[Schneed10]

Pets aren't for everybody. But for those of us who have them, it's easy to justify paying a couple hundred bucks here and there for ailments or whatever.

The beef I have is that some vets are almost predatory in nature. They'll push diagnostic tests to identify conditions that can't even be practically addressed.

I recently changed vets because my old one pushed hard for that kind of thing. I like the new vet a lot better. It helps when you go in there to be real strong with the doctor up front and tell him that you want the decision tree laid out up front.

- Sir, your dog has a heart murmur and I want to do an echocardiogram.

- Why do the echo, what could be the result of the test?

- Either it's fine and we can put her under for dental work, or it's not fine and we can't do the dental work and send her for heart surgery.

- How much would the surgery cost?

- Oh I don't know, $3000.

- Well I'm not paying for a $3000 surgery, so how about you don't do the echo test and we don't do the dental work. I'll just brush her teeth myself.

Do your damndest to keep emotion out of the equation. It's hard, but approaching it like that works for me, it keeps the doctor in line and lets him know you have limits and not to push you.