What Vets Don't Want You To Know

The Irreverent Vet Speaks Out – What Veterinarians Don’t Want You to Know
By: Irreverent Vet

PetPlace.com

"This is a touchy topic. I hope we don't get tons of hate mail from vets.

"PetPlace asked me to write an article about this difficult and controversial topic. In this article, I'd like to address this issue of what veterinarians may not want you the pet owner to know. I'm the Irreverent Veterinarian. I give you my opinion and speak the truth regardless of if pet owners or other veterinarians like it or not. The question that I'll address today is...What do veterinarians not want you to know?

"So...what is it that veterinarians don't want clients to know? This does not apply to all vets but here are some things that come to mind....

"1. A Veterinary Hospital is a Small Business – Most vets don't want to talk about this – but a vet hospital or clinic is a small business. It is like any other business that requires money for services rendered. It is sometimes hard because vets love animals but they also have bills to pay. They can't give away services and still be able to pay all the bills and employees.

"2. There is a High Profit Margin on Vaccines – Veterinarians don't want to say but there is a very good profit margin on vaccines. However the margin on treating a sick pet is much lower and the vaccines help to balance that part of the practice. Also, the overhead on a veterinary practice is higher than most people would realize. Another important point is that veterinarians are very careful on where they get their vaccines, how they are shipped, stored and given. Some pet owners and breeders turn to less expensive feed store vaccines which can be associated with vaccine "failures". These vaccine "failures" are attributed to poor quality products, products given improperly, and/or inadequate storage (refrigeration requirements).

"3. They Want to Sell You Preventative Medications – There is also a good profit margin on some of the preventative medications (flea control/heartworm prevention, etc). They would prefer that you buy them from them as opposed to over-the-counter or mail order services. They generally feel that the quality of their products are superior.

"4. Vaccines Can be Dangerous – There are some reactions to vaccines that can be life threatening. They are reactively uncommon but when present can be significant. Some pets will have mild allergic reactions and other can have an immune mediate response or develop a tumor (cats). In general, most veterinarians believe that vaccines do way more good than harm and they often don't emphasize the uncommon reactions as they should. I think they don't want to scare people away from something that has clear benefits.

"5. There is No One in Our Hospital Monitoring Pets at Night – Some hospitals have 24-hour care but most do not. Every hospital has a slightly different situation. Some have staff that live above the clinic and do nighttime treatments and walks/monitoring. Others have no one but have an early shift that walks pets early. If your pet really needs 24-hour care – ask what they offer. Most areas have a local emergency clinic that does offer 24-hour care.

"6. Vaccine Recommendations Have Changed – Most veterinarians are up-to-date and have changed with the times. Fifteen years ago – the recommendations for vaccines was yearly updates for both dogs and cats. Some vets still practice this recommendation. However, recent research has indicated that most vaccines last longer than 1-year and most recommendations are to give vaccines every 3 years. Titers (a blood test to determine if a vaccine is needed) are a good option to yearly vaccines.

"7. Vets Often Don't Agree with Breeders – There are often very different opinions about certain issues between veterinarians and breeders. The differences are especially true regarding nutrition.

"8. There are Some Things Some Vets are Better At then Others – For example, some practices don't do many ear cropping and have a lot of complications from a procedure they don't do that often. Ask the technicians and vet how often they do a particular surgery or procedure if you have any question."

(What else vets don't want you to know...)

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Aksum Notes: Aksum Abyssinians has a wonderful vet who does understand and work with breeders, and is up on the latest in veterinary medicine, and listens, and is sympathetic. We couldn't ask for a better veterinary hospital! Alpharetta Animal Hospital has five vets, all of whom we like very much and are very capable. We are truly lucky and very grateful to them for everything they do.