“A reader” asks-
Am I unreasonable, yes or no?
I just received a bill for ‘euthanasia services’ from my veterinarian. The amount doesn’t matter. But I wrote this letter to enclose with my payment. Wife says no, but I’ve got a burr under my saddle about this. What do your readers think?
‘I received your bill for euthanasia services and enclosed is my remittance.
Quite frankly, it’s a devastating blow to lose a beloved animal, one which has been in your care for 13 years, or thereabouts. A kind veterinarian service would take a few bucks on each visit for end of life situations like euthanasia.
I find it quite rude and heartless to receive such a bill from you and wonder whether you are the best animal health practitioners.
I realize that euthanasia comes at a cost, but it would be more compassionate to calculate that into the routine visits throughout the pet’s lifetime than to present such an invoice.’
Am I out of line?
!snip!
I talked to the reader and they expanded on their idea.
Say the ultimate cost for euthanasia is $120.
If a pet owner agrees, charge a 10% surcharge for every visit until $120 is reached. That way you’re not getting billed for a decision you didn’t want to have to make.
The vet would probably end up making money because many pets will pass (or run away, or be given away) without ever be brought to the office to be put down.
Good idea?
Was the letter out of line?
I don’t see anything wrong with a Vet billing for services rendered as they are rendered.
Nothing is free and I’d rather see things billed honestly at the time to the person receiving them at the time they receive them.
It’s part of the cost of pet ownership. I never resented it. My vet was nice enough to come out to my car to do the deed so my dogs didn’t have to be traumatized by going into the “back room” as their final view of the world. By the way, the vet and his staff all had tears in their eyes too.
I see problems with that. How impressed would you be if on your first visit to the vet the discussion turns to end of life services. I’d look for another vet. What if your poor pet is hit by a car and killed, would you then contact the vet for a refund on your prepaid service. It’s really hard to lose a pet, no easy way to deal with it.
> Good idea?
No.
> Was the letter out of line?
Yes.
(That’s why “they” tell you to write “the letter” and put it away. At least for a long while.)
We had an American Staffordshire Terrier, kidney failure. We and the Vet we had gone to for years tried everything to save her. Nothing could be done, rather than have her suffer, we put her down.
Our Vet never billed us, but did send a condolence note a few days later.
It’s a nice idea, but yes you are out of line. Would you prefer your
pet suffer?
Interesting question. I’d just as soon pay at the end, like burial or cremation costs. Before Atalanta was put down, I took my gorgeous snow white beauty Great Pryenees to the groomer and, damn, but she looked right fine when she came out, albeit almost unable to stand at all.
We went to the vet and, in a private room, with a vet and two assistants and me, laid down, the focus of all attention. The vet gave her a tranquilizer and (especially me) I was trying hard not to communicate emotional stress to the dog. They played music. As the dog relaxed, the vet gave her The Injection. Atalanta looked up, at me, one last time, put her head down and “went to sleep.”
I’m sure I paid more than $120, but, perhaps even more than medical docs who watch patients die, everyone in that room had loved my dog for many years. That day, they might have been the Angels of Death, but, most certainly, they were angels.
I have no regrets. (I’ve since had to repeat the experience with Myrrhine, but the folk who “put her down” were doggie cancer docs, not the folk who had cared for her for years. Probably, I made a mistake, should have taken Myrrhine to the vets who loved her….? ….but I was stressed.)
I don’t recommend complaining about vets. They are better, more loving docs than people docs. …..Lady in Red
Having pets comes with the knowledge that euthanasia will happen. I have been through it with all of my kitties and I knew it would be painful, but I have been fortunate that my vets have been kind and helpful at that time. There is more to their services than we know and it is not a pleasant experience for them or their staff. My last bill with Zoe was $80 (3 years ago) and I paid it knowing that the service Zoe and I received was not only professional, but compassionate.
It’s never easy. I just know it’s going to happen and will always have it ready for when it’s needed. I wouldn’t add anything to the charge for other services. I would find another vet if they did that.
