Veterinary ripping me off?? Please help

[Beabble]

Holy cow!! I cringed when I seen the prices you've been paying AND at all the vaccines your lil one has had. To each his or her own, but has anyone ever read up on Vaccinosis? If not, you may want to. Like I said, to each his or her own, but I think people need to be aware of it. I just had Jazzie spayed, pre op bloodwork was $38, the spay was $96, the anesthesia was $10 the eye lubricant was $2, the pain med was $2 and fecal exams at our vet is only $3 A regular office visit at my vet is only $15, an ER visit at my vet is $25 I live in Ohio, have a very good vet, been with him for over 15 years now. Good luck to you, I hope you find a new one. Also, my vet wouldn't give Mags her shots all at once, he spread them way out because of her size and she also has an compromized immune system. Sounds to me like you're being wayyyy over charged.

[McheleM]

Originally Posted by Princes mom

Doggie camps here require bordetella vacs twice a year if you use their facility.

That poor dog had 4 in 6 months!!!

[Britster]

WAY over-vaccinated.

Also do NOT let a vet fool you into yearly vaccs. It's no longer even recommended by AAHA - most vets follow that protocol and do every 3 years now (but even that is way too much in most cases). Rabies is required by most states every 3 years.

Definitely sounds fairly pricey, but does depend on the area. I'm willing to pay top dollar for GREAT service and no pushing of foods for no reason, vaccinations for no reason or at least not discussing it with me, unnecessary tests, etc. Sounds to me like you're getting pushed into many things and your poor pup has already had way too many vaccinations.

Check out this thread:
http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...light=vaccines

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...light=vaccines

[Britster]

Consider this… One dose of rabies vaccine costs the vet about 61 cents. The client is typically charged between $15 and $38, plus a $35 office visit. The markup on the vaccine alone is 2,400 percent to 6,200 percent—a markup equivalent to charging $217 for a loaf of bread. According to one estimate, removing the one-year rabies vaccination and consequential office visit for dogs alone would decrease the average small vet’s income from $87,000 to $25,000—and this doesn’t include cats or other vaccinations.



According to James Schwartz, author of Trust Me, I’m Not a Veterinarian, 63 percent of canine and 70 percent of feline vet office visits are for vaccinations. Clearly, radically changing the vaccine schedule for dogs and cats would result in a huge economic loss for any veterinary practice that is built around shots. And chances are the vaccines you are paying so much for are creating even more income for vets, because the adverse reactions and other medical issues caused by the vaccines keep Fluffy coming back often!




Veterinary vaccine sales amounted to more than $3.2 million in 2004 and have risen 7 percent per year since 2000. This figure is projected to exceed $4 billion in 2009. Six companies account for more than 70percent of world veterinary vaccine sales. The market leader is Intervet, with sales of almost $600 million in 2004. That’s a whole lot of 61-cent vaccines. The United States has by far the largest share of the national market with revenues of $935 million, and Japan comes in second with $236 million.

Pet vaccination warning. Severe adverse reaction to immunization

[Beabble]

Originally Posted by Britster

WAY over-vaccinated.

Also do NOT let a vet fool you into yearly vaccs. It's no longer even recommended by AAHA - most vets follow that protocol and do every 3 years now (but even that is way too much in most cases). Rabies is required by most states every 3 years.

Definitely sounds fairly pricey, but does depend on the area. I'm willing to pay top dollar for GREAT service and no pushing of foods for no reason, vaccinations for no reason or at least not discussing it with me, unnecessary tests, etc. Sounds to me like you're getting pushed into many things and your poor pup has already had way too many vaccinations.

Check out this thread:
http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...light=vaccines

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...light=vaccines

Very good info. Please, read up on Vaccinosis. I won't get another vaccine for my furkids before titers are ran. When Isaiah was alive, we kept him up to date ever year on his vaccines, and sadly, in his life, his health was terrible!! He had to be on thyroid meds for the rest of his life (which Vaccinosis can cause thyroid problems) he had terrible allergies, which Vaccinosis can cause, he had seizures which Vaccinosis can cause, and ultimately, we lost him to cancer, which Vaccinosis can cause. I sit and wonder so much, what part of these things did I cause in Isaiah by getting him over vaccinated....

[jp4m2]

Originally Posted by raratani

Just have question on my veterinary that I pay for my pup Giggy he's 8 month old.

