Skipping local vet have I gone over to the darkside?

[RetMD21]

I took our dog in for a 3 year rabies vaccination at a local discount pet store with the traveling VIP Pet Care veterinarian. It was quick, efficient, and inexpensive.

I have been trying to support the local independent vet but they don't take appointments and last year our daughter and dog waited 90 minutes in the car in the hot sun for a vaccination. I tried to go on a weekday this week but 10 minutes after opening the parking lot was already full of folks waiting. It was like getting the latest Iphione. Sometimes it is hard to support local businesses.

 

[Ready]

If your local vet has a 90 minute wait to get a simple shot it doesn’t sound like they need your support. A shot is a shot. It’s not rocket science. Go with the method that is most convenient for you.

 

[Aerides]

would not worry about this at all. Shots are shots. I don't go to my PCP to get a flu vaccine, I do that at the pharmacy in the grocery store because it's convenient and quick. Same thing!

 

[MRG]

I changed vets after she told me our 13yo dog was dying but she could fix his cataracts for 5k.

 

[RobbieB]

Yeah, I wouldn't go back either. My vet has always made appointments and in the covid times you would wait in car with pet and they would collect fido, bring her inside, do their stuff and return to collect the dough.

 

[OldShooter]

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.

 

[Walt34]

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.

Exactly!

I don't do waiting in lines whenever there's an alternative. They are first and foremost running a business. If they're too busy to take my money I have no reservations about spending it someplace else.

 

[Calico]

I took our dog in for a 3 year rabies vaccination at a local discount pet store with the traveling VIP Pet Care veterinarian. It was quick, efficient, and inexpensive.

I have been trying to support the local independent vet but they don't take appointments and last year our daughter and dog waited 90 minutes in the car in the hot sun for a vaccination. I tried to go on a weekday this week but 10 minutes after opening the parking lot was already full of folks waiting. It was like getting the latest Iphione. Sometimes it is hard to support local businesses.

I don't understand this - I have never heard of an independent vet who doesn't operate by appointment, and I've had pets for over 40 years.

Operating any other way would lead to chaos, which is apparently what happened.

Very strange.

 

[RobbieB]

Some of the best restaurants I've been to do not do reservations. Show up, get your name on the list and wait. Sometimes you get lucky and sit down.

 

[MRG]

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.

I frequently used queuing theory to model systems performance before the vendors had any decent tools. Never really thought of it for humans running at max capacity but yeah that's true.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

In our area the shelters are being cleared out with everyone getting pandemic pets, but the supply of vets is not that easy to increase in the short term, so almost all the vets are swamped. The emergency vet we used had 4 hours waits, even late at night and on really hot days, and you had to sit in your car in the parking lot of lose you place in the line. Pre-pandemic you would at least get to sit inside in the A/C, and probably be seen within the hour.

I wouldn't worry about supporting a local vet right now. Odds are they have more business than they can handle.

 

[travelover]

..........
I wouldn't worry about supporting a local vet right now. Odds are they have more business than they can handle.

It is crazy. I posted recently one vet wasn't taking any new clients and the second's first appointment was in July. I'm sure vets lost their shirts in the pandemic, but they are making up for it now.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

It is crazy. I posted recently one vet wasn't taking any new clients and the second's first appointment was in July. I'm sure vets lost their shirts in the pandemic, but they are makign up for it now.

BART, our commuter train system, which usually has 400,000 riders a day, was down over 90% during the pandemic. There was a news shot of a coyote wandering around the downtown area San Francisco, it was so deserted at one point. That gives you an idea of how many people here were not going into work, either laid off or working from home, and many bought pandemic pets. The last time I looked at a local shelter adoption list, there were only pit bulls and high medical needs dogs left, the ones that tend to be harder to place.

 

[rk911]

I don't understand this - I have never heard of an independent vet who doesn't operate by appointment, and I've had pets for over 40 years.

Operating any other way would lead to chaos, which is apparently what happened.

