Has anyone found a vet that isn't a money making machine?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:have had several dogs. I notice every vet has said they have a "heart murmur." Diagnostic tests needed, pills etc.

No different than going to your auto mechanic for inspection test and finding your tail light need replacement.

I wouldn't trust any of them

What breed of dog? Some breeds are extremely prone to valvular disease.

I have owned 5 dogs and never been told one had a heart murmur. That isn’t a thing.

Try a quick Google. https://www.merckvetmanual.com/circulatory-system/congenital-and-inherited-anomalies-of-the-cardiovascular-system/mitral-valve-dysplasia-in-animals

No, I am saying that vets diagnosing every dog with a heart murmur is not a regular scam to get $$$.

Oh beg pardon I'm so used to being accused of being a scam artist it's reflexive at this point.
I left practice for academia FYI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a vet practice owner, I probably shouldn't even get on this thread and debate with the crazy. However, veterinarians have the same equipment as your human doc, have the same meds, spent the same amount of time in school, same school debt, typically make significantly less...yet everyone expects us to do major surgery for $100. If you can't afford it, you should reconsider having pets.

+1 as a pet owner, not a vet. Why does your bloodwork seem like it's cheaper than your pet's - because you have insurance. Why do you pay less out of pocket for your dental cleaning than your pet's - because of dental insurance.

We have used the same practice for decades with multiple animals. They almost always give us at least two options, sort of the full-on expensive option and the wait and see type of option. Recently our dog was having an issue that might have been back-related. The vet said we could do x-rays now (which would be hundreds of dollars), or try a week of anti-inflammatories and see if that helps before heading in for an x-ray. Sure enough, a week later and he is fine.

It is a highly stressful profession. I have multiple friends who are vets, not one of them is anywhere near wealthy.

Can you recommend your vet? We just moved back to the area and our new vet is NOTHING like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As others have stated in recent threads about veterinary care, please be mindful that those working in the veterinary profession are under tremendous stress, especially right now. What you view as evidence that a practice is a "money making machine" might simply reflect higher standards to at least offer every possible diagnostic test and treatment for your pet. More people have pets, their pets are living longer, and people are willing to do more and spend more on their pets' health and to prolong their lives. For every person who gets angry and leaves a practice for promoting "unnecessary" or expensive tests, there are others who will complain that a veterinary didn't do more to recommend and advocate for more extensive diagnostics and treatment. Client financial realities interfere with veterinarians' ability to provide the best possible care, yet clients blame veterinarians for not doing more to save their pets. Burnout and compassion fatigue are common.

By all means, find a practice with prices and business practices that work for you. That's your right as a consumer. However, exercise some compassion before judging the profession, including both veterinarians, technicians, and other staff, because they are under incredible stress.

Nope. It’s a very low-stress profession. No one sues you like Ob/gyn’s and no one know if you do a terrible job drawing blood or performing surgery. I used to do dog and cat surgeries in high school - the vet said the animals would never be able to tell their owner who did the surgery but you can be sure the owners paid full price!

I went into medicine, have a real job with real standards and real stress. Being a vet is a joke career.

Oh PUL-EEZE....

Debt load
Staff shortages
entitled public
increased patient load

Yeah, you are SSSOOOOOO right. No stress there.....

[Anonymous]

Add to the list from 16:33:

the need to buy expensive diagnostic equipment
the chance of being bitten, scratched, kicked, or charged, depending on the animal
clients who refuse to provide basic care for their animals and then blame the vet for the animals' poor health, although maybe this should be filed under "entitled clients."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As others have stated in recent threads about veterinary care, please be mindful that those working in the veterinary profession are under tremendous stress, especially right now. What you view as evidence that a practice is a "money making machine" might simply reflect higher standards to at least offer every possible diagnostic test and treatment for your pet. More people have pets, their pets are living longer, and people are willing to do more and spend more on their pets' health and to prolong their lives. For every person who gets angry and leaves a practice for promoting "unnecessary" or expensive tests, there are others who will complain that a veterinary didn't do more to recommend and advocate for more extensive diagnostics and treatment. Client financial realities interfere with veterinarians' ability to provide the best possible care, yet clients blame veterinarians for not doing more to save their pets. Burnout and compassion fatigue are common.

