Is this common? RE: veterinarians

[Deleted]

I miss my old vet.  He was quick and to the point, and charged a flat $25 fee for an office visit + the cost of meds or procedures. No bullshit. In and out.

We moved to a new town and I think one of my cats might have a UTI. I called a vet in the area this morning and this is the fucking break down of charges-

since my cat has never been to this office the want to "meet" and get to know her before they will do anything- $75  I have no idea how in the fuck you "meet" a cat.  You can meet her all day long, she still won't like you, or your office, or anyone else outside of her cozy house.

a full blood workup since she hasn't had one in the last year- $175  She never goes outside and she has never shown signs of any other health problems aside from a UTI once a year or so, she had a full workup years ago and I have no reason to think she needs another.

THEN I can pay $50 for the office visit for her to actually diagnose and treat the UTI, which I'm sure will be with some meds that have the price jacked up beyond belief.


I've always used farm vets in the past, vets who worked on cats and dogs but the bulk of their business comes from making house calls for farmers. Is this the difference?  I'm guess the new vet only gets household pets and therefore needs to come up with 590615 reasons to get more money out of me.

[Deleted]

I don't have any pets, but that seems ridiculously expensive-- too bad you can't take your cat to human urgent care, it would be a lot cheaper.

[LoveTrains]

Yes I have heard of vets where they won't do a sick visit with you unless you are already a patient. I don't understand why they would require that bloodwork, though, that seems silly.

One of my best friends is a vet, and she has told me a lot about the profession that has sort of changed my opinions about their business practices and how they operate. It seems really expensive but the thing is, the profit margins are SO low on a veterinary practice and vets barely make any money. Especially new grads, who have $200K of student loans like doctors but don't make doctor salaries.

[mrssavy42112]

Well, of course prices vary depending upon region, but those are the same prices that I pay for my cats. I think the visit is $75 and then the blood work is upwards of $100+ depending on what they do. I've had a cat with several urinary blockages, so you don't want to let that go.

Those prices aren't unreasonable in my area.

ETA: Oh, and I go to the 'cheap' local vet. When I have to go to the 24hr emergency animal hospital, the prices are twice that. 

[Deleted]

That's crazy! My vets have always been farm vets too, so it may be the difference. I love my vet.

Sent from my DROID3 using proboards

[chessie]

Haven't heard of a Meet session with a vet, but the office visits being that high are pretty normal. Even before my animals are looked at, we are charged 75 bucks, if its a farm call about 100 even before diagnose they look at them. I normally only use farm vets as well, and thats the cost of their overhead. I asked my vet why they charged x for house calls, its just a calculation just to run the truck/get to their location, means they don't even pocket that. I have never left the vet or they have never left here without leaving at least 300+ bill for something simple. So I always try to self diagnose and call the vet to work out issues prior, since it will be pretty pricey if they come out, I gotta take a day out to wait..

[Deleted]

I think our vet charges an "new pet" fee, but I don't remember if that's in addition to the office visit or not. They didn't make us do any blood work outside of what is required to test for heartworks & whatever else is standard.

I do cry a little when we go there because it's so effing expensive for two dogs.. Last trip cost around $413. Thankfully it's only once a year.

[Deleted]

I'd call around. We switched vets because every time we went in, they recommended over $1000 of dental work. I don't do dental work on cats, and I don't want a guilt trip every year when we go in for shots I actually don't really think he needs (he's an indoor only, single cat).

Our new vet practise knows that no means no and are way less pushy. And I 100% agree that farm vets are more practical. Pet vets are used to playing the heartstrings and sucking out cash.

My cat hasn't had bloodwork in the 8 years we've had him, other than the time he was puking a million times a day... and the vet failed to diagnose anything after charging us $400. That was the dentist-vet we fired. He needed a different food.

[kadams767]

The meet and greet sounds weird, but the price for bloodwork and the office visit sounds about right to me based on what it normally costs me for a visit for my dog.

