Labradoodle & Goldendoodle Forum
Posts about medical conditions of doodles and the ensuing hardships on their families has me wondering. I know we would all do whatever we could to keep our doodles healthy and lead a comfortable life, but...I started thinking. My husband and I aren't weathy by any means and we have two young boys to support and try to send to college. I started thinking...How far would I go to save Bexter and Maggie - financially? Luckily I have pet insurance with Bexter & will be getting it with Maggie now too (which is on my to-do list for spring break)! But...what if I didn't? Or what if the amount stated was way higher than what insurance would cover? I don't mean to stir controversy here. I was just thinking. I'm guessing that I would be willing to part with more money than my DH would, and I'm afraid that would cause some marital problems if it would arise. I know he would probably spend a lot to help too, I don't mean that, but HOW MUCH? I don't know. I guess we'd start thinking of things to give up - cable, etc. I just pray that this never becomes an issue for us. I am so sorry to all those people who it is an issue for right now. It has to be so hard. I certainly don't ever want to come off as judgemental because I'm sure there are lots of people who simply don't have the money to cover some big medical condition their dogs have. However - I DO know that people should really give that effort to give up things before they give up on their doodle. I know we love our doodles as family members, but at the expense of our kids' college or our homes? I guess this is all hypothetical. Sorry, I'm just rambling aloud. I guess this should have been a blog!
Tags:
Traci, I hope I never have to worry about this, since I have insurance, however, I am going to call this week and up my coverage. I can tell you that my husband and I would exhaust all possibilities when it comes to Fudge and Vern. I would beg, borrow, or steal (well, probably not) before I would ever give my two up. Please everyone, GET INSURANCE!!!!
I'm so grateful that we have pet insurance....I'm hoping that will prevent this from ever becoming a real issue. I feel very sorry for people who really WANT to do everything possible for their dogs, but just don't have financial resources to do it. That must be heartbreaking and to me unimaginable.
I have thought of this many many times. I even made a similar comment on a discussion earlier that for me it is just "peace of mind". It was such a relief once I knew that they were covered. It really isn't all that expensive. It is cheaper than cell service or cable, or even a tank of gas. I just pay $50 per month to cover both of my girls to a level that I feel I could easily handle the remainder of the charges. It is a mind numbing process weeding through all the different plans and making the decision, but so worth it. I beg of everyone to just stop, take the time and do it. Now, before something comes up that won't then be covered. If you even suspect your dog has an issue, get the insurance BEFORE you go to the vet. I will happily pay this amount every month and be perfectly content if I NEVER need to use it!
I have insurance, but it only covers 80% - that 20% can still be a significant amount, and we are on minimum wage living pay check to pay check. We do have a little savings now, from staying at the inlaws rent free for 6 months (but paying bills, gas and food still) - but that $3000 wouldnt go too far if Cooper needed surgery. And its not in a "Cooper fund", its in an emergency fund - for if something breaks on the car, or we need to move away for a job, etc, as well as if something happens to Cooper. And DH has $20,000 student loans to pay, and I owe my Mum $10,000 for our car... But I would give up everything I possibly could for Cooper. We have our credit cards paid off too, so thats an additional $3,500 we would have access to. But I dont have kids to worry about...
i read an interesting article on facbook today that my firend posted, about why vets are so expensive
http://www.askavetquestion.com/why-are-vets-so-expensive.php
Sometimes I hate my job. Well, that’s not true. I almost always love my job. But what I hate is that everything I do costs people money. Multiple times per day, I am helping people make decisions for their pets based on how much they can afford.
“All vets think about is money!”
“You don’t care about my pet, all you care about is getting rich!”
“Why does it cost so much to clean my pet’s teeth? My own dentist is cheaper!”
Unfortunately these are remarks that I hear on a regular basis. And I feel for you guys! It can be expensive to keep a pet healthy these days. I thought I would write this article to explain some of the facts about the financial side of veterinary medicine.
Doesn’t that sound heartless? But it’s true...a vet clinic is a business and needs to make money. Just like any other business we have bills to pay (and often these bills are huge). We pay rent, electricity and gas bills. And we pay large bills to buy and maintain equipment. An xray machine costs anywhere from $30,000 to $90,000. An ultrasound is going to cost about the same. And there is a lot of other equipment that needs to be purchased and maintained - dental equipment (most veterinarians have similar equipment to what a human dentist has), equipment to run laboratory tests, surgical instruments, and on and on.
We also have salaries to pay. The staff at veterinary clinics are, in my opinion, usually severely underpaid for the quality of work that they do. A veterinary technician is an extremely skilled individual, able to place a catheter, draw blood, do a dental cleaning, counsel clients and multi-task animal care all day long. According to Payscale.com a Technician generally gets paid between $10 and $12 per hour.
