Just saw it in the paper. A Florida vet co , Shotvet, has agreed to give dogs, cats, vaccines, flea preventative and heart worm tests at some Walgreen stores.
Just started in Ma. According to the paper. In the Walgreen parking lot on certain days and times. In Ma. The shots have to be given by a vet. Didn’t say about other states. It’s suppose to be cheaper, no appt necessary, and heart worm pills etc can be ordered thru Walgreens too for a cheaper price.
I would think it would cut into the income of reg vet offices.
Has anyone else heard of this?
Tractor Supply does it one Saturday a month. Shots, heartworm testing, microchipping. I guess if Walgreen’s can give shot and pneumonia shots to humans, why not shots to pets?
StG
We started doing vaccine clinics like this 20 years ago when we first got a Petco in town. It’s not uncommon. A licensed veterinarian does the work.
Interesting. I’ve only heard of rabies clinics, not all vaccines and heart worm tests.
It would make sense though. So many of the pharmacy chains have human clinics and give shots, why not pets?
We’ve had mobile vet clinics for quite some time in this area. It is cheaper than most vets as there’s no office visit fee and the shots are quite reasonable. You can even trailer your horse in for shots as the clinics are usually set up outside near a parking lot.
They are giving shots but not exams. Nothing can beat a good annual exam by a vet. It’s better to catch issues when they are just starting.
We did exams at the vaccine clinics. We didn’t do shoddy medicine…just discounted medicine.
I took my dog to the shot clinic at Rural King this spring. Besides waiting in line with a lot of other dogs and people (ugh) I was quite pleased. Got an exam, did heartworm test, got vaccinations, and six months of heartworm pills for $100. It was $400 at my regular vet last year. Granted, pup isn’t fond of the hard, cheap heartworm pills, but I smear them with liver sausage and pretend I’m going to take them away and he eventually eats the whole thing.
Tractor Supply near me does this. I don’t take my animals there, I prefer to take them to a vet clinic-- but I suspect a lot of animals get vaccinations because of the program who otherwise wouldn’t get anything. It’s low cost, no questions asked, no upsell, easy. And you’re there shopping anyway. I think it’s a good thing.
My latest foundling pup received her shots at TSC, but was spayed at my regular vet. The TSC vets do some examinations and they even checked out my girl’s spay incision. The staff is nice and they seem to enjoy what they are doing. They ask all the questions that my normal vet asks too.
I first brought my guys to TSC because the microchipping was only $15, so I had everyone microchipped.
Programs like this is why at my vet clinic, we have “wellness hours” where our regular clients can walk in for vaccines, fecal, and heartworm test without an exam fee. We of course still TPR them and give them a quick physical. If we do note anything than we tell the owners and they can come back for an appointment another day. To qualify, they have to of already have a complete physical by one of our vets to establish them as a client.
Our clients really like this as they can get “cheap” shots but have established a normal vet for when their animals are sick etc. Especially for puppy and kitten series.
I have used the low cost vaccine clinics for kittens that I have found and plan on adopting out. I only take them to my regular vet if I suspect an issue. I can afford to help out more cats/kittens if I don’t have as much out of pocket. I don’t formally foster through a rescue. I just seem to attract pregnant cats, kittens on the side of the road, whole litters of kittens, stray dogs etc.
The most recent was one in the middle of the road that got hit by a car. She went to the regular vet to assess her injuries. Anyone want a nice little female black and white 1 year old?
For my own animals I want a relationship with my vet and a written cohesive history.
There’s good money in cats!
I knew it. And everyone should have admitted it before now. But it makes me sad the Walgreens is horning in on the biz. I think of the amount of debt new DVMs start with and their need to make a living… and I wish they could be allowed to have their corner of the world that was exclusive.
But I do see the value of those cheap, no exam fee vaccination clinics done at TSC and similar. Those animals really might not ever get something as important as worming or a rabies vaccine any other way.
I just got my new kitten’s third combo vacc, microchip, and a fecal done at a Petco vaccination clinic. The total was less than the visit fee at my vet’s and the physical exam was just as thorough (or not thorough…)
I would totally utilize “wellness hours” at my veterinary practice if they offered them - that is a great idea! Until then I’ll be doing vaccs at walk in clinics, sorry not sorry.
I agree, in theory, that this is a great idea. But you have to remember that you will pay for it somewhere. Let’s look at vet med from an economics point of view. While TSC, PetMeds, HSUS, local rabies clinics, etc take away the “bread and butter” of your local general practitioner, meaning vaccines, spays and neuters, the GP will then need to make their money elsewhere. So when you bring Fluffy in because she is not eating, expect to pay more for radiographs and bloodwork, hospitalization, IV fluids, etc.
Please don’t complain to the vets that we are money grubbing when this happens. We’re trying to help you while keeping our doors open. It’s not just student loans (budget this year for one year at U of Penn is $90,000), but we have to pay mortgage for office building, pay our staff who make little as it is, buy supplies, buy drugs which already cost us an arm and a leg, utilities, liability insurance, continuing education fees, etc. It is extraordinarily expensive to run a veterinary hospital and when we cannot make money from the “cash cows” we have to somewhere else. Enjoy your cheap exams and vaccines
[QUOTE=sockmonkey;8317346]
(budget this year for one year at U of Penn is $90,000)[/QUOTE]
What kind of God makes it this expensive to educate the people who care for cats in a crisis?
Armageddon is probably pretty soon. This is how you can tell.
[QUOTE=sockmonkey;8317346]
I agree, in theory, that this is a great idea. But you have to remember that you will pay for it somewhere. Let’s look at vet med from an economics point of view. While TSC, PetMeds, HSUS, local rabies clinics, etc take away the “bread and butter” of your local general practitioner, meaning vaccines, spays and neuters, the GP will then need to make their money elsewhere. So when you bring Fluffy in because she is not eating, expect to pay more for radiographs and bloodwork, hospitalization, IV fluids, etc.
Please don’t complain to the vets that we are money grubbing when this happens. We’re trying to help you while keeping our doors open. It’s not just student loans (budget this year for one year at U of Penn is $90,000), but we have to pay mortgage for office building, pay our staff who make little as it is, buy supplies, buy drugs which already cost us an arm and a leg, utilities, liability insurance, continuing education fees, etc. It is extraordinarily expensive to run a veterinary hospital and when we cannot make money from the “cash cows” we have to somewhere else. Enjoy your cheap exams and vaccines[/QUOTE]
Literally just went through your exact scenario (down to the cat not eating) this week. I had up until this point been a faithful “$500+ for kitten shots, microchip and fecal and $600 for a spay” client but somehow I still ended up with $1k in vet bills for bloodwork and subq fluids.
Can’t win either way. It’s not like I get a good client discount. Took my new kitten to the Petco clinic.
#feelthebern
I thankfully have a low cost clinic near enough to me that the annual exam plus heartworm testing and meds is 100.00. A retired vet saw the need (its near Parris Island, military folks don;t get paid much) and opened this clinic. It is amazing.
Please explain the concept of good client discount to me. It doesn’t make sense. I shop at Food Lion every Saturday. I get my gas at the same gas station every other week. And yet, I do not get a good client discount. I don’t get one at my orthopod (where I am a very good client), or my regular GP, or my dentist. If we gave everyone who were good clients a discount we may as well just charge $10 less for every exam.
Sock, I don’t think TS is mainly frequented by people who would otherwise go to you. If the low fee/easy option was unavailable, their cat would just die in a ditch from distemper. At least in my area the people using the TS clinic are doing so for stray/barn animals for whom the owners would never visit a clinic.
