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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My son is a vet.  He loves his job, but also finds it very stressful that he is regularly asked to reduce fees for his services or work for free.  People often cry and tell him they can't afford treatment, and then tell him that if he can't treat for free they will have their pet put down.  Sometimes they accuse him of caring more about money than animals and choosing to allow their animals to suffer.  Or they agree to treatment and then later call to say they can't pay.

The thing is that my son isn't rich.  He doesn't make much money as a vet and the practice he works for can't afford to treat animals for free.  He would love to do that!  But he isn't working for a charity and can't afford to work for charity.

My son says that he knows other vets who find dealing with owners who want free services and mistreat the vet to be hugely stressful. I can't help but think people don't treat human doctors this way. 
The training for vets and human doctors is very similar, and both are competitive fields to enter, yet there seems to be a respect accorded to human doctors that vets don't receive.  [/quote]

I don't want free services and I've never asked a bet for free services.

What I want is not to be constantly upsold on tests and procedures that won't improve my cat's quality of life. The last time I was at the vet, they said they might have detected a heart murmur. They needed an EKG to know for sure. I asked how much an EKG would cost, whether it could definitely diagnose the problem, and what the treatment would be. It would be over a grand, it may be inconclusive, and if they did positively diagnose a heart condition, the treatment is an expensive prescription that may not help. I'll note my cat is 15 years old.

I said no and they kept pushing, then when finally they accepted I wasn't doing the EKG, they asked why I didn't get my cat's teeth cleaned, and I said it was because I didn't want to put him under general anesthesia at his age, he'd done it once and had a difficult recovery, plus I was sure at his age that he had tooth decay and they'd want to do extractions, which would cost even more and mean more recovery time. They got mad at me for this too.

My cat is well loved and has a nice life. We've avoided any major health issues for 10 years (he had urinary crystals when he was four and had to have surgery and has been on a special diet since then). I want a vet who will give him his shots, is prepared to help with palliative care if/when his health starts to decline, and who can euthanize him when the time comes. I am happy to pay for these services.

I am tired of vets who just want to do a million expensive tests with no plan or clear reason and who want to prey on my love for my pet as a way to extract money from me.[/quote]

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