If I were to rank my clients’ complaints over business practices in veterinary medicine, the number one offending issue wins by a wide margin: It’s the price of emergency care. 

Truth be told, it’s a sore spot with me, too. Like the time I lost a client over an $800 ER bill when a cat chewed out her stitches on a $200 spay (the doc at the ER told this client she should ask me to pay). Like...

Let’s say you’re at the shelter picking out a new cat or kitten. Your heart is set on this little tabby female so you pay your adoption fee and make your way home, content in the knowledge that Misty’s been spayed, dewormed and vaccinated––as healthy as can be, right?

A year later, you take Misty in to see the veterinarian. Must be time for shots, you think. Here’s when your veterinarian...

It’s worth thinking about, especially as more and more of us are braving hard times by dispensing with the dentist...for ourselves, our human kids, and our pets, too. 

It’s understandable, all this stress over spending up-front money for non-life-threatening issues like dental care. If the cash is in in short supply, best to save it up for the true emergencies, right? 

I get it. In fact, I’m...

Exhibit A: The Obama family has a new dog.

Exhibit B: The recession’s in full swing.

Exhibit C: Media sources say pets are expensive.

Ergo...

The new White House dog is a Presidential splurge...or so some say.

Can Obama expense Bo on his taxes, you think? Or should he declare him, as he was a gift, by next April 15th? Whaddaya think, Portuguese Water Dog...high quality...two, three grand?...

Here’s a double-post offering for your pets. This is the first of two entries on the canine and feline “oil change,"––AKA, the indispensable annual visit. The kitty version will arrive later this week so stay tuned.

Every year, we veterinarians recommend you brighten our lives with your loyal presence. Sure, it means you trust us and want to support our businesses, but more importantly,...

Ever wonder at all the “stuff” your veterinarian carries in his/her hospital? Sometimes it seems the products and foods are literally dripping from the well-stocked walls, the melamine shelving teeming with pet-themed goods––sometimes even in the exam rooms. You’d never expect to see so much for sale at your human doc’s place, right? 

After yesterday’s post on euthanasia costs––and a...

Here’s a killer topic. It’s one veterinarians hate to handle due to its sensitive nature and accusatory undertones. And yet it’s worth raising, especially since someone else did so in a nationally syndicated pet health column last month. 

The issue is this: Why should veterinarians charge their “faithful” clients for euthanasia? After all, it’s painful enough to have your pet euthanized. No...

Are you spending less on your pet’s healthcare lately? If you’re anything like my clients, you are. But if my practice is any guide, you’re not necessarily scrimping on all kinds of veterinary care. Nope. You’re picking and choosing, trying hard to do your best by your pet in a scary economy....and that's why specialists are feeling the slowdown more than most.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not...

OK, so that’s just a salacious title. Your veterinarian may well recommend pet health insurance. And I do, too. That makes...um...two of us. 

Well...maybe I exaggerate. It’s clear that veterinarians increasingly buy into pet health insurance. When faced with very sick patients whose owners hold insurance policies for them, we breathe a sigh of relief. In our experience these clients more...

About three million bucks. That’s what Pedigree paid for its excellent, thirty-second spot to air during tomorrow's Super Bowl. And that figure won’t include the cost of the ad’s development...or of it’s high profile “adoption drive,” apparently manufactured by Madison Ave to assuage the conscience of those who must down-size on dog food in this withering economy.

In a year where the big guys...