I can only imagine the State requires some paperwork, also.
von Mises says customers won’t go to a vet who charges a little extra each time – until they are ready to euthanize it and can take advantage. Nope, vet has his/her own bills to pay and has a cost to euthanize, so it is perfectly reasonable to bill for the service. Even more so if disposal is included.
Bad idea – yes
Out of line – yes
I paid for this heartbreaking service for “Ruby” while leaving the office with tears streaming down my face…..That’s how it should be handled…
Wouldn’t be prudent. Bad.
Small potatoes when weighed against the loss of a beloved pet. Its a rotten job, but someone has to do it. Get up, dust yourself off and find a new vet for the next time and move along with life.
We had to put a dog down last year. She had all kinds of health problems, Vet was making money hand over fist, was costing us $200/mo to keep her alive. She finally slipped into dementia and stopped recognizing my kids, at which point an 80lb. dog is a threat.
At the end we got the the practice’s junior female vet. She was trying to assure me that it was very peaceful, and she wouldn’t feel a thing, etc… I looked at her, and said” Maam, y’all don’t understand. I’m rural Californian. It’s very peaceful when I do it, and they don’t feel a thing. It’s just a hell of a lot louder!” The look on her face was priceless…
Held her and petted her while the deed was done. Then walked out and paid the bill for services rendered.
If you’re lucky, you will find a vet with remarkable assistants to care for your pet with an amused devotion bordering on heaven. My vet hospital does “large and small animals.”
Once, when our Tennessee Fainting Goat, Lena Horne, got a paralyzing spinal injury, they cared for her 24×7 and then helped my husband build the “Lenamobile” so she could drag her hind legs behind her…..
I wrote this many years ago about Atalanta’s love for the hospital — all the vets there, although she did have favorites. ….we all do.
Atalanta was a “strong” personality and I will always remember her.
….Lady in Red
Dead Dog in Parking Lot
Proud, matched, bleach-white, pony-dogs
Pull in unison into the parking lot sunshine.
Atalanta stops, falls to her side
Four legs out, straight
Head, jowls, body sink sideways into the rolling blacktop terrain.
Eyes straight, unmoving.
Get up.
Lashed to her, Hippomenes waits, soldier-like
His tail a stately adagio
Metronome.
Get up!
Freeze frame:
Hippomenes, the stoic sentry standing
Still but for his tick-tocking tail.
Gently breathing, in and out, steady:
Atalanta, an over-long pillow of fluff.
Two white dogs, centered, as by an artist,
upon a lake of black cinder tar,
Enough for fifty, eighty, jutting cars, horse trailers, animal pens.
Dead dog weight:
Neck rises with my tug, then falls.
Three brightly colored smocks rush out
Arms and legs akimbo, breathless.
“She’s had a reaction!”
The metronomic tail continues, without notice.
“She wants attention.”
“No!” the kneeling female smock corrects.
“Dogs don’t do that.”
She strokes Atalanta’s head listening to dog breathing,
“I’ll get a treat!” another offers, hurries off.
“Has she done this before?”
“Not often.”
(This must be bad for business:
(Large, white, dead dog in center of parking lot.)
The treat arrives. Atalanta is unmoved, stares ahead,
Disdains dog candy.
“I think it’s the vaccine. A bad reaction.”
“No, she doesn’t want to get in the car, go home.
“She likes this, wants attention.”
Two smocks kneel and stroke her.
Again, the treat is offered.
The great ermine fluffball turns, moves her eyes,
Stands,
Takes her goody in one great bite.
Get in the car!
The dogs trot off in tandem,
Lumber into the back seat and wait.
She’s eleven, not ten, as I had thought.
November 12th, 1998, according to the records
The new young vet studied
As he stroked, rubbed, talked to Atalanta.
Her blood will be sent to Purdue University:
Nation’s best for endocrine nuance, analysis.
Just forty bucks,
Barely covers FedEx, tubes, dry ice
I would have thought…
(Certainly,
(Cheaper than a human thyroid test,
(Average lab, standard results.)