[LoveTrains]

Jan 24, 2013 9:35:09 GMT -5 @tokenhoser said:

 Pet vets are used to playing the heartstrings and sucking out cash.

I disagree. The vets I know work hard and tirelessly in care of their patients, and like I mentioned, barely make enough to cover their student loan payments.

Young vets often work evenings and weekends. My friend hasn't had a Saturday off in a year, let alone two days off in a row in years. 

[greencrayon]

I think that's pretty standard, at least around here.

[Deleted]

Jan 24, 2013 9:37:52 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

Jan 24, 2013 9:35:09 GMT -5 @tokenhoser said:

 Pet vets are used to playing the heartstrings and sucking out cash.

I disagree. The vets I know work hard and tirelessly in care of their patients, and like I mentioned, barely make enough to cover their student loan payments.

Young vets often work evenings and weekends. My friend hasn't had a Saturday off in a year, let alone two days off in a row in years. 

Yup, they have high loans and bills to pay. Don't you think that means they charge a lot? They also know a lot of people will pay ANYTHING for a cat or dog, while a cow has a price tag past which a farmer will choose a bullet.

[urbancowgirl]

I had a similar situation a few months ago: new in town, thought cat had a UTI. It was his first visit to the vet. I pulled the invoice and it looks like I paid $48 for the exam, $134 for the urinalysis/blood work, and $40 for a sedative (he was uncooperative, haha). No additional charge because he was a first-time patient.

I would be pissed about the initial meeting charge. Why would that cost more than an office visit?? Are there other reputable vets near you? If other vets don't charge for an initial meeting, I would consider switching vets because the whole situation with the original vet would leave a bad taste in my mouth.

[mrssavy42112]

Jan 24, 2013 9:39:11 GMT -5 @tokenhoser said:

Jan 24, 2013 9:37:52 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

I disagree. The vets I know work hard and tirelessly in care of their patients, and like I mentioned, barely make enough to cover their student loan payments.

Young vets often work evenings and weekends. My friend hasn't had a Saturday off in a year, let alone two days off in a row in years. 

Yup, they have high loans and bills to pay. Don't you think that means they charge a lot? They also know a lot of people will pay ANYTHING for a cat or dog, while a cow has a price tag past which a farmer will choose a bullet.

Whoa, that last sentence blows my mind. I've been to several vets & none of them have ever suggested procedures that weren't necessary & never tried to upsell. I actually feel that vets are quite underpaid. Most people don't realize how expensive a regular Dr. visit is because the majority is covered by their insurance, so they just need to pay the copay. Most don't have pet insurance, so paying it all out of pocket seems like it's so expensive, when it's really not when you consider what they're providing. 

[LoveTrains]

Jan 24, 2013 9:42:40 GMT -5 mrssavy42112 said:

Jan 24, 2013 9:39:11 GMT -5 @tokenhoser said:

Yup, they have high loans and bills to pay. Don't you think that means they charge a lot? They also know a lot of people will pay ANYTHING for a cat or dog, while a cow has a price tag past which a farmer will choose a bullet.

Whoa, that last sentence blows my mind. I've been to several vets & none of them have ever suggested procedures that weren't necessary & never tried to upsell. I actually feel that vets are quite underpaid. Most people don't realize how expensive a regular Dr. visit is because the majority is covered by their insurance, so they just need to pay the copay. Most don't have pet insurance, so paying it all out of pocket seems like it's so expensive, when it's really not when you consider what they're providing. 

Exactly. Tokenhoser is making it seem like vets are these evil people who are trying to get you to pay to do unnecessary procedures. I disagree. Sure, some stuff might be expensive, but don't paint all vets like they are cash sucking parasites who don't care about your pets and only care about making a profit. 

[jennistarr1]

I mean I had to have a physical to see get established with my PCP so it doesn't seem absurd to me...BUT I think charging you 75 and then 50 when it's the same office visit it. Can you try someone else.

[Deleted]

So is the meet and greet a separate appointment from the UTI visit? That seems odd to me particularly since UTIs are kind of an urgent matter so I'd want to nip that in the bud today.

