How I Love Our Vet!

[Enigma]

I had to take my Lhasa Apso to the emergency vet on Friday night. $600 later I was told "I think he was stung by a wasp." "But, his teeth are in dreadful shape, he needs several extractions, his gums are badly diseased, and it will cost $1500-$2000." Oh my.

He went to his regular vet today: for his shots and a second opinion on his teeth. The bill was $135.88. $68 for distemper-parvovirus. $30 for rabies. $21.40 for antibiotics for his gums. And, I bought a toothbrush and toothpaste. Then there was GST. She spent 20 minutes scraping his teeth, and she didn't charge me for it.

In all fairness to the emergency vet, he does have two teeth that might require extraction, and his gums are in pretty bad shape. He'll go in for a thorough cleaning when the antibiotics have settled his gums down a bit. That will cost me a couple hundred bucks. If the teeth do need to be extracted, I'm probably looking at another $500 or so. So, actual "worse case scenario" dental fees will be approximately 50% of the other vet's "low end."

Dr. Pytka (McLeod Trail Animal Hospital) has been our vet for years. I know she's a great vet, but being reminded doesn't hurt on occasion. It is sometimes easy to forget how good one has it: until faced with a situation where one is being manipulated and extorted.

[cale262]

Sounds familiar. We got one of our dogs from the SPCA several years ago, he was an abused farm dog and had very bad (dirty) teeth, he wouldn't eat hard dog kibble when we first got him and every time we turned our back he was into the garbage eating whatever was in there. Our regular vet was on vacation at the time so we took him into another vet to get checked out. Same story, "you need to get his teeth cleaned...it will be about $1500ish..." thanx but no, we opted to wait until our reg vet was back. In the end I think we paid about $500 for the cleaning and that included the anesthesiologist as he wasn't willing to cooperate awake...

[Enigma]

Before I found Dr. Pytka I would drive my animals to my parents' vet in Kamloops. A couple hundred bucks in fuel, a day off work, and it was significantly cheaper: with care that was at least equal to what my animals had been recieving in Calgary. It is so nice to get a good vet locally, though. Good vets, who don't milk wallets, are a dying breed I think.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Unfortunately, there are few rules regulating how much a vet can charge for any service, pill or anything vet related. When I was working at a pet shop in the late 80s, one of my reg. customers came in fuming. She had picked up a cat that was hit by a car (not her cat) and brought it to the nearest vet. That vet then told her it would be $1500-2000 to fix the leg. She was like "What? This isn't even my cat!" and the vet's reply was "Well, I just got all this new expensive equipment and somebody has to pay for it!"

I don't know exactly what happened after (she didn't elaborate) but I have a feeling she stormed out of there.

This was at a time when $2000 was more than two terms' tuition at the University of British Columbia.

[Aysha]

you never can tell,
my cat got his leg caught in my old computer chair, 600 dollars to take him to an emergency vet on Christmas eve, He needed a cone and some pain killers....

[magikof7]

Let me guess, it was the 4th st animal hospital in the NW?
since the new owners and the renos of that place there has been a lot of horror stories about quality of care and vet bills. Ive had my own experiences with them and so have my parents.

Ill drive across the city in a snowstorm in the middle of the night before taking one of my animals to them.

[Coralgurl]

There's another emergency vet clinic open 24 hours on McKnight and Edmonton trail that apparently has much better pricing and service. If I ever need emerg pet care, that's where I'd go. The one on 4th is outrageous!

[Enigma]

Yes. The emergency clinic was Calgary North on 4th. Next time, I'll use the one at McKnight and Edmonton trail. I'm sure there will be a next time, as our pup is eleven.

McLeod South highly recommends a Fish Creek emergency clinic. All three of the ladies who were at the clinic yesterday (Dr. Pytka included) feel it is the best emergency facility in the city. One of the ladies lives in the north, and was very instant that she would drive to that clinic if at all possible. They also indicated that C.A.R.E. was alright. I think that is the one near Deerfoot Meadows.

I have been very badly manipulated by a vet here in Calgary in the past: one who tugged on my heart strings and had me spending thousands on my cat in the hopes of recovery from fatty liver disease and anorexia. My cat was 14 at the time, and all that was accomplished was extending her life by two miserable weeks. While a younger cat may have rebounded (and my sister did in fact have a kitten who rebounded from anonerixa: on the same treatment regime), it was foolish to try with a cat so old. That was why I started driving my critters to Kamloops for treatment.

The lack of regulations is truly disturbing. They can charge whatever they want, and some vets take full advantage of the situation. There are some really good ones out there, though. I'm very thankful that our regular vet is one of the good ones: fair, honest, and skilled in her craft.

[magikof7]

I go to the one on Mcknight and Edmonton trail. as my Emerg and regular Vet. I like them there. They are willing to listen to you and discuss treatment.

The staff there are great and they all get tight lipped and dissaproving faces when you mention 4th st. Another Vet my parents go to said they are always always cut first fix the problem later. There is a big medical facility with specialists that are also owned by the same chain. (associated vets) My Newfy has Hip displaysia and at 6 months old they wanted to cut her hips in 3 segments and plate it back together I said no way! he wouldn't talk to me anymore about any other options.

It is an awful thing when vets become about the money and not the animal.

What an unforgivable thing to do to someone with a sick animal that they KNOW is just too old and sick to treat with an owner who's heart is breaking. They should have someone to answer to just like human Doctors do.

[Enigma]

I read a review online that indicated there are several places in Calgary that are now owned by the same folks who own Calgary North. What facilities are associated with them hasn't been specified, though.

I just got a phone call from the emergency vet. Each one of the blood tests run on Robby require further testing and evaluation. I asked that they forward the results to our regular vet. They also wanted to know when I'd be booking his dental.

I responded that since he had just had a seizure (presumably brought on by a wasp sting), that his regular vet wanted to wait at least six months before anesthetizing him for any reason. Her reasoning being that if he had just had a seizure, he was clearly not a good candidate for anesthesia. Apparently the anesthesiologist at the emergency clinc is so good that it isn't an issue.

Yeah, I'll definately try the one on Edmonton Trail and McKnight next time!