In shock from Miss Kitty's white coats trip today

[Tonya]

Wowsers! That sounds expensive!

I've don't take my kitties for their annual. I've never really thought about it because one of the vets at my place is my brother's friend. He doesn't come over much, but he sees my pets often enough. He always lectures me about their weight (Ron especially). But now that I'm hearing you all talk about blood work and stuff, maybe I should! Especially with Ron, he's probably 7 or 8 by now.

[NoahsMommy]

That sounds about right, pricewise. But the hard sell was totally wrong of them.

At work, we charge $42 for the office visit ($27 for the next animal if you bring more than one) and only do tests as needed. Our vet may have suggested the blood panel, but a tech wouldn't have been allowed to do that to you.

I don't think we do any sort of eye tests unless there is something wrong with the animal's eyes. Wierd.

[catcrazylady]

I think for some people this doesn't sound as bad as it does to others because of different regions and what is considered average. From my end of the world that sounds awful!!! I would have been so mad at the hard sell of the tests before the doc had even seen the cat. That's boldy saying..."I want your money"! Unnecessary testing is money oriented and how could they know what tests she needed without even seeing her!!! RIPOFF!!!

[Lacey]

I would have to dig out Mowg's first bill to see what all he had done to him again, but his came out to $180-something with a 10% stray discount. I know they charged for sedating him, the physical, vaccinations, combo-testing, fecal and a drontal tablet, bits-removal, Revolution... That's all I can think of without the receipt in front of me. Sounds like a lot, but then, he was having a lot done. I don't remember anything in particular on that bill as seeming overly pricy. But still, when I heard the final total, I went

[catlady1945]

Now that all my cats are seniors, I am starting to get the hard sell for tests. They aren't too persistent about it so I am resisting. I'm sure the point is to make you feel like an irresponsible "owner" if you don't have the tests. I just had my cats' regular shots and check up done and it cost me a fair bit even with my multiple animal discount. My youngest apparently needs dental work so that will be $300 which costs more than my dental work - but just barely. The costs are going up all the time, I would love to know where the cost is $35 for a vist - that was our cost about 10 years ago. The vets and staff are very nice at the place we take our cats, however.

[Edwina's Secretary]

Edwina's teeth cleaning was over $200. An annual visit that does NOT include blood work is over $100. Just to look at her poop to see if the worms were gone was $35 (what would you charge to look at poop?) That's the price around here....

I would agree the hard sell is offensive...

[catlover4ever]

Lori, my jaw is on the floor right next to yours. I think I probally would have ended up being rude and told them that I'm not here for all that stuff. I'm very lucky that my vet is very reasonable.

The most I ever paid for a vet bill was about $800 on a surgery for Smokey who was always getting the crystals in his urine....so I made a very hard decision and made Smokey into Smokette...he is now a girl.

I can say that my vet does offer a "Senior Comprehensive Workup Exam". It includes the following:

Comprehensive physical exam by your choice of doctor.
Complete Blood Count
Serum Blood Chemistry
Thyroid Screen
Urinalysis
Blood Pressure measurement.
Cutting edge ERD test to determine very early kidney disease.
Your pet's own medical "Report Card" with recommendations from the examining doctor. This will be mailed to you within one week when all of the lab tests are complete.

They charge $100 for this NOT including the vaccines/shots that the animal would be due for.

I have Tucker who is 18 and if I thought Tucker could handle the exam I would probally do it for her...just because I see on a daily basis how much she has failed over the last year....but if she was still her fiesty old self everyday I would not.

[catmandu]

Its hard,to say,but I dont like it when they start ,to sell you things,before they even look at The Cat,to see if those things,are neccessary! And there are many Older cars,who dont need all those rather,over pricedteats! And if they tried to,make you feel quilty,I would go elsewhere!

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

I am in shock over this hard sell tactic (sp?)! I've never heard of a tech coming to the waiting room to try and sell you on a bunch of tests! Actually the vet himself/herself has been the only one to suggest tests to me. All the techs do is ask what I'm there for and weigh the kitties - and T & P each go to a different vet (different offices entirely) so I think this is more the norm around here.

Blood tests are expensive. I don't have my bills in front of me but I know for Tubby's complete total "panel" it was well over $150.00! His last bill came to about $250.00 and they told me they didn't charge for the office visit. You have to ask specifically what the blood test covers though.....it's a long story on that one, but I've now got Tubby's blood tests down to around $100.00.

The big thing is the renal failure test should be included in the "senior bloodwork profile." My vets have never suggested the glaucoma test, and last time I took Peanut in he even mentioned her eyes were getting cloudy and still never said anything about a test. The senior bloodwork profile is a good thing to get, but if she seems perfectly healthy I don't see any reason you couldn't skip it for now, but you might want to keep it in mind for next year. This is how they caught the fact that Tubby was in the early stages of kidney failure - not by doing a renal failure test, what the heck is that anyway except another blood test telling you the same thing that the senior bloodwork is telling you?

Anyway, I would definitely not go back there just because of the hard sell on all the tests. You could call them and let them know how you feel about that, but they might just defend their tactics and make you more frustrated than you already are. I like Karen's idea of contacting the BBB and the local paper. Less frustration for you and it will get the word out to more people.

Glad MK got a clean bill of health!

[Tonya]

I pay $25 for vet visits. I am not sure if that is what everyone pays though. My brother and his wife used to work there and I am always in there, so I think they may give me a break.

[RedHedd]

WOW! I'm stunned! There were a couple of times this past year when my vet's office tried to sell me more blood tests, etc. than the M's really needed. It took several calls and phone messages back and forth before I was able to actually talk to the vet and get an explanation of the "necessary" tests, some of which we agreed were not really necessary right now. An office visit is $35. Mitzi just had her annual and the bill was $54.50 for the exam and vaccine; a full blood panel is $92. I thought my vet's prices were high, but from what I'm reading here, I see they're about average. Also, pet health insurance does NOT cover the basics.

I also agree with Karen about reporting them to the BBB.

[DJFyrewolf36]

Sheesh, that does seem like a ripoff. When I took Remus in for his first shots and stuff, he had a complete blood test, a fecal test and all his shots for about $80. Then again my vet is a kitty specialist, so they tend to be a bit cheaper when it comes to cats than most places around here. Remus' nuter was only $25, but thats because I took him to the humane society discounted nuter clinic.
I'd be a little POed about some vet trying to sell me stuff without even examining my pet. My vet examines the pet and then discusses with you the cats overall health and what further steps need to be taken, if any. Both vets that work where I go are realy good about not spending any more money than is neccicary, and they don't allow the vet techs to explain anything technical or to sell things at all.

[catlady1945]

To: Edwina's Secretary.

I would charge a lot more than that to look at poop!!

[Craftlady]

I got a deal for vet to look at "poop" for Eleanor... $23.66
$38.60 is office call (10% discount for mulitples)

[heinz57_79]

That's insane!! The only time I've ever spent that much at a vet was when we took Arthur in for an EMERGENCY! I'd go with what Karen said and go to BBB. That is SO not a good way to run a business, and once word gets around, they'll lose that business real quick.

I'm glad everything was negative, even tho, so is your check book.