It’s a crummy wage for someone with so many skills. Most technicians have gone to school for three years and carry some student debt. Compare this to a registered (human) nurse who gets paid between $20 to $36 dollars per hour. Why are techs paid so poorly? It's because we’d have to raise our prices in order to afford to pay them more.
I have a confession to make. I drive a BMW. There you go. Is this why vet bills are so expensive? To pad the pockets of greedy veterinarians? Well, here’s the rest of the story. My husband is a successful real estate agent. His recent business successes and hard work have paid for my car. Prior to this, for the last 10 years I have driven a 2002 Honda Civic. Now, there’s nothing wrong with a Civic...it’s a great car. But my point is that a veterinarian’s salary is not one that allows you to live in luxury.
Veterinarians on average have spent 7 years of their lives in college/university doing intensive study. According to the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the average veterinarian graduates with a debt of a whopping $142,613! And, according to Payscale.com, a veterinarian generally makes between $45,000 and $106,000 depending on experience. Let’s compare this to a few other professions:
A veterinarian does all of the things that the professions above do, but usually gets paid much less. Many vets work 10-12 hour days, and some are on call throughout the night. We get scratched and bitten on a regular basis. A good amount of our day involves intensive grief counselling of clients. This is not a “cushy” job. It’s hard work!
I thought I’d explain the way that some things are charged for. I'll occasionally hear people talking about their vet, saying things like, “I was in there for 20 minutes and paid $200! I’m in the wrong profession!”
Here is an example scenario:
John brings his Golden Retriever, Andy to see me, Dr. Marie, because he has a problem with his ears. I have a good look at Andy from nose to tail and notice that the ears are red, inflamed and full of debris. The skin between the toes is a little red as well and there is saliva staining which shows me that he has been licking at his feet. (This is likely a sign of allergies). Otherwise, he looks good. I put a swab in each ear and hand them off to my technician. We have a good discussion about underlying allergies and what kind of things we can do in the future if things are getting worse. (I decide not to do allergy testing or special hypoallergenic food now because I don’t want John’s bill to be outrageous. We’ll consider those things in the future.) We talk about the type of things that cause infection and what we could do to prevent further ones. Ten minutes later, my technician tells me that the ears have yeast and cocci (bacteria). She takes Andy to the back to thoroughly clean his ears. We send him home with some medication to put in the ears twice a day and instructions to come back and see me in a few weeks.
Here are the costs for the visit, along with an explanation:
Office visit: $68.00.
What you’re paying for: The most important part of the office visit is the time and expertise of the veterinarian. In that 20 minute time period, the vet will examine the pet, make a diagnosis and share valuable information with you. I have had clients say things like, “I knew there was an ear infection! I didn’t need you to tell me that. I just needed medication.” But, it’s the vet’s experience that tells us how long we need to treat for, what medication is best, whether or not there are ear mites, whether we need to treat one ear or both, whether there is possibly a resistant type of bacteria present, whether the ear drum intact (because if not, then regular ear medications could be dangerous) and whether there is an underlying problem such as allergies or a thyroid condition.
This charge also covers the time that I take to make notes in your file. Did you know that almost everything that is discussed and done in your office visit is documented? This is often one of the most time consuming parts of the visit for the veterinarian.
Cytology: $31.00.
What you’re paying for: This is a lab test where we take the debris from the ear, put it on a slide, stain it and look at it under the microscope. Some clients will say, “Just give me the medicine that worked last time. I don’t need a test.” But this test tells me a lot. It usually tells me which medicine is best. It also tells me the severity. If I see a mild amount of bacteria I may just treat for 10 days. If I see lots, I could treat for 3 weeks. If I see rod bacteria, then I'm suspicious I'm dealing with a nasty pseudomonas infection and I know that I should be doing additional tests such as culturing the ear to find out exactly what the bacteria is and what medication is going to work.
At the recheck exam I do a cytology again and it tells me how well our treatment worked and whether we need to keep going. If we stop too soon then the infection will come back again. Spending a little money now and dealing with the problem properly can save you hundreds of dollars in the long run.
Ear cleaning: $28.00.
What you’re paying for: The expertise of the technician. Cleaning an infected, inflamed ear takes skill and expertise. If the ear is not properly cleaned, then the medicine is not going to work as well. If you don’t know what you are doing, then you can damage the ear drum which is a horrible thing.
Medication: $38.00.
What you’re paying for: The bulk of this charge is due to the cost of the medication. There is a markup on the cost, because (gasp) we are a business and yes, we do make some money off of medication. There is also a dispensing fee. This is another thing that people will gripe at. “Why charge me to put pills or cream in a bottle and slap a label on it?”. The dispensing fee also covers the explanation on how to use the drug and answering questions that you have about it.
Taxes: In my area the taxes on this bill would be $21.45.
