How come Vets charge so much?

Question

is it because I'm black? are they racist and think they need to charge black people more because we black?

My dog is a dog and he should be charged the same as any other dog!

check it. my pittbull had plenty of fluid in his stomach and the damn vet said the charge was $400 to treat him. I said I had no other option mofo! so I left the poor motha their. the same day I strolled by and was about to pick up my dog see. so that motha said he needed to keep my pitt overnight. hell naw! I ain't paying no overnight fees, motha! so I told that damn vet he better realize who he is dealing with because I don't go away easy. anyway I told that motha you can't fix my dog well I going to take him today.

guess what? that motha charged me $400!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I said fo what?????????? you only pumped his stomach and didn't even find the cure. you told me $400 to TREAT him. now you wanted to charge me more for overnight stay, additional fees and on top of that charge me $400?

trippin!

Answer 1

Yes. It is all a conspiracy. If you had emailed the vet to ask for an estimate he would never have known you were black and would have charged you $10 like he does for all the white people's pitt bulls.

It is well known that vets have a sliding scale based on race. Asians are charged the most, then Blacks, Hispanics and finally Whites.

I understand where you're coming from because I have a very hard time paying any vet bills. I'm an Indian and the place I work at will only pay me in shiny beads and trinkets.

Okay, take a deep breath and let's get back to the real world. If someone is trying to screw you over a vet bill it is because of the color of MONEY, not the color of your skin. Don't like the vet? Find another.

Answer 2

Vet Fees are based on what the vet is doing. Most likely he had to anesthetize the dog, meaning he needed to make him sleep, to pass the stomach tube. Whenever they have to use ANY drugs on an animal the cost jumps dramatically. Vets get charged a lot for the drugs they keep, the instraments, and high tech diagnostic machines. If they have to use any of these things they need to cover what they were charged first, and it is a buisness so they need to make some money as well.

The overnight stay was probably to observe the dog, that way its easier for them to find a problem with 24hour monitoring. I'm sure the vet had to racist motives in charging you so much money. If they insulted their clients the buisness would fail, so its not in their best interest to do something like that. You'll find that the majority of vets only have the best interests of the pet at mind and are very conscious that some owners can't afford EVERY treatment they throw out there. A lot of places are willing to work with you on a payment plan as well. So in the future that may be something to look into.

Hope the dog is ok.

Answer 3

Ok, CALM DOWN. First of all, if YOU had to have YOUR stomach pumped, would you be complaining about paying $400? I realize that it's "just a dog", but vets have to go through medical school too! Typically, it is much harder to get into and through vet school than it is to get into/through medical school (for humans). Also, if your dog had to be put under any kind of anesthetic, that costs a ton more money. It may seem like an everyday/easy thing to do, but anesthesia is a very sensitive thing to do.
I think you need to back off the whole "black" issue- that usually makes the racism worse, especially if you accuse your vet of being racist.
Something you might want to check into is pet insurance. It's not available everywhere, but do a search online for it and see what you can do. It works similar to health insurance- you pay so much a year and then it covers certain costs of your pet's medical care.
Pet care is very expensive- you can't just expect your dog to be healthy 100% of the time- he/she's a living creature! THere are expenses!
If you think your vet is too expensive or you are not happy with your vet's knowledge of your dog's condition, you have every right to get a second opinion. In the meantime, just chill out, and see if your current vet can offer you some kind of payment plan.

Answer 4

Vet school costs about $100,000 plus the 4 years of undergrad. Most vets are small business owners, so they have to support their business themselves. They have to get a building, hire staff, set up exam rooms where a table can cost more than $500, buy an x-ray machine and processor and all of the film and chemicals as well as set up a radiation control account. They must also buy all of their equipment for their operating room, where an anesthesia machine can cost over $1000. Instruments, suture, gauze all cost money. They must also have cages for the animals. Good, safe cages can cost $10,000 or more. Dental equipment costs money. The inventory that you see in the waiting room, as well as the medications that have to be kept on hand cost as much as for humans. Then there are the licenses needed to run a business and maintain a drug inventory. I'm sure I've missed a lot, but this is a good beginning.

Your pit bull, with fluid in his stomach, was a sick dog as you well know or you wouldn't have taken him to a vet. He could have had gastro-dilatory-volvulus which can and does kill. Pumping a pit bull's stomach is not something that anyone would volunteer for given the unpredictability of the breed. $400 was a totally fair, probably too fair, charge for that procedure.

Answer 5

Vet fees are generally based on the size of the dog. If the dog has to be put under anethesia, it all depends on how much is needed to knock the dog out, so, bigger the dog bigger the cost.

If you feel this vet is too expensive, ask around at others that might be more reasonable.

Vet visits can be really expensive. I had a big dog who had a simple dentistry, and it was almost 400. I'm sure a lot of people will tell you, you didn't pay that much compared to what you could of.

I'm sure it had nothing to do with your colour.

Answer 6

Of course a Vet visit is expensive, how much is an office visit when you go to a Doctor? As far as "people" meds. I had a 130-lb. Wolfhound that was given an antibiotic. The Vet Just wrote a prescription that we filled at the drugstore. Medicines for people aren't all that cheap either. You're just spoiled because you have health insurance from your employer and probably paying less than half the actual price.

Answer 7

You know....vets don't have the same perks human doctors do. They don't have clinic with a zillion other doctors to share the costs, they don't those options. Most vets are in business for themselves, by themselves and eat the cost of everything. From medicine, supplies, employee paychecks...the works. Also, a lot of pets are small....which makes surgeries a whole lot tougher. They are just trying to make a living, doing what they love, and pay their bills. Considering my pets go once a year (on the norm) I pay a lot less for their medical bills than I do for my own, my husbands and my childrens. Even with insurance.

When you became the owner of a pet, you agreed to take care of it. So take care of it, smile when you pay the bill and realize a person gets to keep their job because you sought out pet care.

Answer 8

Vet Med school, in most states, will set you back financially more than Human Med school. Vets have to pay for their clinic costs, employees, insurance, equipment, just like a human doctor does. Vet costs are rising just like Health costs are rising. Vets have families and such just like everyone else does. If the vet has to buy new equipment, the cost gets passed onto his clients. I has nothing to do with the color of the pet owner. Cost is based on what he has to charge to at least break even, small pets are sometimes charged less than larger pets because the amount of time and equipment used is less. Vets don't care about the color of the owner, they care about he health of the critter.

Answer 9

I don't believe it has anything with you being black only in your eyes you are trying to make something of nothing...

on vet was gonna charge me $350.00 to put my dog to sleep and have him cremated privately

the vet I took him to only charged me 162.00 to do the same thing...

different vets check around and ask people you know that has animals what vet they use and if they like him
that is what i did and i found a better vet...

also some are out for money not all........

the size of your dog may have had something to do with it...
it don't cost me nearly the same to take my 80lb dog to the vet as it does to take my dog that 116 lbs

Answer 10

some vets are like scam artists and some are into it for the love of animals..they all chargealot of money;;;. when i walk in the office it's45 dollers then the vet looking and touching another 40 dollers. then meds anoyher 45 dollers. thats 15 minutes at the office...my dog has heart failure 'and i told the vet 'i need heart pills. she told me for that i need a heart doc and xrays ect.... it would be 4. four thousand dollers.. i don't have that kind of money 'so i'll give my dogs meds i can afford and wait till that sad day comes when he'll go to heaven