I’m damned close to 40 years out, and yes, my educational debt was high, but it’s an order of magnitude worse now.
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I’m in Ontario and work for a Vet Compounding Pharmacy so don’t work with vets or in a clinic setting per say, but of course have a dog and have 5 ponies that see a vet on a regular basis (sometimes more than I would like them to!). I have seen a huge increase as well when I take my guys to the vet (our compounding prices so far have not gone up in years, but this too may change with the tariffs now, so vet costs can go even higher soon).
There was a huge news piece about a month ago saying 60% of vet clinics in Canada are now corporate owned. Many practices have been bought out and they have set fees now, which really sky rocked care. The clinics are told to push things that are not necessarily needed but they are urged to make more $. For now the small animal clinic I go to is still privately owned but the equine practice I use has been corporate for many, many years. They have many equine vets but I’ve noticed it changes all the time. I just never know what vet I will get. But I mainly use them for vaccines, coggins, heath papers and dental. So far I haven’t needed them for anything more major. Their prices are high with some things (medical) and lower in other areas (vaccines, dental and coggins are a little less than other vets in my area).
@Impractical_Horsewoman - when I purchased my puppy 3 years ago, I signed up for pet insurance for the first time- so she was enrolled at 9 weeks old. I have never had pet insurance before but I was worried about costs of vet bills now, especially if surgery is needed. I was getting a giant breed of dog and was worried about certain surgeries and being able to come up with $10,000 or $20,000 at once for it. So far I have paid more in insurance then I’ve used it, but I have had to use it a few times now and I have received a few thousand dollars back ( 2 x emerg calls - one for stitch replacement as she tore hers open and one for when she couldn’t walk and it ended up being lyme - they covered meds and bloodwork as she was on preventative), so it has helped. They did cover 80% of my bill. My rates have increased each year though, so if it does keep going up, I will have to really think hard on this one. For me, its peace of mind. I would probably sell a kidney if she needed emergency surgery for something, so having insurance is saving me lol!
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Following up from DiamondJubilee’s post, CBC’s Marketplace and The Fifth Estate did two back to back shows on the rising costs of veterinary care in Canada.
One major factor seems to be the corporate buy outs which set fees, as others , including @Ghazzu, have pointed out.
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Very good breeding on the hens plus lots of research into what it takes to get the optimum number of eggs vs feed cost plus the scale of egg operations. They know down to the day what those pullets need, from the breeder pens through incubation through all the chick stages through early laying and molt. They’re also loss-leaders for stores, I believe. This current egg situation nationally isn’t necessary, we didn’t have to raise the price on eggs. I saw a report this morning saying that the egg companies have turned over $500 million in profit this year, when it’s typically $5 million.
Personally, I sell eggs for $4/dozen. That allows me enough profit that it makes it worth my time to collect, sort, wash, and arrange exchanges. I haven’t raised my price since last year, I had been undercharging and raised $1/year every January until I got to $4 where I’ve wanted to be. Many in my area sell for $3 because, “We just like having chickens!” which is a little insensitive to the rest of the egg purveyors. Most charge $5. You’ll pay more at the farmer’s markets because of the costs inherent in taking them there. You’ll also pay more closer to the suburbs. Because people will pay.
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I live in an rural area really struggling with enough vets. I know my pet and horse vet bills are subsidizing the farm animal practice. We have a handful of bovine along w/ my horses and small animals. The horse and pet bills have increased markedly over the last few years (not complaining to much) - the bovine vet bills are breathtakingly cheap. Pregnancy check $35. We had a one-nutter that had to get removed. Vet must have worked 30 minutes to get it out - bent behind an awake steer, hand up in the incision, trying get a slippery, adhered testicle out enough to cut off - all while we squished the steer (a few hundred pounds) in a head gate/chute while holding it’s tail up over it’s back. Cost - $75. Really? we told her that wasn’t enough. But what are the clinics to do? If you raise those prices, you will never get called out. Large dairies hire their own vets. Other vets are left with small, barely making a profit occasionally, farms…
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I’m gonna go look at those youtube videos again of people riding and jumping steers…
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Damn. I made $32,000 in 1987 with 1 year of culinary college. I worked for a medical claims insurance company. I worked 37.5 hours per week. Straight time for 2.5 hours for the time over 37.5 hours and time and a half for anything over 40 hours. I had $3,500 in student loans.
