Here's another money-saving tip your veterinarian is not likely to tell you. Don't waste your money on Vectra 3D. It was created by Hartz and is no safer for pets than Hartz flea and tick products.

Prescription pet foods are "prescription" in name only. Yes, really. It's a marketing ploy designed to keep the veterinarian front and center in the food chain's cloud of middle men.

THANK YOU.

Another money saving tip --
Although I urge owners/guardians to see their vet for the initial ear infection problem, if you don't get some measured success with your vet's solution, try Zymox Otic. It treats mites and yeast and a plethora of other ear conditions.
Most ear infections, even somewhat complicated ones can be eliminated with Zymox Otic, available without a prescription via the internet. The Rx ear salve that I had been buying for my male Boston was 50.00 for a tiny tube. We spent 10 months trying to rid the dog of this ear affliction. So you can imagine - about 8 tubes X 50.00 a pop and it never cleared up the ear infection. I tried Zymox Otic and within 10 days the dog's ear was clear. He even got a clean bill of health from my veterinarian.(Yes, follow up with your vet to make sure your pet is on the mend!) I didn't tell the veterinarian that I abandoned his suggested treatment, but I do think the vet was mighty surprised that he wouldn't have to see me again for my dog's ear infection. I think the Zymox Otic was about 20.00 including shipping and it only took 1 bottle to clear up the problem.

I can feel your frustration lately in your posts, Dr. Khuly. I wasn't going to mention it, but this post I completely agree with you. It is a fact that a little information is a dangerous thing, and obviously that's what's happened here. Extremely frustrating to anyone who is a stickler for say... facts.

As for money saving ideas, I have LOTS.

Feed GREAT food. The best you can afford. And not the most expensive - the best. Less fillers, and you can cut your feeding amount in half sometimes. Suddenly a $60 bag of food really costs you $30, and in my experience less fillers and chemicals means fewer issues like ear/skin infection, fleas, coat, etc.

Feed less. That's right, a fat dog is more expensive than a skinny dog in a hundred different ways. Overfeeding your dogs costs you money for food, shortens your pets lifespan and WILL create health issues that cost money.

Weigh each procedure's pros and cons. For example, we don't use monthly flea preventative. With the invention of products like Advantage and Capstar, I can clear up a flea issue in about a week. We've had two (I think?) times in the last five years where we have had to treat for fleas, which involved one treatment of Advantage for all the animals in the house. We also purchase the 100lb size and use a syringe to measure out appropriate doses for each pet (with Advantage - but NOT with Advantage Plus, this is important) the dog and cat are the same product. Two tubes will do four or five medium sized dogs and a handful of cats. So instead of treating a dozen animals every month, I've treated them twice in five years.

Above all, be HONEST with your vet. Find out about discounts for multiple pet homes or multiple pet visits (please, if you bring more than one pet at a time, bring more than one person with you to assist in handling). Tell them what you can afford and what you can't. If you only have $300, tell them up front, and work together to determine what tests would have the best chance of getting a response. My own vet, in a non-emergency situation will start with the most obvious (generally a blood panel) and choose each step one test at a time. Rather than running a battery of tests all at once, several of which may not be necessary.

Lastly, watch your dog closely. Examine them regularly for lumps, bumps and anything that doesn't look normal. If you find something, get in right away. Don't wait until it's an emergency, or the bump gets huge - much better to just go in for a fine needle biopsy and check things out now than it is to try and remove a tumor that has grown into some hideous tangled mess.

I will pass this on, my Grandcat Charley, will thank-you too

Yes, of course prescription pet foods are prescription in name only. But how does one find a non-prescription food that is comparable to the prescription food? Two of my cats have improved nicely on Royal Canin Urinary SO, but it is very expensive, and even buying from discount online retailers saves me only a couple dollars per large bag. I can afford it, but it would be nice to find something less expensive yet as effective, without having to resort to just trying different foods and seeing if the cats go back to urinating out of the box.

Everyone can get mad if they like, but my animals don't get the care I'd like to see them get, mostly because the VETS HAVE GOTTEN GREEDY! I have an old dog with autoimmune disorders & finally became aware enough to order his prescription drugs online (although I have to pay my vet $12 dollars per script). Here's some price-saving differences:

Aminocaproic acid & acetylcystine - from pharmacy, less than $60/month, including shipping; from vet - close to $300.

Flagyl - online about $60. From vet - $240.

Previcox - online about $66/month, including shipping. From vet - $150 (and I have to pick it up).

Plus - what's with the vets hoarding FOOD! I can't get easily dissolved 'prescription' cat food for an ailing barn cat without an $66 vet call????? Skip the food, I'll just do the best I can with karo & water! I can't get a hydrolized protein for a dog that's allergic to everything & been thru all the single protein foods without a PRESCRIPTION????

I am supposed to pay $140 to have a barn kitten with a broken back put to sleep???? GET REAL!

Luckily, my farm is a 'closed' environment, since my horses haven't been vaccinated in years - not at $500 per horse for spring shots!