By all means, find a practice with prices and business practices that work for you. That's your right as a consumer. However, exercise some compassion before judging the profession, including both veterinarians, technicians, and other staff, because they are under incredible stress.

Nope. It’s a very low-stress profession. No one sues you like Ob/gyn’s and no one know if you do a terrible job drawing blood or performing surgery. I used to do dog and cat surgeries in high school - the vet said the animals would never be able to tell their owner who did the surgery but you can be sure the owners paid full price!

I went into medicine, have a real job with real standards and real stress. Being a vet is a joke career.

Oh PUL-EEZE....

Debt load
Staff shortages
entitled public
increased patient load

Yeah, you are SSSOOOOOO right. No stress there.....

Don't sweat what Mr/Mrs "I went in to medicine" says. They are probably a vet wannabe who couldn't get in to vet school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As others have stated in recent threads about veterinary care, please be mindful that those working in the veterinary profession are under tremendous stress, especially right now. What you view as evidence that a practice is a "money making machine" might simply reflect higher standards to at least offer every possible diagnostic test and treatment for your pet. More people have pets, their pets are living longer, and people are willing to do more and spend more on their pets' health and to prolong their lives. For every person who gets angry and leaves a practice for promoting "unnecessary" or expensive tests, there are others who will complain that a veterinary didn't do more to recommend and advocate for more extensive diagnostics and treatment. Client financial realities interfere with veterinarians' ability to provide the best possible care, yet clients blame veterinarians for not doing more to save their pets. Burnout and compassion fatigue are common.

By all means, find a practice with prices and business practices that work for you. That's your right as a consumer. However, exercise some compassion before judging the profession, including both veterinarians, technicians, and other staff, because they are under incredible stress.

Nope. It’s a very low-stress profession. No one sues you like Ob/gyn’s and no one know if you do a terrible job drawing blood or performing surgery. I used to do dog and cat surgeries in high school - the vet said the animals would never be able to tell their owner who did the surgery but you can be sure the owners paid full price!

I went into medicine, have a real job with real standards and real stress. Being a vet is a joke career.

Oh PUL-EEZE....

Debt load
Staff shortages
entitled public
increased patient load

Yeah, you are SSSOOOOOO right. No stress there.....

Don't sweat what Mr/Mrs "I went in to medicine" says. They are probably a vet wannabe who couldn't get in to vet school.

+1

We have several doctors in the family, plus two nieces in medical school, so we do know what is required of a doctor and what that process looks like. My son's undergraduate path and medical training really was the same as that of a "people doctor." Furthermore, he had multiple friends who were not even accepted to vet school, which is extremely competitive. There are far fewer vet schools and spots for prospective vets than there are medical schools and chances for prospective medical doctors to be accepted into med school.

My son's college roommate is a "people doctor." He and my son had the same undergraduate major and studied together the whole way through. There was no difference in their classes or the amount of work and grade requirements for each to eventually be accepted into the medical training program for their prospective fields, AND it turns out that medical school and vet school aren't so very different, either.

My kid does not have a "joke career." He is a compassionate, sensitive person who is not driven by money; if he had wanted to make top money, he had the tools and talent to become a "people doctor", too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a vet practice owner, I probably shouldn't even get on this thread and debate with the crazy. However, veterinarians have the same equipment as your human doc, have the same meds, spent the same amount of time in school, same school debt, typically make significantly less...yet everyone expects us to do major surgery for $100. If you can't afford it, you should reconsider having pets.

+1 as a pet owner, not a vet. Why does your bloodwork seem like it's cheaper than your pet's - because you have insurance. Why do you pay less out of pocket for your dental cleaning than your pet's - because of dental insurance.

We have used the same practice for decades with multiple animals. They almost always give us at least two options, sort of the full-on expensive option and the wait and see type of option. Recently our dog was having an issue that might have been back-related. The vet said we could do x-rays now (which would be hundreds of dollars), or try a week of anti-inflammatories and see if that helps before heading in for an x-ray. Sure enough, a week later and he is fine.

It is a highly stressful profession. I have multiple friends who are vets, not one of them is anywhere near wealthy.

