If you have read any of my other articles, you may have realized that I have a lot to say when it comes to the veterinary world. I work very hard each and every day to help clients give their pets the best life possible, and it can be very upsetting to hear some of the things that are said about us, especially when it comes to money.
Money can be a touchy subject, especially when it comes down to taking care of your pet. You emotionally want to do whatever you can do, though you may not have the funds to do so.
Here are some things that you need to consider when it comes to money and veterinary medicine.
Though we hear it all of the time, veterinary medicine is NOT more expensive than your own health care.
The truth is, that without health insurance, you would be amazed at how much it costs to go to the doctor, let alone spending time in the hospital or having surgery.
In fact, we should really charge more than we do.
Veterinary medicine is a business, and we need to make enough money in order to thrive. We are constantly buying medications, plus we have to cover our rent (or mortgage) and all of the other supplies that it takes to keep our office open.
We are barely getting paid what we are worth.
Veterinarians come out of veterinary school with as much debt as your own doctor, yet we don’t make as much money as they do. Technicians and receptionists barely make enough to make ends meet. In fact, many of them have to work two or three jobs in order to survive.
Nobody is in the business of veterinary medicine in order to make money! Please repeat this. We aren’t making as much money as you think.
That being said, we all wish that we could give away everything!
When your pets aren’t feeling well, we want to be able to help you as much as we can. However, we simply can’t give everything away.
If we did this with every patient that walked in the door (or even one or two a day), it would significantly hurt the practice.
Do not take advantage of your veterinarian’s good graces.
For this reason, you should never ask for discounts or see what you can get for free! Too many veterinarians will try to go above and beyond what they should, in order to help you as much as possible.
In fact, you should always let us know about your financial concerns before we get started.
If we know that you have a budget, we will do our best to get as much “bang for your buck.” If we feel like one test is more important than the other (even though you need them all to get the best diagnosis), we will suggest that one if we know that you can only afford to do one.
If we are looking at expensive medications, we may be able to find something a little more in your price range. We may even have some medications that were donated to us, that you may be able to use.
We also want you to know that there are no kickbacks for recommending certain food brands.
We want to make sure that your pet has a good chance of having a healthy life, so we recommend the brands of food that we see good results with, without having to worry about recalls. If we do sell food, we aren’t making a lot of money off of it. We try to pass the savings off to you, so the profit margins on food are pretty slim.
The same could be said about preventative medicine.
We recommend heartworm and flea and tick preventative because we see what happens when a patient gets heartworms or dies from a disease that was passed from fleas and ticks. In order to keep you buying the medication, we keep a very low-profit margin. We just want to make sure that your pet is going to live a long time.
Talking about money can be the hardest part of being in veterinary medicine. We know how tight money is. Most of us live paycheck to paycheck. Some even have to work more than the recommended forty hours a week or even take another job in order to keep a roof over their head and food on the table.
For this reason, please don’t comment that we don’t care about your pet and only worry about the money. It is simply not true. If we could afford to give everything away, we would! We barely make a profit on medications and food. We just want to make sure that they get the care that they deserve!
Instead, let us know if you have concerns about your finances. It is much better to know how much you have to spend, then figure out how you are going to pay for it after it is all done. We may be able to pick out the most important things, that could still help us get a decent diagnosis.
Maybe instead of complaining, you should just thank you. It goes a long way to making us feel better and allows us to keep going.
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Can’t get enough? You can catch up on the rest of the series right here!
The original: Things Vet Techs (and Vets) Want Pet Owners To Know
The second part: More Things Vet Techs (and Vets) Want Pet Owners To Know
The third part: Even More Things Vet Techs (and Vets) Want Pet Owners To Know
Followed by: Choose the Right Pet
The last one: We Don’t Want To Talk About Money
Want to read the original? Catch up on it right here!
The original: Things Vet Techs (And Vets) Are Tired of Hearing
The second part: More Things Vet Techs (And Vets) Are Tired of Hearing
The third part: Even More Things Vet Techs (And Vets) Are Tired of Hearing
The last one (I think): Some More Things Vet Techs (And Vets) Are Tired of Hearing
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Please note that the information provided is for educational and informational purposes only. Even though I am a veterinary professional, this blog is not a substitute for professional veterinary advice.
If your pet is experiencing a medical problem or concern, please contact a veterinary health professional immediately.
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