30/06/2024
Vet bills are going up. I'm sure most of you pet owners have taken notice that over the span of the last 5 to 7 years expenses seem to have tripled if not quadrupled!
So many of our practices in Sonoma County have been baught up by VCA or similar cooperations over the last 10 years. It's a pandemic.
Less people are able to afford buying a privetly owned vet practice, in fact now days it seems you have to go into partnership with of whole group of individuals or partner with a cooperation in order to do so.
At our practice alone, which has been owned by VCA now for 6+ years, I have seen the average surgery price go from $2-3 thousand to $5-7 thousand, and if you have a large breed dog you're easily looking at $10k+. It's unaffordable, unsustainable and the average household is unable to properly care their pet.
Over the last 5 years I have noticed a huge change even in how owners handle their pets' hospital care. Critical pets used to stay in our ICU ward for 3-5 days to get the care they needed to get back to health and make it home to their owners. Now the pets are lucky if they get 1-2 nights of care with us. Just barely enough to stabalize.
Everything is driven by cost. It's a sad reality of our industry and what it has become.
Us animal nurses don't pocket this money. We are lucky if we receive a cost of living pay increase once every other year just to make ends meet. Many of us have other side jobs so we can afford rent and food in this county. Veterinarians don't pocket this money, they have huge school dept to pay off. We do this job for the love of animals and their wellbeing, not because we're getting rich.
So where does all the money go? Medical supplies, bills to keep the lights on, the cooperation? I'm not truly sure, but what I do know is that there is a huge push towards pet insurance. Pet insurance used to be a commodity when I first started in this field almost 20 years ago. Now it is practically a necessity.
The amount of euthanasias I have witnessed over the last year alone all because the owner couldn't afford treatment for their pet has a huge taxing impact on me and other staff. To think that the owner could have spent another 1-5+ years with their pet if only they had the money to do diagnostics and treatment.
All I can say is this. As a pet owner of 5 pets I can only afford their medical care because I work with an outstanding group of caring people and receive a discount on certain things. I myself cannot afford monthly payments for pet insurance but if you can, I hate to say it because I hate what the industry is driving us to, get your pet insured.
I do not have any specific recommendations on insurances, there are many providers out there. Be aware that if your pet has a pre existing health condition most insurances won't cover costs for this. There are many problems with this system, but, if you do your research and get your newly adopted pet insured right away chances are that it will help you reduce the cost of medical bills. It's all about understanding and making the most advantage of the system.
We are forced to choose between our pets and our livelihoods. A decision that is so hard but I have had to make for animals in my past as well, so I feel the gravity of owners faced with this decision.
Before you adopt an animal think about it before jumping into the deep end of the pool. What breed are you getting? Have you done your research on this breed? It's energetic level, temprament, common health conditions. Are you able to pay $5-10k if an emergency with your pet arises? Do you have the means to afford monthly payments for pet insurance?
Food for thought. I've been thinking about this a lot lately. It's a harsh reality, it may not be yours but certainly something to be aware of.
Enjoy your pets and may they be and stay healthy til they cross the rainbow bridge 🙏
✨️🐕🐈🐴🐮🐦🐍🐢🐾🥼💉💊🩻🩺
*(Picture is an ECG of my dog Dante, who was recently diagnosed with a mild heart murmur, on top of all his other issues 😅❤️)*