I never got a degree and left corporate insurance claims almost 4 years ago and was making almost double with what you are making now.
That totally sucks. I can barely wrap my arms around that salary amount.
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My small animal vet, who is in his 80s and had his degree paid for by the Army, does not recommend to people to become a veterinarian due to the high cost.
He briefly worked for another vet that pushed the whole $$$per visit. His response was due to his experience he was able to see more clients per day so it made up for the whole push $$$ procedures that were not necessary.
Thankfully he went back to having his own practice. He is now mostly retired but his office manager and her vet brother bought the practice.
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I worry about seniors living alone on a fixed income, facing rising prices on everything, and having just one cat or little dog for company.
I see those elderly people out walking their little dogs, often with walkers, and think how important those little critters are to the happiness and well being of their owners.
But with the rise in veterinary care, how does the person chose between rent/food/and taking their pet to the vet?
Even pet food/cat litter is so expensive. If you are on a tight budget, how can you afford it? 
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Pets will be shortly be a thing of the past for the elderly and those on fixed incomes if they aren’t already for most. I know. I’m living it. Trying to keep a couple older ponies going and 2 cats. 3 years ago we had no issues, now the vet bills are nearing the impossible zone. They are getting the same level of care, but the price of that care is rapidly rising beyond my means.
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The gelding I have now is my first as a self supporting adult. I was flabbergasted that when it comes to the routine vet/heatlhcare, my dogs cost me more. The wormer and flea/tick stuff alone costs a fortune for the dogs anymore 
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It’s not even just corporate vet care or just the cost of the vet’s time. Ten years ago, a dose of EWT + WNV (from the veterinary supply place, not administered by the vet) was 30 bucks. Now it’s $44. Same brand etc but 50% more. Betcha there are similar increases across all of the supplies. I wish I could find an old invoice for dewormer, because doesn’t it feel that that’s suddenly much more expensive too? Oh wow, yeah: ten years ago Equimax was ten bucks. TEN! Now $17.
Standard of care has also changed. Those old school vets were using different induction and anesthetic agents, and intra op monitoring was often minimal. Now it’s not uncommon to have a person in the OR dedicated just to monitoring. Is it necessary? Probably not, mostly. But when something goes wrong, that might be the difference between the pet surviving or not
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It’s not just the vet bills, but also the expected standard of care in general, I have to admit. I have held off getting another dog because it seems so many rescues have separation anxiety, and as a single person, it’s not really feasible for me to 1. not leave the dog alone, ever or 2. go through the “training” period where I only leave the room for a few minutes a time to train the dog it’s okay and put her in day care or get a sitter every time I leave the house for longer than that.
Ditto other training issues which can pop up.
And even with basic care, the #1 reason I see dogs surrendered are economic issues (I’m including people forced to move in with family/apartments that don’t allow pets because they lost their homes, as well as losing their jobs). It’s always easy to type “I’d go homeless before giving up my pet,” but it’s another thing to actually face that situation.
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I just spent $244 for six months’ worth of Simparica Trio for my one dog. It was $40 less if I would have ordered from this online store that is affiliated with my vet now but my vet would not see that money, I asked. I’m afraid this online stuff that keeps emailing me means my vet practice has been sold to one of the animal oligarchs.
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I recently asked my vet how much to spay/neuter, and it was around $250. There is a clinic in town that does mostly ferals but also low income for about $60. I do NOT begrudge the vets, but it is pushing pets out of the low income and elderly. There is a thing here about old pets for old people. The pound will give a pet to a senior and cover vet stuff. Not sure how it is working out.
Of course it isn’t just vet bills, insurance, buying homes, credit card interest! Oh my!
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Last year I trapped a feral cat and wanted to get it spayed. I contacted my regular vet. They wanted a initial “wellness check” then the spay appointment, then a follow up. I said, you understand this is a feral cat and the chances of my trapping it a second time is exactly zero. They refused to do the spay without 3 appointments.
