I've been thinking.
I created this thread three years ago:
http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...s-venting.html
...and I think most people agree (to an extent) with it.. It seems that very few people think that vet prices are fair and that's understandable. But here I am three years later and I'll say I disagree with my own thread. lol.
I hear so many people say the fees are just crazy (and I used to one of them), but consider:
It costs between $20-$50 (ish) for each year of vet school which is usually taken out in loans. So, some vets are still in debt 10-20 years after graduation.
Undergrad isn't cheap either and all of these upper division science classes are very difficult.
They have sacrifice time away from their friends just to do this.
They actually do give away services...clients just don't realize it.
The equipment they have to have is extremely expensive (thousands to tens of thousand for each major thing). Well, they could skip some of this stuff, but then their clients would question whether or not the safest and best protocols were being used.
Any vet can get cheap anesthesia in and charge less. Is that really what we want them to do?
And it costs, what, $150 or so to have a vet tech there overnight (and don't get me wrong, somebody should be there). That is over $1000 a week!
If they treat emergencies for free when an owner doesn't have the money because "they love animals so they should," what happens when others get word that they will do this? It would take very little time for them to go under completely. And can they really trust new clients to make payments? Probably not.
Some vets make as little as 40K - $50K a year, btw.
Anyway, I've changed my mind.
Cheap care is available and it usually (not always) is nowhere near the standard I look for for Ellie (dangerous anesthesia, very little monitoring, no xray...preferably digital...on site, etc.). I'd rather pay more and be comfortable with the standard of care. Vets should charge a lot (and most don't charge near enough) because they have bills to pay too.
PS - Prince's Mom thread (about them charges a ridiculous price for a med...which they were...) inspired this thread. Or maybe I'm just avoiding homework.
