Re: O/T Pet Vets

Posted by OhioTractorGuy on April 25, 2012 at 07:07:45 from (50.51.21.215):

In Reply to: O/T Pet Vets posted by donjr on April 24, 2012 at 17:32:44:

As a mixed small animal/equine veterinarian that "owns" (or should I say the bank owns) his own practice I can tell you first hand vets are like any other occupation. There are some good ones and some that are less, some barely make ends meet at the end of the month and others take advantage or regional income and have much higher costs. Im just starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel after 10 years paying off student loans at $500 a month. I was fortunate in that I worked my way thru school and "only" had about $45000 in debt when I graduated. The average starting salary is/was around the $50K mark; the first job I started at worked me about 60-70 hours a week (averaged $17 an hour). My office (which is by no means state of the art) has electric, heat, phone bills as well as rent and payroll to meet every month. My average office call involves an examination fee, most often vaccines, taking blood samples, and wrestling with dogs that are trying to bite you while you trim their nails. I add a few dollars to my vaccine costs, same with the heartworm/flea preventatives. Basic exam for a dog, DHLPP-C, and Rabies Vaccine is $62.00. Bring a second dog with you and I drop the second exam fee, vaccines are still the same for a total of $116.00. I do recommend heartworm prevention, cost depends on the size of the dog -- you can blame the manufacturers if the cost is too high; it can easily come to $300 if you have larger dogs. Of that $300 I clear at best $50-60. I take my time with my clients, answer every question they may have, and explain why I give certain vaccines. Some appointments can take 15 minutes, some take the better part of 30 minutes to an hour depending on the client. If youd rather buy the vaccine and hope you are giving the correct shot, dose, etc by all means go for it.
I provide a good service for my clients and do manage to pay my bills at the end of every month. Add the costs of insurance, taxes, etc. and I seriously wonder why someone would consider a career in veterinary medicine in today's economy.
Sorry if I sound negative; seems like there is not a day that goes by when folks expect something done for nothing. The insurance system has not screwed up veterinary medicine (yet) the way it has human medicine; part of me thinks it wont be long before that happens though.

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