I see veterinary that was recommended by my friend in Whiteplains, NY. Today was the third visit for my Giggy, but feel like every time I go there, theres something new that they tell us that Giggy needs to have.

Before getting Giggy he already had 3 booster Vaccine (8/24,9/21,10/19) 3 DeWorming (8/24, 9/21, 10/19) 2 Bordetella (8/17, 9/21). Since then we brought Giggy three times and it total cost me $622. Heres all details.

First Visit (October 26,2011)
Health Examination: $68
Fecal/Giardia Analysis: $68

later on the week found Giggy needed medication for dewarming $20

2nd Visit: (December 28, 2011)
Health Examination: $68
Annual DA2PP Vaccine: $38
Annual Lepto Vaccine: $33
Envirosafe Medical Waste Fee: $4
Bordetella Booster: $38

3rd visit was today: (March 2, 2012)
Annual Rabies Vaccine: $32
Lyme Booster: $45
Envirosafe Medical Waste Fee: $4
Annual Bordetella Vaccine: $38
Brief Examination: $67
Revolution Dog 5-10(purple) for 6 month: $99

On Vaccination certificate that I got today note that I need Lyme Booster again on Mar 30, 2012 when I just got it done today.

I asked them about neutering and they told me with all blood test etc it will cost me roughly around $700.

I feel like I'm being ripped off, every time I visit them something new comes up.

I already paid $622 to this place and yes I know some of these stuff is necessary but are these all necessary? and what I'm paying is reasonable?

I recently moved to Fairfield County as well so I was thinking about changing my veterinary. If anyone could recommend Veterinary around Fairfield will be great.

Thank you
I really appreciate everyones help!!!!

This vet is surely over-vaccinating this pup. They are not only over-vaccinating this pup but they are vaccinating the pup incorrectly. I highly suggest you do some research too avoid this kind of thing in the future. It's not your fault this happened, we expect to go to a professional for advise we can trust but as you can see this is just not so. You really need to protect your pup from uneducated vets that are doing thing kind of thing. This is what I see from your post:

NEVER GIVE ANY OTHER SHOT WITH A RABIES SHOT. Wait at least three or four weeks between the rabies shot and other shots.

Do not give heartworm or flea meds, and do not worm, within two weeks of any vaccination. Shots don’t combine well with heartworm, worm, or flea and tick meds — or rabies shots.

They told you that it's ok for a pup to have multiple vaccines in one visit? That is incorrect. Small dogs are at a greater risk and greater care should be given as to avoid this from happening. Vaccines should be done one at a time and spaced at least 4 weeks apart. This is from the experts:

Small dog alert! Small dogs are more likely to experience adverse reactions, and shots containing multiple vaccines are more likely to cause adverse reactions according to renowned pet vaccine expert Dr. Jean Dodds.

Giving combo vaccines (multi-valiant, polyvalent) and/or several shots at once increases the risk of adverse reactions as well as the risk that the vaccines will interfere with each other, resulting in neutralization or negation. (American Animal Hospital Association)

If they are telling you the vaccines are done annually that too is outdated information. The recommendation now is no sooner three years for core vaccines (distemper, parvo). If a vet is doing annuals this is overvaccination.

We don't repeat vaccinations for parvo and distemper because we need vaccines more than once to form immunity. They are repeated for two basic reasons only: Habit, and to catch those few individuals who for some reason don't respond to the first vaccination. A single immunizing dose of a modified live virus vaccine - in other words, one vaccine that works - will form long term, probably lifetime, immunity to parvo and distemper. (Kirk's Current Veterinary Therapy XIII; 2000)


The AAHA Canine Vaccine Task Force in 2003 note that MLV vaccines are likely to provide lifelong immunity, stating “when MLV vaccines are used to immunize a dog, memory cells develop and likely persist for the life of the animal” They recommend boosters every three years, but Dr. Schultz, Dr. Dodds, and Dr. Pitcairn all say this is too often. Dr. Dodds compares immunity to," Once you’re pregnant, being more pregnant isn't useful." If the dog is immune to the disease, he's also immune to the virus in the "booster" vaccine.

Lyme and lepto are not even recommended by the experts. They are linked to too many adverse reactions and the protection they provide is poor.

