Vets have a really high suicide rate at a profession. It’s not an easy job. Many I talk to wish they didn’t become vets knowing what they know now.

Anonymous wrote: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.

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.

Anonymous wrote: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.

Yeah but a scammer is different. Scammer would push for unnecessary treatments to make more money or treatments that would harm your pet and put him them more at risk just for the sake of making more money.

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.

If the ears smell like corn chips, it’s usually yeast. Farm Dog Naturals, Adored Beast, and Solutions have natural products that work well. You should also start giving the cat a probiotic. Obviously do your own research on natural remedies. You’d be surprised how much money you can save yourself.

Anonymous wrote:I do not think vets are scammers at all. The hardest phase is definitely diagnostics. Sometimes it’s hard to pin down what is happening and sometimes the necessary testing is cost prohibitive or has too many other side effects. So a lot of vets will make an educated guess and consider treatments that won’t hurt if they’re wrong. That’s probably the category for your ear drops.

I think $350 is just what it costs to see the vet. Costs are high, time is money. That’s like the baseline for a visit.

My last very elderly dog suddenly became very painful and ill with some respiratory symptoms. The vet did a handheld ultrasound and saw masses in the chest cavity. To know what they really were, we would have had to sedate him and do X-rays. We decided they were probably cancer and he was in a lot of pain so we just said goodbye. But I don’t consider the ultrasound money “wasted,” even though we didn’t get a real diagnosis from it. And I wouldn’t have considered the X-rays to be a “scam” had I asked her to do them.

If your pet is sicker than when you brought him in and they did a lot of fear mongering so you would agree to treatments that are unnecessary then yes they are scammers. It is like when you go to the dentist and they push unnecessary procedures you might not need like veneers etc or other costly procedures that could end up hurting you or a plastic surgeon that does the same thing.

I do not think vets are scammers at all. The hardest phase is definitely diagnostics. Sometimes it’s hard to pin down what is happening and sometimes the necessary testing is cost prohibitive or has too many other side effects. So a lot of vets will make an educated guess and consider treatments that won’t hurt if they’re wrong. That’s probably the category for your ear drops.

I think $350 is just what it costs to see the vet. Costs are high, time is money. That’s like the baseline for a visit.

My last very elderly dog suddenly became very painful and ill with some respiratory symptoms. The vet did a handheld ultrasound and saw masses in the chest cavity. To know what they really were, we would have had to sedate him and do X-rays. We decided they were probably cancer and he was in a lot of pain so we just said goodbye. But I don’t consider the ultrasound money “wasted,” even though we didn’t get a real diagnosis from it. And I wouldn’t have considered the X-rays to be a “scam” had I asked her to do them.

You want an ear cytology to know what’s in the ear. It’s usually yeast and you need to know what’s kind of bacteria. If your cat has chronic infections try an elimination diet because it may be allergy related and clean their ears regularly. We use zymox.

You might pay extra for services that you don't need if you come in without having done your due diligence, OR if you can't think on your feet once you're there. Your husband sounds clueless, and paired with a vet who doesn't care how much you spend... it's a bad combination for your wallet!

I have a mobile cat-and-dog vet that comes to my home and is very low-key and hands-off. He has an old school wait-and-see approach and doesn't push any services that aren't strictly necessary. Once he did recommend I see a surgical vet about a persistent UTI for my dog, and I paid $400 for a bladder ultrasoundthat was inconclusive. But that was after months of symptoms and urine samples that were borderline positive a UTI, even with antibiotics, so the cost was entirely warranted, given my dog was a puppy at the time, otherwise healthy and will hopefully live 10+ years.

For my "exotic" pets, I see a different vet practice that always explains clearly what my options are. Once my middle-aged, 2 year old, gerbil had a head tilt - very common in gerbils, and usually not a good sign (cancer). A diagnostic scan would have cost $1000, and the vet entirely expected me to refuse it, which I did! My gerbil was given steroids to reduce inflammation and died a month later. Do I regret not paying for a scan? No. Gerbils have a 3 year lifespan.

You've got to be honest with yourself, OP, apply the scientific method carefully, and avoid extrapolating things on discussion boards that DON'T look like your pet's symptoms. And then ask the right questions of the vet.

Maybe next time, go yourself and don't send your husband?

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I’m pissed.

This is a post I just found from a ‘vet’ on Reddit when someone posted a pic of their cats ear that looks like my cats ear (some dark wax, but otherwise not bothering the cat). The poster was asking about mites (which I’d assume my vet could find on visit 1 for 400 dollars, no?)

Vet here: mites are typically characterised by thick black wax. They're also INTENSELY itchy! Just from the pictures, doesn't look like there is much going on with these ears except a bit of muck. Some amount of wax is normal, the skin around the ear isn't red or inflamed. It's impossible to tell if mites without looking under a microscope but if not itchy or bothering them, it'll be fine to wait until next routine check up

Well if you’re the expert now, treat the cat yourself.

Anonymous wrote:Op here. I’m pissed.

This is a post I just found from a ‘vet’ on Reddit when someone posted a pic of their cats ear that looks like my cats ear (some dark wax, but otherwise not bothering the cat). The poster was asking about mites (which I’d assume my vet could find on visit 1 for 400 dollars, no?)

Vet here: mites are typically characterised by thick black wax. They're also INTENSELY itchy! Just from the pictures, doesn't look like there is much going on with these ears except a bit of muck. Some amount of wax is normal, the skin around the ear isn't red or inflamed. It's impossible to tell if mites without looking under a microscope but if not itchy or bothering them, it'll be fine to wait until next routine check up

You can't be "pissed" based on a reddit post of a picture of cat's ear that isn't your cats ear, posted by someone claiming to be a vet. FFS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stinking ear is not a healthy kitty.

Well 1100 dollars later, the cat should be healthy, no?

It’s probably ear wax

No, it probably isn't.

Op here. I’m pissed.

This is a post I just found from a ‘vet’ on Reddit when someone posted a pic of their cats ear that looks like my cats ear (some dark wax, but otherwise not bothering the cat). The poster was asking about mites (which I’d assume my vet could find on visit 1 for 400 dollars, no?)

Vet here: mites are typically characterised by thick black wax. They're also INTENSELY itchy! Just from the pictures, doesn't look like there is much going on with these ears except a bit of muck. Some amount of wax is normal, the skin around the ear isn't red or inflamed. It's impossible to tell if mites without looking under a microscope but if not itchy or bothering them, it'll be fine to wait until next routine check up

Anonymous wrote:Stinking ear is not a healthy kitty.

Well 1100 dollars later, the cat should be healthy, no?

It’s probably ear wax

Stinking ear is not a healthy kitty.