Vet Costs

[jolinar of malkshor]

Originally Posted by Table 5

That, and you need to buy the anesthetic machine (easily 30-40k), operating table, tools and pay for a vet technician to assist, as well as the vet himself.

Remember that it's still a business and there has to be a profit margin (and from what I hear, spaying/neutering is not a really much of a profit generator). As I mentioned before, vets need don't get any medical subsidies like human doctors do, yet still need to be price competitive. When is the last time you had surgery, and it cost 200 bucks? Going to a regular human doctor in Canada costs considerably higher in monetary value, but people don't ever really see the bill. So I can understand why vet bills can sometimes be a shock, but at the end of the day, these are medical experts dealing with the life of your pet...pets that to a lot of people are as important as their own children (and sometimes treated even better, ha).

Btw, I'm not really sure what prices are these days for spaying/neutering, but I'm going to guess that $100 dog was male? As mentioned, males are a lot less complicated to do then females, thus are often a lot cheaper in terms of vet costs.

Yes I understand that there are overhead costs and the vet is in business to make money and they went to school for a long time to learn what they know. I wasn't comparing vet costs to human costs, if anything I was comparing the cost to neutering my colt to neutering my dog.

I am just saying that I think the cost for some of these services is getting a little over the top. I am prepared to pay the costs because I knew there would be costs when I got the dogs, that doesn't mean I can't complain about it. Like I said above I agree with most of what you have said.

[COGENT]

When I went to get my dog neutered I ended up bringing him out to Strathmore to have it done as it was half the price as my regular vet. I felt pretty bad as our vet is great but I just couldn't justify paying double.

yup, having a pet is incredibly expensive. My cat that I got for free from a farm has cost me over $1800. I didn't know this but male cats, especially neutered ones, have a high risk of developing crystals in their urine which blocks the urethra. There are ways to prevent it but as I said I was even aware that this existed. They pretty much have to sedate the cat and insert a catheter to flush everything out... this happened twice.

Now here's a question for everyone. While my wife and I were going through the this whole ordeal with our cat we had to ask ourselves the question, at what point does treating a sick animal become inhumane? In our situation there was a chance that our cat could go through this repeatidly for the rest of his life so we had to wonder if that was fare to make him go through that. Just so you know... Cassis is alive and well and hasn't had a problem since, probably due to the prevention we do these days.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

I am just saying that I think the cost for some of these services is getting a little over the top.

That might be the case. Like anything else in Calgary these days, I'm sure it's not getting cheaper!

[coolsurfer]

We live in Edmonton and my father found that vet's in places like Spruce Grove charge about half the price as vets in the city. We used to use a vet close to home, but now we take our animals out of town since the price is must less and they provide the same service.

[GreenTeaFrapp]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Btw, I'm not really sure what prices are these days for spaying/neutering, but I'm going to guess that $100 dog was male? As mentioned, males are a lot less complicated to do then females, thus are often a lot cheaper in terms of vet costs.

Is it really that surprising that if you got a bitch she'll cost you more?

[mykalberta]

I am most definately a dog person and not a cat person, but this needed to be done.

[Cowperson]

Originally Posted by COGENT

When I went to get my dog neutered I ended up bringing him out to Strathmore to have it done as it was half the price as my regular vet. I felt pretty bad as our vet is great but I just couldn't justify paying double.

yup, having a pet is incredibly expensive. My cat that I got for free from a farm has cost me over $1800. I didn't know this but male cats, especially neutered ones, have a high risk of developing crystals in their urine which blocks the urethra. There are ways to prevent it but as I said I was even aware that this existed. They pretty much have to sedate the cat and insert a catheter to flush everything out... this happened twice.

Now here's a question for everyone. While my wife and I were going through the this whole ordeal with our cat we had to ask ourselves the question, at what point does treating a sick animal become inhumane? In our situation there was a chance that our cat could go through this repeatidly for the rest of his life so we had to wonder if that was fare to make him go through that. Just so you know... Cassis is alive and well and hasn't had a problem since, probably due to the prevention we do these days.

Sounds like your cat may have food allergies or has some sensitivity to it's food. That might cause the crystals.

The dog I mentioned earlier was NOT going to have a fourth operation to solve the cancer issue.

Even though we could continue writing cheques of that size for quite a while, she had been weakened considerably by the first three operations and her quality of life was suffering to the point we were not going to put her through it again. Whatever was going to happen was going to happen.

Fortunately, that was the last of it and, as I said, she's been cancer-free since and still tough enough to walk up Mt. Black Prince Cirque last Saturday with Abby:



Cowperson

[COGENT]

Originally Posted by Cowperson

Sounds like your cat may have food allergies or has some sensitivity to it's food. That might cause the crystals.

The dog I mentioned earlier was NOT going to have a fourth operation to solve the cancer issue.




