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jrm88

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Posts posted by jrm88

    Vet Comparsions - Am I Paying Too Much?

    in General Dog Discussion

    Posted

    That would definately be why they charge $100 if there are wealthy mansions all around!! The price difference between city/out suburbs can be quite a lot.

    Some clinics do not routinely put a catheter in, they just inject anaesthetic agent straight into the vein (e.g. large charity organisations would do this)and only put on fluids if bp gets quite low.

    I'm the opposite of you, I'm more than happy to clean up dog poop/vomit/whatever but no thankyou to humans!!

    Vet Comparsions - Am I Paying Too Much?

    in General Dog Discussion

    Posted

    $100 may be higher, they may have their reasons.

    Maybe they are in a high rent area for the building so everything needs to be marked up more? Maybe they actually want to pay their staff a decent wage so they mark up their products more.

    I dont mind people shopping around, we do it for everything, but people just do not seem to understand how much it actually costs to run a vet clinic.

    And you being a registered nurse, should understand how expensive medical care actually would be if it wasnt for medicare! People think because they get their doctors appt for free and so many other medical procedures for free, they think the vet industry is a rip off when alot of vet clinics really dont make much profit at all.

    Also just wanted to say it does not take "2 minutes" for a nurse to hook up the line to the fluids. We are often dealing with angry/upset/scared patients who want to bite, struggle, scratch and claw at us. It takes 2 people (or 1 incredibly talented person) to put in an IV line.

    To put an IV fluid line in many animals is not straight forward. Oldies have crap veins, puppies/kittens get scared because they arent used to being restrained at all so freak out, cats are usually freaked out by dogs barking so try to bite/scratch us, some dogs just want to bite our faces off.... It is NOT straight forward to do IV fluids in all patients.

    (Altho we do get some very nice patients who have great veins and stay perfectly still :))

    Vet Comparsions - Am I Paying Too Much?

    in General Dog Discussion

    Posted · Edited by jrm88

    I'm in Qld and got quoted $313 just for the spey for my 6 month old girl plus all the extras like IV fluids, collar, bloodwork etc, the end price was something in the 500's :eek: I think the IV fluid is a sham, I work a nurse in a hospital and it costs a few bucks for a bag of saline and they would have an IV line already patent when getting the anesthetic. I then talked to my mum who put me onto her vet and she's now getting done for $212 (all inclusive) and $41.50 to be microchipped. It pays to get recommendations as well, but if they are an outstanding vet then some people are happy to pay the extra $$'s.

    I won't opt for a collar for my girl, I don't think its necessary, especially for the 10-14 days as the original vet quoted me, i've had 3 female dogs speyed growing up and the never had collars and handled the sutures just fine.

    Sorry but just had to point out that no, IV fluids are not a sham!

    Yes, we would love to make it mandatory to put all animals on IV fluids, but if we do that, we have to bump up our spey/castration prices and then those people that can only JUST afford to get their pets done wouldnt be doing it. Some vets do put every single animal on fluids, and that is gold standard, but some clinics have to make that decision between making it mandatory or optional (even if optional, if blood pressure dropped too low we would put the animals health first and put them on IV fluids straight away.)

    Yes, fluid bags may not cost that much, but what about the IV infusion pump, the giving set, the extension set, vetwrap, tape, catheter, the vet who went to uni for 5 yrs time to do it(or nurses), plus the nurses time to restrain.

    Vets are not out to rip people off, but if we did everything for the bare minimum it cost us, YOU would have no vet to go to as they wouldnt be able to afford to keep running a business! Speys are also already discounted at a huge price, if we priced them out as a proper abdominal surgery (which it is), the cost would be much much higher.

    It is a luxury to have a pet, not a right, so people need to make sure they have the money to provide basic vet care (which desexing is basic vet care) before they go out and get a pet.

    Dna Testing

    in General Dog Discussion

    Posted · Edited by jrm88

    Monelite, I got my results back within 3 weeks, it was a blood sample.

    Edit: thought that may have sounded rude, just meant to say that I know some people have slow result times thru ASAP but my exp was good :)

    Poodle (standard)

    in Dog Breeds 101

    Posted

    Hoity, you basically want a breeder who can match the correct temperament for what you want. I asked my breeder for a more laid back dog that i could still have fun doing agility/obedience and thats exactly what I have got.

    He is more than happy to laze around but if I say its training time he jumps up and is ready to go.

    Cant give you much info on temperament vs. coat colour as I dont know enough about it :)

    Spaying A Pug Bitch

    in General Dog Discussion

    Posted

    I think people should stop focusing on cost so much. A clinic who does it cheap may not have a nurse to monitor anaesthetic, may not routinely give pain relief, may not monitor blood pressure (yet still give an NSAID which could cause kidney damage) and lastly, may compromise your animals health to save money.

    They also might be a wonderful clinic who somehow provides best medicine at a hugely reduced cost but often you do get what you pay for so I hope people take that into consideration :)

    I didn't say what Vets but will now - WoofPurNay in Narre Warren SE Vic. I have been going to them for many years, before they built their new animal hospital. I also use another vet who is out of my way and far from cheap for all breeding related matters. Anyone who knows me also knows that I have had some massive vet bills in the past.

    I would have had her spayed sooner but frankly hate the thought of sedating a Pug, I know a few people who have lost pugs during surgery - Lizzy has already had an em c section and that was an awful feeling. I just hope she copes well with her spay.

    Not sure really why I started this thread other than I was surprised that the cost is much less than what I was expecting.

    I know who they are, and Im also surprised they are that cheap as I would expect them to practice good medicine from what I have heard about them. I guess as a client it is very hard to know what questions to ask to find out what standard your vet practices (and it would differ depending on individual opinion)

    I guess being such a huge vet clinic they can probably subsidise their desexing costs to make it cheaper due to earning their money from other procedures.

    Spaying A Pug Bitch

    in General Dog Discussion

    Posted · Edited by jrm88

    I think people should stop focusing on cost so much. A clinic who does it cheap may not have a nurse to monitor anaesthetic, may not routinely give pain relief, may not monitor blood pressure (yet still give an NSAID which could cause kidney damage) and lastly, may compromise your animals health to save money.

    They also might be a wonderful clinic who somehow provides best medicine at a hugely reduced cost but often you do get what you pay for so I hope people take that into consideration :)

    Edit:

    Not saying that I dont understand people are cost concious, but cheapest isnt always best :)

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