I ended up taking it to a low cost spay/neuter place and got it done for $60.
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Our dogs are both seniors, and when they pass I think that’s going to be it for a while. Combo of the costs and DH having dander allergies but mostly the allergies.
We are lucky enough to have our next door neighbor that we barter dog sitting with now, but the cost of pet sitters is just as expensive as our lodging costs anymore!
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There is a place for both though. I worked at a small animal clinic, and people would FREQUENTLY ask us about this type of price disparity- typically, the major differences are the types of anesthetics used, what monitoring is done, what pre-surgical checks (bloodwork etc) are done, and what is given for post-surgery pain meds etc. So in most cases these price differences are fairly directly explainable- and most clients would choose to do the surgery with us rather than the cheaper option (though of course some couldn’t afford it, and we would never ever have given them any hard time or judgement for making that choice!).
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We have ferrets and as they get to 4-ish years old, sometimes sooner, lots of health issues begin to pop up. It is normal for our business (which is what a group of ferrets is called, and it cracks me up), to have at least one fert on meds, if not more. Ok, cool, but rising costs mean we are less able to take in as many ferrets as we have in the past- ours are all rescues. Right now we only have four in our ferret room; our max is eight but we are going to stick with four or less because all of them are now 4+ years old so costs are only going to increase.
Our youngest one was having stomach issues that our excellent ferret vet was trying to chase down. After our bills went past $1000 with no real answers I called a halt to further investigation. I pretty much figured it out on my own, which I wouldn’t normally do but decided to try to save us money.
It was the suggestion that we do a $600 ultrasound (plus visit costs) for her that sort of broke me. I mentioned this to my horse vet when we were looking at a cut on my gray’s knee and her mouth dropped open. She was like: all they have to do is sort of wave it over this tiny thing. Why is it $600? 
I’m not ever going to tell a vet they are charging too much- I know there are a lot of things that go into it and we only use private practices that don’t push extra things on you. I also don’t want to contribute to the stress that so many, if not most, vets labor under. BUT: I also can’t spend endless amounts of money. Our ferret vet’s reaction to my saying I didn’t want the ultrasound made me feel like a heartless monster, which didn’t seem fair or kind. We do our very best for all of our guys, but there are limits. Just because something can be done doesn’t always mean it is feasible financially, or even the right decision. One of our other ferrets has insulinoma and we are treating her for it. She’s doing great so far but eventually the tumors will begin to impact her quality of life- we know the signs and we know how the progression goes- we have had ferrets for nearly 30 years. I’m prepared to have her put to sleep when this happens, and also for our ferret vet to suggest other options- but, she is fairly old, this is a progressive disease, and the symptoms just get worse and worse. So, we are prepared to feel like jerks when we make that decision but we are going to do it anyway, because it’s not fair to keep her going just because we can.
One of our beloved dogs has degenerative valve disease, which has so far been a many thousand-dollar diagnosis, treatment, and maintenance. We are lucky he’s doing so well and are so grateful for the vets who are involved, but when his quality of life goes downhill we will have him put to sleep. He’s elderly, his heart was already apparently quite damaged when he became symptomatic, and we aren’t going to prolong his life when meds no longer help him feel normal. I am prepared for this day, and also for the 50/50 chance we will get pushback from the vets when they know they could do that prolonging.
We are firm believers in the “better a day too early than an hour too late” maxim, but one never knows what the reaction will be from the vets when we elect for ending a life instead of trying one more medication or treatment. This can be almost worse than the decision itself.
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I’m sorry about your ferrets. I can only imagine how expensive they are. We had a pet rabbit or two for years but they are also very expensive to treat.
You’re so right about not telling a vet they overcharge. In a recession like we have now, less people will be able to afford their pets. I’m sure it hurts the vets, too, when people have to say no to procedures or tests because of expense. Especially if the vet knows how much it would improve the pet’s quality of life. I fear there will be a lot more people opting to euthanize instead of treating their pets as prices continue to rise.
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