My Emergency Vet says she can't afford me???!

[Reijel's Mom]

I used to work for a small animal clinic and we sort of had the same policy. The vets were always so busy with clients that used them all the time that it was frustrating to them when they were asked to drop everything and inconvenience themselves and their regular clientele for an emergency for an animal/client that they hadn't seen before.

 

[wildoak]

I am fortunate to have several very good vet clinics within a half hour, and Texas A&M within a couple of hours if I have to go there, so it's hard to imagine your situation. I do a good deal of my routine work - most vaccines, worming, etc - but with nearly 40 horses that still leaves plenty for the vet to do LOL. My vet bills last year.....well, I think I must have paid for a new wing on the clinic without much routine work.

She has taken on a couple of new younger vets and has a thriving practice, and never hesitates to answer a call. My neighbor had a foaling issue this year - they use another vet who was swamped and couldn't come out. She called mine, and it took an hour or so, but they came out and spent over an hour getting her mare to drop the placenta. This is a busy busy practice, esp during foaling season, and they made time to fit in a new client partially at my request, but also because they care and because it's good business.

One of the other vets in our area has just built a new state of the art surgical facility so we now have access to TWO nearby surgical clinics, one less than 15 minutes away.

Jan

 

[dali1111]

We are so lucky. One vet is just down the road. He costs an arm and a leg and your left toe as well but he knows what he's doing with minis. then there is another very good vet on the other side of Edmonton from us. They also know about minis and are relatively cheap. Then there is West Wind...an equine hospital if the need ever arose. We make sure to stay a "regular" client with all of them just for emergencies. I do my own shots and none of them have a problem with it.

 

[Jill]

As they say, there are always 2 sides to a story... what if the vet has to hire a babysitter for calls, or has a parent ill. What if the client has been mean or rude at some point. What if none of the 3 close vets is familiar with minis or breeding. My mom deals with a LOT of crap to be a vet and I have heard her be cussed out because she couldn't get to a horse because she was already busy...or have a client demand all their records, refuse to pay their bill and then be mad 6 months later because she wasn't "there" for the colic, etc.

You also have patient continuity to deal with... Yeah I gave all my shots, you dont know what your talking about, my horse can't have confirmed encephalitis/rhino/ flu/ rabies/strangles/etc! That vets license and family life are on the line every call she makes.

Not saying you have been that way to this vet but what does she deal with on a regular basis to cause her to change policy??

A friendly phone call and what can I do to help/fix it may solve your problem or at least let you know what the problem(s) is(are)!

Excellent post and perspective. I know I have thought so many times over the years how lucky I am that my vets do come out at all hours to help me with my horses and how it would take a lot more than they charge me to get me to just my office at those hours for one of my clients...

 

[Dream]

I'm glad to see that both sides have been represented so far. Here in Canada vaccines are not available to purchase so we don't have many people who do their own vaccines. Our clinic's policy is that we do emergencies for regular clients only. What your vet has told you makes sense to me. If one of our good regular clients needs us in an emergency I have to be available for them ot off somewhere doing a call for a non client. It is important to develop a relationship with my patients and clients during non stressful times. It may sound like a money grab but we're just being realistic about how many people we can take care of and still provide good service. I have been known to go out for a non-client if they truly can't get anyone else IF one of my regulars doesn't need me and IF they pay at the time of service. That's just smart business.

 

[Sandee]

Didn't anyone else pick up on the $100 farm call she said her vet charged for that 4+ mile drive!! Wow, he must really have a good opinion of himself or have WAAAY too many clients. And to think I gripe at our $40 farm call.

 

[Carolyn R]

The clinic I use has a couple vets, two specialize in horses. They are 45 minutes from me, and we have been clients for 20+ years. Their policy is, as long as they make a call to your farm at least 1x in 12 months you are considered a current client and kept on the books. They have grown over the years and They will not travel any further than our driveway. We are the farthest clients from their office.

I do my own vaccinations, and my own worming (which seems silly to have a vet worm your horse unless it is the old style tube in the belly worming). I have my vet do their teeth. Could I get a better price having an equine dentist do it, yes, but they don't sedate them (without meds from the vet) and it is worth having my vet keep me on the books. I have not been so fortunate in the last several years, to have time go by and not need a vet for a foal check or an emergency here and there.

