I am a veterinarian. Ask me anything

[Anonymous]

Do people leave euthanized pets behind for you to deal with? How do you dispose of the deceased?

[Anonymous]

Why don't you like to eat meat?

[Anonymous]

I used to have a vet that cleaned my cat's teeth in an office visit- just scraped em down a bit for a small fee, like $30. He was awesome. My cat never really complained or bled and he got a ton of tartar off.

All of the other vets I have ever seen have come up with absurd fees for teeth cleaning- $400 to clean teeth is absurd. Why is this so expensive? I get that it requires sedation, but honestly...Yikes!

My cat will probably die from his rotting teeth because I don't even pay that much to clean my own teeth.

[Anonymous]

Why do you think the majority of vets are women? I saw a stat that over 70% of current vet school students are women. My son thinks he might want to be a vet. Also, what do most vets major in, in college? Does it matter as long as you have taken the right prerequistes? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

What do you think of golden doodles?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you feel about euthanizing an ill animal when expensive surgery that may or may not work is the alternative? I was shocked when we brought our cat with a recurrent urinary tract blockage to the vet and our ONLY OPTION was $10,000 surgery. We ended up choosing to sign rights to him away and per those conditions, the office refused to tell us what happened. To this day, this is one of the most absurd experiences I have ever had. In retrospect, I wish we had just taken him elsewhere.

What do you mean that you signed your rights away? You don't even know if they euthanized the cat?

Nope, they gave us the option of taking the cat home to die in pain, fork over 10k for essentially a sex change operation (we had already paid $2500 for the initial, unsuccessful treatment), or we give him up to them and they do whatever they could to save his life, but would never tell us. F'ing crazy, right? Poor cat. Sure left a bad taste in my mouth re. Vets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You probably didn't mean specific advice, but you said ask anything, so if you have a moment.... My beloved foxhound mix is almost 12 years old. He weighs about 75 lbs. He has slowed down considerably but he still gets around fine. He has a bit of incontinence but so far nothing too bad, and he is borderline for Cushing's disease. We were told not to treat the Cushing's unless it gets really bad. We have him on a thyroid medication and something that's supposed to help the incontinence.

My DH and kids and I are all so attached to this dog, and lately I've been getting the feeling like he may not have much time left. It's nothing specific, and the vet wasn't concerned at his checkup 2 months ago (except for the above), but I know dogs of this size don't last forever and he just looks really old. How long do you think we can expect he will be around? And "how" does a dog in this situation usually go? Will we probably end up having to put him down at some point, or will we come home one day and he will be dead? Ugh, I am dreading this.

Thanks for any advice you can give.

How is your dog's quality of life? Does he seem happy and still enjoy most, if not all, of the things he used to enjoy? Is he interactive with you and your family?

While the average life span for a medium to large breed dog is about 11-12 years, I have several large-breed dog patients who are doing well at 14 years, and even one wonderful old girl who is very happy at nearly 17.

It is very difficult to predict how the end of life will happen. Some dogs become acutely ill, and death takes their families by surprise, while for others, death is a much slower process. Most often, clients are faced with the decision to euthanize when they know that their pet's quality of life is no longer good.

It sounds like your dog is very well cared-for, and that he doesn't have any life-threatening illnesses. I hope that he continues to do well, to engage with your family, and to enjoy his life and his time with you and the rest of your family. Here is a resource that might help with end-of-life questions: http://aplb.org/index.php

I hope this helps, and wish you well.

[Anonymous]

My vet told me that there is a high suicide rate for vets - they use the euthanasia drug on themselves. He said it was highly effective and they knew it. True? (I'm not making this up - he really said it).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd love to know your income because I have 2 friends who are veterinarians and one makes about 160k and one makes 70ish. Both are excellent physicians.

The most I have made in a year is around $115K. Now that I own my practice, I will probably make about $70-80K or so. I have $175K in debt from college and vet school.

Your friend who makes 70K - does he/she live in this area? My vet friends who make > $120K are usually specialists (surgeons, oncologists, ophthalmologists, dermatologists, internists, etc) or they work in emergency clinics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you receive any training at all in pet nutrition in vet school?

I am always appalled by the Science Diet marketing materials all over my vet's office (and the cans of Science Diet "prescription" food on her shelves), given the inferiority of that food to grain-free, premium pet foods.

Hear, hear! Same at my vet, except it's Purina. It makes me not trust anything he says.

Another request to answer this one, please!

[Anonymous]

Why do vets charge such ridiculous prices for things like a dental for a cat? My vet just gave me an estimate for 400-500 for JUST the cleaning (with anesthesia) and then on top of that, 400-500 to extract one tooth - so a total of 800-1000. The "doctor's time" alone on the extraction was $262 (out of the 400-500) for 30 minutes!!! So, um, $500 an hour? Are you kidding me?

And no, this was not a super fancy vet -- it is in South Arlington.

How in the world can vets expect people to pay these prices? That has got to be more than it costs for a person to have their teeth cleaned and a one tooth removed.

[Anonymous]

I have never cleaned my cats teeth. I once took her to a vet when she was a kitten to get shots. She eats premium dry cat food.

She is 15, and very fit. I will never get her teeth cleaned, she is fine.

[Anonymous]

NP here. My DC wants to be a vet. What would you tell them? Pros and cons? Would you do it again? If not, what profession/s would you choose? Did you grow up with a lot of pets? How did you know you wanted to be a vet? Were your parents pleased (now and then) with your choice? TY!

[Anonymous]

hear hear to 23:28's question. I have spent a fortune on my cat's teeth at the vet. And who am I to question the vet when he says cat needs teeth removed? Or a root canal? Same with our dog at same vet. $500 every time. Why did my earlier cats - who lived to be 22 - never need dental surgery at all, but my newer, healthier cats seem to need dental cleaning or teeth removed all the time? How do I know when I'm getting ripped off? Yes, I've checked Yelp and Consumer Reports. No help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you feel about euthanizing an ill animal when expensive surgery that may or may not work is the alternative? I was shocked when we brought our cat with a recurrent urinary tract blockage to the vet and our ONLY OPTION was $10,000 surgery. We ended up choosing to sign rights to him away and per those conditions, the office refused to tell us what happened. To this day, this is one of the most absurd experiences I have ever had. In retrospect, I wish we had just taken him elsewhere.

What do you mean that you signed your rights away? You don't even know if they euthanized the cat?

Nope, they gave us the option of taking the cat home to die in pain, fork over 10k for essentially a sex change operation (we had already paid $2500 for the initial, unsuccessful treatment), or we give him up to them and they do whatever they could to save his life, but would never tell us. F'ing crazy, right? Poor cat. Sure left a bad taste in my mouth re. Vets.

My very young cat had the same problem, but was so sick our vet didn't know if he would make it through the procedure and told us he was almost guaranteed a lifelong battle with UTI's. We euthanized him with her blessing. I'm sorry you had to go through that PP.