Expensive animals

I've just spent almost a thousand dollars in the past couple of weeks at the veterinarians. Ouch!

I bet they're not feeling the recession, especially because, like dentists, they get paid on the spot.



First, Maggie, our Great Dane got chomped at the dog park. She had a quarter-sized hole in her right outer thigh and punctures on the inner. I thought of butterfly-ing the wound but realized tape wouldn't stick on fur. Plus, there was a little too much exposed bloody tissue for me to handle. So off we went to the vet. He said she was very lucky. The bite was only millimetres away from a lateral vein and that would have meant a lot of bleeding. Yikes. Four hundred dollars later Maggie was all stapled-up with a prescription for 3 weeks of antibiotics and one for pain killers. (I'm saving those for me...just kidding!)



I was shocked at the bill. I can't find it or I'd give an itemized accounting. But it seemed a lot for half-a-dozen staples and some pills. I realize I was paying for the vet's knowledge and expertise and believe me, I'm grateful to him. So why do I feel ripped off?



Today I took our two new felines, three-and-a-half-month old Hu Jin and fourteen-month old Milo in for check ups and shots. For both, there was a physical examination, a blood test for Feline HIV and Leukemia, shots for rabies and distemper, stool check and the routine de-worming first time clients always get.



Plus, Hu Jin had fleas. That meant flea control for both the cats as well as preventative for all three dogs. And the vet gave me this long alarming spiel about heartworm in cats: how they've just discovered it's more prevalent than they thought. Cats get it the same way as dogs, from mosquitoes and soil but unfortunately it's almost impossible to test them for it and once they get it, it's incurable. The main symptom is an asthma-like cough. The vet recommended heartworm prevention for the two cats, even though they are going to be strictly indoors. "Mosquitoes come indoors," he said. "We've seen heartworm in indoor cats."



What was I supposed to do? Fall for the palaver and put my cats at risk, or cave in to my mild concerns and get the medicine. I caved but only because the heartworm drug was combined with one that killed fleas and ear mites as well. I shouldn't have felt conned, but I did.



The bill for the two cats was $495.



Years ago, our cat Cinder developed Feline Urinary Syndrome. He was peeing and spraying everywhere. At the time, there wasn't the selection of prescription foods for the disease and the vet recommended surgery to open up Cinder's urinary tract, basically changing his "inner works" from male to female. Females have a different curvature to their urethra allowing the calcification to pass and rarely get FUS. The surgery would cost $500.



It was simple. We didn't have the money. We'd just returned from the Yukon and my husband was working at a job that payed him less than a third of what he'd been earning up North. We had a mortgage and four mouths to feed.



The vet said, "Is he an animal or is he a member of the family?"



He was a member of the family, of course, but that didn't magically produce the funds. Somehow we scrounged half...I don't remember how...and the vet allowed us to pay the balance with postdated cheques. Twenty bucks a month for a year. The operation was a complete success.



I can't remember what we paid for the urologist to diagnose our Irish Wolfhound, Fionnulla's kidney cancer, but it was a lot.



I once paid $1000. for our Bichon, Jake, to have an MRI. He'd been having seizures and behaving strangely. The neurologist said he was 95% certain it was a brain tumour but only an MRI would say for sure. It said for sure.



Our last Great Dane, Lily, developed advanced Cardiomyopathy, (serious heart disease) when she was about six. She was treated by cardiologists at two veterinary university hospitals, one in Guelph, Canada and the other in Champagne, Illinois. Many hundreds of dollars gave her an extra two years. She had to take a passle of pills plus everytime she went to the clinic, she was given an ECG.



And then there was Niger's dental bill. He had serious gum disease and had to have several teeth extracted: a couple of molars and his two upper canines. Veterinary dentistry costs about the same as human dentistry...more than you can imagine.



I know most vets are caring, compassionate, responsible, able animal doctors but sometimes I feel they're also salesman preying on our deep attachment to our animals, overtreating, recommending unnecessary procedures and charging exorbitantly. We're so fearful of losing our beloved pets that we go the distance and pay the price. It's an unbalanced exchange.



I love all the vets at the clinic where I take my animals. They're conscientious and friendly and provide excellent care, but they're expensive, far more than the small town vet I used to go to up in Canada. Her prices are reasonable and you leave her office not feeling as if you've been "taken".



It's my choice, I realize. I have five pets for whose health I'm reponsible and I have to accept that there are no bargains there.