Hi everyone,
On Oct. 15th our dog was nonstop vomiting so we brought him to a nearby ER since his regular vet was closed all weekend. They (Dr.1) took X-rays, found nothing, gave us medication for the vomiting & charged us for expressing his anal glands when he didn’t need it. We were charged $500 for all the above. They sent him home but he still wasn’t right so we brought him back the next day (Oct. 16). Please understand we had limited places to go & this was the best reviewed place nearby. When we brought him back it was a different doctor (Dr.2). He took more X-rays but again nothing was seen. He said since we were just here last night they won’t charge us for the visit & the X-rays are discounted. Didn’t give us an exact number. He said our dog most likely had a blockage & we had 2 options: First option was a barium study which he quoted $1,000 with a 70% deposit, the second option was surgery which he quoted $2,000-$2,500. They said these prices included the X-rays that were done this second day. He suggested the barium study first since sometimes it can help push any blockage. We agreed, he left & then sent a vet tech into the room who said “We’ll just need a payment of $1,200”. We were confused where he got that number from but we shrugged it off until we got to the front desk. The person at the front desk had to ask a different vet tech how much we needed to pay, they went to the back room & came back saying “$500” ..:.okay….
Around 3AM Dr.1 called us (she does overnight shift) & said the barium is not really moving so she’s going to need to do surgery. We said that’s fine & checked if it was still in the 2k-2.5k price range. She said most likely around $2,300 but if he had to stay for a week+ it would go up.
The surgery was done around 5:30AM on Oct. 17th. We visited him later that day & he was still loopy but he wagged his tail when he saw us & was fully aware.
On Oct. 18th we visited him after work & he was so happy to see us, he was walking & getting up in his own. They said if we could get him to eat he could go home. We came back later that night with food & water & our boy was eating! Dr. 1 saw him eating, drinking & walking but she said she still wanted to keep him an extra night. That’s fine, she’s the expert, we trust her. She said most likely he’ll be able to leave tomorrow, Oct. 19th. We asked her if she could give us a ballpark price to what we’d be paying if he did leave tomorrow. Not kidding when I say she started talking in circles. She said “most likely around $4,000” this did not include the first $1,000 we had already spent. My boyfriend & I left with a really bad taste in our mouths because we feel like they’re just pulling numbers out of their bums. We never even saw a written estimate or idolized bill or anything - our fault on that but neither of us have gone through anything like this.
We love our doggie so much & even if it was 50k we’d find a way but we are both in our early 20’s with okay jobs. Luckily we did have money saved up but Jesus Christ it’s really taking a good chunk of it.
Is it normal for vets to change their prices like that?
Maybe I’m wrong but I thought they had set prices for certain services. It really upsets me that they think it’s okay to with bargain with people who are clearly in distress with no other options.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/qb53sf/vet_being_wishy_washy_with_final_price/
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