Got a hedgehog? Kristen Zorbini-Bongard does. She loves Harriet so much she pays $80 a year to Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI) to protect her from the possibility of a financial “stop-treatment” decision (AKA, economic euthanasia). This information courtesy of Public Radio International’s This American Life, where one of last weekend’s segments treated the topic in surprising depth.

Though...

The average price of a veterinary office visit in the US is right around $50. I’ve seen them as high as $250 for specialists and emergency hospitals and as low as $0 at places where the office visit is beside the point (as when vaccines, drugs, tests and procedures are all that get priced).

Most general practitioners like me, however, tend to price themselves somewhere between $25 and $75 for...

Since we’ve lately been talking about how to live on the frugal edge, I figured this post was definitely in order. I mean, have you seen the price of dog treats lately? Crates? Toys? Add an “organic ingredients” or “custom-built” label to the item and the price-tag zooms.

And yes, pet food costs 30% more than it did three years ago. That “Rx” stuff? It’s prices have skyrocketed even faster....

Using drugs for indications not approved by the FDA or in species not listed on the label is a fine gray line many of us in the veterinary profession are uncomfortably forced to straddle.

That’s because way too many of our drugs are not economically significant enough for drug manufacturers to undertake the incredibly expensive approval process required to bring them to market for common...

If you’re a great client and you ask, I’ll sell you a vaccine to administer at home to your pets––for your convenience––as long as you’re willing to listen to my speal on the subject of proper vaccine storage, handling and administration. But that doesn’t mean I support the extra-veterinary sales of biologicals like vaccines––not by a long shot.

This week on Dolittler has been lousy with talk...

In just one week I’ve seen two separate incidents in which common veterinary products purchased online don't seem to be what they say they are. Both were ordered from large, well-established outlets and neither has yet been evaluated for its true contents. But they don’t look like the real thing.

What gave it away?

One box of Frontline. One box of Heartgard. On the outside, both looked...

Last week’s “Man Vs. Mutt” article in the Wall Street Journal’s weekend section traded on a concept that’s been dominating the news and––albeit obliquely––Dolittler’s headlines, too. Yes, we’re talking healthcare reform again. At the risk of bashing this concept into submission, I’ll admit that “I’m on a roll”––or is it merely a barely opaque display of my obsessive tendencies? 

Either way,...

We all know cash is king. So here’s a new one on that front: Amidst all the congressional wranglings on the subject of human healthcare comes the news that pets might catch a novel break.

No, it’s not about a new program to underwrite Maddie’s Fund or finance some other government-organized spay and neuter initiative. Forget the indirect approach. This time it’s about tax breaks for you and...

It’s 6 PM and your favorite veterinary hospital is windng down for the day. You can see the lights go off inside just as you pull up with “the mother of all emergencies.” Your dog has just bloated and you didn’t think to call ahead. You were so wound up and near-hysterical when you found him at home, mid-bloat and retching, you didn’t even have time to register the time of day. 

As you see...

Last October I embarked on a series of posts detailing the economics and other mechanics of hip disease in dogs. But somehow life intervened and I only got part 1 and part 2 completed before being swept away on some other, more immediately compelling Dolittler mission. 

To atone for my sins of omission, here’s the last enrty in this three part series. Perhaps the most interesting of the...