All of the games the medical industry plays with tests, labs and x rays are now standard for dogs. My dog has a kennel cough and I'm getting her heart z rayed and blood work and it's 980.00. This is why so many dogs are in the pound. I can pay it and I will but I don't know where my retired vet went and all that simplicity with him.

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"One of the reasons why propaganda tries to get you to hate government is because it's the one existing institution in which people can participate to some extent and constrain tyrannical unaccountable power." Noam Chomsky.

Yep, i know people with health insurance for their pets that is better than what they have for themselves.
There is a special place in heaven for people who can truly love an animal, and I get it.

But, it has gotten crazy.
it is just a hard line to draw for some and I think many vets see the market of compassion and use it.


A few years ago my daughter's pet rat developed a prolapsed uterus. The little rat-gal was cute and well trained and my daughter loved it. Agreed to take to vet. Vet said a specialist could do the surgery to repair and it was going to be something like $500.
Decided to call old family farm vet.
He said to push it back in with a paper Q-tip and give the little rat-girl cranberry juice and some time.
Went back to normal in about two months.
how did he know that?


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If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph: THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD WAS MUSIC - KV

A grand for an x-ray and some blood work? That's a crime.

Surgery I can understand, but lab tests?

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I was right.

$800 yesterday for examination of paw tumor, chest X-ray, and blood work.

Looks like sarcoma, $2500 for CT, $4500 for limb amputation if we choose.

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“The United States now faces a different kind of violence, from people who will tell you that they are for ‘liberty’ and ‘freedom,’ but these are merely code words for personal grudges, racial and class resentments, and a generalized paranoia"

Holy rat spit!

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Dora Hates You

Venture capital is trying to take Vet med to the same model as human med including the rip-off insurance. Big investor owned corporations are buying up practices and then "streamlining" production. They force doctors to follow specific checklists and then upsell garbage just like going to a car dealership or jiffy lube. Those same venture capital entities then want to create "insurance" schemes for an extra skim. If you can't afford to self insure then don't get a pet or be willing to kill or surrender the pet when you can't afford the procedure. Of course advanced medicine is going to be expensive even without the vulture capitalist fucking it up. We just shelled out $7500 at UF for a total hip replacement on a young hunting dog with congenital hip dysplasia. Our options were fix the hip, let him live with crippling arthritis and try to manage with pain meds, or kill him. We have the money so we shelled out. That is a couple of vacations down the shitter. How much does total hip replacement cost in a human? My hernia repair cost $40k. Mrs. Scombrid fixed a diaphragmatic hernia for free in a dog because the owner was indigent but the owner (Cocoa village street person) was willing to surrender the dog and "Phragm" got adopted by an old couple and is living the high life now. Try to get a venture capital owned value vet to do something like that.

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...

I know this isn't NSR, but it's the nature of capitalism to seek out new sources of revenue and milk them dry. Since natural resources have dried up, they turn to healthcare and now animal healthcare. Anywhere you can squeeze another drop of profit.

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“The United States now faces a different kind of violence, from people who will tell you that they are for ‘liberty’ and ‘freedom,’ but these are merely code words for personal grudges, racial and class resentments, and a generalized paranoia"

I saw that Petco is now offering vet services. I told my vet that I would looking into that and that I felt like they were replicating everything wrong with the American healthcare paradigm. My sister had a full size poodle that lost weight and was dying. Her vet offered to give her a special credit card with 0% financing for six months and put the dog on an IV with full monitoring and blood work. $4500. She was watching people in the waiting room with their dogs who loved them so much they took that goddamned deal with money that they didnt have and would never have. My sister called the real vet at his house and he talked to the SPCA and they brought her there to put her down. It sucked and she was miserable but she didn't have a $4500 bill in addition to losing her dog.

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"One of the reasons why propaganda tries to get you to hate government is because it's the one existing institution in which people can participate to some extent and constrain tyrannical unaccountable power." Noam Chomsky.

