Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,
I have a male Chihuahua puppy that is 5 months old. I am taking him to a vet which has been highly recommended to me by two of my co-workers. I am not a new pet owner, but I am new to having a puppy. Therefore, I am unfamiliar as to what is somewhat of the average cost for routine types of services. I am aware my vet may be a little higher than others, but I am definitely not going to bargain shop for healthcare. Also, after leaving my vet today I felt like I was given misleading and somewhat biased information about Demodicosis. Which lead me to ask how much should normal wellness exams cost on average, as well as the cost of vaccinations. I feel like I never get out of my vet's office w/o spending at least $100. I don't have a problem paying for the proper healthcare and nutrition, but I just do not want to be taken advantage of. I also just moved to the Houston area and back where I lived previously I had a vet in which I knew personally and trusted. So 1) I never paid full price for procedures, and 2) I only had reptiles at that time. So thus this explains my ignorance when it comes to dogs. Thanks for your help in advance!

Ryan

>>Hello,
>>I have a male Chihuahua puppy that is 5 months old. I am taking him to a vet which has been highly recommended to me by two of my co-workers. I am not a new pet owner, but I am new to having a puppy. Therefore, I am unfamiliar as to what is somewhat of the average cost for routine types of services. I am aware my vet may be a little higher than others, but I am definitely not going to bargain shop for healthcare. Also, after leaving my vet today I felt like I was given misleading and somewhat biased information about Demodicosis. Which lead me to ask how much should normal wellness exams cost on average, as well as the cost of vaccinations. I feel like I never get out of my vet's office w/o spending at least $100. I don't have a problem paying for the proper healthcare and nutrition, but I just do not want to be taken advantage of. I also just moved to the Houston area and back where I lived previously I had a vet in which I knew personally and trusted. So 1) I never paid full price for procedures, and 2) I only had reptiles at that time. So thus this explains my ignorance when it comes to dogs. Thanks for your help in advance!
>>
>>
>>Ryan
>>

>>>>>>>>>>>

Dog health care is expensive, some of the most expensive of all the animals. With a tiny breed there is very little margin for error, and little time to "wait and see." If you don't trust your vet, look for another. I'm not big on vet-shopping myself. I've had the same one for over 30 years. Good communication is essential for your dog to get good care with you and your vet working as a team. Talk to the vet about your money questions. After all, if you can't talk about money, how you gonna work with this vet to make life and death decisions for your dog?
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

Vet costs are so varied from state-to-state and from practice to practice. It's very hard to tell you if you are paying too much for basic care.

Overall, what I look for is an itemized invoice of exactly what I paid for and how much that procedure/item costs. If the breakdown seems reasonable, then there isn't a big deal. For example, if I am bringing my dog in for a vaccination, heartworm test, overall annual exam, I would expect to pay for an office visit, the cost of the injection, the cost of the lab test and the cost of the medications for heartworm prevention. I would not expect to pay for additional supplies, a lab tech's time, blood tests that weren't run, etc.

Now, if I'm coming in to drop off a fecal or urine sample, I would not expect to pay for an office visit.

Also, I tend to like to know costs upfront. Don't get me wrong, I'll pay virtually anything for my pets to be healthy, but I like to know in advance. I also really like knowing the limitations of a test prior to running them as well.

Overall, getting a new puppy is expensive the first few times in the clinic. You have heartworm preventative to buy, multiple vaccinations at each visit, microchipping, worming, etc. I'm guessing $100 a trip is fairly typical.
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Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles

We used to take our animals to the vet in the city where I live (16,000 people). My one dog got a scratch on his cornea and it was infected. The vet clinic changed doctors and there was a new,younger woman in there. After examination she gave him eye drops and told us if it was not better in 2 days she would have to do surgery on his eye. This was Friday. By Saturday he was much worse - he would not get off the couch and would not eat - his eye was worse and very red and runny. On Monday (no vets are open on the weekends where we live - can you imagine?) we decided to get a second opinion. We took him to a vet in the next town - small town farm vet. Now, the clinic was not new and white and clean but the doctor took in my dog, examined him - said he had not even heard of the eye drops the other vet gave him. He gave us new drops for his eyes, 3 pain pills and a shot for the pain so that Hobo was not hurting as much. He told me exactly what the eye would do over the next couple days - by the next day my dog was 80% better and his bill was not even a 1/4 of what the first vet charged us. Needless to say, I have switched vets. He is a no-nonsense kind of vet - when I take my dogs in (I have 5) we load them in one-by-one. He only charged us a total of $260.00 for all 5 of my dogs (shots, exam and heartworm). So, sometimes the cheapest does not mean the worst!!!! The first vet we saw, the younger lady, well, I know someone who worked for her and said she over-charges and is very phony - did I mention she is remodeling her house - it looks great - wonder where she gets all the money - oh ya - from her little animals friends! She is not well-liked in the community - I hope she leaves!

I do shop for vets because my dog has been harmed by bad vets and I have been mislead by wrong information and bad advice. So I look for a vet that I can comfortably ask questions, and one that is open to new ideas and not insulted if I bring up something that s/he hasn't thought of.