It happens everyday...I mean, it happens a LOT. People bring in a sick pet, often with no vaccinations, often with something eminently preventable like heartworm disease, Often with a huge horrible tumor that they claim "Just showed up yesterday.".
I've worked at the cheapest vet in town and now I work at a more expensive one..and everytime this happens people act like I'm a bad person because I can't work for free. As often as this happens I'd be broke. I DO work for free at the local shelter and S.P.C. A, but I don't work for free for any pet with an owner.
I can help with payment plans and I take pet insurance. But people complain about vet bills, even at the cheap vet! It's the Pet owners responsibility to take care of the pet. Why blame the Vet because you adopted an animal and now it's sick? I mean, The Vet didn't give it cancer...cripes.
Losing faith in Humanity...
2006-10-28 11:45:09 · 13 answers · asked by Rabid 2 in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
(The Cheap Vet was in tulsa, and I'm not going to give out the info on the web... They were fully 1/3rd as expensive as where I am now. I left because "cheap" is just that. There was so much raw volume, nearly 5-600 people a day, that I felt our quality was suffering. I couldn't call people back to check on them. Also I had to share one tech with 3 doctors and couldn't research each case..there were 300 more in the lobby.
Seriously, get Veterinary PEt Insurance and find someone you like, and stick with them. Low cost is not the way most want to go, not really, unless you want to wait for 2 hours in the lobby. Unless you want your new puppy next to one dying of distemper.
Anyway, I'm getting a lot off my chest. LOL.)
2006-10-28 11:57:55 · update #1
I see most of the people so far agree with you, but since you are asking a question and not searching for agreement, let me try to answer it.
I am the lucky owner of a cream standard poodle. She is my dream dog. I waited 3 years before I could afford to purchase and care for her. I buy her quality feed, exercise and groom her daily, and keep her up-to-date on vaccinations, worming, and tick prevention. After these expenses, I have little left.
Because I move around a lot, I have to do a "first checkup" every couple years. I know she is healthy and don't need a veterinarian to tell me so for $30.
I also got scammed last visit to the vet. They charged me $8 to trim her nails and I hadn't even asked them to.
I also feel that the other services are over-priced. This, of course, reflects the costs involved in running a vet office. I chose to do some of these services (such as vaccinations) myself, to lower the cost. If my dog were sick, I would pay almost any price, but I'd rather not go into debt paying for over-priced and unnecessary services.
2006-10-28 12:17:10 · answer #1 · answered by Baby Eats World 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The "shouldn't have pets if you can't afford it" argument is still pretty valid when you think about how pet shops stay in business by relying on impulse buyers not making well thought out decisions. So often as soon as the pet gets in the way of life and can't be afforded anymore, the poor thing gets dumped at the shelter. The shelters put down nearly 200,000 unwanted pets a year in Australia. I'm all for mandatory desexing and banning pet shops. If people really need a pet in their life, they can rescue one that's already desexed, microchipped and vaccinated from a shelter for a reasonable price. When you apply to adopt, shelter staff will usually have a good chat with you too so you understand what you could be getting yourself into financially one day. I'm facing some pretty hefty vet bills over the next few months. I'll just postpone my dental, put it on the credit card and try not to think about the cost. I'm looking into pet insurance too. If a person has a pet who is sick and suffering but don't have the funds, if they really care they will either find a way or just surrender it to a shelter.
2016-05-22 03:56:44 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No great answers. Just sympathy for your situation. I think that pet ownership, like many things, is something people just dive into without realizing that there will be any expense other than food involved. I think that education could overcome some of this, but people seem to just always believe what they want to believe. No one asks the Goodyear Tire guy for a break because they need new tires to keep their car running. No one asks Chevron for a deal on their gas bill.
