Why is veterinary medical care so expensive?
Why is veterinary medical care so expensive?
Well, I agree with you, it is expensive. Owning and caring for a pet is a financial responsibility that is not given enough attention. I know how those cute little faces draw you in and how easy it is to give into an impulse buy (I may have done that once or twice!) but that cute little face requires food, water, shelter, love, connection and…medical care. Medical care costs money, here is why.
#1 Veterinary care is medical care and it is not any different than human medical care. Your veterinarian had the same amount of schooling as your human medical doctor. You are paying for their expertise and direction. Dr. Google has many answers but it cannot replace an educated veterinarian. We are extremely educated about your pet. If you want to really rattle your veterinarian, tell them this…My breeder told me that you need to do x, y, z. Let me tell you a secret, your veterinarian has 8+ more years of schooling than your breeder. Their training is based on research, practice, and many peer reviewed studies with data that they had to learn to pass all the tests.
#2 Hospitals, services, and medical supplies cost money. In order for your pet to get the care they need the hospital that you are going to must have supplies always on hand, not to mention all the important medicines to make your pet feel better. This costs money. The hospitals don’t get these supplies for free. Running a hospital, especially an emergency hospital that are open 24 hours, cost quite a bit of money to run. In order to stay open, they must pay their bills (something we all have to do!) They can’t pay their bills unless they charge you for all they need to do. It’s not a negotiation, please don’t do this, veterinarians are not used car salesmen’s, they have no control over the prices of the items they recommend. They recommend care based on your pet’s needs.
#3 Owning a pet is a luxury. If you cannot afford to pay your rent, groceries or buy your children shoes, you should not own a pet. I truly believe this. Perhaps this seems a bit abrupt but a pet is a life, a life that needs to be cared for. There are many responsibilities that come with pet ownership. Whether you have a dog, cat, rabbit, ferret, hamster, or reptile, they are living, breathing creatures that deserve a good life. And guess what… they get sick, just like we do. Why? We often don’t get those answers. Sometimes they just get sick and it sucks. Once you enter into owning a pet, YOU are responsible for its well-being and its medical care.
#4 Figuring out why a pet is sick can be costly. Trying to presume why they are sick and how to treat it is like putting a puzzle together, the more the puzzle pieces, the more it costs. Your veterinarian will do a physical exam and take a detailed history and have an idea of what is going on but unfortunately your pet does not “talk” to you or your veterinarian. Often times, we need to do laboratory tests. These tests costs money and are necessary to figure out what is going on, on the INSIDE of your pet. The physical exam tells us what is going on, on the outside, but things like bloodwork, radiographs, fecal tests, and urinalysis tells us how the inside is working.
#5 Finally, staffing a hospital to care for your pet, takes a village. A veterinarian cannot go it alone, they need trained technical staff (technicians or nurses, depending on where you live) and these people are highly trained compassionate individuals who love your pet just as much as you do! Did you know veterinarians make HALF as much as medical doctors and nurses that treat humans make 3x more than veterinary technicians? It’s a fact. If these highly qualified individuals were paid like our human counterparts the care would cost 2-3x more! In veterinary medicine we have trained specialists that can do CT’s, MRI’s and even brain surgery; these highly skilled people studied long and hard to get these credentials. Lucky for our pets because they are able to save lives-even when things get complicated.
The next time you go to the veterinarian, remember all that goes into animal medical care. We are there to treat your pet, to save its life, not unlike you or your child’s care. Everything we do has a price attached to it because, as you can see, all that we do, costs us and you money. The teams of people that work in our profession are some of the most empathetic and compassionate people. They love animals dearly and have dedicated their lives to making sure your pet lives. They do this out of passion and drive and have no control over the costs. Believe me, I work with these amazing people all day long. While you are at home waiting for the diagnostics tests to be completed, they are holding your pet and comforting it while it is waiting. I have witnessed my technician’s cradling dogs and cats in their arms while they talk on the phone or type records with one hand. We all went into this profession for one reason….to help pets live longer lives. Believe me, we are right there with you, side by side.
