F....Animal Vets

[mredskins]

Thanks Schneed it is always nice to know someone else is walking on your same path in life.

I really don't think our normal vet is trying to make money off us, since most of the bills were added up at the ER Vet. I think some of it has something to do with CYA and lawsuits. It is up to us as pet owners to say when enough is enough. Which you have done.

My problem lies with my obessed wife over the dog. She simiply can not make that decision. She is going to need a intervention or something. The part that gets me the most is the dog is not in pain at all and now that he is taking the Zantac he is golden no throwing up. Enough with the testing.

I also agree with the heart. They want to check for a tumor, ok lets say he has one, there is nothing we can do. So why waste the money trying to find out something you can't do jack about. I would rather not know and see how long he goes. Ignorance is bliss in this case. Let me add they already said they saw no fluid around his heart (good sign) and he is in no pain.

It is madding!

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by mredskins

Thanks Schneed it is always nice to know someone else is walking on your same path in life.

I really don't think our normal vet is trying to make money off us, since most of the bills were added up at the ER Vet. I think some of it has something to do with CYA and lawsuits. It is up to us as pet owners to say when enough is enough. Which you have done.

My problem lies with my obessed wife over the dog. She simiply can not make that decision. She is going to need a intervention or something. The part that gets me the most is the dog is not in pain at all and now that he is taking the Zantac he is golden no throwing up. Enough with the testing.

I also agree with the heart. They want to check for a tumor, ok lets say he has one, there is nothing we can do. So why waste the money trying to find out something you can't do jack about. I would rather not know and see how long he goes. Ignorance is bliss in this case. Let me add they already said they saw no fluid around his heart (good sign) and he is in no pain.

It is madding!

I think you're right about CYA and lawsuits. They want to make sure they don't leave themselves exposed to a big suit. Sign of the times I guess.

You talked about the American Dream getting harder to attain, that CYA mindset is a big reason why. So many people suing for huge payouts has resulted in medical professionals (vets or otherwise) doing all they can to avoid a lawsuit.

Also, my wife also has a very hard time separating her emotional attachment to the dog from the medical decisions. I've taken the tactic of insisting that we sleep on medical decisions for the dog. We'll be in the vet's office, and the vet will make my wife all worried, and before you know it my wife will be agreeing to every test known to man. When she sleeps on it a few days, she gets the chance to cool those emotions down and then I can actually get through to her with a logical argument. That's when I ask her "Why do an echo on a heart that we're not going to fix anyway?" Once the emotions calm down a little bit, she's a little easier to get through to.

Doesn't always work, but you could try it! After all, what's the harm in waiting a few days if you end up deciding to do the tests anyway?

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

I think you're right about CYA and lawsuits. They want to make sure they don't leave themselves exposed to a big suit. Sign of the times I guess.

I do not think we can blame those greedy lawyers (actually their greedy clients) for this one. Generally speaking, vets are not exposed to big lawsuits. I cannot, for example, get $1M if a vet commits malpractice and kills my dog. Typically, if a vet seriously harms or kills your pet, you are only entitled to compensatory damages (i.e., the cost to buy the dog). I guess if you own a prize-winning racehorse and a vet kills your horse, you might have a claim, but otherwise you generally do not.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by Sheriff Gonna Getcha

I do not think we can blame those greedy lawyers (actually their greedy clients) for this one. Generally speaking, vets are not exposed to big lawsuits. I cannot, for example, get $1M if a vet commits malpractice and kills my dog. Typically, if a vet seriously harms or kills your pet, you are only entitled to compensatory damages (i.e., the cost to buy the dog). I guess if you own a prize-winning racehorse and a vet kills your horse, you might have a claim, but otherwise you generally do not.

True that, you don't win much from dog lawsuits. Takes away the incentive to cover ass, doesn't it. Maybe they are just gouging?

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by Sheriff Gonna Getcha

I do not think we can blame those greedy lawyers (actually their greedy clients) for this one. Generally speaking, vets are not exposed to big lawsuits. I cannot, for example, get $1M if a vet commits malpractice and kills my dog. Typically, if a vet seriously harms or kills your pet, you are only entitled to compensatory damages (i.e., the cost to buy the dog). I guess if you own a prize-winning racehorse and a vet kills your horse, you might have a claim, but otherwise you generally do not.

If I'm correct some states maybe most or all look at pets as personal property. I'm not sure if it was a case in Virginia or in another state which received national attention but it involved a pet owner suing for a large sum of money due to the death of their pet. Not sure how far it went up in the court system but the final ruling was they are personal property.

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

Originally Posted by firstdown

If I'm correct some states maybe most or all look at pets as personal property. I'm not sure if it was a case in Virginia or in another state which received national attention but it involved a pet owner suing for a large sum of money due to the death of their pet. Not sure how far it went up in the court system but the final ruling was they are personal property.

As far as I know, all states treat pets as personal property. I'm glad you know the end result of the case. Most people think that if person A sues person B for $1 billion upon some ridiculous claim, then person A gets $1 billion. It's no wonder why people think our legal system is far more out of whack than it really is.

[RobH4413]

I'm with everyone here...

There was an article in the Washington Post recently about exactly what everyone is talking about...


Pets, Vets and Debts - washingtonpost.com

I recently tried to get my little black pug spayed and a simple 65$ fee turned into close to 500$ in about 3 min. The lady was throwing all of these extra options... IV fluids, antibiotics, extra pain medicine...


They tack on fee's like crazy... I would be more inclined to pay some flat rate then be berated with all of these unnecessary options like I was buying a used car or something.

Making me very frustrated...