Does anyone think there vet has diagnosed there pet with something serious just to get more money?

Question

I had that experiance, stopped taking him along after so many visits and meds and expence, worst of all the trauma to my cat. He,s absolutly fine. Makes you wonder?

Answer 1

My old vet used to not diagnose, just to keep me coming back for more tests. When I hit $1000 and no results I stopped going.

Answer 2

Except for recommending the special food he sells I have never had that experience.

I have more quarrel with underdiagnosis. Some vets are not intellectually curious and will dismiss a problem when further exploration might come up with a diagnosis or treatment.

I recently had a cat diagnosed with bladder cancer, he had surgery etc. The vet just said it was aggressive and there was no treatment. I saw this vet a month later when I was in with another cat and he never even said, "How's Mincho doing?" I do think highly of the man and he works twelve hours a day six days a week. And he had been there to do urinalysis, prescribe antibiotic, do the ultrasound that found the tumor, and assist the surgeon to remove it.

Also he knew I was going to treat Mincho homeopathically and all his medical records from this vet were sent to the homeopathic vet in MA. Wouldn't you think he would want to know if the cat was doing OK?

Answer 3

my worst vet experience was my rabbit had myxomatosis when i was a little girl and i took him to have him put down. The poor thing probably would have been dead by the evening anyway but i wanted to put an end to his pain.
The vet injected him so roughly that poor Benji found the strength to turn his head to try to bite him. The vet had injected a clear liquid into him which had no effect whatsoever, and considering the state he was in it should have worked within seconds.
So the guy tells me to leave and he'll die soon peacefully out the back and i refused and said i wanted to stay with him til he was gone and bury him at home. So the vet actually went and filled his syringe with a different colour liquid which worked instantly!

So my theory is that the first injection was of water and the vet decided he'd make a bit of money from me because poor Benji was dying anyway!
I was so angry and still am when i think back to it!

Answer 4

sadly ive had two experience's with a greedy vet. I had gotten a boston terrier puppy Kobe and he fell down some stairs braking his paw and i wanted to do EVERYTHING i could to help him so i took him a a vet and they wouldnt do a thing unless i paid 1500 dollars deposite plus everything else! they didnt even want to x-ray or anything they just wanted to cut it off! So i was like NO THANK you and then went a a less expensive vet and they told me that for 1300 he would get surgery and be just fine! And he's 5 now a as normal can be! Then about a year ago i got a female boston terrier Lucy and she had bad episodes of hot spots and took her to a vet where i paid five hundred dollars for skin and allergie test only to find out that she needed a better flea medication! Beware there are so many greedy people out there that'll trick you and make you feel horrible in order to spend more!

Answer 5

I took my 17 year old cat into the vet .. she was discharging blood and mucus and had lost a great amount of weight ... she was obviously in some phsyical distress. My immediate thought was that she had a tumour ... the vet kept her under observation, blood tests, meds, returned her home whereafter she was just as sick and went back ... they then put her under a general to xray her and reported a massive and invasive tumour requiring immediate putting to sleep. The cost? £350 plus a cat returned in a body bag and a fair few tears for all concerned. I saw that as simply maximising profit before proper diagnosis .... I am sorry to say that but vets simply are guilty of that. Not all of course, I have now moved to a great one where the animals are treated like patients with a soul as are the owners. I mean who is the customer here? And why do vets talk like they are god? Perhaps its that seven years training and a licence to charge for it!

Answer 6

OK....Im not here to defend anything first of all. I can only imagine how things may look to the public eye. If you only knew the overhead of any veterinary clinic youd fall over. Even liscensed veterinary technicians barely make over what is considered the national poverty level. I as a veterinary tech of 20 years make more than most recent veterinary school grads. The majority of vets do not try to scam anything. although im not saying there arent any bad seeds out there. If you have a really sick pet, ultimately the more money you spend the information you buy, somethings are harder to diagnose than others, bottom line thats why they call it practicing medicine. Really dont mean to sound crude, but the prices your veterinarian charges is well worth it, and some of it is mere fall out from the big drug comanies.........hmmmmmm just like human medicine.

Answer 7

Yes, I think unless you trust your vet completely, then you will always be suspicious. I had a cat with a kidney problem,which had to be put to sleep after I spent nearly £500 on him, hoping that he would recover. I felt afterwards that the vet probably knew he was going to die soon and that I just ended up prolonging the poor cats life unnecessarily. I hated myself afterwards and was very upset for weeks. I didn't begrudge spending the money as much as being given false hope by the vets. I also got the 'special food' treatment which he wouldn't even sniff at !

Answer 8

Yes
There are some terrible vets about, some could not be less interested in your animal. I changed my vet because I felt any treatment suggested was what would get me out of his office leaving the most of my money behind. I take my dog to my new vet and I trust that he has my dogs best interest at heart. I do have complete pet insurance but it bugged me the way my old vet treated my dog. I have heard many similar stories from many people

Answer 9

I don't think that someone would go to school for 8 years, go $100,000 in debt, and work 60 hour work weeks just to scam you. There are much cheaper ways. If you don't think one vet is doing the right thing get a second opinion. Don't trash an entire profession over one person. PS the food does help. My cat is on Purina NF and his kidney values have never been better. This saves him from daily fluids under the skin

Answer 10

It hasn't happened to me. I have heard something similar happening to a friend with her cat. The vet treated the cat and charged her a fortune when the vet was well aware that nothing could be done to save the cat. The best way to find a vet is to ask at the animal shelter. Find out where they take the animals to be spayed/neutered. Usually that is a vet that can be trusted. Also one who is truly concerned about animals.