It’s getting more difficult to get out pets the critical medical care they need. Sometimes, it’s costing animals their lives.
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I wish I had heard this podcast when it was originally broadcast. Allow me to offer a different perspective. I’m near 70 and have had dogs most of my life. I live in a city of 180,000 which, to me, does not seem to have a shortage of vet care centers – quite the opposite, in my opinion. They are in every part of town and new ones are being built. (Obviously though, I can not vouch for the adequacy of the staffs, as far as the number of DMVs, at each location.)
We were taking our dog to a vet very near our house for several years. After this clinic was purchased by VCA, Inc. (based in Los Angeles), we noted: 1) a serious decline in the quality of service; 2) the pushing of optional, but unneeded services and treatments; 3) noticeable, increased difficulty in scheduling appointments, with long wait times; 4) difficulty in seeing the actual vet to discuss the pet’s condition…instead having to settle with meeting with or talking to a vet tech.
This exasperated-sounding woman let the cat out of the bag with her comments about a nationwide effort in the industry to make veterinary care as near human healthcare as possible – i.e. to literally force owners to purchase health insurance by making service prices so high. With insurance, the pet owners will wind up paying even more, but the vets and the insurance companies will reap much higher profits. Mostly, this industry is creating its own problems; and based on an array of misdiagnoses, over-priced services and meds, the “corporatization” of vet clinics, the drive to require (yes require) health insurance, I have no sympathy for them. I remember when I was young being able to just take your pet to a vet, without an appointment….this was common in the 60’s and 70’s. But these days, we as pet owners are at fault, as well, in treating these animals as humans….which is another topic.