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RE: Excessive Vet costs?
OK, am I nuts or did I just get totally ripped off by Banfield Pet Hospital?
Sorry, just ranting - but is this cost excessive or am I just crazy?
To give you an idea. A adult male stray cat dumped on our property with a serious rip in his thigh, skin hanging, muscle showing. Cat was about 18 months old.
Took him to my vet in town. This is what was done for $350 total.
Blood test for FeLV and FIV. Fecal run. Treatment with Revolution for fleas. Pre-anesthetic. Inhalation anesthesia. Debridement of the wound. Suture of the wound with drain installed. Antibiotic for flushing wound. Injected antibiotic and pain killer. He was neutered. Rabies vaccine. He was purring when the tech handed him over to me.
The entire bill came to $350.
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WandaLust2
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05/09/13 03:26am |
RV Pet Stop
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RE: Excessive Vet costs?
Any time you talk about anesthesia, you are looking at $400-$500. Stitches another $200 or so. Antibiotic and pain meds $100-$300 depending on type. It sounds about right -- maybe a little high.
My vet doesn't charge anywhere near $400 to $500 for anesthesia. Most don't unless you're seeing a vet in a very upscale area. Even then that's excessive unless it's a complicated surgery that takes hours. When cats and dogs are spayed for example, anesthesia is used yet the spay only costs in the area of $40 to $65 depending where you go. If anesthesia was $400 and up, spaying a cat or dog would be cost prohibitive. The last antibiotic from my vet was last week - $20+ for a 2 week supply.
I know this because we've spent about $6,000 on our Cattle dog in the past 5 months for 3 surgeries and follow-up care. Always get an estimate as others have said.
I would love to see your itemized bill and know what your dog needed surgery for and how long that surgery took.
After this huge bill, we now have pet insurance for both of our dogs. Vet care is getting really expensive.
You may want to ask around. Not all vets charge the same fees. Because a vet charges exorbitant fees doesn't mean she or he is a better vet.
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WandaLust2
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05/09/13 03:10am |
RV Pet Stop
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RE: New to TL forum
Hi! My husband just informed me of PetStop. He's been on the technical aspect for several years, but I thought I could add some insight here. We've been camping almost all 28 years of our marriage and have been taking cats with us most of the time. Looking forward to sharing stories and advice.
What are you RVing in? We have a TT and an old Class-C. We take our 4 cats everywhere with us. We almost always seem to meet other campers or snow-birds with cats.
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WandaLust2
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05/08/13 11:04pm |
RV Pet Stop
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Pre-Approved posts
When I don't mention the name of my veterinarian, why is it I am not allowed to post what he charges? My posts concerning what my vet charges vanished overnight. Are we supposed to start a new thread when it comes to what our vet's charge? This is the only forum where my posts keep disappearing one after the other. I have read the Forum Rules and keep within the guidelines. Are there certain rules for the Pet Forum here I somehow missed?
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WandaLust2
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05/08/13 10:44pm |
RV Pet Stop
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RE: budgeting on the road
I guess this is a pretty broad question about expenses, but I was more interested in whether people spend $500 a week or $1000 per week on day to day living while travelling.
Aside from gas, eating out will eat up a lot of your cash. No pun intended. If you want to save money, eat in your rig. Avoid restaurants. And dry camp as much as possible as those CG fees really add up.
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WandaLust2
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05/08/13 09:09pm |
RV Lifestyle
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RE: budgeting on the road
Depends on where we buy our rig. Perhaps East coast, probably your summer
Keep in mind that our summers are pretty darn hot unless you stay in the northern part of the country from mid June to mid Sept. There are free places you can spend the night such as truck stops and WalMart store parking lots. But the bigger-longer the RV, the less places will have the room.
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WandaLust2
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05/08/13 09:04pm |
RV Lifestyle
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RE: Weekend vs Longer Stay RV packing
Do you keep non perishable food in the RV between trips?
We don't because the RV gets hot and we don't leave the A/C on when it's sitting there in the driveway awaiting it's next camp-out or trip. Canned food keeps best in a cool dry place, not a hot humid situation.
It's been awhile and it was in MI and FL where humidity may have played a part but it seems it didn't hold up well. However, I'm a bit lazy and don't want to haul more than I have to back and forth. If I have some cans of soup left are they okay in the CA heat for a few weeks?
We bite the bullet and carry all food back into the house.
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WandaLust2
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05/08/13 08:52pm |
RV Lifestyle
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RE: Weekend vs Longer Stay RV packing
Do you find you stock your RV different for shorter trips?
Of course. For short trips or less than a week at a CG we don't stock as much food, clothing or extra linens as we do if staying 2 weeks. We "Go Lightly". When we head for FL to snowbird for 3 months we take more clothing, bedding, extra blankets etc. Not extra food as we buy that when we get there. We also bring the Satellite dish since many places don't have cable. And we bring the wireless PC setup and cell phones.
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WandaLust2
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05/08/13 03:50pm |
RV Lifestyle
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RE: No birds
We have seen birds in more than a few CGs. One lady with a 5th Wheel at Defeated Creek CG in TN had 3 large cages she would bring outside during the day and back in at night. Parrots are very noisy so I was glad we weren't parked near her. We usually just see the cages in the RV windows. Not everyone brings them outside.