With that being said, a good vet is priceless. There is nothing like having a vet come to visit first thing Christmas morning for a impacted horses. I have already given my vet dinner at 10:00 at night while she is writing up my bill because she has been going since 6 am and hasn't eaten since noon.

I don't think the 1 visit 1x a year is too outragous to expect of a client, and lets face it, one horse emergency can cost hundreds, it is worth that one visit a year for the peace of mind knowing you have a vet that will show up. (granted that they are a good vet)

Carolyn

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

$100 farm call isn't unusual these days... I paid $65 for a 9 mile round trip three years ago. It sucks, but its so expensive to keep a vehicle on the road these days its rediculous! I think its way overpriced, but you have to consider that fee usually includes some kind of exam too. And the vet's time, which is the most expensive part.

 

[bfogg]

I have been with my vet for 28 years I was one of his first customers. I have always had him do my shots and teeth etc because while it was cheaper to give my own shots i wanted to be able to call him at 2 in the morning.

For me it was about maintaining a good relationship with him and his office staff.

Over the years we came to know and trust one another.It got so that i could call the office and say so and so is doing this and acting like this i think he needs... and I could go to the office and pick it up. Steve or jill would call and see how he was doing or come by if i needed them to.

BUT I also always wrote out a check before they even left the yard. I kept a vet fund going just in case.

I think it does take time to build a relationship with a vet and the money I would have saved doing my own shots was not worth having the type of relationship where your vet is crying when he delivers the ultimate last gift of love you can give to a suffering animal. When every Sunday he had you come to his home to work on

trying to save our beloved Cash knowing all the time the cancer would win but knowing it's what my husband needed him to try to do.

And then getting in my husbands face and saying 'No more Larry he has had enough" When that was exactly what he needed to do.

He has been there for me for us so many times, got in my face when i was also being selfish, and hugged me when I needed it.

Relationships with a vet are like every other relationship is based on knowing and respecting one another,I do hope you can find another vet and can work on building a good relationship .

Good luck and don't give up!

Hugs

Bonnie

 

[wildoak]

Didn't anyone else pick up on the $100 farm call she said her vet charged for that 4+ mile drive!!

Yes, sounds steep. You'd think they would adjust accordingly for someone that close. My vet just upped their call from $60 to $70 on my last bill, but they are coming 35 miles so as much as I don't like it, I do understand. I buy gas too.

I had a clinic just a quarter mile from me many years ago, who did get fussed at for trying to charge me a $20 or 30 call fee LOL. They backed off for me since it was literally not even 2 minutes out their driveway, I think we settled on a $10 call. That tells you how long ago it was.....

Jan

 

[Contessa]

I know there are two sides to every story so let me give you more details. First of all, I never made payments to her. Her policy is cash or check, immediate payment. She does not take credit cards either. She was always paid in full when she left my place. Last year she got a total of $940 from me for mare/foal check up and blood work, some vaccines, blood pregnacy test, diarhea and a goopy eye. She would never give me an itimized bill even though I asked many times, just a receipt with the horses name and an amount. One of the forum members hit the nail on the head when she called her a snob because that is exactly how I see it. She is the only horse vet in this area and she knows it and does as she pleases. I have known wonderful vets in the past with a kind heart, this one is different. She had to draw blood from the jugular vein to preg test one of my mares last year so she grabbed her by the upper lip, the mare went up on her hind legs and she stabbed the needle in her neck. My husband and I just stood there with our mouths hanging open. There was no need for her to act like that. It has taken me many months to get that mare calmed down about touching her neck area. The more I think about it maybe her dumping me is a blessing because I don't want her back. She has always had an attitude about miniatures in general. Yesterday I heard of an older vet who works at a small animal clinic about 15 miles from me and she has a couple of horse owner clients on the side. Hopefully she will take me on.

 

[Margot]

I live in PA too but am lucky to have two vets that live about eight miles away. I use both of them and they both know it, as if one is away I need to be able to count on getting a vet in an emergency. One does mostly my dog work but will come out for the horses and the other just does the horse work. We give all our own shots and use a dentist. Both the vets are very busy and don't seem to care that we do things on our own. Maybe because the both also do dairy work where a lot of farmers also give their own shots.