In the car, the dogs lie down
Content, accommodating each other for space.
They understand:
His rhythmic tail waved award;
Her hyperbolic drama a salute:
Doctor care worthy of discerning dogs, so:
Thank you, from two dogs.
I’d rather pay someone than do it myself.
I have five small containers of ashes of beloved dogs we had to put down. In every case, the long-time vet was compassionate and kind. We paid for the service because it is a part of pet ownership. I don’t like the idea of a euthanasia surcharge. Just pay the bill and be grateful for the love and companionship of your beloved pet.
so your mother dies and you’re surprised to geta bill from the doctor who pronounced her dead and the undertaker who buried her?
snowflake much?
too soon?
I’d never condone charging more for that “someday”. Those services should be charged when rendered, but shouldn’t come as a surprise.
If a vet wanted to set up an end-of-life fund to defray the expenses of those in mourning, people could voluntarily contribute. But the staff is putting in time and expenses and deserves to be compensated.
I have put down animals in the past. It was quite hard looking into his eyes as he breathed his last with that “I love you” look. I bawled like a baby and so did my vet.
I (and the wife) also made a decision to NOT put one down. He was ready to go. We were the ones holding on. In the middle of the night, he had an excruciatingly painful seizure/stroke/heart attack. To this day, we regret him having to leave this life in that manner.
Sorry for the diatribe…….
My 2 cents worth:
Putting down one’s loved pet is never easy.
Paying the vet to perform this service should be expected.
The letter was out of line.
I’ve had my dog going on 11 years.
Half his life was spent in one state with one veterinarian. He had enough visits there that under your Reader’s plan, I would have fully paid the $120.
We have for the last five years lived in a completely different state. We use a completely different vet. Am I expected to pay ANOTHER $120? Or is my current vet expected to claim from (or perhaps even sue) my past vet for the money I already paid?
Yes, the Reader is out of line in his letter. If you don’t want to pay money for your pets, including making sure they depart this life as gently and pain-free as you yourself would wish to go, don’t get a pet.
Never had a pet euthanized, so I’m not really qualified to weigh in.
Had two murdered by a bobcat.
Had some just drop dead.
Found the cat dead in the bushes.
One just disappeared (not like a spirit or a Unicorn – no traces).
Had three killed by coons.
And four killed by neighbors’ dogs.
It’s an emotional time – and if your vet is willing, pay in advance.
izlamo delenda est …
After losing a beloved pet, I can understand someone being distraught and not quite thinking straight. So, I forgive the initial impulse that prompted writing the letter.
But the sentiment in the letter is wrong. The vet did a service, and earned compensation. And the idea of a surcharge during normal vet visits is wrong, too. One-time clients shouldn’t be expected to kick in for a service they will not receive.
I had to euthanize my Mom’s cat on a Easter Sunday of all days. Though very sad I paid the $75 and felt terrible about having to call our Vet’s office on such a day.
I don’t want to pay a prorated pre-euthanasia fee. Our cats live 18 to 22 years which is longer than the average life span. Our country vet never charged us for euthanasia. As far as I know he never charged any of his regular patients for this. Our first cat died about 2 years after we started seeing him, no charge. We went to him for 30 years before he retired last year. We do pay a pet cemetery for cremation, a wooden casket, return of the ashes. If we have to go to the vet ER then their euthanasia charge is $100.
I have a feeling the new vet who bought the practice will not be charging long time clients. If she does then we will gladly pay. Both vets have always given us price breaks. When we were using a lot of Convenia instead of paying about $50 for each injection we bought the bottle of Convenia at the vet’s cost. The clinic kept it and dosed until the bottle was gone. This saved us a cartload of money. He charge only a small fee for the ferals I took in for TNVR. Once a year a really large service was done for free.
Thing is we’ve always had between 8 and 21 animals so we have always been the highest payer in the practice. Even so there are other vets who would charge us out the wazoo. I know I’m rambling.
