When I got to Killeen Tip, who had been fine when I put him in the car at 8 pm, wouldn't put any weight on his right rear leg. Since that's the one he had surgery for a torn ACL last September I figured it was a musclo-skelton thang and he'd be better by morning.
WRONG. He was listless, off his food, hot and drinking gallons of water in addition to not using that leg. So we went off to the Banfield vet at PetSmart Monday. {I didn't know any vets in Killeen and didn't think to call my cousins to ask for the name of their vet.]
They did a blood test and an X-ray. The vet said he had a bone infection and gave him a shot of ampicillin, oral antibioticals and some Rimadyl, an anti-inflammatory. All this took 1.75 hours. The bill? $434.00!
When he saw his regular vet on Thursday, Doc Jones was apalled. He said the same treatments at his office would have been about $150-$160.
Here's a breakdown of the charges from Banfield:
● Office Visit- $34.95
● Blood Sample Collection $ 8.50
● Blood Cell Count $ 31.33
● Differential Exam of Blood $ 30.19
● X-Ray Interpretation $ 61.80
● X-Ray Exposure $ 28.60
● Position/Restraint for X-Ray $ 28.97
● X-Ray Setup/Handling $ 32.96
● X-Ray Exposure $ 28.60 [I just noticed the Double Charge]
● Shot $ 26.09
● Oral Antibiotic $ 67.20
● Rimadyl $ 50.40
● Medical Waste Disposal $ 4.85
● TOTAL $434.44!!!
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So, today's lesson Boys and Girls is NEVER use banfield unless it's an emergency. Ask a friend for a Vet's name; ask hotel employee for a name; HELL, pick a name at random from the yellow pages. Just don't go to Banfield if you can possibly avoid it.
5 comments:
That is a TON of money! I've never had to use a vet service at a retail pet store, thankfully. Our vet is definitely pricey enough. When we bring in a stray for the 1st time to be checked out and fixed, it is about a billion dollars. (FIV test, leukemia test, rabies shots, anaesthesia, surgery, every thing they can tack on.) But we know who we're dealing with and we trust them. I can't imagine what that would cost at Banfield.
By the way, hos is Tip doing?
He's STILL not puttin' any weight on the leg. He saw his own vet last Thursday and got another antibiotic [so he's been taking 2 since then] and a painkiller. We're goin' back to Doc Jones this afternoon.
Yeowch... that is a hellva bill! And as always, it's too late to do anything about it! Too many vets today are charging and arm and a leg, because they know people will pay it.
I exclusively use Banfield, BUT my dogs are enrolled in their Wellness plan, so I wouldn't have been charged this much. I've saved a ton of money over the years, thanks to the plan. And when I move, I can just switch the plan over to the new location.
I hope Tip feels better!
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