Emergency Pet Care Facilities across the USA-Buyer Beware, your heart may be torn along with your wallet

Veterinary Emergency Clinic’s

At the risk of being accused or painting with a broad brush, I would like to say that if you read other reviews on these types of establishments, you will see there is mostly a consensus. I write this in memory of my hound but place no blame on a facility that treated him. However; this statement also does no exonerate them.

Emergency clinics are there for off hour visits mostly. Holidays, Weekends, and hours that are too early or late to get into see your vet.  The staffing during those times will more than likely have the youngest and least experienced vet staffing, and in many cases challenged with regard to time they can give. They also lack experience to diagnose correctly when faced with some more difficult cases.

The normal everyday animal lover is faced with emotions and costs to know and do what is right for his pet. The cost of doing so, certainly makes it difficult. The high cost and lack of vet experience probably has caused many simple cases to have bad outcomes. One must remember, compassion from the staff, does not mean love.

Expect to pay a lot for tests and diagnostics. Diagnostics that are marked up quite a bit. The next paragraph gives simple numbers. These high cost in medicine are seen for humans with the reason being the high cost of mal practice, which is another story I can shed light on. Animal settlements and malpractice are a mere fraction of the cost on human medicine with insurance policies for under $10,000/year.

Expect high costs for answers to what is wrong. I mean very high costs. Severely marked up costs in the 5000% range. I can list 100 examples, but I’ll give 2 that makes is easy to understand, waste disposal they charge you $25.00. They use a syringe for medications of blood draw and put in in a sharps container. A sharp container that holds 3 quarts costs $4.00 but understand; the container will hold 500 syringes and is left open until it is filled over the days and weeks. It cost $25.00 for the facility to have it picked up by a waste hazard service.  The net return on the $29.00 cost to the facility is $12,476.00.  A CBC test performed on almost every animal costs $85.00, the cost per test which takes one minute is $1.00. They may argue the cost of the equipment, which is $12-$19000. The equipment lasts  5 years or more. This means it takes 176 tests to pay for the equipment. That amount of tests in a medium volume facility can be done in less than 1 week.  If they perform 176 tests per week for 5 years the net return on that $15000 is 3.5 million dollars.

In summary, people’s hearts cause major expenditures of one answer at a time. The answers in many cases does not guarantee outcome, just inner peace. You are hardly buying expertise or attentiveness.  Know that passing tests while a taking course of study and earning a certificate, only licenses a person. It doesn’t make him or her, a good technician or above all a good diagnostician. There is no answer to good Vet care, so in theory, try to find a good vet, try to stay out of clinics. It is a very difficult task. The standards are poor.