We've only had one vet, but we called the day that we adopted our kittens and they wanted us to bring them in right away to make sure that they were healthy overall, and then we had to come back a week later when they were due for a round of kitten shots. They didn't want us to hold off for that week. We were happy to do it because we wanted to do whatever was perfect for the kitties.

Our office visits are $85 per cat (plus extra if there are shots or bloodwork involved), so the prices don't seem out of whack. Our annual checkups are just office visit + shots, and we pay over $300 for 2 cats.

But our vet has very, very high rent, and they very patiently answer a lot of our questions over the phone for free instead of us coming in, so I don't feel that they're ripping us off at all.  Also, they're awesome.

[ssmjlm]

I would call around. We switched vets rapidly when Sadie was having her stomach issues (the old vet was pushing the $$ prescription food as a fix) and they didn't charge us a "get to know the dog" visit. We were just charged for the office visit, any tests they ran (such as fecal) and that was it.

Even now, sometimes they'll just say bring her by and we only pay for the shot they're giving her, not even an office visit.

Some tests are more expensive and yes, we do have to do annual bloodwork to get her heartworm meds, but otherwise I've never felt overcharged.

[chessie]

Jan 24, 2013 9:37:52 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

Jan 24, 2013 9:35:09 GMT -5 @tokenhoser said:

 Pet vets are used to playing the heartstrings and sucking out cash.

I disagree. The vets I know work hard and tirelessly in care of their patients, and like I mentioned, barely make enough to cover their student loan payments.

Young vets often work evenings and weekends. My friend hasn't had a Saturday off in a year, let alone two days off in a row in years. 

I have a few friends that are vets, they are no means rich..they work more then most people to keep their bills paid.  For our 2 vets we use, they always recommend what we should be doing or even advise, if we do X on own we can do that.  Half of the shots you can do yourself.  Other then the rabies vaccines, all other shots can be done by you.  4.99 for 5 way shot and a rabies vaccines (most of the time you can get from your town for cheap). 

My vets are very good to me, when there is an issue they drop their regular routine patients for that day to care for the sick patients, obviously there will be a fee for this--cost of gas, emergency fee...list goes on.  But its like anything else, look at your own doctor bill, if you didn't have insurance, your cost just see the doctor regular checkup be around 100-200 easily. 

[Deleted]

Eh, I see vets like I see dentists. You need one, but you need a good one, and no, they aren't all equally trustworthy and great and only looking out for your pet's well being. Some are great, and some are shitty, and I've seen a shitty practise so now I'm on the lookout.

And I really do think there are huge philosophical differences between an average farm vet and an average city vet and what they will suggest and how hard they will sell it.

[londoncalling]

Jan 24, 2013 9:35:09 GMT -5 @tokenhoser said:

Pet vets are used to playing the heartstrings and sucking out cash.

My vet doesn't appear to be like this.  We are assessing a large abdomen tumor in my dog, and she went through all the options that we have, and even told me that at my dog's age she really wouldn't suggest doing the more aggressive (expensive) options because they can't guarantee any positive result.

OP, the "meet" fee seems strange, that's almost like the fee that we have here at the emergency vet ($75 right off the bat just for being seen + meds + diagnostics).  The bloodwork seems a little high based on what we just paid for our dog, but not out of the question.  I'd keep calling around.

[thatgirl2478]

Ok - i can see the 175 for blood work - it's important to establish a baseline, so that if something more serious happens later they have something to compare to. And while a $50 office visit fee is more than I pay, it's not completely out of line depending on where you live. However, I disagree with the whole 'meet your pet' visit & fee. I could see it if they charged a 'new pet' fee INSTEAD of the office visit fee on the first visit - they have to create a file etc etc etc so there's some extra work involved.

I don't think that most vets are out to get all your money - Pets need more diagnostic work since they can't tell us their symptoms.