+2 Another pet owner here. I also always appreciate that my vet gives me a cost estimate BEFORE going forward with treatment so I have a chance to figure out what that would mean and we sort out payment for the full cost (they do offer payment plans) immediately afterwards. None of the stupidity of getting the hospital bill for $200 ibuprofen four months later that comes with human treatment.

If you don't want to/can't pay for your pet's expensive medical care, that's fine, but don't be mean to the vets being upfront about how much treatment costs.

+3. Thank you thank you thank you for what you do. Reading this thread now makes me understand why our vet is so confused when we ask to do blood work twice a year for our mature cats and pay him without complaining - I’d love to know why anyone living in the DMV with the time to post on DCUM hasn’t budgeted for vet care or gotten insurance. I would sell a kidney before forgoing needed medical care for my cats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Been a pet owner since 2003 and feel most vets are overpriced scams in NoVa at least.

The vet price tag can be staggering (ask me how I know).

One of our pets recently had a medical situation. Went through recommended tests and we thought we had it under control. A month later it recurred. The vet on call that day started running most of the same tests from a month earlier. And, while I'm sure that Delta could have provided some information, after they did not show anything new, we finally asked her to move on to some of the other things we had discussed and stop repeating tests. She agreed.

The price tag was still astronomical. But we were able to keep it down a bit by NICELY discussing our concerns with her.

As an aside, the pet seems to be doing much better as we finally determined a cause and have a path forward. We will need to manage the condition his whole life but mostly through some cheap meds and diet.

[Anonymous]

Get pet insurance . Works well for us. Have been reimbursed for $1,000s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As others have stated in recent threads about veterinary care, please be mindful that those working in the veterinary profession are under tremendous stress, especially right now. What you view as evidence that a practice is a "money making machine" might simply reflect higher standards to at least offer every possible diagnostic test and treatment for your pet. More people have pets, their pets are living longer, and people are willing to do more and spend more on their pets' health and to prolong their lives. For every person who gets angry and leaves a practice for promoting "unnecessary" or expensive tests, there are others who will complain that a veterinary didn't do more to recommend and advocate for more extensive diagnostics and treatment. Client financial realities interfere with veterinarians' ability to provide the best possible care, yet clients blame veterinarians for not doing more to save their pets. Burnout and compassion fatigue are common.

By all means, find a practice with prices and business practices that work for you. That's your right as a consumer. However, exercise some compassion before judging the profession, including both veterinarians, technicians, and other staff, because they are under incredible stress.

Nope. It’s a very low-stress profession. No one sues you like Ob/gyn’s and no one know if you do a terrible job drawing blood or performing surgery. I used to do dog and cat surgeries in high school - the vet said the animals would never be able to tell their owner who did the surgery but you can be sure the owners paid full price!

I went into medicine, have a real job with real standards and real stress. Being a vet is a joke career.

I don't know how long ago your high school experience with the veterinary practice was, but people not only file professional complaints against veterinarians all the time, but they also trash veterinary professionals regularly on social media. That's where much of the stress comes from. In addition, human medical professionals are never called upon by their patients to perform surgeries or provide other services for free. They fight with insurance companies, but don't try to pressure doctors into working for free.

Veterinarians have the additional challenge that their patients can't speak for themselves. They have to balance client relationships while acting in the best interest of their animal patients.

Yeah sounds like Mr "I went into medicine" went to HS many many years ago. Things have changed since the 80s.

And you want to talk about stressful- try examining a 2year old Thoroughbred worth millions of dollars. Owned by either the mom or a Saudi prince. If the horse doesn't kick your head in....

yeah, it's tough balancing pumping them up with enough drug to preform and having them die on the track

Race horses can't be drugged. They do urine tests after the race. It's extremely strict. One trainer got in trouble for using a dermatologic spray that contained corticosteroids.

They certainly can and regularly are. Many drugs are legal in racing, and so common as to be universal. Phenylbutazone, or "bute", for example, is an anti-inflammatory that is super common in the equine world, and widely prescribed by vets as a painkiller for the wear and tear young horses forced to run hard from a standstill often suffer.

