How I Love Our Vet!

[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.