Hoboken vets & rat poison
13
November
11/13/2007:
Pet owners: has your dog ever come close to getting fatally poisoned??
The situation
This past Friday, as I was getting out of the shower to get ready for a lunch meeting, I noticed my dog was eating something strange. It was one of the rat poison sticks that the exterminator had left when I was having my mouse problem tended to. He ate one whole stick.
Mind you, the exterminator knew I had a dog, and just told me to keep him away from the bug spray for an hour until it dried. He was just tossing these sticks in places to combat my mice problem (such as behind the stove, in corners, by radiators).
He obviously didn’t have good aim, and Oscar was able to eat one (I was pissed after I just provided him with a fresh bowl of gourmet dog food). Knowing I had a pet, these poison sticks should have been placed in pet-friendly containers, but I’ll bring that up with the exterminating company.
Anyway, time was certainly of the essence, and I was recommended Hoboken Animal Infirmary on 6th & Adams (over the animal hospital on Washington St. – “less expensive”)
Treatment and costs
I drive Oscar there, and upon arrival I immediately felt I was in slow motion. An hour and a half to “treat” him (with no other animals there). I brought an example of which stick he ate, but they didn’t know what it was. I had to call the exterminator and they faxed the spec sheet (“Final” Blox brand rat poison).
Here’s what they did. They “examined him”, then weighed him. They tried inducing vomiting through special eye drops ($128 emesis induction). That didn’t work. Then they gave him a Vitamin K1 injection ($48). He then puked up the poison stick.
He looked fine to me. The treatment recommended was a dose of activated charcoal powder (which they were supposed to do there, but made me do it – causing a great mess here in the process – but hey, the gave it to me for “free” wow), and two vitamin K1 pills daily ($108). Total tab was almost $400! They also wanted me to come back for bloodwork ($100 or more, depending). Does this seem like a racket to you? The vet said that herself and TWO techs were required to treat my kind and gentle dog. Is it normal to charge a $100 “emergency” fee during business hours? It wasn’t after-hours, it was the middle of the day!
I wish I would have gone to Edgewater General Animal Hospital, which I have heard nothing but good things about, and I’d probably have $200 more in my pocket.
Am I just unaware that these costs are “standard” in Hoboken? Is this how much all vets cost? Please tell me I’m not wrong for feeling a bit ripped off. If that’s the way it is when you own a pet, then perhaps I should have done a little research ahead of time, my bad!
August 23rd 2008 - 17:25:11 |
A vet has a professional obligation to describes options available to you and the cost of each option. Most importantly the vet must follow a prescribed medical duty of care.
My pet was on a widely prescribed NSAID with side effects well documented by the pharmaceutical company. The vet failed to do a fecal sample which was indicated given the pets sysmptoms. The vet led me to believe my pet had no hope and relying on her professional opinion, I agreed to put down the pet.
But not for the fact that this vet failed to perform this indicated and simple test, my pet would likely be alive today. Had I been informed that simply stopping the medication was an option and that most NSAID ulcers heal easily if the NSAIDs are stopped I never would have made the choice to put him down- and am I certain if the vet knew proper clinical protocol neither would have she.
Yes this was a Hoboken vet.
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February 9th 2010 - 02:00:26 |
This might help you be less angry at the Vet. It looks to me that they did what was best for your dog. Here is why.
The rat poisons work as an anticoagulant (anti-blood clotting). It does this by depleting the animal’s body of Vitamin K, which is necessary for blood clotting.
Standard procedure for poisoning is to always induce vomiting, which isn’t always the easiest thing to do. This is to make sure that the animal ingests as little poison as possible. The vet used a less invasive method of inducing vomit probably because it is less traumatic to the dog, and because it will also cost you much less than a stomach pumping.
By the time your dog got to the vet, it had already ingested the rat poison. They had to take the time to weigh your dog because they needed to know how much medication to inject and prescribe. This is very important information.