Source: I grew up on a horse farm that regularly bought and rehabilitated/retrained young Thoroughbreds from the track.

You should also do a quick Google. Bute has a 48 hour withdrawal time- you have to STOP giving them Bute and most other NSAIDs 48 hours before a race. No idea how long ago you "grew up on a farm" but things change, honey.

My friend's DD is in vet school and interned on a race horse farm in KY. SHe wanted to go into the horse medicine field (whatever the proper terms are for that). After her experience, she changed her mind. Healthy (underperforming) horses euthanized.

I have great respect for veterinarians and give them a alot of slack as I know the stress they encounter. I have been with our vet for years and years. But, something like that is immoral in my view. i don't know how any veterinarian justifies that. It's disgusting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is a vet. He says patients' owners frequently try to wheedle him into doing services for reduced fees (or free). He has owners who throw mini tantrums when they are told the price of a treatment, and sometimes demand to know whether he really cares about animals at all or is only in it "for the money."

He is so stressed and works so hard. The clinic is expensive to run and while he would love to give services for reduced fees, he can't. Besides, he worked hard to complete rigorous medical training and is a professional offering a real specialized service: most people would never dream of trying to talk a medical specialist for humans down to lower fees, or question their intentions in offering a treatment.

Why are doctors for humans somehow considered more ethical and trustworthy than vets? You don't become a vet for the money, because there just isn't that kind of money in it. If someone capable of completing medical training wishes to go for $$$, he/she is more likely to treat humans because that is where you make the kind of high income people seem to think vets achieve.

Anyway, my kid is only in his first year of work and I am shocked at how much role the owners' behavior has on his job satisfaction, and also at how rude and insulting people can be to him when he truly just wants to help the animals. Please be nice to your vet, people. There are no ulterior motives and they aren't making fortunes.

there are a lot of pet owners who simply can't afford the treatments vets recommend. Some vets do make it about the money- go to an emergency vet and they will swipe your credit card before even glancing at your dying dog

If you can't afford the care- just say I'm sorry I can't afford it. No problem. The issue is when people can't afford it they turn it around on the vet and try to make it the vet's fault and their problem to fix. The emotional blackmail, temper tantrums, whining, begging, guilt, anger-- these are not ok.

Get good pet insurance or be quiet. Noone forced you to buy a mini bernadoodle for 4k. Take some responsibility.

I'm a vet that is no longer practicing b.c of the client/money problems. And I never pushed anything I thought wasn't medically necessary and I always offered Plans A, B and C.

pet insurance excludes just about anything expensive. If you want to talk about emotional black mail, tell a vet that you can't afford surgery on your dog and see how that goes

There are insurance plans that cover expensive surgeries. Guess you went for the cheap plan.

can you point to one? They don't exist, they cover wellness care and events that will never happen and exclude anything likely to happen. That's how insurance work- if they covered everything they wouldn't be profitable

My dog has has 2 surgeries for removing tumors. Insurance covered over half of it. Another dog had a chronic medical condition that required a lot of vet visits and those were mostly covered since, thankfully, it was not a preexisting condition.

You should reevaluate your plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As others have stated in recent threads about veterinary care, please be mindful that those working in the veterinary profession are under tremendous stress, especially right now. What you view as evidence that a practice is a "money making machine" might simply reflect higher standards to at least offer every possible diagnostic test and treatment for your pet. More people have pets, their pets are living longer, and people are willing to do more and spend more on their pets' health and to prolong their lives. For every person who gets angry and leaves a practice for promoting "unnecessary" or expensive tests, there are others who will complain that a veterinary didn't do more to recommend and advocate for more extensive diagnostics and treatment. Client financial realities interfere with veterinarians' ability to provide the best possible care, yet clients blame veterinarians for not doing more to save their pets. Burnout and compassion fatigue are common.

By all means, find a practice with prices and business practices that work for you. That's your right as a consumer. However, exercise some compassion before judging the profession, including both veterinarians, technicians, and other staff, because they are under incredible stress.

Nope. It’s a very low-stress profession. No one sues you like Ob/gyn’s and no one know if you do a terrible job drawing blood or performing surgery. I used to do dog and cat surgeries in high school - the vet said the animals would never be able to tell their owner who did the surgery but you can be sure the owners paid full price!