How about you cough up a buck twenty on your first visit and tell them keep it on retainer
I have yet to find a vet that doesn’t already over-charge for services. $120 to euthanize? Try $300, with an average vet visit around $200. We we charged $250 for the vet to tell us the dog had kennel cough, that we already knew, in order to get a $10 container of pills. Plus they have a wonderful ability of “accidently” showing you the account balance of some place you rescue dogs from. Guilting you into wanting to assist paying their debt, if it’s even for real.
Out of line….YES. You should have done what my neighbor did. He took his old and sick dog deer hunting with him.
Sorry about your loss. Just pay it. I don’t think having an additional fee tacked onto every visit makes sense.
I have two vets for my critters the costs would be crazy! For me at least.
~Cate
0Simple solution, snowflake.
Save up in advance. Set aside a small monthly stipend when you pay your normal bills. In an envelope or separate savings account, doesn’t matter. Just set it aside. Say, $5 per month. Barely the cost of a burnt StarF##k coffee.
Then by the time you need to have Precious put down, you will have that money available and in hand.
Why do I have to do all the heavy thinking around here?
So, snowflake, you were out of line on both counts.
And yes, I have had many cat pets put down. They are not merely pets, they are family, children with fur. And I bawl like a child every time.
This is why I will never own another dog, I can’t bear the loss. As it is, we have taken on a feral cat. As sweet as she is, my plan is for her to go quietly some where and pass on. No vets involved, no sorrow and pain.
you could always ‘Old Yeller’ it … only costs 50 cents
… choices, choices
most vets are struggling. it isn’t an easy or lucrative business. what you were charged seems cheap from the numbers I’ve heard.
Out of line.
I am in a position where I can take care of my own end of life options for my pets.
I’ve had to put down four companions, three of them done myself.
It’s hard, but after having the local vet do it, (a pretty close friend)I came to the conclusion that I owed it to my dogs to end their pain in return for all the love they gave to me and my family.
$120??? I wish that is what was quoted when I had that day two years ago.
$180 for an evalution for a dog they had seen for 14 years. Diagnosed with cancer, enlarged heart, diabetes, respiratory failure, etc.
Just want to be sure.
Oh, you want him cremated? Ok. Another $100 or so. Oh, want him cremated alone so you don’t have mixed dog ashes? Extra fee.
Want those ashes in a box?
Fuck most of these vets. If you have money, they bilk you for the people who don’t.
That would be a strange billing concept. Each service is going to have a bill attached to it. Paying extra each month for a service that you may not use?
The only time I ever balked at paying a vet bill was for my last dog. He had cancer, and I had been taking him to an oncology specialist. I didn’t really want to take him there, since I had taken my two previous dogs there and already didn’t like them. But, I felt like I had to try, so we went. It was obvious after a short time that my dog was getting worse, not better, so I made the decision to put him down at his regular vet’s office. A week or so later, the oncologist’s office called, wanting to know “how Jake was doing”. I informed her that he was gone, she feigned sorrow, then said, “Oh, by the way, you still have a balance of $400”. She didn’t give a damn that I lost my dog; she just wanted the money. I will never go to them again. If my dog gets cancer, it will be comfort care only.
Oh, and most vets with whom I’ve dealt have shown the ultimate in professionalism, and I have always understood that I would pay for euthanasia services. The oncologist was an isolated case, but I’m still fuming.
Yea, close to $600 to euthanize and cremate a 16 lbs. pet is excessive and an unjust enrichment.
That is precisely what I’m saying.
Good Lord. Pay the $120 and be grateful for the 13 years who had with your pet.
When the time comes (and its coming for my Sarah) pay for the procedure as soon as you walk in while your pet is saying hi to the other dogs. Thank the staff for all the love and attention they’ve given you friend over the years and ensure that all post-procedure instructions (whether to cremate, what pet service to use, are they ready and been double checked etc) and then go with the vet and your pal and help him or her to the bridge. Spend the time you need with them after it’s over then you can just walk out and be with your feelings and not have to deal with any crap. It’s easier on all concerned.
two summers ago, our dog came home with her shoulder turned into hamburger….when you call the vet on a friday, they always tell you they’re too busy, so go somewhere else…around here, there are no “somewhere elses”
monday morning, we take the dog to the vet, without calling….she’s there for four days, lab tests, intervenous antibiotics, intervenous feeding, and so on…..
it’s the dog version of MRSA…..
