For S Bowman....

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Posted by Allysmom on February 11, 2001 at 15:08:50:

In Reply to: S Bowman posted by Travis on February 11, 2001 at 09:54:54:

I was wondering if your vet is charging too much? My experiences are that if the vet is not knowledgable enough, most of the vet bills consist of costs for exams, tests which do not really help, and drugs "to try". My herp vet is very cost-conscious ... second only to his concern about the animal of course ... and I am currently paying FAR less for the lizards than I do the cats. Perhaps, if you are able to find another vet - even if you had to drive a great distance it would be cheaper and faster. Imagine going in, having the problem assessed, and being given a sensible treatment plan all at once! I feel pretty lucky these days.
Also, I did have an egg-bound lizard. They (different vet office) tried EVERYTHING to dissuade me from spaying, for all the same reasons you have listed. I had already spent $250.00 on visits, exams, x-rays,and oxytoxin to no avail. She was nearly dead. My rationale to my incredulous friends was - yes, it's a lot of money, but to not follow through would be saying that all I had spent before was thrown in the toilet. (They could better understand the basic money side of it) If I had the surgery done, it would cost me another $150, but then I would know I had done my best. (What the heck is money but little pieces of paper anyways??? If those little pieces of paper can buy your green friend's life............) If he (you see the problem...we had thought she was a "he"!!) died during surgery, which we were told was likely - ~~ oh well! The only other choices were euthanasia or a long tortuous death anyhow!
By the way - the surgery was successful. My personal opinion however is that you need to bring your babies home as soon after surgery as possible to avoid further traumatization being somewhere strange. Not a time for them to be suffering additional stresses!!!
One other note while I'm rambling here -- I always test my vet's advice against the people on the forum here...although they don't know it! The vast wealth of experience here helps me assess what 'makes sense', and take it back to the vet. Sometimes it is things my vet has not thought about, and when suggested by me because of this forum, he usually laughs and goes into a big long spiel about how yes indeedy - that does make sense!! The only point he differs on..if anyone is interested..is that he is dead set against supplements. He thinks a lot of the kidney problems are due to over-supplementation causing calicification/mineralization of the organs. His opinion is that if you have a lizard, you'd *better* be feeding it properly!! And if you are feeding it properly, it doesn't need any extra calcium....there are no calcium supplements in the wild! Just his humble opinion, that I am in NO position to discuss as I know nothing except what I read and hear!!! That was just a ramble to complete the story of my vet.
Best of Luck to you and your ig!

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: I was wondering if your vet is charging too much? My experiences are that if the vet is not knowledgable enough, most of the vet bills consist of costs for exams, tests which do not really help, and drugs "to try". My herp vet is very cost-conscious ... second only to his concern about the animal of course ... and I am currently paying FAR less for the lizards than I do the cats. Perhaps, if you are able to find another vet - even if you had to drive a great distance it would be cheaper and faster. Imagine going in, having the problem assessed, and being given a sensible treatment plan all at once! I feel pretty lucky these days. : Also, I did have an egg-bound lizard. They (different vet office) tried EVERYTHING to dissuade me from spaying, for all the same reasons you have listed. I had already spent $250.00 on visits, exams, x-rays,and oxytoxin to no avail. She was nearly dead. My rationale to my incredulous friends was - yes, it's a lot of money, but to not follow through would be saying that all I had spent before was thrown in the toilet. (They could better understand the basic money side of it) If I had the surgery done, it would cost me another $150, but then I would know I had done my best. (What the heck is money but little pieces of paper anyways??? If those little pieces of paper can buy your green friend's life............) If he (you see the problem...we had thought she was a "he"!!) died during surgery, which we were told was likely - ~~ oh well! The only other choices were euthanasia or a long tortuous death anyhow! : By the way - the surgery was successful. My personal opinion however is that you need to bring your babies home as soon after surgery as possible to avoid further traumatization being somewhere strange. Not a time for them to be suffering additional stresses!!! : One other note while I'm rambling here -- I always test my vet's advice against the people on the forum here...although they don't know it! The vast wealth of experience here helps me assess what 'makes sense', and take it back to the vet. Sometimes it is things my vet has not thought about, and when suggested by me because of this forum, he usually laughs and goes into a big long spiel about how yes indeedy - that does make sense!! The only point he differs on..if anyone is interested..is that he is dead set against supplements. He thinks a lot of the kidney problems are due to over-supplementation causing calicification/mineralization of the organs. His opinion is that if you have a lizard, you'd *better* be feeding it properly!! And if you are feeding it properly, it doesn't need any extra calcium....there are no calcium supplements in the wild! Just his humble opinion, that I am in NO position to discuss as I know nothing except what I read and hear!!! That was just a ramble to complete the story of my vet. : Best of Luck to you and your ig!

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