Skipping local vet have I gone over to the darkside?

[karen1972]

I know the vets are overwhelmed these days, I rescue and honestly however you get your shots is perfectly fine at this point. There is actually several vaccine and medicine shortages as people take higher priority and well they both need vials, needles, sterilization, and the same manufacturing plants and those resources have been re-allocated.

I hope you find a new vet just understand it is super weird times, so the next vet may not be any different. We have to do enough volume to "reserve" our slots so we can still even get in on a regular basis. Several vets were completely shut down during COVID which just put more burden on those that were open and has just made everything so much harder...lots of people didn't take their pet last year so now its a mad rush to catch up.

 

[Koolau]

This makes me glad we haven't again adopted a pet. We miss having one, but it was getting expensive back in the day. Now, it sounds as if even the Vets may be gauging - or at least taking advantage and making folks wait in line. Bummer, as there is no shortage of pets needing adoption in our area at least though YMMV.

 

[Time2]

Years ago I was advised to choose Dentists and Eye Drs. that were older (not fresh out of school) and had been in the same location for many years. The point was that their student loans and equipment (and possibility building payment) were paid off years ago and that their prices would be lower. Might also be the case here.

My old dentist got sick and sold his practice to a younger guy. He raised prices about 25% immediately.
My daughter is about to start her last year of dental school, she already has her spiel down about why dentistry costs so much! She used it on her dad in a discussion about the cost of dental implants.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

I would feel the same way about that as I feel about restaurants that don't take reservations: It is an insult to customers that the vendor judges the customers' time to be worthless in pursuit of maximum income for himself.

There is a fascinating little branch of mathematics called queuing theory. One result is that maximizing the busy time of the server also maximizes the worst-case wait time for the customers.

This.

I had an "interesting" conversation with my PCP one time after waiting 1.5 hours to get in, without a nurse or other support staff coming to the waiting room to explain the situation. At the time, I was being bill out (on a contract) at $290/hour. (This was in 2001, not in 2021 inflated $.) So my waiting "cost" me about $450 in billable $. I explained that while the doctors time was valuable, and that I certainly could understand that situations arise that delay service, MY TIME was also valuable, and that they were costing me significant coin.

The interesting aspect of this was while the support staff didn't seem to get it, the doctor involved did. Since then my waits have always been very reasonable (at absolute most 10 minutes).

 

[travelover]

This.

I had an "interesting" conversation with my PCP one time after waiting 1.5 hours to get in, without a nurse or other support staff coming to the waiting room to explain the situation........

I had a similar discussion with a former doc. He asked why my blood pressure was suddenly so high. I said because you've left me waiting for a hour with no explanation. He said it wasn't his fault, it was the fault of his staff for scheduling so many patients. I shared this with his staff on the way out, my last visit.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I know the vets are overwhelmed these days, I rescue and honestly however you get your shots is perfectly fine at this point. There is actually several vaccine and medicine shortages as people take higher priority and well they both need vials, needles, sterilization, and the same manufacturing plants and those resources have been re-allocated.

I hope you find a new vet just understand it is super weird times, so the next vet may not be any different. We have to do enough volume to "reserve" our slots so we can still even get in on a regular basis. Several vets were completely shut down during COVID which just put more burden on those that were open and has just made everything so much harder...lots of people didn't take their pet last year so now its a mad rush to catch up.

This is a very good point. We have a family friend that is a DVM and has reported that things are absolutely crazy. COVID exasperated EVERYTHING and one thing that he noted was that more people were staying home so they noticed "issues" with their pets and made them busier than ever. I happened across a forum that caters to DVMs and spending just 20 minutes on the site really showed how much of an issue this has been for vet practices. Also, I was surprised to learn that the suicide rate for DVMs is pretty high.

 

[Scuba]

Well, that's my other issue. We have gone to year round heart worm preventive but they still want to do the test (although they only charged me $34 last time) I have also switched to ordering from Canada.

Interesting. I never considered ordering my dog’s meds from Canada. I just looked up reviews for them and many customers have issues waiting several weeks to receive orders. Has this been a problem for you?

 

[RetMD21]

It took about a month to get the ivermectin but it came from the UK!

 

[Scuba]

It took about a month to get the ivermectin but it came from the UK!

That’s what a lot of the complaints in the reviews said. Apparently several of the meds come from the UK so shipping can take 4+ weeks. Several people said even after waiting that long, they still didn’t have their orders. I have no problem planning ahead and ordering with plenty of lead time, but my dog is on heart medication so I’m hesitant to order from an unreliable supplier.

 

[RetMD21]

The attraction with the ivermectin was that it is non prescription in Canada and I know that the dose won't change. It might not be such a good idea with a drug for the heart

 

[eytonxav]

Our vet does appointments and if a shot, you are in and out from the curbside in less than 10 minutes. They are also beginning to return to being able to allow accompanying your dog inside depending on the service being performed.

 

[Elliotgb183]

I switched to the Pet Vet Clinic at my local Tractor Supply. Very affordable and easy.