Pets don't need shots every year

Houston Chronicle ^ | April 22, 2002, 12:32AM | LEIGH HOPPER, Houston Chronicle Medical Writer

[agrace]

Why did the pet store have to know that you had other cats?

[agrace]

In the meantime, maybe you could save a little money. Do you have Petsmart stores in PA? Here in NJ, they have vaccine clinics on Sun afternoons that are a FRACTION of what vets charge for shots. I got complete shots for an Italian greyhound for under $40 - I think the total bill was 35 and change. The vet wanted to charge over 200 for the same.

[Geezerette]

Yes, I saw her picture after I posted mine about Bea. I almost replied to yours and asked where is Keesha?!

You sent me both pictures, that I still have.

g

[HairOfTheDog]

Stunning price you quote for your vet... I guess it pays to shop... I don't know, because I have been going to the same clinic for years. If none of the pets needs special/thorough exam, I pay $20 for an office call (no matter how many critters I squeeze in per visit) and around $20 for each of the combo shots. If everyone needs to be seen, I can pay $50 for a farm call and have everyone immunized at home.

[Big Steve]

That picture of your cat looks almost identical to a cat I had for 16 years. He was my favorite cat, and I was heartbroken when he died last year. However, we got another cat that's almost exactly like him except this cat has a spot on his chin. He's almost a year old.

[Sandy]

What a gorgeous cat! She looks like my cat Fred who died 3 years ago. Do you have anymore photos that you can post?

[abner]

Why did the pet store have to know that you had other cats?

I filled out the form honestly. They called my vet and turned me down.

I sent my hubby in later and he filled out the form differently. He got the kitten. He didn't lie, the other cats are all mine. So, I guess technically, Fidget belongs to him.

Talk about silly.

[going hot]

I went thru several vets in two states looking for one that could help my golden retreiver's skin problems. They all said she had "allergies" then prescribed Prednisone pils and Cortisone injections. These treatments never significantly helped the problem.

Any vet who prescribes cortisone injections or pred oral for "allergies" needs to be dumped, if,

1)They do not inform you of the many reasons for allergies, such as inhalants, ingested, contact, endoparasitic or ectoparasitic, and outline the various ways to attempt to diagnose the underlying stimulus. Does it cost money? Yes. Nothing is free. Allergy workups are sometimes very easy, other times are very painstaking meticuous workups. The cause can be found out most times, the limiting factor being your pocketbook and patience.

2)Wish to simply give "fido" a "shot" of cortisone as a cure.

It seems to me that most veterinarians are not doctors but glofified techs. Come to them with a problem and they regurgitate some standard treatment. Especially, a treatment that will bring a good, continuous revenue stream to them. If the treatment doesn't work they run more tests and prescribe the same treatment. Vets seem to be in serious need of analytical skills.

Seems to be rather sweeping, no?

Every dicipline, every profession, has the average, the below average, and the cream. You usually get what you pay for. Go to a cut rate practice that specializes in volume over quality, and that is exactly what you get. If you want quality medicine, you must be prepared to fork over some bucks, because the quality practice may have several hundred thousand dollars invested in diagnositic and theraputic equipment, as well as well trained staff, and yes, well compensated specialists. Tell me, would you go to a cut rate hospital to get your (insert vital organ here) worked on because it is a few bucks cheaper, or would you opt for the best in that field, knowing it will cost more?

Regards,

[going hot]

Many veterianry hospitals offer low cost vaccine only clinics, usualy a particular day of the month, or particular evening of a given week. Look around and find one.

Also, check your invoice when you are at your vet's office to see what exactly you are getting for your money. If you feel you received less than what you paid for, go somewhere else. If the staff and employees do not deliver optimum service to you, perceived or real, they have failed, and the best way to "help" them understand is to go elsewhere, and if you feel you must, TELL them why you left.

[mamelukesabre]

I've decided that vets are a scam similar to planned parenthood. As a kid, we always had an indoor dog or fenced yard dog and they never had thier shots nor were they ever liscensed, and never speyed/neutered. They always lived to be around 14 years old.

I remember one dog got sick with cancer(kidney, I think). The vet had a superior attitude and said the dog needed to have its shots and be neutered. This poor sick dog was 14 goddam years old! Well, my parents agreed and the sick and dying dog got his shots and was neutered. They also had his teeth cleaned and a couple teeth pulled and a shampoo/haircut.

How stupid is that! You have a sick dying dog with cancer and the vet insists on pumping its blood with vaccines and hacking off its testicles, and then polishing up his teeth and making him look pretty! Naturally, the dog died a few weeks later. His death was probably hastened by the additional stress of surgery, dental work, and vaccinations.

I always claimed that the vet figured he had only a limited time left to make a few bucks off this poor dog before it died.

My current dog is a boston terrior that is 13 years old and in perfect health, trim and fit and very active. The only shots it has ever had are those received as a puppy. This dog will never get another shot and when it's her time to go, so be it. I will bury her in the back yard.

As long as the city insists on charging an arm and a leg for a stupid dog liscense, and showing prejudice against dogs that have not been speyed/neutered, they and kiss my a$$. I'll never liscense a pet with those fascists and they can't make me do so.

[Mahone]

We had a couple of dogs that from six weeks of age onward got all the shots the vet had scheduled. They both developed immune system problems at an early age and both had to be put to sleep by age six. In doing lots of research on their health problems, I read frequently that vaccinations may be a big part of the problem.

The book by Dr. Pitcairn on natural health for animals convinced me that our next pets would not have the conventional schedule of shots. Since that time our pets had initial shots about 4 to 6 months of age, and then they have not had shots that were multiple vaccines, but only a few individual vaccines and those were killed virus vaccines as often as possible. The difference in the health of our cats and dogs who have been treated this way, is a vast improvement over the poor guys who very probably suffered from our assaulting their young immune systems with the standard vaccinations.

[HairOfTheDog]

I've decided that vets are a scam similar to planned parenthood.

You need to know that when you open a post with a ridiculous statement like this, nothing else you say has a lot of merit.

[Askel5]

THE KITTENS WERE ALIVE!!!!!

[tictoc]

Yeah, he is a pretty one.

Women especially like him, which makes it easier for me to strike up conversations.

Hehe.

[StockAyatollah]

Every dicipline, every profession, has the average, the below average, and the cream. You usually get what you pay for. Go to a cut rate practice that specializes in volume over quality, and that is exactly what you get. If you want quality medicine, you must be prepared to fork over some bucks, because the quality practice may have several hundred thousand dollars invested in diagnositic and theraputic equipment, as well as well trained staff, and yes, well compensated specialists. Tell me, would you go to a cut rate hospital to get your (insert vital organ here) worked on because it is a few bucks cheaper, or would you opt for the best in that field, knowing it will cost more?

Believe me I paid thousand$ over the years. Money was not the problem. I never questioned what the vets charged, until the very end of the dog's life when I was tired of being screwed by incompetents! The problem was that I was never able to find a real professional vet. I tried 5 vets in 2 states, including one promoting herself as a "dermatological specialist". All were mediocre at best. Either I must be very unlucky or as I said before, the veterinary field sucks!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Right smart grin!!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Lucky for both of us! She's a splendid animal!

She looks like a PoisedCat!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

The difference in the health of our cats and dogs who have been treated this way, is a vast improvement over the poor guys who very probably suffered from our assaulting their young immune systems with the standard vaccinations.

Bump!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Does anyone happen to know if veterinary science in the U.S. has developed a cure for Leishmaniosis?

A poster at Post# 120 could use some advice.