It's a little high. My vet would have been $85-100 for a complete blood panel, $35 for the office visit and around $15 for the fecal.

IMO, he shouldn't have run the panel without your ok.

I'm in VA, our Dr's visit is $70, the fecal test is close to $50, not sure how much bloodwork is. But vet proces vary through out the country. My vet would have discussed the whole procees with me prior to doing anything.

Blood panels in my area (AZ) are about $100. Office visits are 40 - 50 and fecals are cheap. It doesn't sound outrageous to me - just not a budget vet.

That's what a lot of experience at vets' offices has given me. the knowledge that each individual test costs money and I ask prices. I had a new kitten tested for leukemia and some other common cat test and the vet had to ask her staff what the price was!! Maybe that's because not enough people ask prices.

I had one of my dogs to an opthomologist (sp?) and I had to stay right on top of what she was doing and ask prices because she was just going along spending my money without asking anything. You can't be shy about asking prices. Sure, I feel cheap but I also don't usually walk away feeling taken advantage of. And believe me, they WILL take advantage of you.

You'll get better with experience.

vicky

I agree if your vet does'nt talk things over with you. Ask for prices. I'm starting to do that with human doctors too.
vickie

I live in MidAtlantic - Vet Charges:

Exam - 29.00
Urinalyis (in house) 18.00
Complete Blood Count - 25.00
General Health Profile (blood) - 45.00

Prior vet was $3 to $10 more for all services and medicines. Our new "3 yrs" vet has an emergency vet on call 24/7 and I do not have to travel 30 miles in an emergency. That in it of itself is priceless to me.

I am always advised of what the "approximate" fees will be for all proposed diagnostics prior to them being carried out. Current vet always starts with a complete bloodwork and I think that is a good place to start when a pet is having a problem.

I also always opt for the pre-surgery bloodwork. I never did before, as I thought I was saving a few bucks. Once my daughter started volunteering at our vet's office on weekends, she met their "house" cat that ended up that way because the owner never picked the cat up post surgery. The owner elected not to have the pre-surgery bloodwork. Unfortunately, there was a problem and the cat had a stroke during the procedure. Mr. Peepers still has a few disabilities, but he is a great cat and his former owner doesn't realize what they are missing out on. I now always do the pre-op bloodwork for peace of mind.

The thing I am most curious about is how this vet had results from a complete bloodwork within 15 minutes. Our bloodwork takes about 24 hours. The snap lyme test is immediate, but all other bloodwork is sent to a lab for analysis. Perhaps you are paying for this vet's sophisticated equipment?

There are always options. I was dissatisfied with my former vet and switched to our current vet based on many happy pet owners who use the practice and my daughter's impression of the office and care quality when she started volunteering. I also made a call to get the prices of services and meds and he had my prior vet beat by a mile.

Best of luck to you, and I am glad your dog is okay.

It sounds very high to me, & a complete blood work-up for a couple of days' vomiting sounds like overkill unless the dog was dehydrated/lethargic/not eating/in distress.

I think I would tell the vet I wanted the complete print-out of the blood tests & an itemized bill as well as an explanation for having done all that (if indeed it was done: "15 minutes" surprised me, too).

Yes, getting itemized bills is great for learning how vets price things. I go to this one vet sometimes that just tells me the total bill. I ask for a breakdown of costs.

This vet i'm talking about does not have a computer, if you can believe that! He's in his 70's I guess and been around this rural area for a long time so I guess he doesn't want to upgrade (LOL!!) Everything is done by hand.

vicky

Not sure how it works with dogs, but with cats 'blood work' can mean many different things. For example, our vet has three different levels of blood tests. One is a very basic one that is really considered minimal, one is for cats 1-7 years in age, and the last (expensive) is for cats over 7 years. I only mention because if dogs are similar, without knowing exactly what was tested it would be difficult to compare.

