did I ruin his hip??? - Page 3

My Dear, you sound just like me!! LOL! I rushed Beckett to the vets & worried over every bump, yelp, pimple or sneeze!!! He's like my 80# baby, & my hubby says the same thing to me, 'He's a DOG!!!' And guess what? He's survived it all, so far. I was calling Shelley, panicked, every other day with some 'emergency' !!! Thank Goodness she's so patient! (my breeder)  Don't worry about, & I feel better now. knowing I'm not the only one! jo

"Bree my white shepherd, if she just bumps something she comes to me limping so I can baby her!  Then when she hears a bark outside, or one of the other dogs does something, boooooom she's fine and off and running again"

LOL yes, some of them KNOW when you'll take care of them!

My old Shana KNEW I would gently take care of wounds or aches, so sometimes she would play it for all it's worth!  I'd witness her playing and come down badly or bad step, and she might have a bit of gimpiness that I'd check.  Then, she'd continue to limp with that leg - until she thought I was out of sight!  My parents' house has a rear protruding room full of windows, so you can see all around the yard - and e.g., if I went inside, she'd forget I can see through the windows and stop limping.  But if I walked back outside or let her in - she'd look doleful and start limping again!  Fakir!  Guess she liked getting the "affection"!

Tara, my current, doesn't seem to care about that.  She's either really hurt or not; what you see is what you get.  She'll shake it off and not try to play head games with me.  So when she's limping, I know she's not faking and is really hurting!

I was fortunate to have cut my teeth as a breeder under the tuteledge (sp?) of some very good country vets in Northern California who didn't try to squeeze every last dollar out of me for no reason (gave breeder discounts on everything!) Studying pre-vet for awhile, till my math disability reared its ugly head, I even did a few internships with a good ole' gal (UCD vet) who rolled her eyes at me a lot in the early years when I would fret about nothing. Ever read "House of God?" The operative acronym in human medicine for people in ER's for no good reason is GOMER: Get Out of My Emergency Room! 

I could always tell the seriousness of any situation by the type of refreshment proferred in the exam room after initial examination: Beer = bad news. Coffee = good news. Jack Daniels & confiscation of car keys = one way trip for the poor dog.

Where I live now, every vet within 50 miles wants to anesthtise my dog and perform $500. worth of x-rays, tests and lab work for a split toenail. They call it conscientious treatment. I call it highway robbery!

SS

Amen, Shelley. I was just talking with a friend in NY state. She has a little beagle that suffers from congestive heart failure and her vet has put her on a med called Vetmedin. It can be purchased, with a script, on the net for around $100 for 100 tabs. Her vet charges her $30 for 14.  She's retired and living on SS, he knows that, doesn't care.  When I asked her if she couldn't find a less expensive vet, this one isn't even particulary brilliant at what he does, her answer was - up here they all beong to the same local vet association and all charge the same rates for everything. How's that for a monopoly? A few years ago this vet ripped us for over $200 for an OFA hip xray not counting the OFA fee and he charges a litter rate of $25 per puppy for their first vacs. His other charges are equally as sinful. 

When I pay my vet $81 for a rabies that I know darned well costs her no more than $1.00 including the syringe, a h-worm and lyme test that takes her 3 minutes to do in the office, I bite my tongue so I don't tell her what I think of her fees. Having worked in that profession for many years and having friends who still do, trust me when I say they do not charge those outrageous fees so then can pay their techs decent wages.   Most vet fees truly do meet the definition of extortion.

Anyone who has found a good vet that doesn't charge outlandish fees is very fortunate. I worked for 4 different vets over the years and only one wasn't out to retire as a millionaire at 40 years of age. He actually  did it because he liked animals. Imagine that!

My favorite gripe is that nearly every vet within about 35 miles of Allentown (I am 25 miles away) refuses to come in after normal business hours for an emergency even to stablize him/her for transport.

