Dear Editor,

Whatever happened to the old school veterinarian’s that used their eyes, ears and common sense to make a reasonable diagnosis on your pet? I had such a vet until he retired. Now the “new wave” takes over and they can’t seem to see the nose on their faces without doing expensive tests to find it. The week before Christmas I took my older cat in for an appointment due to the fact she had started urinating on the floors. I explained the problem and suggested she was either going senile or she had a urinary tract infection. The vet asked if she had been eating and drinking normally, to which I replied yes. He told me they would have to run some tests (that’s when I should have run for the hills). He then gave me a verbal estimate of $120 to which I agreed.

I left the cat there and returned a few hours later to a bill of $284 and a bottle of antibiotics. I was told she needed to be brought back in a week and re-tested to see if the infection had cleared up. I assumed this procedure would be covered in the bill that was already paid, I was wrong to the tune of another $69 and another bottle of antibiotics.

I was under the impression vet’s went into this business because of their love for animals but apparently it is also because they want to become rich by nickel and diming the animal loving public when they are most vulnerable and their animals are in pain. It is expensive to go to veterinary school but it’s the same for a lot of professions so why do they think they have immunity to charge these outrageous fees? Yes, I could have purchased pet insurance for my animals and did look into it, however, most don’t cover basic office visits, shots and regular pet checkups, and the ones that do charge outrageous premiums, so what is the point?

We hear stories all the time about animals that are abandoned and neglected and I’m sure most of those happen because the general populous can’t afford basic veterinary care. How high do vet bill’s have to get before people just stop getting furry companions? It will now make me think twice about buying or rescuing another animal.

K. Fisher

DeWinton

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