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WandaLust2
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05/08/13 01:46am |
RV Pet Stop
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RE: Excessive Vet costs?
Remove the stitches yourself. Your niece could tell you how to do it properly, or google it. I hate getting ripped off, too.
Cat Lady
I never knew a vet who charged to remove sutures.
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WandaLust2
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05/08/13 01:39am |
RV Pet Stop
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RE: Excessive Vet costs?
I think it's gotten out of hand but like already said.... The vet went to school to save your pet and we all knew the risk when we got our pets.
The vets at Banfield aren't making the money there. They're just employees. Most are fresh out of school. The profit isn't going into their pockets. Banfield is the last place I would take my cats.
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WandaLust2
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05/08/13 01:14am |
RV Pet Stop
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RE: Excessive Vet costs?
OK, am I nuts or did I just get totally ripped off by Banfield Pet Hospital? My rat terrier, Annie, got bit by another dog yesterday afternoon. I took her to the local Banfield since that is the closest vet office to me.
Here in TN Banfield is known as the highest price place to take your dog or cat. I have no idea why they're so much higher than a regular Animal Hosp.
She required about a dozen stitches, plus some antibiotics and pain meds. They gave her a little bit of anesthesia so they could clean the wounds and place the stitches. All in all she was there for a few hours. Total bill (so far) was over just short of $1,000! Plus I have to bring her in next week to have the stitches removed.
Ask for an itemized bill to see exactly what you paid for. The price sounds excessive even for Banfield.
I have a niece in CO who is a vet. I could have driven Annie to CO in our camper for less that what the local vet cost me.
Sorry, just ranting - but is this cost excessive or am I just crazy?
I feel you got ripped off. Please get an itemized bill and let us know what you paid for each thing done or given to her. Ignore those with nasty replies.
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WandaLust2
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05/08/13 01:03am |
RV Pet Stop
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RE: Homeless Cat -- Now Spot the Christmas Cat
If he's forced to live outside, you'll not know if his urethra blocks. He can die a painful death.
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WandaLust2
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05/06/13 12:13am |
RV Pet Stop
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RE: Gas Grills?
We bought a gas grill last year and after a few uses gave it up. We didn't care for the "flavor" of the meat, or it's odd consistency. The grill was also a bear to clean after each use. The one time DH forgot to clean it after some chops were grilled, it smelled like week old roadkill....
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WandaLust2
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05/05/13 10:33pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Newbie headed to Nashville
Seven Points is one of our favorite CGs. It's pet and kid friendly with nice large and many private sites.
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WandaLust2
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05/05/13 10:17pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Awning question what is too much wind
As soon as we can feel it moving in the wind we bring it in. Why leave it out and take a chance of breaking an arm or getting it torn?
When we leave the RV for more than a few hours, we run it in also. But not at night. When a wind comes up it wakes us and we can bring it in.
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WandaLust2
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05/05/13 01:22am |
Class C Motorhomes
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RE: Has this been offered on a US TT?
That would be nice. :)
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WandaLust2
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05/02/13 01:08am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Another Rant - can't help it!!
It's sad to say ...but ...when you look around the country today at the behavior of young adults, allot of parents have done a very poor job of raising their kids and these kids are following what they learned.
And maybe that poor job they did was caused, in part, by mother's having to work what with everything so expensive. Not all husbands make 6 figure incomes. The people at "Child Care" mainly raised the last generation, and are raising this generation also.
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WandaLust2
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04/30/13 11:41pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: slideout won't budge.
My slide-out isn't working. I get nothing when I hit the button even with electric power is going to the trailer.
I just got down to Florida from Pa., and we're in the Beverly Hills area, (citrus Springs) not too far from Ocala. Does anyone know of a good RV service center near here? I also checked all fuses and breakers and they are all fine.
There's a Camping World in Ocala on 441. I heard they do good work but have not used them. We spend the winters in the Ocala area.
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WandaLust2
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04/30/13 10:26pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: First Time Snowbirding Experiences
We're definitely going to snowbird for the first time, in Florida next winter. Having never even camped in Florida befor, we are wondering how to approach it for the first time. Should we plan an exploratory trip in the next several months or should we just wait until November and wing it?
Either will work depending on where you're going. The CGs near the beaches wont have space but those more inland will be 1/3 to 1/2 empty. And a lot cheaper. The first time we kind of winged it but the last 2 winters we had a place to go.
I can think of better ways of spending the summer, than camping in the Florida summer heat. Is driving down late in November and moving around for several weeks to find a place to our liking, a bad idea ?
That depends on the area you have in mind.
What have your experiences been ? I know that having a place reserved ahead of time is probably a good idea but we don't even know how long we would want to stay in one place. I'm sure that the summer crowd and things to do are going to differ greatly from what we see in winter also.
You will die in the summer heat. Do you have any particular area of FL in mind?
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WandaLust2
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04/28/13 02:25pm |
Snowbirds
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