Why? Because they all own a piece of the 24 hr. Urgent Care Center in A-town. If anything life-threatening happens after hours, one must trek (45 min. from here) at top speed to that clinic, pay $400-600. in front to get in the door, and then pay, pay, PAY for anything after that! If a dog is hemmoraging, forget it. They do have an ambulance service in case your dog can stay alive long enough for them to get to your home and back to the hospital... Heaven knows what THAT costs! You'll never make it. Later, after you've shelled out your next three months pay for some poor-bedside-manner a--hole to tell you your dog is dead, your local vet sends you a sympathy card...

I nearly got arrested there one time for raising hell in the waiting room when my Onyx went into hypovolemic shock while they farted around, and again when they couldn't find his juglar vein for a transfusion. He died. Cremation: $250., but the box of ashes was pretty and came with a nice sympathy card...

I just paid $40. for a heartworm test. Health certificate for shipping: $50. (Add $10. for Saturday appt.) RAbies vaccination: $30. + consultation fee. (for WHAT?)  My last set of OFA plates for hips and elbows cost me over $500. I have to drive 45 min. to get to a vet that will even do them, and last time I was there for 4.5 hrs., mostly waiting around in a boring exam room for them to get the dog in, despite having an appointment specifically for that procedure. While I waited, they tried to sell me PennHip (another $225.) and every kind of vaccination (I do my own) heartworm tests (it was winter) and pet health insurance. They know I am a professional breeder/trainer on a shoestring budget. No breaks though for anything.

When I get rich in dogs, or win the lottery, I will build my very own 24/7 vet hospital, staffed with poor-but-current recent graduates paying off student loans, on-site living quarters, loaded with every state-of-the-art piece of diagnostic equipment, a full on-site lab, full-time anesthsiologist, sterile operating room, well-stocked pharmacy, air and ground ambulance, and a friendly, efficient, sympathtic staff, just for me and my dog-friends!

If I had a son or daughter who told me they wanted to be a physician when they grew up, I'd wash his or her mouth out with soap till they changed their plans and swore to become a veterinarian so I could be secure in the knowledge they could help me out financially in my old age... and I could force them to take care of my own dogs no matter what the ay or hour.

SS

Shepherd Woman & the Ol'Line Rebel...lol...sounds like you have some smart dogs there...they know how to get their attention huh?

Kalibeck...lucky you for having someone to run to......i dont know boss's breeders personally, or anyone with GSD'S, or experience with them...thank goodness i have the DB or i would be completly lost..lol...prob pulling my hair out

Shelley Strohl---sounds like a great idea....my dreams also for lottery winnings, great vet clinic, animal shelter...etc.....I have also thought it would be a great thing to...i guess you would call it 'sponser' people like me-that have the dog and the passion for it, but not the resources to do pro-training or sports with them....when you get your vet hospital, i hope im invited

bltzen--it is a shame the way people are treated...when my DH grandparents, who also live on SS, had to get their little dog spayed...they were told that it was gonna be 75$...well when she was done, they gave a bill of 375$, $300 more than they were told!....it's not so much of how much it would cost, its the unexpected cost...some people have to plan around how much they can spend, when a big unexpected cost hits you, can mess your finances up for months....if they could atleast tell them the truth of how much the END/FULL cost would be, then they would atleast be able to plan for it.....plus i believe you should have a choice in the extras, if its not necessary in what was asked to be done...and they dont ask you if you want it done or not, then you should not have to pay for it...if it is necessary, then it should have been added in the cost in the first place....

I have to wonder if these vets will ever realize they may be pricing themselves right out of business. People on fixed incomes will either stop  keeping pets or they will have to neglect their care if they can't afford these horrible fees.  If they lose their patient base, then what? Most depend on small animals and there are very few mixed practices anymore.  To deprive senior citizens of one of the few pleasures they may have left by charging them such high fees is almost criminal  when one thinks that pets help to keep seniors active and healthy.

I doubt anyone on a fixed income could have afforded to treat my first GSD. I never kept a penny by penny record of his vet bills in the 7 years he was alive, but a conservative estimate would be 20 to 25K not counting drugs which would have accounted for at least another 5K. If I'd have been retired at the time, I'm not sure how I could have afforded to keep him alive that long.