The 10 states with the highest veterinarian costs!

[Honeycombe8]

Yikes! I was surprised to learn this.

California: $1,521.18
District of Columbia: $1,515.97
Hawaii: $1,480.41
Louisiana: $1,472.36
New Mexico: $1,459.52
Colorado: $1,434.46
Maine: $1,417.52
Maryland: $1,417.34
Delaware: $1,414.29
Pennsylvania: $1,402.31

https://www.moneytalksnews.com/10-states-have-the-heftiest-vet-bills-and-tips-for-cutting-costs/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=email-2017-05-13-am&utm_medium=email&subscriber=yes

There are tips for containing those costs, but let's face it...if you do the same cost containing measures no matter where you live, these 10 are STILL going to be higher than the others.

[shenmue]

1. Thanks

[democratisphere]

2. Pet healthcare has skyrocketed in recent years.

I just spent $800.00 on my cat for her stomach trouble and I'm not sure all of the multiple x-rays and blood tests were necessary.

[Honeycombe8]

3. I know! I've started asking more questions about medications & such.

I no longer take them in for what I think are minor skin rashes & such. The vets will give me expensive skin care stuff that I'm sure have low cost alternatives or aren't necessary.

[safeinOhio]

4. Strange, cost 10 times as much for a

Problem with a cat or dog as it does for a horse or cow. Plus they come to you.

[Adsos Letter]

5. We have three dogs.

We live in California. Finally went with pet insurance, after two expensive surgeries.🐶🐶

[KT2000]

6. they are testing more

with more expensive equipment to do it but I don't think there are more cures - IMHO.

When I took my cat in due to urinary issues, I was given a form to sign where I had to check off if I was willing to cover scans- this was before seeing the vet. I left it blank as consultation with the vet should occur first.
Someone I know spent $7,000 on tests for her dog only to find out it was leukemia - diagnosed by a blood test.

I can't believe Washington state is not on that list.

[samnsara]

8. same here! it cost 500$ for a tooth extraction!

[Hassin Bin Sober]

14. My friends just spent $11,500 on their 14 year old dog.

It started with a slipped disc surgery for $7500 and then another $4000 for the kidney complications from the surgery.

I don't blame them though. The dog is in otherwise good health. You just don't want to put him down for something correctable - if you can afford it.

We just spent $360 bucks for a few shots and a "bi annual senior check up" - the dog sees doctors more than me.

If they ranked it by city I'm sure Chicago would be on the list. I feel like prices have doubled in the 14 years we've had our girl.

A buddy of mine has the right idea. He says next pet he gets will see vets up in northern Wisconsin where he has a cottage. He says the vets there charge a fraction of the cost compared to Chicago.

[politicat]

7. Compare the costs with commercial rental rates, and that's likely to track.

I'm in Colorado, we spent several thousand on our two cats in their end of life. Our kitties were both on the hospice model, but keeping them comfortable while they were still engaged with the world wasn't free.

Our primary vet owns her building and equipment outright, and it's all incredibly practical, but not updated at all. Her rates are highly reasonable, her care is excellent, and she's in demand, but if her building gets re-zoned or a natural disaster renders her building unusable, or if for some other reason she has to move, her rates will double, just because of the cost of infrastructure. Her backup vet is a mobile vet, who comes to the house rather than having an office. This is great for the animals, because they don't get stressed by a car ride, and good for the vet, since her infrastructure costs are lower, but she doesn't have much diagnostic equipment. Our specialist vet is associated with the vet teaching hospital at CSU, 70 miles away. Their rates can be reasonable, given what they're doing, but they're also subsidized by the whole state university system's infrastructure.

For what vets are doing, without much in the way of insurance at all, they're surprisingly reasonable. Vet care is very similar to what a world without any health insurance would look like -- people who can pay will; people who can't, won't, and there will be massive suffering.

All of the vets we worked with are massive supporters of single payer/single provider (human) health care. They want medical care providers nationalized, because they see how awful the system is when it relies on credit, wealth and access.

[Honeycombe8]

10. The commercial rent thing makes sense.

Excellent post - connecting it to human care & all.

[procon]

9. Well, this was timely... LOL! I just got back from the vets' with my darling kitteh boy.

I live in California (yeah, hear me groan!) and the bill was $142.00 to have them use a needle to drain a little abscess under his jaw and pump some long-acting antibiotics into his furry butt.

Jack is an indoor cat, but a couple of days ago, he and his sister got into a tussle over who owed the last patch of afternoon sunshine. She's half his size, but she's no scaredy cat, and I suspect she gave him a sharp right hook straight to his puss. I knew he was in some pain last night when he wouldn't let me scratch under his chin, his all time favorite spot, so it was off to see the vet this morning and get his booboo fixed.

My two cats own me, but I wouldn't change a thing. He feels much better and the swelling seems to be going down already, and my anxiety level is diminishing as I watch over him snoozing in his basket.

[Honeycombe8]

11. Awwwww. Poor Jack.

Now he knows better than to tussle with da boss!

$142 doesn't like a lot, actually. Hard to believe that's California.

[SomethingNew]

12. Vet costs are outrageous.

My dog gets ear infections. He is a Lab and, like many Labs, gets them seasonally. I know what they are and all I need is the medicine to clear them up but the vet always wants a $50 consultation to refill the prescription.

He developed a droopy Lowe eyelid about a year back. I took him in to make sure nothing was wrong and after charging me for two checkups and expensive medicines that did nothing, they revealed that it is common and often goes away on its own but they still recommended a couple thousand dollar MRI. I declined and three months later, he was back to normal.

[Rhiannon12866]

13. My previous vet moved to Banfield, The Pet Hospital - and I put my guys on "the plan."

It's a kind of pet health insurance, I pay a monthly fee depending on the level I choose and office visits are covered as well as checkups, regular inoculations and there's a discount for medications. The higher levels cover things like X-Rays and dental. With two older dogs and a cat, it was worth it to me since my pets needed veterinary care fairly often. It also depends on if you like and trust the vet. That vet is no longer there, but I like and trust the two female vets who are now running the practice and my younger dog likes them and they're good with him so I enrolled him, too.

[yuiyoshida]

15. California didn't surprise me at all

I live here and know what its like.