 

[Oakbrooke Farm]

I am sure my vet can afford me, but I cannot afford him! I just had him out for routine work (Coggins and shots). He is only 6 miles from me and caught us on his way back to his office, so he did not have to go out of his way. I don't think it is fair for him to have charged me his full trip charge of 57.00! If I am going to have to pay that high of a trip charge, I will certainly not use him anymore and will use someone a little farther away that will earn the trip fee!

 

[xtrememiniluv]

Where in PA are you located? I'm in central PA.

Our vet is only about 10 miles from us. Normal farm fee is $55 but emergency fee is $75 on top of that.

Vets eat sleep and breathe their job. Especially single vet clinics. Heck I know my vet doesn't get much time with her own horses. With that said, I do administer my own shots and worming. But we do have her out at least once per year for rabies shots and coggins. I also have a back up vet from which I get them to come out and do a few rabies. It keeps me covered if anything happens. Having a good working relationship with any horse professional is priceless whether it be a farrier, vet, or trainer.

As well the New Bolton comment seems a little exaggerated. We just had a horse there to be checked for ulcers and impaction colic. They scoped him, ultrasounded him, did many other tests and he stayed over night. Bill was around $1000........

She is the only vet in my area. I forgot to mention she is 4.3 miles from me and she charged me $100 farm call just to drive here. For almost 2 years I have been doing my own routine work and she was ok with that and now this? I'd like to know if anyone else's vet has done this to them. I'm in PA and apparently the vets are just like the doctors here-it's all about the money and a patient is no more than a # to them. Two weeks ago friends of mine who breed about 12 minis a year lost a mare due to impaction. Their substitute vet told them to take her to New Bolton but it would cost them $5,000 just for them to look at her. They held out for a miracle that never happened. It's just sad, not fair and costs are ridiculous!

Not close enough for a split call IF any other vet would do it, mine wouldn't.

 

[Laura]

[SIZE=12pt]My normal equine vet LIKES that I do my own routine work and am knowledgeable about what's going on with my horses. She has told me (at midnight, with both of us fighting to save a filly that had impacted) that when *I* call her, she KNOWS it's life and death, not a boo-boo that really could wait until morning. With that said, if she comes to my farm for ANYTHING, she has a $350.00 MINIMUM charge, so it had BETTER be life or death or I had better haul the horse in to her![/SIZE]

 

[Kim~Crayonboxminiatures]

As well the New Bolton comment seems a little exaggerated.

I agree I had a colic case there a few years ago, didn't need surgery and was VERY reasonable charges, it did not cost tons of $$ to walk in the door, you just have to sign a paper stating you will pay for charges. I had a colt there again last week for choke (Happy story was posted here).

I love my vet practice they are wonderful 3-4 vets and someone is always on call with an emergency pager. I started out having them only for foaling, teeth, geldings, coggins, etc. But now they also do Rabies vaccinations once a year and get all my horse business. I feel no need to have a "back-up" vet. They know I appreciate them too, it's not an easy job, so I send them home sometimes with brownies, send cards, etc. It "pays" to be a good client as well!

 

[BLACKWATER FARMS]

I'd like to reply to this from the perspective of a practicing veterinarian.

Usually when a vet tells a client this (ie fires the client) it is because the client :

a-does not provide enough business to that vet to keep them as a client

b-are too much of a pain in the rear to deal with and not worth what that clients provides in revenues

c-don't pay their bills

Being a veterinarian is NOT a not for profit venture. Running and operating a veterinary hospital is $$$. Basically every dollar of product you buy at cost, you must earn 5 times that dollar to pay your staff and keep your doors open.

Clients call you all hours of the day and night -- holidays whatever (often for what has been going on for days weeks or months) and expect you to be available at the drop of a hat for them. That my friends comes with a price--sorry --but that is the reality of the situation.

Farm calls ? with diesel fuel at over $4/gallon, do you have any idea how much it costs to operate trucks that get 10-12 miles to gallon on a good day?

ALL the suppliers have increased costs up to about 45% right now AND are adding fuel surcharges to everything--this is a cost that is passed on to the client. Utiilities, Phone, and wages are skyrocketing to make up for the fuel and energy cost increases. Groceries are up almost 30% on many items.

Many businesses are looking at efficiency etc. and ways to make their businesses more profitable and cutting non profitable clients is one way.