What happened to vets helping people with animals??? In a lifetime of pets & vets, I've only found ONE that had any sympathy for the animal dumping that goes on at farms & actually help me try to control the population!

AND, my biggest gripe of all - DON'T GIVE ME AN ESTIMATE IF YOU ARE GOING TO ROUTINELY SURPASS YOUR ESTIMATE! I had to pay for a set of x-rays to get my dog's DM diagnosis. HOW CAN AN ESTIMATE FOR X-RAYS BE 'OFF' BY $200?????????????

Here's a good cost-saving tip: Instead of buying both frontline for fleas & heart-guard for heartworms, just use Revolution (which you can get online, even without a script) which is both a flea & heart worm preventative. My vet doesn't carry Revolution any more (surprise, that, since they can sell two products instead). Plus, Revolution is safe to use for dogs that have autoimmune disorders (this is when frontline (the monthly spot-on; the spray topical is safe to use)& heart guard should NOT be used, since they activate an immune system you are trying to keep 'quiet'). I'll never use advantage again - vet says it isn't related, but my dog with the immune problems bloated several hours after having advantage applied.

I used to be more vet-friendly, but after having a wonderful dog with all sorts of disorders, I've learned to be vet-wary & to research his problems myself. I swear I've saved his life several time from 'expert' treatments, plus I could buy a car if I had the money back from all the meds that I should have been buying online instead of from the vet.

getyourleash- a place that i go to fairly often to get cheaper petmeds is cattyvet.com. They have free shipping and their zymox is 15.95. I also use this reguarly and it works great for pretty much everything. Hope this helps!

Anybody else feel awful for Welkin's animals? Especially the barn cats who apparently "ail" and suffer broken backs w/out adequate veterinary care because their owner apparently thinks if it's not dirt-cheap it must be a rip-off? Goodness.

Last one, I promise. :)

"What happened to vets helping people with animals??? In a lifetime of pets & vets, I've only found ONE that had any sympathy for the animal dumping that goes on at farms & actually help me try to control the population!"

I always marvel at those who, after a lifetime of encountering the same situations and responses from others, never think that maybe it's THEIR viewpoint that's a little warped.

The most expensive care is unnecessary care usually due to screening tests and bloodwork. The results blind the vet to the physical condition and history of the pet.

After physicals for my three cats with bloodwork, my vet said two cats had kidney failure and recommended prescription diets. These diets resulted in anemia, lethargy, and emaciation. Then I figured out the cats were suffering from malnutrition because the diets were mostly corn. Changed to canned cat food with no grains and then a raw diet. After cats gained weight and recovered I went back to the vet and the bloodwork was totally normal. I have never heard of kidneys regenerating so I reasoned the first bloodwork was a mistake. My cats suffered from unnecessary vet care. And the expenses of bloodwork, and prescription food was unnecessary. Disease was caused by vet care.

Then one cat was diagnosed as hyperthyroid as a result of bloodwork screening. Vet recommended several options and I chose surgery. I began comparing my three cats and could not see any physical differences and I remembered my vet had not mentioned any symptoms at the time of the physical. I requested the bloodwork be repeated for the thyroid. The bloodwork was normal. So I nearly spent money for surgery and lifetime drugs and did spend money for bloodwork that was totally not needed. Disease caused by vet care.

Then my vet said one of my cats was diagnosed as having a disease (can't remember what at this late date) that showed up on a screening panel. Vet mentions that sometimes the test can have a false positive so just to be sure he recommends a more specific test. Test is normal. So I paid for two tests and had a lot of stress worrying about a nonexistent problem. Worse I look it up and find my cat fits nothing on the profile typical of cats with the disease and as the cat also had no symptoms of the disease the whole thing was a waste. None of it would have happened if not for the screening test on a normal cat. No harm except for flattened wallet.

COST SAVER...Do not agree to any tests of any kind unless you have taken the pet in because of symptoms and problems. Then only agree to the ones that address what the vet finds on exam and to help distinguish between possible problems. If you are taking the pet in for a check up, only agree to specific tests that give more information on an actual problem seen on physical exam. So physical evidence first leading to tests to rule out possibilities. Even then skip the test if probabilities from history and physical exam lead to a probable cause. Most similar things are horses so don't look for zebras unless the typical intervention doesn't work.

Routine bloodwork and screening tests are dangerous, are often mistaken, and lead to unnecessary care and drive up costs.

and to think I forgot my tinfoil hat today

Interesting thing is, as much as people complain about vet costs, what vets charge is chump change compared to the cost for similar meds/procedures/tests for humans. People don't understand actual costs of medical care because they only pay a co-pay and don't see the actual bill--until and unless they become uninsured.

It's funny how patients/clients almost expect vets and other doctors to NOT make a living at their profession. It's weird. You wouldn't expect the plumber not to charge you for services, or the electrician.

Dr. K, I sincerely hope you wrote to them about the stuff that was said in that video!

That's just plain poor journalism!