"Research at Cornell University veterinary school brings up some suspicion that there may be potential long term side effects of the vaccine, though nothing is certain. These side effects may vary from rheumatoid arthritis and all the major symptoms of lyme disease to acute kidney failure." ...... "Many veterinary schools and major veterinary centers do not recommend the vaccine for the same concern regarding potential side effects. "


This is Dr. Dodds vaccine schedule it might be very helpful for you to print it out and keep it with you, you'll see she has "core" and "non-core" vaccines listed.

Vaccination Schedule Recommendations For Dogs

These are two very helpful easy to understand links to read about vaccines:

The Rabies Vaccine for Dogs: Side Effects and Precautions You Can Take

Truth4Dogs

Good luck in finding a more knowledgeable vet for your pup.....

[southernbelle04]

Whoa! Most of those prices are double what we paid/pay for Katie Scarlett. I'm in Central PA and use a local vet. He is wonderful! It never hurts to check around in my opinion.

[raratani]

I'm glad I have asked everyone on the forum.

After reading all these I should have realized this a while ago over vaccination.

I thought I was paying top dollar for a great service but I was just only harming Giggy.

Thank you for all those links, I'm reading it through and will look around for new veterinarian.

I'm not sure if I should post the veterinarian name for future pet owners or current owners. But would like to prevent this from happening future.

[AprilLove]

Originally Posted by raratani

I'm glad I have asked everyone on the forum.

After reading all these I should have realized this a while ago over vaccination.

I thought I was paying top dollar for a great service but I was just only harming Giggy.

Thank you for all those links, I'm reading it through and will look around for new veterinarian.

I'm not sure if I should post the veterinarian name for future pet owners or current owners. But would like to prevent this from happening future.

Please don't think you were harming Giggy! You were doing what we as pet owners should be able to do... trust all vets... unfortunetly...($$$$$$$$$) and ... $$$$$$$$$ .... get in the way.
With some determination and investigation and recommendations, I am sure you will find a great vet that you can work with and that cares about your Giggy first, and the money second.
hugs

[Beabble]

Good luck in your search for a new vet. I'm not sure if you're allowed to post the name here or not, but if I were someone in that area, I'd surely want to know.

[raratani]

Originally Posted by Beabble

Good luck in your search for a new vet. I'm not sure if you're allowed to post the name here or not, but if I were someone in that area, I'd surely want to know.

Thank you all for your help. I just sent an admin an pm if Im allowed to post name or not.

[Beabble]

Originally Posted by AprilLove

Please don't think you were harming Giggy! You were doing what we as pet owners should be able to do... trust all vets... unfortunetly...($$$$$$$$$) and ... $$$$$$$$$ .... get in the way.
With some determination and investigation and recommendations, I am sure you will find a great vet that you can work with and that cares about your Giggy first, and the money second.
hugs

I totally and completely agree. There ARE wonderful vets out there that actually care about the furbaby and money isn't everything to them. I've been very fortunate and blessed to have one of them as my vet.

[GypsyVille]

I believed in every vaccine know to man until my Rottweiler Adria.

Adria got sick after going to puppy class and I took her the vet. The vet said she had kennel cough. I went outside and called her breeder on my cell phone. My breeder told me to take Adria home without all the medicines and to give her homemade chicken broth rather than all the antibiotics the vet recommended. I listened to my breeder. I made Adria chicken broth and she was fine 5 days later....from then on out I call her about every dog in the house (including the new Yorkie mix we have) and try her way first. I wish I had all that money back from my vet!!!! Adria is by far the healthiest dog I have ever had!!!!!!!!!!

[Britster]

You are not a bad mom!!! You expect the professionals to tell you the correct thing, but it's sadly not always the case. Jackson got DHLPP at 12 weeks and had a terrible reaction to the 'l' aka, lepto. Never again will he get lepto and it certainly opened my eyes a bit!! I think it can be very hard to say 'no' when a professional is telling you otherwise, but sometimes you just have to stand up for your pets. Now you know! In the future, I would just get the DHP booster at 1 year of age, and then rabies every 3 years as required by law. It's so important to have a good relationship with a vet that you can trust, and even if you don't always agree, if they can at least respect your thoughts or answer any questions, that's important.

[raratani]

Just got the permission from the Admin to post the Vet name and location.
Wish this helps for future reference.

Daktoa Veterinary Center
381 Dobbs Ferry Road
White Plains, NY 10607

The people are really friendly and I got fooled of that.
Please be aware of this veterinary.

I will post this on regional section as well.