Cowperson

Yeah, it's such a hard decision to make. We were at the breaking point with our cat too, not cost wise, we just didn't want him to go through it anymore. Our vet was very good about not pushing anything on us but could see how upset my wife was. long story short, he got pretty emotional and told us to try one last thing. Turns out our cat is a worrier and this caused him put stress on his bladder which caused the problems. We put him on something like prozac (I know, too funny right) for like $15/month for 6 months. It's been 2.5 years since that happened and hasn't been sick since.

I just wanted to mention that I think your photos of your Goldens are amazing. It seems they have a pretty awesome life with you. I have 10 month old Goldendoodle and look forward to our hikes this year. When that time comes I may be asking you for some pointers on hiking with a dog.

[Sliver]

I kinda know a dog breeder that gets his dogs fixed in Drumheller because it's a lot cheaper there than in Calgary.

+1 on the awesome photos to Cowperson.

[Devils'Advocate]

Originally Posted by Cowperson

But, I remember once spending $1,500 to fix a cat when it meant a lot more than $11,000 today. It's a tough call. But, if you can't care for them, don't have one.

I dunno. There is no way I could afford spending $1,500 on an operation for one of my cats, much less $11,000. But I still think they are far better off in my house, snuggled into a pillow than dodging traffic prowling for a meal. If everyone waited until they could afford to throw $11,000 towards a pets surgery the animal shelters would be putting down a lot more animals.

[Cowperson]

Originally Posted by COGENT

I just wanted to mention that I think your photos of your Goldens are amazing. It seems they have a pretty awesome life with you. I have 10 month old Goldendoodle and look forward to our hikes this year. When that time comes I may be asking you for some pointers on hiking with a dog.

Thanks.

At the risk of de-railing the thread, there's only a couple of pointers I'd offer . . . . . . and they may sound strange.

1) Assume there are people who do NOT want to meet your dog and, further, assume some of them may even be afraid of your dog, regardless of how innocuous and people-loving and cuddly your dog might be. They're in the minority but they exist. It's merely polite to have control of your dog on a leash if you're passing by someone on the trail. If those people want to say hi, they'll stop and do so or invite your dog come over. And most do. But some are pretty offended if they HAVE to meet your dog. You're not going to be perfect with it but it's a good mindset to have.

2) Just assume Parks Canada doesn't care whether your dog lives or dies. Really, they don't. That's not their job or mandate. Instead, you should assume leash laws, requiring your dog to be under control even on top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere, are there to protect wildlife from the stress of your dog chasing them. Theoretically and in law, there are NO off-leash areas in national or provincial parks.

Abby and Keeper have had a bear encounter and a cougar encounter and, fortunately, were under control both times.

I have lots of pictures of my dogs trailing a leash or with no leash at all so all of the above sounds hypocritical but mostly that's kind of manipulating things for an image or just applying some common sense when the coast is obviously clear or I'm not in a park.

Abby is breaking the law with no leash on a steep slope in an obscure corner of K-Country . . . . . a lightly travelled trail to Hailstone Butte Fire Station



. . . . . . but was wearing a leash on the more heavily trafficked Mt. Black Prince Cirque trail on Saturday (below) when I let her take a few steps ahead to get this shot.



Cowperson

[COGENT]

Originally Posted by Cowperson

. . . . . . but was wearing a leash on the more heavily trafficked Mt. Black Prince Cirque trail on Saturday (below) when I let her take a few steps ahead to get this shot.



Cowperson

I would say it was worth breaking the law

Thanks for the tips! Sending you a PM with a few questions because they really have nothing to do with vets.

[ranchlandsselling]

So, anyone had to deal with a broken molar on a dog?
Assuming im goint to hit about a grand

[REDVAN]

I have- my dog had 5 teeth out (one was a 3 triple molar?) in June/July and it was 1300-1500 for the whole procedure. They knocked her out, took out the teeth, did a cleaning, gave us drugs for her etc... Shawnessy Pet Hospital. I think they're more on the expensive side though.

[Minnie]

Phone around for prices. And sometimes, the out of town vets aren't as expensive, if you're willing to drive a little bit. We use Animal Care Centre in Strathmore. They're pretty good. We've had 2 of our dogs at the vet in the past few weeks and these guys were over $100 cheaper than the one vet in Strathmore that we took our other dog to. We only used a different vet because ACC was moving into their brand new facility the Friday our old guy needed attention.

[ranchlandsselling]

Originally Posted by REDVAN

I have- my dog had 5 teeth out (one was a 3 triple molar?) in June/July and it was 1300-1500 for the whole procedure. They knocked her out, took out the teeth, did a cleaning, gave us drugs for her etc... Shawnessy Pet Hospital. I think they're more on the expensive side though.

Thanks,
This appears to be broken, likely from a bone I think the top or bottom however you look at it broke off.
she's three, so it's not the "old dog needing teeth pulled" kind of thing.

[REDVAN]

My dog was 4 when this happened. Crappy situation but now she doesn't get bones

[ranchlandsselling]

Originally Posted by REDVAN

My dog was 4 when this happened. Crappy situation but now she doesn't get bones

Oh