AR-News: (CA - US) Fur flies over puppy-mill Yorkie's vet bill

[Snugglezzz at aol.com]

Note the reference to the "puppy-mill Yorkie" and the last line about going 
to a shelter and not a pet store.


http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2004/May/22/style/stories/03style.htm


May 22, 2004 

Dr. Judy Owens: Ask the Vet

Fur flies over veterinarian bill

DEAR DR. OWENS: My wife just returned from the vet’s office with a bill for 
nearly $600 for testing and dental work and medications for our old yorkie 
"Stan." My question is, why, why, why?We only paid $300 for the dog in the first 
place. If you add up all the money we’ve sunk into this dog over the years, it 
is probably almost $1,000. For a $300 dog! 

Vets should be ashamed of themselves for taking advantage of people this way. 
I’m sending you a copy of the invoice so you will understand my outrage. 
Please explain to me why a vet would make us go through all this for a $300 dog.

— Canine robbery

DEAR ROBBERY: Hold onto your hat, because I’ve got a shock for you, buddy. 
Vets are secretly in the business of exchanging goods and services for money. It’s
true. I could show you proof. 

We are capitalists, and we expect to not only pay our practice’s rent and 
employees’ salaries, we even hope to make a living wage ourselves. In fact, 
nationally, vets make a good deal less than other professionals with similar levels of education. Your implication that we should charge less for a puppy-mill 
Yorkshire and more for the same services offered to, say, a $50,000 guide dog is 
just a bit over the top. We charge the same for both. Whether to have the 
recommended services performed is the owner’s choice. 

The perception of the value of the pet, and its care, rests with the owners, 
not the vet. Nobody will make you get your own teeth cleaned and nobody will 
make you get dental work for your dog. It is your call.

I reviewed the bill you sent me. From what I could see, the charges were all 
very reasonable. There was a lot of work done to establish whether it would be 
in the dog’s best interest to even do the dentistry. The blood testing was to 
identify and address underlying health concerns (such as kidney or liver 
dysfunction) prior to anesthesia, and to assist in the choice of anesthetic 
agents. The chest X-rays were to evaluate the size and shape of your dog’s heart, to determine whether there was any degree of congestive heart failure present, 
and to help the doctor decide whether IV fluid use would be prudent or deadly. 
>From the number of extractions listed, it sounds like the periodontal disease 
was fairly advanced.

The medications listed, antibiotics, pain medication and anti-inflammatory 
drugs, are all part of a humane, conscientious followup to this type of 
procedure. (Ever had your wisdom teeth out?) I have no problem with the services the 
vet offered and delivered.

Did the doctor "make" you go through all that? If so, what was the type of 
coercion? Did your wife feel pressured to OK services she didn’t understand or 
felt were appropriate? Did she not know what she was agreeing to? Was she not 
given an estimate in advance of the procedures? 

Families should take the time to discuss financial decisions. We all have 
responsibility to know what we are being offered, how much it will cost, and what 
will happen if we don’t spend the money. A good time to consider this would 
have been before you got the dog in the first place. Another good time would 
have been after the estimate was given and before the work was done.

The real question is this: Is the value of your dog the same as the cost of a 
replacement? Imagine, for a moment, that you are tooling through the 
countryside with $300 in your pocket. You spot a shabby ancient James Bond style 
Porsche with a sign in the window saying "$300 — runs great." You buy it. It really 
does run great, but it looks like a bear dropping.

Now, would you find it ridiculous to spend additional money fixing it up? 
Could you acknowledge that you might get more than $300 worth of pleasure from 
simply driving a really cool car? Do you think that the good people at the 
transmission place should be ashamed of themselves for insisting that you pay them 
money (in excess of $300) for the goods and services they provide? How about 
the glass shop, the paint shop, the tire company, the chrome guys, the 
upholstery folks? What if you do all that and six months later the car needs its front 
end aligned? 

Yes, you say, but after all this work the car will be worth so much. Well 
dear, the dental procedure "added value" to your dog’s life both by eliminating a 
source of chronic pain and by extending his life. And unlike the car, the dog 
can love you back, although you sound like you might not yet appreciate the 
value of that.

Economics 101 final exam question: Compare and contrast the terms "cost" and 
"value."

End note: As a closet capitalist, I should point out that if you had gone to 
a shelter instead of a pet store, and had invested the dollar difference in 
3-M stock 10 years ago, the dental work would not have set you back a penny.

Dr. Judy Owens is a licensed veterinarian, working at Santa Cruz Veterinary 
Hospital. Please send your questions and comments to her at 
drjudyo at earthlink.net. If your animal is suffering from a serious illness, please contact your 
local vet immediately.