I went into medicine, have a real job with real standards and real stress. Being a vet is a joke career.

I don't know how long ago your high school experience with the veterinary practice was, but people not only file professional complaints against veterinarians all the time, but they also trash veterinary professionals regularly on social media. That's where much of the stress comes from. In addition, human medical professionals are never called upon by their patients to perform surgeries or provide other services for free. They fight with insurance companies, but don't try to pressure doctors into working for free.

Veterinarians have the additional challenge that their patients can't speak for themselves. They have to balance client relationships while acting in the best interest of their animal patients.

Yeah sounds like Mr "I went into medicine" went to HS many many years ago. Things have changed since the 80s.

And you want to talk about stressful- try examining a 2year old Thoroughbred worth millions of dollars. Owned by either the mom or a Saudi prince. If the horse doesn't kick your head in....

yeah, it's tough balancing pumping them up with enough drug to preform and having them die on the track

Race horses can't be drugged. They do urine tests after the race. It's extremely strict. One trainer got in trouble for using a dermatologic spray that contained corticosteroids.

They certainly can and regularly are. Many drugs are legal in racing, and so common as to be universal. Phenylbutazone, or "bute", for example, is an anti-inflammatory that is super common in the equine world, and widely prescribed by vets as a painkiller for the wear and tear young horses forced to run hard from a standstill often suffer.

Source: I grew up on a horse farm that regularly bought and rehabilitated/retrained young Thoroughbreds from the track.

You should also do a quick Google. Bute has a 48 hour withdrawal time- you have to STOP giving them Bute and most other NSAIDs 48 hours before a race. No idea how long ago you "grew up on a farm" but things change, honey.

My friend's DD is in vet school and interned on a race horse farm in KY. SHe wanted to go into the horse medicine field (whatever the proper terms are for that). After her experience, she changed her mind. Healthy (underperforming) horses euthanized.

I have great respect for veterinarians and give them a alot of slack as I know the stress they encounter. I have been with our vet for years and years. But, something like that is immoral in my view. i don't know how any veterinarian justifies that. It's disgusting.

You do know that millions of unwanted cats and dogs are euthanized in shelters every year, correct?

And do you eat meat? Is that immoral? Look up how pigs live in factory farms.

And euthanasia on the farm in KY where they live is better than getting shipped to Mexico or Canada for slaughter. Which happens too- don't get me wrong.

[Anonymous]

McLean. Animal Hospital is great

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As others have stated in recent threads about veterinary care, please be mindful that those working in the veterinary profession are under tremendous stress, especially right now. What you view as evidence that a practice is a "money making machine" might simply reflect higher standards to at least offer every possible diagnostic test and treatment for your pet. More people have pets, their pets are living longer, and people are willing to do more and spend more on their pets' health and to prolong their lives. For every person who gets angry and leaves a practice for promoting "unnecessary" or expensive tests, there are others who will complain that a veterinary didn't do more to recommend and advocate for more extensive diagnostics and treatment. Client financial realities interfere with veterinarians' ability to provide the best possible care, yet clients blame veterinarians for not doing more to save their pets. Burnout and compassion fatigue are common.

By all means, find a practice with prices and business practices that work for you. That's your right as a consumer. However, exercise some compassion before judging the profession, including both veterinarians, technicians, and other staff, because they are under incredible stress.

Nope. It’s a very low-stress profession. No one sues you like Ob/gyn’s and no one know if you do a terrible job drawing blood or performing surgery. I used to do dog and cat surgeries in high school - the vet said the animals would never be able to tell their owner who did the surgery but you can be sure the owners paid full price!

I went into medicine, have a real job with real standards and real stress. Being a vet is a joke career.

What a needlessly nasty response. And please, check the data before you post something so nasty and erroneous. For many years now veterinary medice has been ranked as one of the most high stress careers, mostly due to nasty demeaning attitudes like yours and the financial stressors of the profession. For a while, vets were in the top 10 for suicide rates by profession.

[Anonymous]

ME!!! I am a vet that is not a money making machine!!!! And you, OP, are an ass.