My large animal vets take a temp, listen to heart/lungs/gut, and give a general once over, at least once a year. They do charge an exam fee for that. Do you get charged an exam fee? That would be irksome if you’re paying for it and not getting it!
2 Likes
Decent vets are so scarce that I’m scared to request this.
The 4 vets I’ve used over 20 years, only the super duper old school one did this. He also never did upgrade to digital xrays, or any other modern technology for that matter, which is why I ended up with the second vet.
Oh yeah. I even got charged for a lameness exam for watching a horse trot up and down the hallway. No flexions, no nothing. 30 seconds of trotting and I was $150 poorer.
That’s sucky :-/ I thought that a yearly exam–like a real actual exam–was a required part of the vet client patient relationship, but haven’t gone looking for the details or verbiage. Not like you want to rock the boat, but maybe worth knowing? I would guess it’s on the AVMA website somewhere.
1 Like
I’m not sure. I know they’re out twice a year, and the spring visit always has an exam fee. Vet #2 spring AND fall had an exam fee.
No doubt.
But I have every confidence that a place that is licensed to sell prescription meds (and vaccines) retail is going to be no more or less reliable than the place that sells prescription meds (and vaccines) wholesale.
1 Like
My vet always checks heart, lungs and temperature. Every visit. There is a small “brief exam” charge. My horse has vaccine reactions so the vet does his in three visits. My BO does her own horses except for rabies. My vet authorizes prescriptions from places like Valley Vet for Adequan which I inject.
2 Likes
That’s unfortunate 
Mine does a general looking over every vaccination visit. She also does my dental work once a year, mostly, on each horse, so they get the stethoscope then as well
Yes, I actually am very aware of that. That doesn’t stop people from using non-DVM dentists. Local FB groups here in NC, where it is illegal for a non-DVM to perform dental work, have posts regularly asking for and recommending non-DVM dentists. There are several travelling dentists who are NOT DVMs who come through here on a regular basis doing teeth. Sometimes they do them well, sometimes they leave a wreck (and the same can be said for vets).
So yes, I AM aware of that. I’m also aware that no one other than a DVM and the owner is legally allowed to sedate a horse, yet there are trainers and non-DVM dentists doing just that. It’s also illegal in the US to prescribe Previcox for horses, and yet…
Legal requirements != followed.
AND, there are travelling DVMs who only do dental work and who are not the owner’s normal health-related vets, so even when they’re doing things legally, not everyone is using their regular vet for dental work.
4 Likes
I never have to ask him to do these things, they’re automatically included (as in the $60 farm visit - total with vaccinations, but didn’t need a Coggins – that he did here last month). Don’t know what I’ll do when he finally retires completely. I use a couple of other vets for more involved things (he doesn’t even own radiograph equipment any longer, for example), but it’s very nice to have someone whom I’ve known for decades still be available.
We have the kind of relationship where I can text him for an opinion, or get advice over the phone (gratis). He’ll willingly write me prescriptions for medications I can shop for on-line, etc. And, frankly, having a veterinarian who isn’t automatically going to the cutting-edge, expensive option is a bonus. He’ll refer me if he feels something is beyond his diagnostic ability (did so last year with a horse that was eventually diagnosed by a Critical Care Specialist at an equine hospital).
Absolutely worth paying him for vaccinations!
3 Likes
People seeking out non vet dentists doesn’t mean that there aren’t MANY people who use vets.
So? Why do you think it matters if a veterinary dentist isn’t the vet providing the remainder of the routine care?
Someone who’s going to the trouble and expense of seeking out a veterinary dental specialist is probably not going to be the person who isn’t maintaining a relationship with a generalist vet. 
Even people with strong feelings about a hand float and wanting an equine “dentist” instead of a vet in the mouth are probably not the people who aren’t maintaining a relationship with a vet.
People who purposefully seek out routine dental care and prioritize it aren’t really the people who aren’t doing routine care, are they.
I never said there aren’t many who DO use their, or at least A vet, for dental work, only that there are many do don’t use a vet (theirs or any DVM at all). There are entire barns in my state that organize dental clinics every 6 months or so, both with non-DVMs (I’d never…) and DVMs) with the barn’s horses, and all the trailer-ins getting done, as well as wherever else those dentists go on their way.
It matters in the context of my original comment, which was quite clear. My comment was originally that there are people who DIY their own vaccines AND use a travelling dentist for dental work, so don’t HAVE a regular vet, or at least not one they call for anything other than emergencies. That was the entire point of my comment
you’d be surprised. Owners can’t do their own dental work (though a few pop up asking how to do it, yiles), but they CAN do their own vaccines.
Some vets don’t do dentals, they don’t want to. Some vets do dental work and it’s crap. Some do dentals for their regular “normal” clients and do an excellent job. Some owners feel no vet is qualified to do dental work and only dentists are (and they’re wrong). IME it’s a pretty separate issue from whether they have a good relationship with their vet for regular care.
2 Likes
As someone who has used a veterinary dental specialist and not my generalist vet for teeth, for decades, across three states, and has frequent conversations with those people about their client base, and how their practice works, I don’t think I would be.
Interesting.
The practice I use does a full physical first during our first spring vaccine appointment.
They also take temperature and listen to heart/lungs/gut before anything that requires sedation.
4 Likes
I can’t remember the last time I saw a large animal vet with a stethoscope, outside of hospital/clinic settings.
Sounds like I’m getting ripped off, lol
Add me to the list of people whose vet always takes temp, resp, and heart rate. And weight tapes. And does a cursory look over during every visit. After every visit she emails me a PDF of all the values notes and the exam findings along with what was done/charged. So I have a written history.
1 Like
My horses and I try to forget about this part of the exam.
(We are all easy keepers.)
My vet also emails all the exam information along with the report about what they did at that call.
1 Like
And I get picture of a computer screen shots of bloodwork/test values, after having to follow up multiple times about it, and a bill that’s 6 months after the appointment that’s not correct (I hate feeling like I’m nickel and diming the vet, but my horse did not receive the injectable AND the intranasal version of the same vaccine…)
1 Like
I’ve used…6 or 7 different vets in 4 years (3 different practices) due to the revolving vet issue in my area. They all have done a basic exam with stethoscope and temp check before administering vaccines. Sometimes I get charged an exam fee (seems looking back only when it is an emergency/out of hours call). Some of them do a little more (pulse, gums) than others, but all have done basic checks.
Regarding vaccines, I much prefer to have them administered by vet, since I’ve had reactions in one horse, but sometimes they leave me 1 or 2 to do myself to split them up (normally flu/rhino as it seems less reactive).
Dentals - it seems VA is also one requiring a vet according to that link, but we have a plethora of non-DVMs doing it here. I asked my vet, and she indicated that they could do non-electronic filing and no sedatives. Where else can I look this up? Mostly to arm myself for arguments with friends who don’t use vets 
2 Likes
I order my vaccines from the same place my vet gets them, and they’re shipped to me directly. My vet has no problem with this and sees us frequently enough for health certificates, joint injections, etc. I watch the tracking when vaccines are shipped and make sure to refrigerate them as soon as they arrive, and they’ve always arrived cold. I also don’t have confidence in feed store handling of them, but that’s not where I buy them. I own 12 horses, so having a vet vaccinate when I can do it myself (and buy a whole vial rather than by the shot) really doesn’t make sense financially.
1 Like
I think there was a big EIA outbreak at a TB farm in California in the mid 1970s. I was a tween but remember reading about it.
