What's the difference in vet care?

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

I just called to get my girls in for their annual check-up and vaccines. I'm in a bit of sticker shock. The charge for one dog is $255.00 + whatever the cost is for Flea and heartworm prevention!

I was just looking online at some different animal hospitals and we have a couple that are not for profit vets registered with 501 (c)3. I'm not sure what that means. If they are non profit, how do they get paid? The charge for all the shots and tests would cost a total of $101.00 per dog. 

All of this makes me wonder, would the care be as good? I'm assuming that they went to qualified veterinary schools just like my expensive vet.

By the way, I chose my current vet because of convenience. He is less than 3 miles from my house where the less expensive one are about 15 miles away. My current vet is a very nice man with a very nice office. He treated  my Golden when she had cancer. He was very compassionate but could not do anything for her except give her pain meds since she was 13 and had bone cancer. His opinion was that she would not survive the amputation surgery.

I'm just very confused about the HUGE difference in cost! I was hoping someone could give me some insight. I will actually use the cheaper one unless there is a reason to avoid that. Also, I know there have been discussions on what shots they actually need. I would be getting a 3 year rabies shot, bordetella and DHPPV for Parvo/Distemper as well as a heartworm exam and fecal exam. Is there a reason not to have any of that done?

I want my girls to have the very best care possible. I'm just not sure that costing more makes them better.

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

This is a great discussion! I have no idea but will follow all the comments :)

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Exactly what I'm thinking.  We have a couple of Vets in our area who provide services for shelters and there is a Vet that cares for the Humane Society animals....I think they are our only real 501c3s.  There may be "lower cost" Vet options than the one you're using, but I would doubt they are actually "not for profit" organizations except when providing services for those unable to pay.  I admit to a bias that "you get what you pay for".

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Agree about the 501c3 status.

We do have some local vets that are "value", etc... and I do have friends that use them and are pleased. HOWEVER, I have a special needs chihuahua and we went through heck bringing him back from the dead pretty much.  The vet I am with helped me save him.  They have cared for 5 of my parent's dogs for 25+ years.  I trust them implicitely.  I spend $300 on annual vaccinations because I do titers. Their specific doctor takes a hollistic approach and is worth every. penny. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

Every year I think about doing the vaccinations myself but that never proves feasible. Also, if you want a good vet to be available when you really need them I think it's only fair to use them for routine care too.

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

So you think that the lower cost vet is not as good as the expensive one? One of my friends said she thought the difference was that the expensive vet drives a Mercedes and lives in a fancy house. The other one just loves animals and wants to be sure they all get good care at affordable costs. 

The less expensive one actually has longer hours available. They are open till 11pm every night including Sundays. The extra cost for emergencies doesn't kick in unless its after 8pm.

[Star and Goldie]

I actually use a low cost clinic for the vaccinations and use my regular vet for the physical exams. At the low cost clinic they do a quick glance over but not a full blown physical. Using both saves me a great deal of money. The shots run me $25-$35 including a nail trim at the low cost clinic and then my annual exam from my vet is $35. So I'm at $70 per dog max by using both.

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

What does the regular vet say about that? They are Ok with you getting shots somewhere else?

[Star and Goldie]

Yes

[Star and Goldie]

Ok.. I just typed a huge long response and it only posted my first word... how did that happen:(

In summary- yes they are okay with it. My vet knows the vet that does the shots at the low cost clinic and she has confirmed where they come from and that they are safe. Since I still use my vet for the exams, medications and all of the training classes- they had no issues with me going elsewhere for the vaccinations to save a little money there :)

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

The vet we use for routine visits is fairly cheap, I would say "mid-priced".  They do vaccinations, routine medications and surgeries like spaying/neutering and other minor things.  I would not go to this vet if Luna is showing acute symptoms - they're not equipped to handle it.

About 10 minutes away is the largest vet hospital in the city.  They have 24/7 emergency care, have something like 13 vets of different specialties on site or on call at all times.  They are VERY expensive, presumably because of all the vets they are paying simultaneously :p  Luna was showing symptoms of bloat one day and we went there.  We paid about $100 for them to tell us to go get some pepcid AC :p

[Willow and J]

We used to goto a vet clinic associated with the Humane Society thinking we're contributing to a good cause. We went there for everything - spay surgery, shots, check-ups. Then we found another vet clinic that everyone loves, and we could see why just on the first visit. They have several drs, and we ask for the first one who saw Willow every time we go so that she can keep track of Willow's records. But occasionally, when she was off, we saw other doctors, and everyone is super friendly and compassionate. No reservation required. They have the lowest price for Frontline and Heartguard including Costco and online sites.

At the clinic at Humane Society, we paid $100+ per visit, often way over that with medications. At the "new"clinic, we rarely paid $100, and our vet doesn't even charge anything for follow-ups. We just went there yesterday for shots, and it was $60 for two vaccinations, no vet fee, although she's done everything for a routine check-up including getting Willow's temperature, hearing her heartbeat, checking dental, ears, paws, weighing, and maneuvering her joints. This one is also closer to our home, so we switched and never looked back. So, long story short, it seems to me that cost does not always reflect the service. 

The only occasion we had to seek another vet was for Willow's skin allergy. We had to travel out of town for immunotherapy, because our vet doesn't do it.

 

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

That's good to know. I guess the only way to know for sure is just to go there and see for myself. If I don't like it, I can always go back to the other place.