The complaints
about vet bills go on. To give you a better idea
why vet bills are what they are, let us look at
veterinary care expenses from the other side of
the exam table.
First, how many
people are aware that veterinarians right out of
school make far less than a human doctor right out
of school? A newly licensed vet in California can
expect to make $25,000 - $35,000 per year. A zoo
veterinarian with a year’s experience in the
Central US averages about $32,000. This is only
$10,000 more than an average vet tech at a zoo in
the Central US will make. Even with years of
experience, salaries still remain far less than
those of a human doctor. The average salary of a
human medical doctor is approximately $115, 000.
To add insult to injury, veterinarians often carry
as much debt with school loans as a human doctor
will. It is not uncommon for a full-time
veterinarian to work well over a 40 – 50 hours a
week. And just like human doctors, there is
medical school, internships, more schooling for
specialties and vets have to learn many species
– not just one.
Out of that
veterinary bill you are asked to pay has to come:
salaries for the veterinarians, veterinary
technicians, office manager, office staff, kennel
crew; building mortgage/rent and maintenance
(including utility bills); equipment purchases
from cotton swabs and syringes to the newest
ultrasounds, respirators, autoclaves, etc. (and
some of the equipment can cost tens of thousands
of dollars); initial purchase of any supplies sold
to clients; cleaning materials, insurance, etc.
Even if equipment is fully paid for, there can be
service contracts to make sure the machines can be
repaired when needed. Not only this but there are
service checks of equipment, certifications, etc.
Running a practice is far from cheap! The cost of
keeping the practice going has to come from
somewhere.
When a veterinarian
sees your pet for an annual physical (which may or
may not include shots depending on species),
people often complain about the bills.
Let’s look at a recent exam for one of my cats:
annual physical, distemper and 3 year rabies.
It was a $74.00 bill. Then add on two boxes
of heartworm preventative for two of my dogs. The
total came to $127.00. Yes, this sounds expensive.
Could I have saved money? Maybe I could have
bought the heartworm preventative on-line.
No, checks of online stores showed no real
substantial savings there after factoring in
shipping, having to get a prescription from the
vet, etc. I could buy and give my own vaccines. I
know how to vaccinate. But a popular supplier only
sells in 25 dose batches.
Plus, if stored wrong or
if I cannot use all the vaccines before the
expiration date, I could render the vaccine
ineffective and waste a lot of money. Then I have
to get syringes (and many states do not allow
shipping of them without a prescription).
Plus, I would still have to get the annual
physical done. A state licensed vet must give
rabies vaccines by law. I could save quite a bit
of money on rabies vaccines by going to a rabies
clinic. But rabies clinics are poorly advertised
and never around the time one of my crew will need
the vaccine. Over all, it is more convenient and
even safer to go to the vet. I can get
everything done at the vet and it is more
convenient.
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