Adopting a cat is a lifetime commitment. When you bring a cat into your family, you also accept responsibility to care for her health and well-being throughout her lifetime. This level of commitment should be obvious to cat guardians, but sadly, the number of cats being returned to shelters for health or behavior issues indicates that it is not.Continue Reading
cost of veterinary care
5 Common Myths About Pet Insurance
I’ve previously written about why I got pet insurance for Allegra and Ruby after being on the fence about it for many years. I looked at a lot of different plans, and found that there is a huge variety from plan to plan both in terms of what’s covered and what’s not, and in terms of how much is reimbursed. After making my decision and talking to people about it, I found that there are a lot of misconceptions about this topic out there. Today, I’m addressing five of the most common myths about pet insurance.Continue Reading
The Cost of Veterinary Care: A Vet’s Perspective
Guest post by Elizabeth Colleran, DVM
Three weeks ago, a long standing and wonderful client of ours scheduled a long-awaited dental procedure for her cat Lily. Until we could get her scheduled, she was on pain medication for the cavities we had previously diagnosed. Since we know that dental pain is the same in the cat as it is in people, we knew she was uncomfortable despite the fact that she was still eating. The only significant change the client noticed was that she tilted her head just slightly to one side while eating.Continue Reading
Why is Veterinary Care so Expensive?
If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me this question, I’d be a wealthy woman! What most people don’t realize is that, relatively speaking, veterinary care, especially when compared to human healthcare, is actually not at all unreasonable. As a former veterinary hospital manager, I can give you some behind the scenes insight into what makes up the cost of veterinary care.
Your cat’s veterinarian is not just your cat’s “family doctor”
Your cat’s vet is also her surgeon, radiologist, dentist, dermatologist, neurologist, ophthalmologist, psychiatrist, ears/nose/throat doctor, and pharmacist, all rolled into one. I’ve always felt that a veterinarian’s training and schooling is far more rigorous and complex than that of a physician. Not only can their patients not talk to them and tell them what’s wrong, but they have to study more than one species. During the first years of veterinary school, students also have to study large animal medicine, even if they know they’re never going to practice it. And even within the small animal track, there are multiple anatomies and disease processes to learn for each species, be it cats, dogs, ferrets, rabbits, or even scaly critters.
A veterinary clinic is a business
Just like any other business, Continue Reading