rant from the other side
Flame suit on and this is going to be a LONG response. I have not read all pages of this thread so am sure I am not addressing all points made. I am a small animal vet, having worked for two corporate chains and now own my own hospital. I completely understand where people come from regarding budgets and pushy vets. I feel that way when I go to Jiffy Lube. However, there is another side to this conversation.
I did not become a vet to give rabies shots. I went to school to practice veterinary medicine. That includes providing complete preventative medicine and dispensing veterinary medical advice. And yes that means offering clients bloodwork, testing, surgeries, etc. It means giving clients options of care from all the bells and whistles to the most conservative option available. We also no longer live in a society of personal responsibility and hence I am forced to practice “defensive medicine” due to lawsuit liability. We have to always offer and recommend the “highest level of medical care” available. We have to make notation of all declined recommendations. I have a complaint pending right now against me to the State Board from a client that came in with his dog for his “yearly” last October. He declined all services other than a rabies vaccine and exam (only because the exam was required or he would have declined that too). It was noted during the exam that his dog’s gums looked pale and bloodwork recommended, he declined. Two months later his dog died of a hemagiosarcoma and he filed a suit that it should have been diagnosed in October. This suit is still pending and it has taken me a lot of time, money and anguish dealing with this frivolous complaint.
I have a veterinary friend that routinely signed on-line fax script requests. One of her clients bought their HW meds that way and the dog contracted HWD. The client filed suit against my friend as she signed the fax and should have known the product may have been tainted. The client was also pissed off b/c the drug manufacturer would not pay for the HW treatment as the product was purchased on-line. If the HWP had been purchased through their vet (ie; my friend) the manufacturer would have stood behind their product b/c quality control could be accounted for. Hence, this is why I will write a script for a client and they can then submit to where ever they want but I WILL NOT sign a fax request. It is also the reason I recommend not buying HWP on-line. If you think never missing a dose of HWP your dog cannot get HWD you are wrong. NO DRUG IS 100% EFFECTIVE AT ANYTHING. I am treating a collie right now that has never missed a dose of HWP. Thankfully b/c the owner has always bought her meds through us and we have all the records the treatment is being covered by the drug manufacturer (about $600). That is also why I REQUIRE yearly HWT, no waiver out option. The test costs the client $16.50. In my mind too little for me to risk the possible lawsuit b/c in a suit that waiver means diddly squat.
A routine dog yearly at my clinic costs exam $40, 3-yr DHPP $25, HWT $16.50 or 3DX (HWT with tick titer) $44, rabies $16.50, Bord $16.50 (only on boarding or grooming dogs), fecal $22. Bloodwork is recommended on dogs 5-7 years or older at a cost of $68-110 (at least 50% decline and we just note it in the chart). These prices are more than reasonable in my mind but I hear hourly the complaints about cost and “how for those prices I could build a wing on to your hospital”.
I offer vaccine clinics 4 times a year and low cost spay/ neuter prices one week each month. I hear daily how “such and such a date for the vaccine clinic doesn’t work for my schedule. Why can’t you just give me those prices on such and such a date that works for me?”. Or “why isn’t bloodwork included in that $70 spay?”. It doesn’t work that way, low cost clinics are held at SPECIFIC times and dates. But people are selfish, unappreciative and have no respect for me, my staff, or our policies.
Here is my week thus far (true story):
Monday: a man comes in and says his dog hurt his leg and is in his car. Can I come out to just look at it and see if it needs an exam. Well, I explain to him that that is an exam and it cost $40. He walked out pissed only to come back 1 hr later. He then gripes about needing an x-ray as it is so clearly broken and don’t I know that. You can see where this is going.
Tues: a woman comes in with a dog with a huge laceration needing sutures. We give her an estimate of $300. She gripes saying anesthesia is unnecessary and just give it some lidocaine. There is no way I will do that and she leaves saying she won’t even pay for the exam since I didn’t do anything. She finally reluctantly pays the $40 and leaves only to return 2 hrs later after she went to 2 other vets and I can only assume we were the cheapest. We make her pay upfront due to her previous reluctance and she gripes some more. The dog goes home with 45 sutures, a bandage, an ecollar, and strict instructions. Fast forward to today (Thurs) and woman comes in screaming with dog, laceration re-opened, no bandage and ecollar MIA. She explains she couldn’t contain dog, he wouldn’t wear the ecollar, took off his bandage but it is my fault as the sutures weren’t tight enough and the bandage “sucked”. Needless to say she was royally upset about having to pay again for a second repair.
Wed: woman comes in with dying parvo puppy and no $$. I am cruel b/c I won’t treat the puppy for free, how dare I let it die, she has no job, her boyfriend has no job, she is pregnant, etc, etc. Puppy ends up dying and joy, joy another one of her dogs is due to whelp next week.
Thurs: had to deal with above Tues woman again.
Now don’t get me wrong. I have many, thankfully most, clients that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. And they are not the ones with all the money. They are the ones that respect me, my staff, my time, my policies. And in return I respect them, their decisions, their limitations. They are not the ones that complain when they come to a vaccine clinic and have to wait on line, they are not the ones that expect me to pay for their animals care. They are the ones that do what they can, are happy to hear my knowledge, understand that I can’t always get to the phone RIGHT THEN but will always call back asap, are happy to pay my prices even if the guy down the street is a few bucks cheaper b/c they respect me. These are the clients I foster and spend my time with. These are the clients I will give a quick look down an ear to see if they are cleaning it well for no charge, the ones I work with on cost and go over ways to save money, the ones I will give the depo shot to their cat and not charge an exam fee, the one I trim toes nails at no charge, etc. If one is going from vet to vet, always griping and complaining maybe, just maybe, it is the vets response to how they are being treated by the client.
Basically she was saying that some of the pills might have the medicine right in the middle and not on the outside of the chew???
I told the office manager that I love her and hate this, but I have no other choice due to their escalating prices.
