Cruise
Well-Known Member
My vet is still a private practice but the prices are bonkers. Can't get out of there with my 2 senior cats for less than $800-$1k/visit. It's brutal.
Talked to my AME at length today
- Thread starter derg
- Start date
Am same. This definitely keeps the “list all medical visits in the last 3 years” part of MedXpress easy to fill out!
Looked at pet health insurance? It’s out there and can be of help, depending on what you type get or how often you have an animal requiring a visit. Vet bills are indeed up there, but I place my animals health needs above my own. They’re worth it, to me.
Richman
JC’s Resident Curmudgeon
It's not because vets are over-compensated, that's for sure. DVMs coming out of school are looking at probably $60-70k to start. Couple years under their belt, and maybe $150k if they get a piece of the production.
Talk to most vets and you'll find the money is the equity in the practice, not in the service, or if you have some kind of boarded specialty.
Best case, you work for a small practice for a few years, buy it from the old timer getting ready to retire, he/she leases the building to you for a couple of years for some passive income, and then they sell the whole thing. You hump it for 10-15 years, pay off the loans, keep building the practice, then VCA, Blue Pearl or some other equity group rolls in and overpays 5x for the whole thing and you walk away scott free with retirement money at 50-55. Maybe do fill in work for beer money after.
That's the BEST case. No practice or equity? They're just a salaryman like the rest of us.
Richman
JC’s Resident Curmudgeon
It’d be almost criminal to turn down PE money. Set yourself up for a nice retirement, give the kids a little taste as a starter egg.
Acquaintance walked away with high seven figures for a practice without the production to support the number offered, but was along an “axis of growth” in town. They didn’t even want him to stick around past 6 months. He kept the building as passive income, but they turned around and offered him stupid money for it a year later.
Now he’s chillin’ on a fat tub of cash, but he’d been humping it almost 25 years, so good on him.
CFI A&P
Exploring the world one toilet at a time.
I had Nationwide pet insurance for my last dog, and it was worth every penny at the end of life care. Some crazy expensive tests and labs that are normally ignored because of the cost. F that, it is why I have insurance. Probably covered 80% of procedures like spinal tap and cancer surgery (more than one ailment being treated). Maybe $3k in premiums over the life of the dog, and easily covered over $10k in healthcare, plus annual checkups and routine care. Looking back, my dog had better health care than many humans.
DeltaAlphaNovember
Well-Known Member
I need to look into the pet insurance. I know American offers it and it's with Nationwide. Mind if I ask what you all pay for it?
ASpilot2be
Qbicle seat warmer
I think it's about $25 per month for our two cats. That's through my employer.
Soul Brotha'
Off to go do Black guy stuff
I think my dog must get a cut from the vets office because every time I go in there they find some new test or problem for her. This makes me have to come back for follow up vi$its.
Oh 100%
Cat goes to the vet. Outsourced blood test, urine sample, need a stool sample, VetMed visit for an ultrasound, “this number is about 1% higher than it has to be, we’re concerned…”, new bag of $80 cat prescription cat food.
Aaaaaaand the cat’s still phantom pooping aside the treadmill. LOL.
Our vet of 20 years retired, practice sold to private equity bros and service rolled to a halt.
Richman
JC’s Resident Curmudgeon
Most routine blood tests are done on a gadget that is smaller than a desktop printer. Not ironically, the "ink" for those devices (reagent modules) is what costs so much.
Rx petfood is crazy expensive. I was paying $80 a bag a few years ago for a blend. Southern Agriculture, BTW is a hassle free online source for such things. I used them for years because during the Apocalypse, stuff locally vanished. They never disappointed.
FinanceBros will go where there is an 80%/2x solution. They provide 80% of the service at 2x the price. If people are happy paying their current provider 100% for all the service, then certainly they won't mind paying more for less. And most will complain, you'll lose some fringe customers who are paying attention, and you'll bank the rest.
PE isn't inherently evil, although I think in some cases they certainly can be and what they do what they do with malicious intent, but generally they're just like ants in the kitchen. If there is food, they will come. Like your buddy with the POS Corolla that's infested and you say "you eat in your car all the time, what did you think was going to happen?"
Some times they serve a relatively benign purpose, and that's to clear away the zombie companies that seem to exist. OTOH, you certainly don't want them in the sugar or grease trap.
The problem (looking at you Ivy League) is the FinanceBros are taught only to see numbers and transactions. Mere automatons in that regard.
Karnage
I-am-a-pirate. I do not need credentials!
VET: The test results came back and this one indicator is just every so slightly out of range so I wanna do more blood work and a series of tests to make sure it's nothing mortal. Plus you need to administer this medicine that is both expensive and messy to apply that your cat will spit out or cough up 3/4 of within seconds of you giving it to them. Oh and I'll need you to collect a stool sample from them that we surprisingly won't do while we hold the cat overnight for observation first to make sure it isn't serious.
MY DOC: Well, you have multiple test results that are in the danger zone, your blood pressure is through the roof, your skin is an ashy gray, and you can barely move from the pain. Take some Tylenol, get some rest, eat more fiber, and lay off the booze. I'll see you in six months.