QUESTION:

Why do we hate vets so much?

(First up, vets as in veterinarians. The others we love.)

And I don't mean them personally either; all I've met have been caring, understanding people. I mean why do we cringe every time we need them?

I had a cat called Sooty once. He was a stray kitten I found crying, abandoned under our house. Was quite a feat, catching him and then loving him so he lost his fear. One day some months later, Sooty got run over by a car- least we suspect that's what happened.

It was dire. He needed immediate surgery, his pelvis was shattered. The cost (roughly) we were told, would be close to two thousand dollars- maybe more. (It was more.) The alternative was to put him down. The cost of that, was a couple of hundred bucks. (And carrying guilt the rest of our days.)

We paid. He survived and lived to be 19, quite a feat for a male. He had a severe limp and in his later years he slowed. But he lived. We believe he even fathered some children- certainly he ruled the neighbourhood.

I would pay that and more- over and over. For any of our pets.

Herein lies my problem:

Why does all the 'other stuff 'cost so much? And why, must we be quilt-tripped into believing we have to get this test or that and buy this or that- the added extras?

Let me explain:

Dewey, our dog, as a pup was running too fast and his paw connected with the edge of a door. He whimpered and 'favoured' that paw. After about an hour, we could see he was still limping and hesitating to walk. (There was no open wound or any physical damage we could see.) Off to the vet.

An x-ray, some palpitating of the area, a general check up, blood-work because he hadn't had any done before, some tut-tutting as to his diet and the new recommended brand in hand, a new leave-in conditioner because his skin looked a little dry and this one was better (he swam at the beach almost every day since we got him as was explained to the vet) an antibiotic in case of infection plus a new collar and lead to better control him when we walked... I didn't get much back from a thousand bucks.

Dylan stubbed his toe about the same time. It cost me nothing except for some hours of waiting and a box of over the counter pain-killers. He didn't get a general check-up, he didn't get full blood-work done because he'd never had blood-work done before, I wasn't chastised about his diet and sold "better for him food", nor was his body examined anywhere other than the affected area. I didn't get sold any products. I wasn't made to feel guilty (of neglect) as a mother/carer- is what I am saying.

Dewey was back at the vet the other day. Something caused a severe allergic reaction and his entire body over the course of a few days developed areas of very itchy red skin. He has no fleas and nothing in his diet or environment has changed. The poor thing was scratching and scratching and we tried all the 'other' stuff first, like bathing him in oatmeal and rubbing him all over with a skin cream- then another, then repeating; yet seeing little relief. (Oh the irony!) Day three, off to the vet. He wasn't off his food, nor did he show any other symptoms. He was Dewey- just damn itchy.

He got checked for fleas. (There was unexpected surprise when none were found after a very thorough search; I was told sometimes even a single one can drive them crazy as she inspected him head to toe.) Zip to mites too, after doing a test with skin scrapings- "juuuuust in case." She rattled off a list of probable causes- and Dyls and I maintained our head-shaking. Nope, nope, nope. He hasn't done that, he hasn't eaten that, he hasn't been there.

FULL blood-work- because he hadn't had it done... in a while. Antibiotics to prevent "possible" secondary infection. A steroid- was a bit unclear what that was for? Yet a different shampoo and conditioner, plus a leave-in conditioner. Urine analysis because it could be kidney-related (slim possibility but let's eliminate this too, eh?) due to his age. Overall check-up (I didn't tell her he's lived over eight years without seeing the inside of a vet since puppy-hood.) He was found 3 kilos overweight (sounds a lot but his normal weight "should be" 34 kilos, so he's not exactly obese) and of course- a seniors meal plan was suggested (we politely declined- there's no senior meals in nature.)

We returned home almost $800 out of pocket. (Could have been more with all the up-selling, but we held firm.) An our later, I got the phone call: "Surprisingly, he is doing extremely well given his age; all his bloods came back normal, so that's a relief at least." No surprise there from me. (Okay, I lie a little.) Dewey eats anything and everything- no set times, no set meals. He rides the car more than he walks... Dylan was, I bet, mentally calculating the health consequences of slices of Domino's and chocolate biscuits and... whatever else was enjoyed by the three of them in the man-cave.

"We have a healthy dog?"

"We do."

"Go figure."

"We have a healthy dog?" This from Marcus who'd just woken up after staying up most of the night to watch some game tournament live.

"We do."

"Huh!"

Yeah... Vets. I understand their role and our reliance on them- since our pets cannot communicate with us and tell us what's wrong. It's all the unnecessary peripheral costs and the guilt-induced up-selling that gets to me. The fact she had to sit us down and go through all the costs FIRST, to get our assent - prior to any examination - before she proceeded to look him over. What were we gonna do? NOT treat him because of the cost and leave him scratching himself to madness? We were held hostage- that's what it felt like. I don't know what it's like in your part of the world but here, it's a 'pay on the day- or no fix' policy.

Similarly to my fracas at Centrelink- she's a vet. That's her job. Dewey is not the first dog in the world to suffer a skin reaction. She admitted, she's seen this too often before. I get that some tests are necessary, I do. But we knew she was aware of both the symptoms and the necessary steps to eliminate them: Warm baths with a gentle shampoo and a leave-in conditioner to keep his skin moist. They were our orders. That's all he needed (thus the reference to irony above) she told me later on the phone to hold off on the steroid and "see how we go" and to give him the antibiotic (again, as a preventative) and booked him in for a return visit in 10 day's time. (Cost of the unnecessary steroid? $130. Cost of antibiotic? $80.)

The interrogation? What brand of food does he eat? (tut tut he should be eating this brand) How often does he get exercise? (tut tut he needs more) How often does he get flea/worm-treatment and have we tried this new - and very expensive - 3 month one? (tut tut why not)  How regularly does he see a vet? (TUT TUT! Whaaaat?) The guilt - if one were to embrace it - was there, plenty of it.

We have a thing in our house: pets are not people. We love them- but we don't view them as little humans. We allow them what we call 'natural life', that is, one unassisted by any and all attempts to 'personify' them. No 'nice smelling' this or that. No outfits and accessories. No 'special diet'. No 'preventative' actions and unneeded human intervention. If it's broke- we fix it, or the vet does. If our pets are thriving, we see no need for six-monthly check-ups. They don't exist in nature.

Am I wrong to feel this way? What's been your experience?