$190.00 just to walk through the door for an examination. They make it unaffordable for the average person. Now I have to wait until 12 p.m. when a walk in clinic opens and hope they can treat my cat who injured the corner of her eye.
I found a less expensive place. She has conjunctivitis in one eye and a yeast infection in both ears. I'm so glad I took her, it was still over hundred dollars but the vet was fantastic and she will be feeling better soon. Every vet I take them to combs them checking for fleas, they are a little surprised to never find even one, on any of my cats.
This post was edited by Art Lover at November 3, 2023 4:35 PM MDT
Staffing has a lot to do with it, they're not just trained staff they are licensed and certified technicians which means in an emergency your pet gets the highest of care.
Awwww, with good care they can live a long time. The last place I lived there was a feral cat across the street who was 17 when I moved in. Figaro's owner died and the new owners of the house fed him. Then Figaro decided he liked my house better. I made him a nice, totally insulated cat house and put a heating pad in it for the winter, he loved it. I put a powder that kills fleas where he slept and finally after a year he allowed me to brush him, he would drool (a lot) while I brushed him and I was able to apply Frontline on the sly. Apparently I was the first person he ever allowed to touch him, the neighbors were amazed. He just kept on living, finally I asked the advice of a woman who has a cat rescue and adoption center. She came to my home because I was concerned Figaro was losing weight. She advised it was time for him to go over the rainbow bridge however Figaro was too old and wise to fall for the traps I set. She provided an expert at trapping cats, even then it took him 3 days, the two of us working together to finally capture Figaro. I'm glad he didn't have a bad ending. He must have been 19 or 20, if the neighbors were correct with his age.
Anyone with high specialist skills is usually on a good salary, but that's only part of the business cost that has to be covered by the invoices; and unlike a supermarket or restaurant, a veterinary practice is the type of business that has a relatively low flow of invoices to share the costs around.
I think if you were to examine many specialist businesses you might find such fee levels by no means unusual - we seldom see them because most serve other specialist trade or governmental customers.
A friend who is a self-employed, registered gas-fitter and small works builder won't have the sort of costs (pro-rata for different countries) and probably not the salary of your vet's; but he and I have sometimes discussed the common public misunderstanding of "labour charges", "call-out rates" or similar terms for the same thing.
I know my "charge-out" cost per hour as an employee, was a lot more than my nett pay!
my2cents 