Total: $186.45
This is the part of my job I hate the most. I think every new veterinary graduate goes through a phase where you want to just pay for the bill for anyone who can't afford it so that no animal has to go without help. It truly sucks when an animal needs care but the owner is not able (or not willing) to pay for that care.
So, whose responsibility is it to make sure that that animal gets help? Let’s take the above scenario. Let’s say the client comes in with a $50 bill in his pocket and says, “Doc, I love my dog so much and I’ll do anything for him but all I have is $50. I know you love animals and don’t want him to suffer so please help.” What am I to do?
One one hand, I could look at the situation like this:
“Well, what does this actually cost me? The office visit and tests really only cost me time. So, if I just charged for the medication, this dog could have some relief.” But, how is that fair to the next person who comes in with a dog with an ear infection? What if I give an inappropriate medication (because I didn't do tests on the ear)? If the dog doesn't improve, is it then my fault? And what happens the next time this dog has a problem? Do I always give this owner a huge discount? What happens when he tells his friends that I gave him a huge discount? I’m sure there will be others who want the same treatment!
Here’s another, much more difficult scenario:
Susan comes in with her beloved chihuahua, Peppy. Susan could not afford to spay Peppy and although she tried hard to keep her away from other dogs, a big dog jumped the fence in her yard and bred Peppy. Now, she is pregnant, in labor, and struggling. Susan comes in crying. She and I both know that Peppy’s going to need a C-Section in order to survive. She has $100 to pay me today. And she promises to pay me $100 per month until the bill is paid off.
A C-Section can cost anywhere from $800 to $2500 or even more if there are complications. Often, extra staff needs to be brought in and the costs to the clinic are significant. What do I do? What would you do if you were the vet?
Unfortunately, history tells me that if I set up a payment plan, I will not receive any of that money. Susan has good intentions, but good intentions don't pay bills. In 13 years of practice I have unfortunately been in this situation many, many times. In the past, when I have made arrangements for clients like this, it has been extremely rare that we have received the full payment for the bill. In most cases, we may get one or two payments. We end up spending money on collection agencies to try and get the rest of that payment back but usually it gets written off as bad debt.
So, whose responsibility is it to help the animals in a situation like this? Do I do the surgery, knowing that I will likely not get paid, simply because the dog needs it? (Keep in mind that a situation like this can happen several times per week in a veterinary hospital. Where do we draw the line?) Do I send the dog away and tell her to come back when she has the money?
Can you see why I hate this part of my job?
There are options for people who are in a difficult situation like this. These options are not always what the client wants to hear, but we have to set some limits. The first thing I do is give the client the option of using Medicard or Care Credit. These are financing agencies that will give you a loan to help you pay a veterinary bill. I hear the cries now, “I don't want to pay interest!”, “I have bad credit...I won’t get approved.”
If a client's credit rating is not good enough to be approved for one of these loans, then I ask the client to find a family member or friend who would be willing to lend them the money. Sometimes this is a solution.
But what happens when you have bad credit and no family or friends at all to help? If this is the case, then why should the veterinarian pay for your pet’s treatment? If your children are hungry and you can’t afford groceries, is it the responsibility of the grocery store to pay for their food?
Sometimes, we can draw on charity help in situations like this. In Ontario, where I practice, we have something called the Farley Foundation. This organization will give us up to $500 per year to help pay the veterinary bill of someone who has a documented disability. $500 is not a lot, but it can help. I get to use this once a year. It's often tough to choose which client gets the help.
Before my mom succumbed to cancer in 2001, she went to the veterinary hospital where I had worked in high school and asked if she could set up a fund to help people who had trouble paying their vet bills. (She did this because when I was growing up we struggled to pay our veterinary bills. She didn't want others to be in that situation.) When she died, instead of asking people to donate to the cancer society, she asked for donations to the fund in her name at the animal hospital. This helped many animals, and, to this day, people still contribute to this fund in order to help more pets. But, again, this can only go so far.
I have compiled a list of similar charities that help as much as they can. You can find this list here: organizations that help with veterinary bills. If you know of other organizations that do this, then leave me a comment below and I will add them to the list.
If an animal is suffering and needs care, in many areas an option is to take them to the local humane society or SPCA. In the case of the dog needing a C-Section this is likely what I would have suggested. Many times the humane society or SPCA will take in the pet and do whatever medical care is necessary. The unfortunate thing is that in many cases you will need to sign the pet over to the care of the shelter and you may not get them back.
Oh, how I wish that I could do my job and not care about how much things cost! For those of you reading this, I would highly advise that you look into getting pet insurance to cover you in case you find yourself in a financial bind. Or, if you are an organized person, put some money aside each month in an account that for your pet.