$1014.91 bill – including a “non-emergency drop-off fee” for not calling first, which the kind doctor declined to waive……
had we called first, we wouldn’t have a dog today, because they would have said they were “too busy”….
on the other hand, we would not be out $1014.91……..
I have a $15,000 dollar vet bill keeping my lab Grady alive from pesticide poisoning. Now that’s painful. The care these vets give is unbelievable. I do understand the pain you feel when putting your dog down. There is no good way to be charged that bill.
JTucker
I have a hunting buddy of mine thats Lab was bitten by a Rattle Snake while Pheasant hunting. I know the bill was over 20K. Got the poor mutt right on the nose.
Didn’t need the tears but my little Cairn Terrier Katie, put down 6 years ago, still the dog love of my life, went so peacefully with wonderful vet care and concern. Cremated and put in a small wooden box that will be in my burnbox when I go.
Did I pay a lot of money for just a dog? Yes. Did I want too? No.
But that dog’s love and tolerance of me so outshined my petty human love ability.
Paying it was the cost of caring for her, little peanut eating, corn cob eating dog.
I’ll stop crying when I can.
I have had to put two horses down, one I did, the other the vet did.
The wife was away on the first and here for the vet one.
The first DIY, he had been snake bit, no jokes here please.
He went lame, vet said he was in constant pain due to cartilage damage.
Had a buddy drive his back hoe 10 miles to dig the hole, all arranged before loading the weapon.
One .30-06 to the forehead, dropped dead, pushed him into the hole and covered him up.
Cartridge, about a buck. 10 bucks for fuel in the tractor.
The vet one, heart damage, no saving her.
Vet visits, over $3000. EKG, ultra sound extra, wife wouldn’t let me see that.
Vet charge for the shot, $250.
Hire a backhoe for the hole, $300, had to do it then, buddy not available.
I’m a big fan of DIY, the cowboys did it right.
I had to put Andy down today, the vet charge….0
You’re still paying it but you want the vet to save it and account for the possibility. Right? Involve someone else in holding on to your money for you.
Yeah, no. The idea is bad.
One negative consequence of this attempted avoidance of pain is an extended focus on your pet’s death every time you pay a bill and they have to account for it. Very inefficient and Obamacare-like, IMO. It has nothing to do with the care of the pet, only some temporary emotional discomfort. Wasted energy and time with questionable benefit.
My take: Don’t turn your vet into a Savings and Bone.
HAVE SHOVEL, WILL EUTHANIZE.
reasonable rates
So many diverse and heart felt comments here!
If only HUMAN abortion had the same responses to those elected that just don’t just don’t give a F’,,,
euthanasia is euthanasia
Claudia, I’m writing this to you. You have a picture of the subject of this post, my boy dog, Bleu. Makes it easier for me to write if I pretend I’m just talking to you.
Bleu spanned two wives. Lesa, whom I lost suddenly in 2011 and Teresa, here with me now. He was almost thirteen.
He’s been slowing down for over a year. Takes the same arthritis medicine I do.
Teresa ‘retired’ him from yard dog to inside dog shortly after we married almost three years ago. He suffered with all good graces the concept of regular ‘baths’, (me and him in the shower) that a a large inside dog needs.
But Monday a week ago the time arrived. He stopped eating Saturday, couldn’t hold down water Sunday. Monday he couldn’t stand.
So I gathered that big bucket head up on my lap, squeezed him to me, told him how much he meant to us. My wife on the other side, touching and reassuring him, I used a bottle of nitrogen to ease him out of here. Used a plastic cup under his snoot and he slid away with no drama, no upset, no pain.
