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Originally Posted by stedmansmommy  I have said the same thing to my hubby so many times. I would be one broke @$$ vet!!! LOL. Seriously, I would. I just WOULD NOT be able to turn an animal down for emergency care...I mean there is just no way I could do it - I wouldn't be able to sleep at night.  Knowing that there is an animal out there that I COULD HAVE helped, and had to means to help, but didn't because their owner couldn't afford to pay such a high vet bill (all at once) would just eat at me and eat at me until I made myself sick over it.
I TOTALLY agree with you about having some money put aside for your babies though - or ANY emergency situation really. BUT, one thing that I just now thought of is that if you only had, say, $500 put aside and the bill was $1000, well, that still wouldn't cut it  Geez, hopefully in THAT situation the vet would let you pay the first $500 and just bill ya (or at least let you post date checks or SOMETHING) for the rest
Ahhh I don't know, my heart just hurts for the animals is all It's just a shame that things are so darned expensive these days. It cost almost as much to care for our animals as it does to care for ourselves! Sad. |
Brooke you are such a sweetheart!!! I am sorry you are so upset. I used to be the same way, but I guess I am somewhat jaded now. I wish I wasn't.
It is such a hard call to make. My husband is an equine veterinarian at an emergency/refferal/sugery center- it is one of the best in the northwest. They will not accept new clients without payment in full, or a large down payment (usually no less that $2000) for surgery or extensive medicine treatment. It used to not be like that, but unfortuantely they had so many unpaid accounts, it forced them to change. If people are regular clients, they will accept a percentage down and accept monthly payments. Many, many clients have "running tabs." A typical visit for a sick horse that needs ONE night stay w/ fluids is $2000. If a client quits paying their bill, they refuse to treat the horse in the future. It is really hard but they just cannot do it.
I know it seems to everyone that vets should make an exception "just once," but in all reality, DH gets at least one call every time he is on-call (one weekend a month) that he has to turn away because the person cannot afford it. Usually it is for surgery (colic surgery- equivalent to a stomach obstruction in a dog- is between $5000-10,000). That is potentially a $40,000 loss every month. They can't do it, and shouldn't have to.
I think the humane societies offer lower cost veterinary medicine, don't they? Or is it just low cost spay/neuter?