Do vets just want to make money or are they sincere?

[chico_]

I have a very small yorkie named chico, he is a little less then 3lbs. 2 weeks ago he jumped out of my arms and broke his front leg. When this first happened i fell apart because I never had a animal who hurt them self before, it broke my heart to see my little guy in so much pain. About two minutes after the incident we rushed him to the closest animal hospital. While I was in the wating room crying my eyes out, I got talking to a lady who had a small dog(maltease) she had a simalar problem whith her dog. Her dog had a broken leg as well and had a little splint on, her dog was healing very well. The vet x-rayed chico 8 times at $160 a x-ray then kept him over night so he could put chico to sleep in the morning so they could try to realign his leg and put in in a splint. The vet gave me two options; put a splint on and it might not heal 100% straight, but it will still heal or get a $4500 surgery to put some wire inside the leg to help the healing process but that option was not 100% either. I am a college student in tons of debt so I had to make the option of getting the splint since this visit had already cost me quite a bit of cash. Little Chico seemed to be doing very well at home normal with no signs of pain.
I have to take the little guy to the hospital every week to get his cast changed. The first week I took him to get his cast changed I had a different vet then the origanal doctor from the first visit. This vet said very little to me as I expected because it had only been one week since the accident. Now this is week two gettting the cast changed, yet a new doctor with some shocking news. The week two hospital doctor said that there was no way his leg would heal, that he would have to get a surgery where they put metal plates and screws in his leg. Not only do I not want the poor dog to have to live with metal plates and screws in his leg, I also do not have the thousands of dollars to pay for this. Do these vets know what their doing? Are they just trying to make money off me? Why are they giving me so many different answers? The hospital is at www.beachesanimalhospital.com I would love to hear your stories about broken legs and comments. If the dog truley needs the surgry I will find a way even if I have to get a second job. I would also appreciate if anyone knows any animial surgery places in Toronto, Ontario that cater to studets or people who don't have alot of money. Thanks for reading

[kalina82]

the vets recommending surgery are most likely right. its hard to say tho because we are not vets and we cannot analyze x-rays like they do.

where exactly did Chico break his leg? what exactly is broken?

i used to work for two orthopedic surgeons and we saw many little dogs come in with broken legs. Surgery was done in 95% of the cases because the dogs heal better this way. the bones can be properly aligned and put back together. yes some type of metal paraphernalia will have to be used but its not a big deal. sometimes it has to be taken out later in life but a lot of the times the animal can live their whole life without it giving them a problem. little dog bones are obviously very small and its very hard to fix. the longer the dog waits before having surgery, the harder it will be. sometimes the owners or the regular vet will opt to splint instead of surgery. sometimes the leg heals, but a lot of the time it doesn't heal and after weeks of splint changes the dog has to go to surgery anyway.

your looking a lot of money either way.

personally i would have the surgery done because its the best option for healing my dogs leg properly.

you can apply for Care Credit online or at the vets office to see if you qualify. it can help pay for the cost of surgery up front and you can take a little more time paying it off.

[ChantalB]

Hi,

So sorry for what happen to your dog.

I do not know of a discount place, but Brimley-Lawrence Animal Clinic in Scarborough is a little cheaper that most other vet. There main vet, the one that those the surgery is very good.

For the other vets doing routine check,shots etc, they are only good for basic and sometime I feel like I know more about dogs that them

I also recently start going to Green Lane Animal Hospital in Thornhill ON. They aren't specially cheap but I think they are really fair. The lady is so nice, she explain very well (and I always have A LOT of questions ) and I found her very competent.

Also, if you know of someone like 1-2 out of town that know a good vet. Everything is $$$ downtown so the drive might be worth it for you.

Good luck.

[ChantalB]

Originally Posted by kalina82

the vets recommending surgery are most likely right. its hard to say tho because we are not vets and we cannot analyze x-rays like they do.

where exactly did Chico break his leg? what exactly is broken?

i used to work for two orthopedic surgeons and we saw many little dogs come in with broken legs. Surgery was done in 95% of the cases because the dogs heal better this way. the bones can be properly aligned and put back together. yes some type of metal paraphernalia will have to be used but its not a big deal. sometimes it has to be taken out later in life but a lot of the times the animal can live their whole life without it giving them a problem. little dog bones are obviously very small and its very hard to fix. the longer the dog waits before having surgery, the harder it will be. sometimes the owners or the regular vet will opt to splint instead of surgery. sometimes the leg heals, but a lot of the time it doesn't heal and after weeks of splint changes the dog has to go to surgery anyway.

your looking a lot of money either way.

personally i would have the surgery done because its the best option for healing my dogs leg properly.

you can apply for Care Credit online or at the vets office to see if you qualify. it can help pay for the cost of surgery up front and you can take a little more time paying it off.

[megansmomma]

I am sure that your vet is not trying to take your money. A break to an bone is very serious and if the vet is suggesting surgery you need to either find a way to get the money together or consider surrendering to a rescue who can take over his care.

Bones that are not properly treated can lead to all types of complications including the need to amputate if left untreated. As time passes, the ends of the bone begin to deteriorate and necrosis sets in (die) from lack of blood circulation.
when this happens the chance of surgery fixing the break gets less and less because the bone becomes brittle which can lead to the need for amputation.

It is not unreasonable that the vet would want to use plates, pins and screws to put a bone back together. This is done both in animals and HUMANS. In order for the bones to be properly aligned the surgeon will use these fixation devises to get the bones back into the correct alignment. Without this surgery the bones will most likely never heal properly.

It is not only small dogs that break bones, my sister dob puppy will be going for surgery in the morning. She got her leg somehow tangled in their bed and broke her knee cap. The quote for her surgery is $1800 which is much less than your quote. They will be putting at least 2 pins and a screw into Bella's knee if all goes well. If he is not able to repair the break properly, she will have a joint replacement to repair the damage.

I fell over the summer and I too needed surgery to repair the break in my arm which require a large plate and 9 screws. They will be left in my arm for the rest of my life, but I have my mobility and after months of PT I am now able to move my arm again.

There are many people and animals that live their lived with these types of implants. This is not some type of experimental thing they are proposing that needs to be done. Personally, knowing the pain that I was in after my accident I would not have waited this long to get the break fixed.

Good luck and like another poster suggested there is Care Credit that you might be able to apply for to use to pay for the surgery.

[chachi]

Surgery and pins would be better than amputation