The price sounds a bit high, but that may be the going figure in your area. Blood work is expensive.

Aside from that, if you didn't authorize the test, you shouldn't have to pay (in my humble opinion).

I'm on my 8th vet in 16 years. I searched all over the place trying to find one that I liked and could trust. Thank the dog god for finally hooking me up with one.

I think previous vets saw me as an open wallet when I walked into their practice. I had so many misdiagnosis issues, spent so much time and money for wrong things, I long ago lost count of the $$.

I had a very long conversation with present vet before I switched over to her. I informed her that I wanted to know everything about an issue when I brought one of my three dogs into her. I also informed her that I had to authorize procedures, and I wanted to know in detail what they were for. If I'm not familiar with what the testing is for, I look it up on Google. I also quiz vet about what she is looking for, what type of meds she plans on using (I get a time table for meds, when they are supposed to start fixing the problem).

Doing this keeps me informed. My vet appreciates my homework and it puts us on the same page with what is going on.

My experience with previous vets has not been a pleasant one. They simply did not know what they were doing. I almost lost my old girl three times (from three different vets) due to misdiagnosis. After the first episode, I started to get very picky about things. I always say that money is not an issue when it comes to the health of my three dogs. BUT it is. Spending money unnecessarily, so vet can boost the bottom line is just plain wrong. Let's face it, most of us simply don't know what is going on with our pets when they get sick, we just want them well.

SG

We recently switched to this vet mainly because I am aquainted with him through social circles. He mentioned to me that his blood testing "machine" cost $20,000. I remarked that it made a noise like a slot machine. In all honesty, I thought he was taking the blood to see if there was any toxins in his blood stream. He came back with a detailed two page profile that was considerably more detailed than the blood work my MD does on me during a physical. I have learned my lesson about asking about charges in the future. I had switched vets because the vet we had used for 30 years retired and I did not care for his replacement who seemed more interested in selling me something than looking after our Corgis.

The price is about average for around here, but since the vet didn't explain to you the value of the services, of course it is too much. You just paid $224, and for what? You don't know, really. Yes, you know it's bloodwork and a fecal sample, but why was it run? What was the vet expecting to find? What does it mean that the bloodwork was normal? What differentials were ruled out by the bloodwork and which are still on the list? What is next step if your dog doesn't stop urping? How is cutting back on biscuits supposed to help? What tests were run on the stool sample? It could have been a direct, float, and cytology but you don't know, nor do you know what each test evaluates.

I think that if you knew those answers, you may have a better appreciation for what the vet could do with just $225. But since he didn't explain anything to you, of course you feel like you just wasted that money. And I totally agree with you. And double shame on him for not providing you with an estimate and explanation of why he wanted to run those tests before doing them.

Argh, when will some vets learn it's not just about medicine?!

I saw the post about the blood testing machine costing $20.000.00. My vet sends blood samples out so doesn't have one of these.

The post about vet's never learning that it's not just about medicine is right on. I truly think there is a severe disconnect within the veterinary profession between what they think/do and what we as their clients need. This disconnect has gotten worse. I am truly blessed that I have finally after 17 years, found a vet that is on the same page with me.

SG

I just paid $75 for a blood panel workup here in IL. I always ask the price before they did something.

They will not offer the price unless you ask though. Our vet was pretty good with not going "overboard" unless you ask for the treatments though. They would not hard sell you like some vets around here do. And they were very good about explaining what the tests were and what they were needed for.

My cat went to the vet today. "CBP in house with electrlytes III, $130"

"Medical progress exam, $27" (she is chronically, fatally ill so they see her a lot, an "annual" is closer to $50)

There is also a needle disposal fee, only $3.

We've spent over $3k on our cat in a little over a year. Now she needs to go see the opthamologist again. That will be another couple hundred. She has FIP.

I would pay the bill, but next time ask before they do anything. I always ask ahead of time now (after getting caught with an unexpected $500 bill one time).