the first question i was asked while the vet was looking at the wound (before asking what had actually happened to cause it) was whether i was insured.

when Jake got all his treatment done, i went with what the vet said as i have never had a dog have a wound like that, so it was new for me. my uncle (who lives quite a bit away from us) came to visit a few days later, and i just wish i had thought to call him coz he does have experience with things like that... next time anything happens he will be getting a call straight away coz after owning dogs all his life, he has come across a lot.

...imo thats a very dangerous road to go down

i mean what do vets know

he was knocked out the first time obviously to clean, flush, stitch etc the wound. The second time was coz the wound got infected. When i picked him up the first time he was in, he had a bumpy bit on the bottom of the wound. i asked what it was, and was told it was swelling that would go down in a day or two... it wasnt swelling, it was fluid which got infected. When i spoke to my uncle about it (before he saw Jake) he asked if a drain was put in the wound, and when i said no, he said his vet puts a drain in as a precaution coz wounds like that can get infections coz of fluid the wound produces... when he saw Jakes wound, he said that in his opinion a drain should have put in it. I also spoke to a neighbour, who is good friends with my usual vet, and she said the same thing. Like i have said though, i dont have experience with this type of wound but both of them do. After i was told this, i did some reading and most things agreed with them. The third time was when he got the drain out. Now, i dont know if dogs normally get drains out while knocked out... but it was a few stitches to get cut, and then some of the skin glue put in it.

The treatment of the other dog was told me directly from the owner, and i met him in the waiting room at the vets when i went to pick Jake up after having the drain removed. This dog also had a drain in (for a different reason, he had a cyst removed but that got infected) and the time i met them, he was in to get his drain taken out there and then, while fully awake... they had drains in for slightly different reasons, but i am still surprised it was done a different way.

im not saying that, but having someone elses opinion to ask the vet about is IMO better than following them blindly. Vets do know a lot, but owners who have firsthand experience with their own animals are good to talk to. Just the same as people come on here and ask people for their experiences etc.

I dont think anyone suggested you did not think Jale was worth the cost of treatment.

Merely pointing out they medical treatment costs a lot of money, be it for human or animal.



Are you saying the vet performed surgery on this dog , removing a cyst, stitching it up and putting a drain in the wound while the dogs was "awake"


There is no point in comparing another case to yours, and deciding you were ripped off ,because theirs cost less,

You dont know the circumstances of the dogs treatment, what after care/medication and so on he needed,

The fact a vet asks if you are insured does not preempt him ripping you off.

Why did you not challenge the cost and ask for a breakdown of costs, if you were not happy with the 1) treatment 2) cost.

I would also be weary of the layman informing you , this that and the other should have been done in their opinion, unless ofcause said layman is a vet or vet nurse... there may well be a very good reason why your vet did not put a drain in, all wounds dont automatically warrant a drain. something your uncle may not understand.

So it's a coincidence something like anal gland cleaning went from 50p each time to £25 as soon as we insured ? I don't think so obviously. And I fully understand being offered options but some vets make it quite clear because you are not going down the expensive route you are not doing the best for your dog an example would be allergy testing because we had £300 worth of test and then opted for steroids daily it was made quite clear to us the further £700 of testing and experimental testing was a better course forgetting all the time Duncan would be itchy and unhappy and we would be working all hours to pay for it.

50p!!! well im not suprissed it went up ...mind u id do it for free

..i would say thats guilt from your part.

Well the 50p was back in 1984 and much was cheaper back then.

As for guilt - not so much from my part as I know what my dog needs and that is less itchiness and more fun not more misery and tests, but it did make me change vets to one who understood a little better the dilemma of itchiness versus a cure. And coincidentally a lump removal quoted at £500 freom our first vet was done for less than £300 at our current vet but he isn't supporting a huge staff and large building.

Perhaps you should realise that not all vets will just give out advice willy nilly, that not all dogs will be taken in, patched up and given to a rescue for them to sell to a new home - you seem to think that this is a personal attack on you - no one is attacking YOU but we all have our experiences and knowledge and are allowed to voice our oinion, if you choose to believe that you are so bladdy important that whenever anyone has anything to mention about a vet anywhere in this world its an attack on the almighty you then go ahead.

nuf said

Another point is as a humane human being most of us could not turn away a suffering animal or person, to say it is business and to be able to do so takes a different mind set than I and many others have. I am not saying we or the vets are right but my goodness we do seem to be different.