NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #27/NN_1992_27.iso/spool/rec/pets/cats/13804

Internet Message Format | 1992-11-18 | 3.0 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!gumby!destroyer!news.iastate.edu!iscsvax.uni.edu!klier
From: [e-mail]
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Vet costs (was neutering question)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 18 Nov 92 12:23:14 -0600
References: <[e-mail]>  <[e-mail]>
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of Northern Iowa
Lines: 53

[e-mail] (Steve Pope) writes:
> I don't think a person of modest means should be dissuaded from keeping
> a cat just because of the outside chance of a huge expense.  A young
> cat is usually a fairily low-cost pet.  The startup cost -- worming,
> initial shots, fixing -- is about $60 for a male cat and $100 for a
> female.  After that, about $30 a year for shots.  You should learn how
> to clean wounds yourself, otherwise you will end up paying vets for
> cleaning abcesses.
>
> Assuming you can handle the above, you are financially qualified
> to keep a cat.
>
> It would be sad indeed if an unexpected expense arises and
> you simply can't pay for it... but look at it this way:
> assuming you got your cat from the pound, it was about to
> be put down anyway, so you've already saved its life once.

There are also alternatives to high vet bills that have to be paid immediately.
When I was in Davis, CA and Ames, IA, I used the services of the vet med
college many many times.  Senior vet students working under direct super-
vision of DVMs.  The bills were smaller, the exams were longer (often
the only drawback, in my opinion), and "oddities" were often referred
to someone studying that specific problem.

Sometimes, too, an animal with a rare problem that the owner can't pay
for can be treated at the vet school for the experience it gives the
students.  A vet friend recently had a puppy brought in with hairs
growing from the dog's eyeballs.  This is a relatively rare condition,
and the owners weren't willing to spend the $100 it would cost to
perform the surgery, and wanted the dog euthanized.  Instead, the
dog went to Ames for a demonstration surgery, and has been adopted
by one of the vet students.

I've also had times when I've had a sick cat who needed a vet NOW, but
no real money.  When I've explained this to my regular vets, they've been
willing to trust me to pay a bit on the bill every month, or they've
been willing to take labor in trade for their services (I've typed
letters, cleaned cages, planted and weeded gardens, watched kids,
and pruned an apple orchard).

The local humane society may know of lower priced vets in the area,
or vets who are willing to cut prices on services to people who aren't
particularly well off.   Ask.

But as other posters have mentioned, being a vet is a business, too,
and vets tend not to have high incomes.  They also have many of the
same expenses as an MD (equipment, office staff) and the additional
expenses of running their own pharmacy (puppy pills and kitty pills
are just as expensive as people pills!).

Kay Klier  Biology Dept  UNI