That's just "Care Credit". Isn't from the vet and it borders on predatory. My wife had to use that for her own dental care and her Greyhound's vet bills when she was in school. You damn well better pay it off before 6 months is up. Veterinary care isn't free though. It has always been for profit. Fuck, I remember how much it cost when our newfie got sepsis back in the 80s and had to go to the 24-hr clinic on a weekend. Difference today is between doctor owned and investor owned practices. It's getting bad. Investment corps are trying their damndest to buy out the few good practices around here. Back in the small town days the vet might extend credit to people that they knew personally to be reliable clients. Some vets might still do that for long term regular clients. Not going to ever happen if it is a chain. Still then too many people think vets should provide them free or discounted service because they love their pets or they "rescued" a pet. They'll bounce on a bill in a heartbeat given half the chance and then drive good vets to suicide because the stress of trying to provide critical care to animals is not enough. You have to add asshole people that attack you at every turn for your "greed" and that refuse life saving care to their pets becuase you the evil vet charge too much.

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Edited: 11/02/2023 at 11:28 AM by scombrid

Johnnyboy - And what's your hourly rate? I don't know of many private lawyers less than 3-600 an hour or more, in Brevard county - significantly higher in urban areas outside of Brevard County. Vets have 10Xs the overhead that a lawyer has. I think vets should be paid commensurate to what most, experienced private lawyers are paid, and vets should be compensated for the equipment they must purchase or lease, enabling them to take care of our animals. Same old story - everyone thinks their services are the only services worthy of high rates, but those same people don't think others should be paid commensurate to their education, experience, and overhead.

How many beloved pets die because people can't pay?

How many get tagged with the bill when the pet dies?

I'm sorry, but labs and x-ray should never cost a thousand dollars. Hell, I just had it done for less than $500 and that was on me, not a pet.



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I was right.

We went with limb amputation without additional CT. It's a tough check to write ($4500), but she's a member of the family. This will be the only heroic measure. Should the cancer spread we'll provide palliative care.
Chemo sucks for humans, I'm not putting my good girl through that.


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“The United States now faces a different kind of violence, from people who will tell you that they are for ‘liberty’ and ‘freedom,’ but these are merely code words for personal grudges, racial and class resentments, and a generalized paranoia"

Talk to your vet about the chemo; it's not exactly the same as it is for humans.

And I'm happy we have the ability to get the vet care we need. One of my dogs has a cardiologist and while we are treating him conservatively, he has a much better quality of life on his meds. We see Dr. Fogleberg at Maybeck and he's pretty realistic and compassionate and generally refers out for more complex issues. I understand why the veterinary profession has nearly twice the suicide rate of other medical professions (Stoewen, 2015); most vets care about their patients and it's heartbreaking to have to tell a patient they have to choose between caring for their beloved pet and paying rent.

We have so many more diagnostics available than we did even 10 years ago, but they're not cheap. We just had a horse's larynx scoped to see if it was causing him issues, and that bill rivaled a human hospital bill!

Vet care IS expensive, and pet insurance is difficult; most times you have to pay upfront and they reimburse you, and your policy may have exclusions depending on your company. I still think it's mostly worth having.

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[Feminism is] a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians. ~Pat Robertson

I know that feeling. Even if I don't have it, I would get it for my dogs. I can't make an objective decision with the dogs I love so much. The vets prey upon this.

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"One of the reasons why propaganda tries to get you to hate government is because it's the one existing institution in which people can participate to some extent and constrain tyrannical unaccountable power." Noam Chomsky.

Scom you raise a good point. I do appreciate what vets deal with and they too have to earn a living, but I stand by my point that letting an animal linger while you run a bill that person who cannot afford it while you extend them credit is predatory.

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"One of the reasons why propaganda tries to get you to hate government is because it's the one existing institution in which people can participate to some extent and constrain tyrannical unaccountable power." Noam Chomsky.

It cost more than many would pay, but the surgeon and staff that treated my good girl were very good I must say.

They even answered weekend texts from my anxious wife.

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“The United States now faces a different kind of violence, from people who will tell you that they are for ‘liberty’ and ‘freedom,’ but these are merely code words for personal grudges, racial and class resentments, and a generalized paranoia"