From the client perspective you need to determine if what you save in doing your own vaccinations is worth the loss of a foal and how much that is worth to you IF this is the only vet close to you that does equine.

 

[Contessa]

Blackwater Farms it must be A because B & C don't apply to me. I always treated her as a professional and when she came out, she did what she had to do, I never got in her way and she left with cash/check in hand. We all know prices of everything has shot up sky high, that's why I do my own routine work. Why do some vets appreciate that when apparently mine did not? As I stated earlier, last year her total from me was $940, is that not enough to keep a client? Do you not think $100 is extreme for 4 miles one way?

On the New Bolton Center, apparently the vet that told my friend about it costing $5,000 to start was wrong and I just repeated what she told me. She is going to be very upset knowing her mare/foal might have been saved. She took him at his word and lost out in the deal. I apologize about saying that on this forum since it wasn't true.

 

[Minimor]

I am happy to say that at this point in time my vet would think I was a nut if I were to ask her to come out & give the vaccinations to all of my horses! She is plenty busy--all the vets in this area are--without having to take the time to do this sort of routine stuff that many of us can do ourselves. My Mini vet is also my small animal vet, so she get plenty of work from me even without routine vaccinations for the horses. She has even instructed me on how to flush a mare myself so that she didn't have to come back out--all her own idea, not so much as the suggestion of this from me! I do buy my vaccines from the vet clinic because here in Canada we don't have places like Jeffers or Valley vet to order from--we have to buy from our veterinarians. (Dream surprises me when she said that few Canadians do their own vaccines. Here most horse owners DO give their own vaccines. Sure, we have to buy from the vet clinic, but we give them ourselves. Owners that are squeamish about giving needles and new owners that don't know how to give shots do have the vet out to give vaccines.

I don't give a list of foaling dates to my vet. I have asked her if she's taking holidays in the month of xxxx because I had 3 mares due that month, but it's not like I give her a list of due dates. My mares foal whenever, and if I need the vet (thankfully only once to date) then I call her & say can you come? We need you. We pay $35 for mileage on a regular farm call (12 miles from town) and then there is an after hours surcharge ($35) if it's an evening or weekend call. My vet lives about half way between me & town, so if we need her to come out for something that is non-emergency she will often some here last thing of the day, and that way we get a bit of a break on mileage.

Where we lived before, on the edge of a small town, our vet lived just across the street from our barn. He could have walked over and been there in 2 minutes, but if he came over from home (without going to the clinic first--clinic was about 2 miles away) he charged us the same mileage as if he'd started at the clinic and driven to any barn within 10 miles. Back then mileage was much cheaper--$15 minimum charge I think, so we paid $15 for him to drive across the street.

For this area, yes, $100 would be extreme if the vet had to drive only $4 each way. A $250 bill for gelding is also extreme in my books (we pay $70) but for other people in other areas it seems $250 would be cheap to have the gelding procedure done. If vets here were charging $100 mileage to drive out here I guess I wouldn't complain about it--if it's a service that is needed and there's no competition then you kind of pay what you have to pay.

 

[Michelle@wescofarms]

I have to say I've never heard of a vet dropping a client other than for a major fight generally over money (non payment or overcharging type thing). I can't imagaine one of our vets dropping me for 'not making enough money. I would probably laugh! Then again with 60 minis they do not want to come out and do routine work, and honestly I couldn't afford to have them come and vaccinate/deworm them all!

Your vet though does sound a bit snobby, but if she doesn't have other vets in the area, she can 'afford' to do what she wants. Where we use to live we had a vet that had an attitude about minis - I hated having her out. They just weren't 'horses' to her! I was really glad to find a different practice.

Right now we have 4 different vets/clinics we use - two holistic and two mainstream and we drive an 1 1/2 hours to go to two of them as they just have services the closer guys can't/won't perform. My favorite local vet has gone 100% holistic and doesn't like to do ranch calls or routine work anymore, but I wouldn't be without him on speed dial for many things that he can do! We are lucky in that UC Davis is only 15 miles away so we're covered in any emergeny, the downside all the 'regular' vets will generally not come out in an emergency they tell you to call UCD!

The vets that have chimed in, thank you for your perspective - it's always good to know the other side of the coin so to speak.