I couldn’t bear the thought of loading him up as an invalid and taking him to his vet, to spend his last moments in strange environments and ‘not home’.
Watered his head with my tears.
He was a Good Dog. He left here hearing that and with the people he loved next to him.
My vet sends out sympathy cards and donates part of the euthanasia fee to pet rescue charity.
Lowell, don’t know if I can type while the tears are flowing, but here goes. He was such a handsome big boy. What a special way to say good by to a beloved fur child. He is now waiting for you while he plays with Charlotte. The first thing he will tell you is that he doesn’t have to take any more baths! God bless you and Teresa.
I could be wrong, but this sounds like maybe grief coming out as misdirected anger. It’s easier to deal with anger than sorrow, to be angry at something instead of dealing with the loss. (You may recognize the voice of experience here.)
I’m sorry for your lost friend. I would pay the vet and not send the letter. I think you would eventually regret it.
I’ve owned cats all my adult life and have had to put two of them down. Both lived very long, very healthy lives until almost up to the end. We now have a cat that can’t die soon enough for me. He’s a royal pain. I love him, but he’s a lot of overhead. At the first sign of long-term failure, it’s off the to the vet he goes. I’ll grieve his loss just as I have for the others.
The thing that has changed so much in the past 20 or so years is that vet medicine now rivals human medicine and things that were terminal in a pet, now, aren’t. I’ve spent thousands for things that would have meant the end of the animal in the past. Most reasonable vets will not make a judgement if you don’t do “everything possible” to keep a sick animal going. For that I am grateful.
Also, $120. seems high for the cost of the drugs and a syringe. It’s been ten or so years, now, but I only paid $45.00 to have our last cat put down. Dang, I loved that cat.
I hope I don’t get sick around here anytime soon.
Dear reader hold back the letter.
we have had one pet euthanized professionally….all the others went missing, were roadkill, or died in my arms……
i hold them, and then they die…..
last time, i picked up weezil where he fell down on the floor, with a puddle of urine behind him because he couldn’t make it to the litter box….i held him until he died….this was about three weeks ago….
previously, i held skoshi in my arms until she died, and her mom sixpack, until she died…those were last january and february….all these cats have died in my arms……they were not suffering, they were just tired…..they were just worn out….and they died in my arms…….they knew i loved them while they were dying, and they know i will find them again when my time comes……
a little tiny four week old spinabifida kitten is waiting….also a six month old spinabifida kitten – named crooked foots, because of his spinal deformation from the 70s we got a lot of spinabifidas since we were raising manx cats…..
we will probbly not ever again take one of our own to be killed by someone who doesn’t love them…..
i don’t much like holding my sweets while they die….
……but i will do it, whenever it’s necessary…..
because that’s my job
and if you adopt an animal, it’s YOUR JOB TOO
OK OK. I’m ‘the reader’ and i confess that I have anger issues with this particular veterinarian office.
But I still say that perhaps a kinder way would be to nickel and dime me rather than present such a bill. Paying it is no big deal. It’s not the dough.
Perhaps i can regain my focus over the next month.
Thanks all for your input. The letter will not be sent.
Here’s my real problem. My wonderful dog, Liberty, had a swelling in her left hip. We thought it was subcutaneous. It was not. But the vet God, the fucking genius, kept digging with a scalpel.
I spent the last 4 days with her, sleeping on the bathroom floor and injecting her with morphine
When she cried out.
That’s when my hatred of this vet started and why i felt the need to lash out metasticized. Pure misery
and the hippocratic oath, first do no harm, was violated.
Sorry for dragging you all into this. Sometimes I have to ask, am I crazy?
You all answered my question. Yes, PH. You’re mad as a hatter. Ha.
I’m sorry, Mr. Henry. I do know how much it hurts.
Spend time, a little or a lot — even a year or two — and, then, begin a search for Liberty Too. You both will know each other when it happens. It’s like getting married. ….smile….
If necessary drive to The Valley for a vet. There are a zillion wonderful ones here.