I sympathize with you on how expensive veterinary bills are. It would be so wonderful, as a vet, to be able to practice and make decisions for animals based on what they need rather than what their owners can afford (or are willing to pay). I do all I can to work with my clients’ budgets and to do the best for their pets. But, sometimes we do face difficult situations!
This is an interesting article and of course the same is true for human medicine too. Right now the US Supreme Court is debating just these kind of issues for us since those of us who can pay do in the end pay for those of us who are uninsured and cannot pay. It is very complex and I for one don't know what is best. But every person and Pet should have access to health care. Now we just have to figure out how to pay for it.
I think cost alone cannot be the deciding factor either. How much should an animal go through in terms of treatment in terms of immediate and/or long term suffering? How can they understand that the pain they may be going through has, or even may have, long term benefits? These are not easy problems and I guess they will always have to answered on a case by case basis. I know when my son's dog, who lived with me at the time, was suffering from pain due to cancer there came a time when I said no more. It wasn't an issue with money but with quality of life. How much would I have spent if a cure was available? A lot I think. Certainly insurance can make that part of the decision easier.
Before I got my first doodle I never had pet insurance for our dogs. It wasn't until DK that I understood the importance of being prepared for significant health care costs for a pet. I am so grateful for the many, many things I have learned on this site. I have had a dog that required a lot of veterinary care but that was in the 1990's and the expense of veterinary care was affordable for his health issues... one of which was removal of anal glands. I know we would be in "deep kimchi" if we had to pay for that surgery without insurance today.
This discussion really touches a nerve for me, because I am in this situation right now. In fact, I have acquaintances (I cannot call them friends) who have advised me that I should have Jackdoodle euthanized simply because of the cost of managing his conditions.
As F mentioned, it depends on what kind of medical issue it is. If it is a hopeless case, or the dog will suffer a terrible quality of life, each person has to make that decision for himself, even if the money is not an issue.
But for our purposes, let's assume that like Jack, the dog can live a good-quality of life and a fairly normal life-span if he gets treatment. These are the cases where the disease can be "managed but not cured".
Sometimes, it is a one time thing; a surgical procedure that will correct the problem, but the cost of the surgery is astronomical. This was the case with Penny's Beemer. Sometimes, it's an ongoing thing requiring continuous medications, vet visits, tests, etc. for the life of the dog. This is the case with Jack and many of the other dogs we have heard about recently.
In my case, it comes down to this: There is no other option. Jack cannot live without treatment, and he is not adoptable. He is 7 years old and has two immune-mediated conditions that are not only extremely expensive to treat, but they also require a lot of care. If I worked full-time, it would be a problem, regardless of the cost. The chances of anyone else wanting to take this on are slim to none. And I can tell you that I believe Jack would rather just go to sleep than be rehomed again, even if I would ever consider such a thing, which I would not. But another owner might.
This is the problem for me when someone comes to DK looking to rehome a dog with health issues. Sometimes, rehoming is not a realistic option. Then what happens to the dog? We can say, contact doodle rescue, but some dogs are really not adoptable. Hopefully you have all seen Jane's post about the DRC fundraiser. With so many dogs in need, is it right to ask that resources which are in scant supply (money and foster homes) be utilized for an owner-relinquished dog whose chances of finding another home are slim, at the expense of dogs who are in true danger in shelters, just because an owner is not willing to take care of his own dog?
For me, there is no amount that is too much. Should Jackdoodle lose his life because I was too stupid to buy pet insurance? Should a dog who can live a fairly normal life with some help be euthanized because an owner is not willing to do whatever it takes to help him? I know what it is to take a dog you love to a vet's office, knowing that you will be leaving without him. It is beyond devastating, even when it's the right and only thing to do. Imagine doing it simply for financial reasons. I cannot.
There may come a day when I have to come here and start my own fundraiser, lol, but I will take out a second mortgage, sell my mother's ring, and eat cat food before I will stop caring for Jackdoodle. There is always a way when you love someone.
Of course, the time to think about all of this is before the dog gets sick, or eats a shoe, or whatever. It can happen to any dog at any time. The fact that your 6 month old or 1 or 2 or 3 year old dog is healthy means absolutely nothing. PLEASE, IF YOU DO NOT HAVE PET INSURANCE, GET IT THIS WEEK! It might some day be the only way you can save your dog's life.
Hugs to all of you who have done right by a dog with a health problem, often at great personal sacrifice, and to those of you who are struggling to do so currently. I admire and respect every one of you.
Great post Karen.
Karen, well said.
Not only have you spent large sums of money to be a responsible pet owner, you have educated yourself on how best to care for your sweet sick JD. That knowledge has benefited all of us. Thank you, Karen.
Bonnie, we've made it through a full week of 5 mg pred/day and he's still okay! Hugs to you all and thanks for all your support, my friends.
© 2025 Created by Adina P. Powered by