Shopping for Veterinary Services - Is It Worth It?

I never thought I would ever find myself shopping for veterinary services. However, I found myself in that position just yesterday. Before you read on…

We have 3 dogs and 2 cats. Yes, it's a houseful, but each and every one of them are like family members. All were rescued in some way, shape or form. They are all mutts of different breeds. One cat we rescued right outside the local shelter as someone was taking him in, the second cat we rescued as a stray in my in-laws workshop, two dogs were SPCA mutts, and the third, well not only was he an SPCA mutt, but he was beaten by his prior owner and left chained to a post. He was terrified and could barely move and had almost no hair when I brought him home. Suffice to say, that while I don't think he'll ever be a completely normal dog, he has made HUGE strides in becoming a socialized dog.

I digress.

Ruby, our 8 year old brindle beagle, spaniel, who knows what else, sweet dog, had an accident on our floor last Thursday night. I dutifully cleaned it up and noticed it was tinged with blood. Friday morning we went to the vet and I was told it was bladder stones and that she needed surgery. They gave me a quote for $1,000.00 and sent me on my way with an antibiotic and a note to call to set up surgery.

Since adopting our son from Russia in 2008, it's no real secret that our budget has been tight. That's part of the reason I started this blog! So, when my husband saw the quote, he pretty much said there was no way we could justify that $1,000.00 for a dog. Me, on the other hand, said absolutely yes, because if I had bladder stones, I wouldn’t want to be put down!

So my mother contacted a sweet family member who is a trained veterinarian and she explained that there are two kinds of stones, one dissolvable and one that is not, and that the vet should be able to tell from either a urine sample or an x-ray.

I called a different vet, explained the situation and they said that yes they should be able to tell by one or the other and gave me a quote for surgery. I called 4 vets in total and received the same consensus. So I started asking for prices. Here are the results:

Initial Exam varied from $40.70 to $53.00
Urinalysis varied from $38.00 to $73.00
X-Rays varied from $50.00 to $238.00 (!)
Surgery varied from $550.00 to $1,000.00 (!)

In the end, we chose the vet by location and here are there fees:

Exam - $43.00
Urinalysis - $38.00 (but did not charge me, because I had already paid $40.00 plus at our current vet 3 days prior)
X-rays - $50.00
Surgery - $625.00

While they aren't the cheapest for surgery, the initial fees were and I felt comfortable taking Ruby there to just determine that we weren't doing surgery for no reason. After the exam, a urinalysis and a simple x-ray it was determined that Ruby did have DISSOLVABLE stones and did NOT need surgery!!! We will attempt to dissolve them a special diet and it should work. There is a slight possibility that in 3-4 months, if the stones don't fully dissolve that she could need surgery, but knowing this gives us the time to budget for that money and if we don't need it, then we'll just have that much more in our savings account at the time. While we do have to purchase a special food for her, it is only costing roughly $60.00 a month. Add to that the fact that we could be saving her from the recovery of a major surgery!!

I really had no idea that the prices among vets differed so greatly. And while I'm sad to leave our current vet, who we've been with for more than 10 years, it was the right move. And just to clarify, I did call our vet Monday morning after speaking with the other 4 vets and asked them to lower their surgery price and at the very least consider an x-ray (which I would have gladly paid for). They were insistent on the surgery and refused to budge in both the quote area and the x-ray area. I'm disappointed they wanted to do surgery on a dog who didn't need it and thankful I made those calls!

What areas are you finding yourself negotiating or shopping for prices these days?