…..Lady in Red
I love me some PHenry. I think I know where your coming from buddy. Your pissed at the loss of a best friend. Hang in there Pal.
no phenry…..you are like me….lying on the floor at
three in the morning, trying to save my pet….or at least give them some comfort as they leave this place…
and when someone wants to make me PAY for that, i get angry…..
this is me, chuckie……
this is why no pet of mine is ever going to go to a vet for “end of life” care…..i will hold them until they die, however much it hurts….
it’s my job, after all…..chinese obligation, as they say…..
PHenry…..I’ve known two vets in my life that have a sacred sense for the critters….One was Tony, but his practice got so big that he started farming out the vet service to his hired fellow vets…So, I quit going to his clinic…My dog Ruby was one of his first clients when he opened his own shop….
Amazingly, I have moved out to the middle of everywhere and I found a vet (only two within 30 miles) and she has this gift. She listens to me and can seemingly speak to my dogs….Amy Howland…Howland vet clinic, Smith Center Kansas….she’s worth the trip….then we can drink beer and smoke cigars
Lady in red.
Thanks sweetie. My current dog came from a dairy farm in the valley. West of Charlottesville. Reeked of cow poop as a pup. He’s my wingman.
pet threads sure do get a lot of comments……
PHenry
The best dog I ever owned was my wifes and mines first dog. A Chesapeake Bay. Best we can figure at the age of 13 he died of a heart attack and fell into our pool. No matter, I had to fish his lifeless stiff body out of our pool. I cried like a little girl.
Well, Mr. Henry, I’m glad you have a wingman, now (one who is pretty sad, as well, I reckon…).
All the vets I know are “just west of Charlottesville.” If you want help at some point, I have a good nose for sniffing quality vets (as have all my dogs. See poem above. ….smile…)
……Lady in Red
way back in the wayback, that is, the early 70s, we had a vet that was ready to come to our house to help a cat in labor, who was not “getting it done”…….fat chance finding such a person these days
our favorite vet was a retired marine….office looked like it was furnished by goodwill, no frills, no fancies….
…he’s retired now, semper fi, but i wish he were still practicing……
…we took him a feral cat to be spayed years ago….when we came to pick her up, he was covered in bandages on both arms, and told us “YOU TAKE HER OUT OF THE CAGE”…..which we did…..she trusted us, so no worries……
@chuckie ~ is this your cat?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcdkaUmZGqs
phenry, your anger is a righteous anger,and don’t ever doubt it, profitting from grief is a sin.
these vets think they can charge whatever they want…and they DO, time and time again…
you need to find out what exactly it cost for your dog to be put down.
then you can compare it to what was billed…..
PHenry you have every right to be angry at the Vet.
Maybe later you can go back to the Vets office and ask why.
Very sorry for your loss of you best friend. It hurts.
PHenry, no way would I think you’re mad as a hatter, seems like I’d be upset as hell too. This thread has me remembering my favorite old Golden Retriever, Satch. He was old, and didn’t like the heat. He would lay in the shade under my truck and I always knew to look for him. One day I was leaving and I got him to get out of the way, but I forgot something and ran back in the house to get it. Darn Satch laid right back under my truck, and I backed into him and broke what was left of his sore old hips. That was a hard afternoon and night. He has a place of honor in my back yard. No one but me knows where.
We love our dogs as much as we love our children. However, we know the first day we bring a new puppy home, our time is limited. I’m a little morbid about it. I remind the family around 5 years of age, the dog is half used up.
Our last dog to pass was quite a shock. We had just been to the vet and had her scheduled to get a tooth removed. Then she got real sick one day and the vet says there’s nothing they can do for her. I was pissed! All that money for nothing!
Stepping back, I realized based on our special appointment for the tooth problem. A general veterinarian cannot possibly diagnose every canine, feline, etc. ailment. They do their best to ensure the animal is healthy, but shit happens, we don’t MRI our dog every vet visit.
So as morbid as it seems to think a dog is half used up. The reality is, we will outlive many animals throughout or lives. Better to be realistic and prepared for the eventuality.