Pets (like humans) get sick and in accidents. Vets are not a charity (though most, like you, do wonderful things that are above and beyond the call because these poor animals don't deserve to have owners who won't care for them when they're hurting). Keep your chin up. Wish I could provide more comfort. It would be a wonderful thing if we all were more enlightened. :)
2006-10-30 06:42:27 · answer #3 · answered by writerchick 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My coworkers and I were wondering this same thing just yesterday. The vet clinic where I work is pretty cheap as far as I see (but I would pay any amount of money to help my babies, just like I would if they were my human babies), but everybody always complains about our prices too. Just the other day we had someone call us w/ a cat that had an infection in her spay incision and griped us out because we were going to charge them $20 for an exam and antibiotic shot! To me, that's extremely cheap!! I think a lot of it is because most people get a puppy or kitten when they see it because it is cute and don't think about the costs associated w/ having a pet. Most people where I live believe that pets (especially cats) are disposable and can be "gotten rid of" whenever they decide they want a new one. All I can say is, keep up your good work and don't worry about the ignorant people who don't care about any living creature other than themselves. They will eventually get whats coming to them when they get hurt or sick and their family refuses to help them.
Thank you for asking a question that's been on my mind for awhile.
2006-10-28 12:01:04 · answer #4 · answered by Vet_Techie_Girl 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I totally agree. I work in a shelter and they come in and call all day every day. Can't afford vet care, can't afford vaccines,can't afford spay/neuter,can't afford food........they want the SHELTER that runs totally on private donations to pick up the tab!!!!! We are barely making the bills, but there is no shortage of people out there with their hand out. You tell them that they can either get the money on their own, or sign the pet over to us and we will take care of it as we see fit, but they will not be getting it back. They think you are cruel,mean,uncaring...the whole bit!!!!!!! And the ones that DID sign the animal over.......we see many of them the next year with yet another pet they cannot afford!!!!!!!!!!!! It just makes you sick!!! There is no personal responsibility anymore!!! When I was little, I never heard of anyone going to the shelter and expecting that they would pay the vet bill for them!!! It is sad what the world has come to!! I have always had a pet since I was on my own...even when I had my first job out of college and had NO money!!!! You budget and make sacrifices to have a pet because it is a luxury...not a necessity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I always paid for what my pet needed and they never went without, but it does cost. Not many people think about that when they get one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2006-10-28 11:54:45 · answer #5 · answered by ARE YOUR NEWFS GELLIN'? 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I know exactly how you are feeling!! I work at a vet clinic and yes it is expensive to treat a pet that is sick, but come ON, if you took on the responsibility of feeding and letting it out and cleaning up after it, then guess what, you took the responsibility to care for its medical needs as well.
2006-10-28 13:05:50 · answer #6 · answered by Megdubs 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Don't lose faith in humanity...maybe these people are just embarrassed that they don't have the money for the big things. There have been times in my life when I didn't have money for any extras...but I always had food for my animals and took care of them. If they needed surgery I would have been in big trouble, but that shouldn't have been a reason to not have pets.
BTW, where is that cheap vet that you worked for?? :)
2006-10-28 11:49:09 · answer #7 · answered by Jani 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
In my book, you have no business getting a pet, if you can't afford to care for it properly. It is similar, at least as far as I am concerned, to having a baby. The only difference is that this baby won't eventually grow up and leave the home and it doesn't require higher education to have a successful life.
Animals are totally dependent on their owners to care for their needs.
2006-10-28 12:03:17 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
lol...sorry this happened to me. A friend of mine who lets just say is (irresponsible) coming back from a store to the car suddenly came rushing over with a little kitten. "Can I keep him?"
"Hell should I know? I don't live with you!" Thus I ended up actually taking the cat in for him. His name is drizzit, and he is great now. But I mean sometimes people are just lonely, and they prefer pets over humans.
Companionship, loneliness, it all fits together.
Drizzit is a good cat, but I never wanted one. Stupid friends.
2006-10-28 11:55:21 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
wow i think u deserve to get paid and also i think that they should pay for there pet but i think its ok to get upset a little bit and i dont think its nessasarily at u its just in general like there sad and confussed and want the best for the pet i do think that they should get pet insurace or have money set aside just in case i think its wonderful that u also vollenteer u seem to be a wonderful person who loves animals
2006-10-28 14:05:30 · answer #10 · answered by donielle 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