Yup. Sigh.
I’ll say it again, we have a pool of licensed, experienced techs who could absolutely help ease the burden of lack of practitioners.
They just can’t leave their (piss poor paying) job for four years and take on six figures of student loan debt to be of assistance. Not to mention other hurdles.
I was the same until a few years ago when I moved from one area of my state to another area. Where I was before had one large practice plus numerous individual vets. I used the large practice (had the same vet but got the benefit of a larger support system).
Now I’m in an area with few vet choices, some of whom have wait lists to become a client. My vet is wonderful but I do worry about what my options will be when she retires.
And then we will get charged an extra fee, because that is not what a physical is for…
(talking human medicine here, not vets)
I have no qualms paying any amount for top notch care. But that has to come with common sense, too. As mentioned above - the pre-pre visit, the pre-visit, the visit, and the mandated post-visit - all at a charge, with me needing to take time off from work - that’s where the small animal vets lose me. I don’t mind a single pre-visit before a procedure. But we aren’t doing quantum mechanics sending people to the moon - we are discussing a procedure, looking at the animal to ensure they’re a candidate, pulling blood if necessary, and getting it scheduled. It does not need to be a 3 week drawn out thing with multiple visits.
I finally found a vet that has a practitioner that does both large and small animal stuff - he is the coolest vet ever, super common sense but high level of care. He’s going to give me the Adequan for the dog and not require me to make an appointment for every dose. 
ETA: The middle aged dog had a TPLO. One pre-visit, she was diagnosed, blood was pulled, and we were scheduled for the procedure. The rehab post-procedure was a totally different thing - I think there was one post-visit for incision monitoring, but it was combined with one of the rehab appointments.
I have never had my vet require me to make an appointment for every dose.
They would give it if I wanted them to (which would require a tech appointment for every dose), but since we felt comfortable doing it ourselves, we did it at home.
That was not the case for the two separate small animal vets around here prior to this one. They required that I make an appointment for each one. I declined, and kept looking for a vet that was more inclined towards common sense.
One of the two aforementioned vet clinics kept making my friend bring in her crippled 200# mastiff for meds for a persistent hot-spot, an issue he had struggled with all his life. She brought him in annually for his normal exam, but they would not refill the meds for the hot spot without seeing him every single time. That’s nuts. She eventually gave up and kept using OTC stuff because bringing him in was such a nightmare. She found a new vet in general, it turned her off so badly.
This is the same experience I’ve had- they just give me the Adequan and the syringes and I do the shots myself at home.
@endlessclimb I don’t think most people on here are the ones having a come apart about vet prices. But the vitriol I see on some of the rescue/ rehoming pages is ridiculous and completely out of line. Sorry but spaying your 100 lbs dog is not going to be $100
Oh my god, wouldn’t that be nice to have a spay effectively donated.
I thought $1,300 for an adult female spay was an absolute steal when we had our youngest done.
This!
The things I read on the vet groups on Facebook make me want to slap people.
The amount of people who are angry because the vet office will not treat their dog for free with them, a total stranger, not a regular at the practice even, promising to make payments when they get the money…
My theory to vet bills is, the debt is something between me and my credit card company, not me and the vet. The vet gets paid at time of service. Period.
Yup.
Care credit is a lifesaver in an emergency.
(Although boy oh boy that interest is killer if you don’t pay it off before the promotional period ends)
My vet has started (respectfully) calling people out online when they complain about her practice. I don’t love that… but at the same time, you have these people on the local FB groups saying “the vet refuses to come out! I need a reliable vet!” And my vet chimes in, “Hi, I will be happy to come out as soon as you resolve your $xxx balance from 6 months ago…”
It is sad that society finds it wrong for the vet’s office to say that, but it is OK for the person to bad mouth them and make it sound like they are not willing to come out.
It’s just a sad state of society period.
I don’t have a problem with the vet defending herself. Although I do think she has to be careful; sharing account information online could turn ugly for her, even if it’s just a balance. It would be safer to post something like a blanket policy statement that all accounts must be current in order to receive services.
What are the people’s responses to being called out? Deleting the post?
Usually. Especially when the tide of the conversation turns from vet recommendations to praise for the vet.
Cowards. That’s infuriating. I dont blame your vet at all.
Was this maybe a couple months ago? And started with the person posting all about how the vet refused to come out to her but she conveniently forgot to mention the not paying her bill part?
I guess I am grumpy because anytime someone posts saying that no vet will come out, or no vet will see their dog, I assume the problem is not the vet(s) but the owner not paying their bills.
Oh definitely me too- I was just wondering if the post she was mentioning was the same one I was thinking of because we live in the same area
I had a FB acquaintance that I had purchased birds from her husband and stayed up with them on there. I didn’t like them and she was a real peach, she’d go into the purebred chicken groups and just rip people’s birds apart, as though she knew anything (she didn’t). Anyway, this woman was CONSTANTLY posting looking for a vet for an emergency and would rattle off every local vet where she couldn’t go, but give me suggestions where we can go and not get ripped off ASAP. She bred Aussies and did the whole huge expensive package where you get a puppy plus a big old bag of shit and special subscription food etc 
Only time in my life I’ve ever been bitten by a dog was trying to leave their house and their pack of Aussies tried to rip my legs off and they didn’t even come call them off.
I wondered every time just what she had done to all the local vets, who I’ve never had any troubles with.
It’s happened more than once, but yes I’m sure we both saw that one.
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