As for the emergency cost, it doesn’t matter what time of the day it is, an emergency in an emergency. Almost all professional clinics operate on an appointment schedule, so your 1.5 hour emergency would have, on a normal day, interrupted the schedule quite significantly. I worked in my father’s dental clinic quite often. An emergency would sometimes make it so that the regularly scheduled patients would have to reschedule and come back later. The emergency fee barely did anything to make up for what he lost by the scheduled patient having to walk out.
I’m going to vet school soon, and it isn’t because of the money. Actually, veterinarians are one of the lowest paid medical professions even though they are specialists in many species, unlike human physicians. The average salary is between 60 and 80 thousand and the school bills are the same as medical or dental school (about 200K for the 4 year DVM degree plus 4 years undergrad). Try to be patient with the doctor. She isn’t collecting insurance payments like your physician would. What you paid her is all she gets and overhead is quite high.
Sincerely,
Stefanie
In response to animal_lover who said:
My pet was on a widely prescribed NSAID with side effects well documented by the pharmaceutical company. The vet failed to do a fecal sample which was indicated given the pets sysmptoms. The vet led me to believe my pet had no hope and relying on her professional opinion, I agreed to put down the pet.
But not for the fact that this vet failed to perform this indicated and simple test, my pet would likely be alive today. Had I been informed that simply stopping the medication was an option and that most NSAID ulcers heal easily if the NSAIDs are stopped I never would have made the choice to put him down- and am I certain if the vet knew proper clinical protocol neither would have she.
Yes this was a Hoboken vet.
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February 9th 2010 - 12:15:57 |
Um, an emergency fee for a middle of the day visit? I’m stuck on this one because this place doesn’t have a make-an-appointment policy. They take walk-ins all the time. I should know– I bring Hoboken pets there.
Son-of-a-bitch. What shocks me more is that apparently “hi, my dog ate rat poison” isn’t enough to make someone tend to you. Even if there are no animals in the waiting area, someone should have spoken with you. I know this place as a courteous establishment that treats pets well, so am kinda in shock. This doesn’t make any sense.
Ugh, so disappointing, Animal Infirmary. So very disappointing…
Wasn’t Oscar’s week, was it? Poor guy. Hope he’s feeling better.
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February 9th 2010 - 12:18:05 |
Stef, have you been here, before? This establishment doesn’t operate on an appointment schedule. Also, it doesn’t take over an hour to take a pet’s weight. I’ve watched them do it– takes five minutes or less.
In response to sdurbin who said:
The rat poisons work as an anticoagulant (anti-blood clotting). It does this by depleting the animal’s body of Vitamin K, which is necessary for blood clotting.
Standard procedure for poisoning is to always induce vomiting, which isn’t always the easiest thing to do. This is to make sure that the animal ingests as little poison as possible. The vet used a less invasive method of inducing vomit probably because it is less traumatic to the dog, and because it will also cost you much less than a stomach pumping.
By the time your dog got to the vet, it had already ingested the rat poison. They had to take the time to weigh your dog because they needed to know how much medication to inject and prescribe. This is very important information.
As for the emergency cost, it doesn’t matter what time of the day it is, an emergency in an emergency. Almost all professional clinics operate on an appointment schedule, so your 1.5 hour emergency would have, on a normal day, interrupted the schedule quite significantly. I worked in my father’s dental clinic quite often. An emergency would sometimes make it so that the regularly scheduled patients would have to reschedule and come back later. The emergency fee barely did anything to make up for what he lost by the scheduled patient having to walk out.
I’m going to vet school soon, and it isn’t because of the money. Actually, veterinarians are one of the lowest paid medical professions even though they are specialists in many species, unlike human physicians. The average salary is between 60 and 80 thousand and the school bills are the same as medical or dental school (about 200K for the 4 year DVM degree plus 4 years undergrad). Try to be patient with the doctor. She isn’t collecting insurance payments like your physician would. What you paid her is all she gets and overhead is quite high.
Sincerely,
Stefanie
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