam. Now it's $54?! They also used to
include the distemper vaccination in with the exam, now they charge
separately. I understand prices go up, but this really is ridiculous.
What's next, $10 for a loaf of bread?

Besides, if I hadn't taken those cats in, they would be dead. The
local animal shelter kills sick cats upon arrival (I have proof of
this). They'll kill them even if it's something minor like feline
herpes. I could've tried to find someone to take them, but no one
wants sick cats that sneeze and leak from BOTH ends. There are no no-
kill animal shelters around here. There are no rescue groups serving
this area. I contacted the local SPCA and they couldn't help me. I
suppose I was just supposed to let the cats die? That's great. Next
time your kid gets a cold, lets kill him.

I'm done with this group. There's nothing but uncompassionate people
in it.

"M.S." wrote in message
...


dejablues wrote:
"M.S." wrote in message
...
Just out of curiosity, how much is your vet charging for exams? Mine
now charges $54 for a senior semi-annual exam. Last year it was $46.
All the other vet's in the area charge about the same. I think this is
ridiculous, the economy can't be that bad that they have to jack up
their prices that much. Everytime I go there they are super busy so I
can't figure out why they need to raise all their prices. It's not
like they're hurting for business.

If you can't vet 'em, don't get 'em.
Vets operate on very low profit margins. Everything is getting more
expensive.
Suck it up.


I had my cats a long time before prices got this bad. Two years ago it
cost me $28 per cat for an exam. Now it's $54?! They also used to
include the distemper vaccination in with the exam, now they charge
separately. I understand prices go up, but this really is ridiculous.
What's next, $10 for a loaf of bread?

Besides, if I hadn't taken those cats in, they would be dead. The
local animal shelter kills sick cats upon arrival (I have proof of
this). They'll kill them even if it's something minor like feline
herpes. I could've tried to find someone to take them, but no one
wants sick cats that sneeze and leak from BOTH ends. There are no no-
kill animal shelters around here. There are no rescue groups serving
this area. I contacted the local SPCA and they couldn't help me. I
suppose I was just supposed to let the cats die? That's great. Next
time your kid gets a cold, lets kill him.

I'm done with this group. There's nothing but uncompassionate people
in it.

Just in case you're still reading. Look in the vitamins / herbal remedy
aisle of Wal-Mart and pick up a bottle of 500Mg L-Lysine. Crush 1/2 a
tablet into soft food (mixing well) twice a day so that each cat is getting
500Mg a day. The weeping/sneezing/coughing/runny nose etc. should go away
in about 3 to 4 weeks, and if you continue giving the L-Lysin
prophylacticly, the symptoms will not ever return.

Studies indicate that L-lysine competes with arginine and antagonizes its
growth-promoting effect on FHV-1 (thereby inhibiting viral replication)
without altering the plasma concentration of essential amino acids or
causing arginine deficiency in cats.

My boys had really severe outbreaks of FHV when we adopted them, but after a
course of L-Lysine (and continued prophylactic dosage), their URI cleared up
and they've never had a single symptom since.

Hugs,

CatNipped

"M.S." wrote
I had my cats a long time before prices got this bad. Two years ago it
cost me $28 per cat for an exam. Now it's $54?! They also used to
include the distemper vaccination in with the exam, now they charge
separately. I understand prices go up, but this really is ridiculous.
What's next, $10 for a loaf of bread?

Besides, if I hadn't taken those cats in, they would be dead. The
local animal shelter kills sick cats upon arrival (I have proof of
this). They'll kill them even if it's something minor like feline
herpes. I could've tried to find someone to take them, but no one
wants sick cats that sneeze and leak from BOTH ends. There are no no-
kill animal shelters around here. There are no rescue groups serving
this area. I contacted the local SPCA and they couldn't help me. I
suppose I was just supposed to let the cats die? That's great. Next
time your kid gets a cold, lets kill him.

I'm done with this group. There's nothing but uncompassionate people
in it.

Horse ****. But for sure, you seem too thin-skinned for Usenet. Meanwhile,
what are you doing to raise money? When things go up, the thing is, to make
more money. Unless you are totally disabled or already working three jobs,
what's the holdup? Anybody can sell on ebay. (I could not help but notice
that you have a computer ...)

"M.S." wrote in message
...

I had my cats a long time before prices got this bad. Two years ago it
cost me $28 per cat for an exam. Now it's $54?! They also used to
include the distemper vaccination in with the exam, now they charge
separately. I understand prices go up, but this really is ridiculous.
What's next, $10 for a loaf of bread?

The price you were paying in the fairly recent past was *extremely*
inexpensive. I've been going to the same vet practice since the 70's. The
exam price has gone up a little recently - to $42. I remember when it was
in the 30's, but I literally can't remember when it was $28. (Probably in
the 1980's??) A limited office visit is a few dollars cheaper; & and if I
bring more than one cat in at a time, one cat is charged the full price, &
the other cat(s) is charged the limited price, even if they both had full
exams.

And the price of vaccination(s) has always an add-on. If your vet used to
basically give it for free, that was amazing; the practice has to practice
has to purchase the vaccines; I can't imagine them basically giving them
away.

IMO, vet prices aren't bad - inexpensive compared with the price for a human
doctor office visit; *and* the vet tends to spend way more time with my cats
than the doctor usually spends with me on any given office visit!

Cathy

$54 WOULD BE OK IF the vet knew what he/she was doing. Unfortunately,
many do not. I have had two vets give the wrong diagnosis for my pet and
intitate treatment based on that wrong diagnosis. Then the next vet
after several hundred dollars of tests and anesthesia, STILL cannot
determine the cause of the problem. The truth is most of these guys
would never get into and out of human med school and we all KNOW how
many mistakes human doctors make. If they want to build expensive
clinics and charge Beverly Hills prices, then at least screen out all
the incompetents in the field. Most of these vets also would not be able
to survive human medical school because they are psychologically unfit
for dealing with the public. Not all of them, but a disproportiately
large percentage of them. And, it shows what kind of practice and
motives they have when they charge a large fee on the initial consult.
That shows they are primarily interested in money and they don't want to
serve clients who cannot pay. These people should never get into vet
school to begin with, since their motivation is not to help animals, but
to helpe themselves. We need to kick some ass at the administrative
level amongst the people that select vet school applicants, they
obviously have not been doing their job.


"M.S." wrote in news:9ce60f05-ee89-4f06-ab3a-
:

Just out of curiosity, how much is your vet charging for exams? Mine
now charges $54 for a senior semi-annual exam. Last year it was $46.
All the other vet's in the area charge about the same. I think this is
ridiculous, the economy can't be that bad that they have to jack up
their prices that much. Everytime I go there they are super busy so I
can't figure out why they need to raise all their prices. It's not
like they're hurting for business.

I'm going to make several anonymous suggestions about how they should
give discounts to certain people or start a special discount program.
I think senior citizens and people who get tax relief should get
discounts on everything, all the time. When I got my cats I had no
idea things would get this bad. Of course, I didn't choose my cats,
they chose me. They just showed up here. I haven't picked out my own
cat in over 15 years, these are all strays that I took in. If I had
taken them to the animal shelter, 4 out of 5 would be dead because
they're ill and the animal shelter has stupid policies on those sorts
of things.