Vetting your Vet 

Because learning by experience alone can be a very hard experience.

 

Taking time to decide which vet is right for you will be the most important time spent, as you will find out from your own experience or from the reading the following.

 

Most pets only need minor vet intervention: vaccinations, check ups, deworming or yearly Revollution prevention treatment for heartworm. However, there are times when you will be visiting your vet because your puppy is sick. This is when a good vet will come through for you.

 

When you are facing a vetrinary emergency you don't want economic concerns to be a factor! The only factor should be the best care and saving your pecious pet's life. Unfortunately, limitations in animal health insurance coupled with the high cost of vet care can result in exorbidant vet bills that will be too difficult for the average person to pay. 

 

When faced with a multi-day hospitalization, which may be a life threatening hospitalization, the bill can easily surpass five figures. You may think this is an exageration but it is the sad experience of many a pet owner to find themselves with a 24 hour bill of $2500 a day plus medications, treatments and tests on top, which can easily add up to $3000 or $3500 a day.  Multipy that bill by three or four days and you have an economic crisis. This is when treatment is no longer about the puppy but instead it becomes a question of paying.

 

When a hospital stay exceeds 3 days and treatments are going to reach 5 figures the owner of the pet will then be asking how he or she can avoid this cost or stop the bills before they go any further. Often after the first day and the bill is over $2500 to $3500, the vet will consult with the owners and ask them to make a decision. The vet will have tested and come up with likely outcomes; the best practice is to offer advice based on current conditions and economic considerations. 

 

Let's examine a senerio where the vet tells the pet owner that there is a 50 to 80% chance of death with 3 to 5 days of treatment. The owner now has to decide if the 5 figure bill is worth the enormous cost with only a 20 to 50% chance of recovery. Sadly, the pet owners are now saying their last good byes to their cherished helpless pet as they must make the decision to save their financial well being in leu of saving their pet. 

 

My friends, this is not made up. The many ailments and accidents a pet can have such as: broken bones, eating poisonous substances, having something lodged in the throat or intestines, being hit by a car, licking pavements or dirty puddle water, injuries from dangerous animals or wild animals can be the cause an owner finds himself in this situation.

 

  What can be done?

 

First,      find a good honest vet that does not upsell or exaggerate. Find out what his fees are and how he will treat your pet in an                              emergency. 

Second, buy a good pet insurance with no limit protection and no deductable or a small deductable.

             Make sure the insurance is not hard to claim on.

Third,     if the breeder will pay vet bills for some ailments, find out under what conditions. Follow those conditions outlined in the buyer                      agreement.

Fourth,  make sure your pet is given the best organic home made foods, hygiene, water, housing, safest yard, best excercise and play area                you can give.

Fifth,      make sure he/she has had all his vaccinations and follow the vaccination program set out by the breeder and/or recommended by a              good vet.

Sixth,     some breeders have a hot line on the best vets (from years of experience and building up a relationship with their vet), using your                 breeders vet may be the best thing even if you do have to travel to get to him.