Very strange.

indeed. this brought to mind a time when my wife tore a ligiment in her knee back in the 70's. the orthopedist we were referred to took appointmemts...two per day...9am and 1pm. all the folks with the 9am "appointment" signed in upon arrival and were called in that order. same thing for the 1pm'ers. we learned to show up really early and sign in around noon for the 1pm seasion.

 

[OldShooter]

Some of the best restaurants I've been to do not do reservations. Show up, get your name on the list and wait. Sometimes you get lucky and sit down.

Apparently you share the restaurants' opinion that your time has little or no value. Fine for you, but I don't have the same view.

 

[Bamaman]

Speaking of Vets. My wife took our 2 kitties to get fixed, and a cat specialist wanted $700. We took them to our old vet 50 minutes away for a fair price.
We're 1/2 mile from a 7 vet practice. They run a big day care business. And since they're also specialized in different ailments and animals, their prices are out of sight.
We'll just stick with the old vet and his low cost of doing business.

 

[travelover]

.........
We'll just stick with the old vet and his low cost of doing business.

Just like physicians in their own little practice, vet practices are getting bought up and prices are zooming. Add in the effects of veterinary insurance, and owning a pet is expensive. In our town, they are opening up a veterinary hospital which is like a human hospital with all kinds of specialized departments for various illnesses including an ER with 24 hour staffing. LINK

 

[rk911]

Apparently you share the restaurants' opinion that your time has little or no value. Fine for you, but I don't have the same view.

we don’t frequent restaurants that require reservations but unless we’re with a group neither do we wait more than 5-minutes to be seated. but then the fanciest place we patronize is Olive Garden.

 

[brucethebroker]

Speaking of Vets. My wife took our 2 kitties to get fixed, and a cat specialist wanted $700. We took them to our old vet 50 minutes away for a fair price.
We're 1/2 mile from a 7 vet practice. They run a big day care business. And since they're also specialized in different ailments and animals, their prices are out of sight.
We'll just stick with the old vet and his low cost of doing business.

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.

 

[RetMD21]

I looked up the vet who was working the pet store clinic. He's in his early 70s and has a private office in a small town one county over. I might try going there next time.

 

[Sanstar]

I quit our vet when he refused to renew a heart worm prevention med without an exam at $70 and a blood test for $125 and I had to wait in the car while my 12 year old little guy was taken in. He hates being separated from us and we only ever leave him with family. Since he’s never missed a dose of monthly meds, I order them from Canada Vet.

 

[aja8888]

I frequently used queuing theory to model systems performance before the vendors had any decent tools. Never really thought of it for humans running at max capacity but yeah that's true.

Interesting!

When I got my MBA (1981), my courses in queuing theory were all based on scheduling theory and humans in situations where waiting lines were being evaluated to optimize times in the que and staff facilities.

We (grad students) actually did "real time QT studies" for the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles to assist them in staffing facilities that are used by the public for registering vehicles and other similar events. Of course we did it for free. LOL

 

[Sangiovese]

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.

Interesting strategy that makes sense. Our vet retired a couple of years ago and sold his practice. Prices immediately doubled with the new owner. I told DW he probably had to raise prices to service his new business loans. On a related note, the downside of using older doctors is that they retire and leave you looking for a new one. We lost our dentist (and the above-mentioned vet) that way.

 

[RetMD21]

I quit our vet when he refused to renew a heart worm prevention med without an exam at $70 and a blood test for $125 and I had to wait in the car while my 12 year old little guy was taken in. He hates being separated from us and we only ever leave him with family. Since he’s never missed a dose of monthly meds, I order them from Canada Vet.

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.

 

[travelover]

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.

Yep, my last vet in Michigan played this game. That and a required exam for every service. If the dog had an exam on Tuesday and you brought it back on Wednesday for a second vaccination, you had to pay for another exam. Re age of practitioners, I go with the oldest person available, if given the choice. My current vet practice has a bunch of young cuties, but they don't have nearly the experience I want to see, especially in an emergency.