[Mashara]

Jan 24, 2013 9:41:24 GMT -5 urbancowgirl said:

I had a similar situation a few months ago: new in town, thought cat had a UTI. It was his first visit to the vet. I pulled the invoice and it looks like I paid $48 for the exam, $134 for the urinalysis/blood work, and $40 for a sedative (he was uncooperative, haha). No additional charge because he was a first-time patient.

Call around to vets in the surrounding towns. I did that when I first moved and and needed a new vet. Locally, the prices were much higher than I was used to paying. Thankfully, I just just scouting and didn't have an emergency. Anyway, I was surprised to find that a vet 4 miles away (in another zip code) had much more reasonable pricing. Even so, the costs are what urbancowgirl listed. Full blood panel is $135, and a partial panel is nearly the same, so just get a full. I think rechecks visits are $30.

P.S. I'm sure they want a blood panel so they have a baseline in case your cat(s) need one in the future. This way they can compare. If you have one from your previous vet, just bring that in and make them deal. But old cats should really get a full panel each year. That will show down/up trends even if the numbers are technically within the normal range.

[Deleted]

I'm just going to drive down to my old vet. I don't have to have an appointment, it's a 30 minute drive, and I'll save $275 even before any procedures or meds. It will take me about as long to make the drive as it will take the new vet to meet my poor cat and do whatever in the hell she thinks she needs to do.

Her receptionist didn't like it when I told her my cat didn't want to meet her.

Farm vet for the win.

[jerseyjaybird]

As others have said, the only part that seems odd to me is the $75 "meet and greet" visit. A $50 office visit and $175 for annual bloodwork is about what I pay for my dogs. The bloodwork is important to have points of comparison if/when an animal IS sick. My oldest dog was diagnosed in the early stages of a treatable disease because we were able to track gradually increasing liver enzymes. My vet would have recommended, but not required, this bloodwork for annual vaccinations.

My mom works for a vet and the overhead of operating a business like that is very high and the profit margin rather narrow.

[Deleted]

Good call. Tell your vet you love him/her. For a 30 min drive, no way would I switch, and my cat howls the entire drive.

[mrssavy42112]

Jan 24, 2013 10:06:59 GMT -5 papiercherri said:

I'm just going to drive down to my old vet. I don't have to have an appointment, it's a 30 minute drive, and I'll save $275 even before any procedures or meds. It will take me about as long to make the drive as it will take the new vet to meet my poor cat and do whatever in the hell she thinks she needs to do.

Her receptionist didn't like it when I told her my cat didn't want to meet her.

Farm vet for the win.

All of this for 30min? I drive about 45min to take mine to theirs. Just stick with your old one if you're more comfortable.

[CloudBee]

The office visit charge and bloodwork costs sound reasonable. Especially considering it was a full panel of bloodwork. (Which it sounds like you won't do again in the future, or often.)

The fee to "meet" your cat is insane.

[CloudBee]

Do you have a Banfield location near you? We've had the best luck with that chain. Their equipment/facilities are up to date, they accept walk-ins (which we do on weekends), they have a large staff, all files are computer-based, and their ORs look pretty high-tech vs. what I've seen at many private practices. I think we are charged $40 or $45 for an office visit, and they have been known to waive return visits for ear checks post infection.

[Deleted]

Jan 24, 2013 10:13:48 GMT -5 mrssavy42112 said:

Jan 24, 2013 10:06:59 GMT -5 papiercherri said:

I'm just going to drive down to my old vet. I don't have to have an appointment, it's a 30 minute drive, and I'll save $275 even before any procedures or meds. It will take me about as long to make the drive as it will take the new vet to meet my poor cat and do whatever in the hell she thinks she needs to do.

Her receptionist didn't like it when I told her my cat didn't want to meet her.

Farm vet for the win.

All of this for 30min? I drive about 45min to take mine to theirs. Just stick with your old one if you're more comfortable.

lol, yeah.

I've got kind of spoiled since I moved into our current location, driving over 10 minutes to get to anything seems like forever!  The new vet is right down the street and I thought it would be easier on the kitty too. But...the kitty isn't big on meet and greets. lol