Readers Respond: The Pros and Cons of My Veterinary Provider

Please share your likes and dislikes about your veterinary health care provider here. Note: Any references to doctor names and clinics will removed. Tell us the good and bad

cheapest medicine is not always the best

Unfortunately I have learned the hard way that the cheapest medicine is not always the best or the cheapest in the long run. I have kept domestic pets and exotics for many years and have gone through several vets and seen good vets get $ hungry after a few years. One kept diagnosing all cats with heart murmers but only one actually turned out to have one through a second opinion. Finding a good vet who listens to your concerns about your "child" is difficult. Unfortunately there are too many out there that try to cut corners and that can wind up being more expensive and stressful on the animal when the first few treatments don't work and it would have been alot easier and cheaper if a test or 2 would have been done first. (Upper resp. infection vs. lower.) Currently I am searching for another vet because the last one didn't seem to understand about my dogs breed sensitivity to anesthesia. I think that $100 for a fully vetted rescue animal is a bargain.

—Guest crittermom

Lucky to have a good vet

Fortunate to have a good vet who uses his vast knowledge/ experience to diagnose, treat, etc. before turning to expensive testing, and his many decades of experience are more valuable to me than lots of fancy, expensive tests and equipment. He never runs up the bill with unnecessary tests, etc. but even so, I sadly find that the cost of keeping pets is so high. There is a state of the art 24 hour emergency vet hospital close to my home, but it is unfortunately the opposite of my vet. Ironically, they are about 1 mile apart. One evening, my son's cat was in distress and he took the cat to the emergency clinic. The cat is a young, neutered, housecat who has never been outside, his environment is safe and controlled. First thing upon entering is to hand over a credit card that must have at least $2000 available-this is before they will even allow the pet through the door. After bloodwork, xrays, they informed my son that the cat was slightly constipated! An enema fixed that. $850!

—Zipper99

bad vets

Lil Boy was an orange and white cat, he found me when he was under 1 yr old. That was 6/1995. He had no issues until 5/1998 when I brought home "jewy". A black/white male from petco. Lil Boy, suddenly hid and one of his eyes became watery. Took him to "renowned vet"..right.. and was told he had "herpes" but that it was not contagious. And that -not to worry. ( I would of taken Jewy back to Petsmart if he were the culprit). Well, Lil boy recovered somewhat, eye was not watering but he still wasn't right. Lil Boy was "sickly" from 1998 until his death in 2009. I put him to sleep... Starting in 2004, Lil Boy displayed symptoms of oral pain. He was losing weight, pawing at his mouth and EXCESSIVE drooling. Took him to "renowned vet", versed his symptoms and was told, laughingly...."he loves you", "that's why he is drooling". "There is NOTHING wrong with his teeth, nor gums". He proceeded to "Yank" off tartar from a tooth....I had to leave the room. He had FORLS-misDX

—jGALE105

Pros & Cons of Pets

I can barely afford my own medical care, much less for pets. However, if it's an emergency, I'll do whatever I can to take care of them. The vet I use is very good. When I had to have a cat put down a couple of years ago, he gave me a break on the cost. What I can't afford either is the $100 adoption fee at the humane center here, plus the things that you have to do when adopting. More people would adopt if they made it a lot more affordable.

—sha49tn

Heartworm Preventatives

There is no generic form authorized by Merial, the makers of Heartguard Plus. There may be other heartworm preventatives available that cost less, but they are not the same product. They may have similar heartworm ingredients like ivermectin or selemectin. Heartgard is guaranteed by Merial- if you keep your doggy on Heartgard year-round, which is recommended by Merial and the Heartworm Association, and your dog gets infected- you can send that info to the company. Talk to you vet for more education- or just visit Merial's website.

—gburnettmi

Miss Molly

I live now in a rural area but will take a 3 hr drive to a vet I have used for 15 years because he is a "rarity". A vet who will actually do his own research on a problem, at no cost to his client and can actually use his "brain and training" to diagnose often without a series of costly tests that just make it easier for some vets and more profitable and he is mostly accurate. I have gone to a local vet in my area who is willing to do costly surgery without even having a definitive diagnosis. It is more profitable for him but at what cost to my pets? He can rhyme off a list of the costs involved without even doing an examination . Does not listen to the client's input about the pet's problem and is rough in handling the animals. Why did he become a vet? Even after getting the results of the test the best explanation I got for one of my cats" after extensive testing was "Nothing jumps out at me, I'll have to do further tets but exploratory surgery will give me a better picture.

—Guest Maureen Loney

Wish He Carried Generic Heartworm Pills

Overall, I like my vet and my dog loves him. But I wish, unless there is a good reason I don't know about, that he would carry the generic version of Heartguard Plus, which I have seen at reputable pet pharmacies, such as the one operated by Drs. Foster and Smith and 1800 Pet Meds. I use neither, preferring to support my vet's practice. But if the generics are equal to the brand, I'd like to pay less for my 125-pound dog.

—Packingpadre