Vets are a complete waste of time and money.

[2Paisan]

Hi all, well I gues I am on the not a waste of time side but then we have a very special herp vet that is less than 2 miles from our house. He helped me a ton with our tort Frankie while the reptile expert in our home was gone for 2 weeks and Frankie had an RI infection. Dr. B helped me with dosages, supported me as I learned to do injections on the tort (which I had never done before) dehydration, even getting tort back on eating. He has also addressed some special issues as Frankie came with some evidence of diet swings (not enough calcium/too much calcium). He has answered emails for us for a couple of weeks after her illness to make sure that Frankie was really better. I think if any pet is very sick it is very helpful if a doc that knows that animal is available. I know ours helped me.

Nancy

 

[fifthdawn]

I think when it comes to disease and illness, compared to humans, animals just doesn't have an extensively long list. Not to say that animals arn't capable of having such a list, but I'm betting if we look at veteraniary text books, the list and treatment would probably be memorable.

With that said, many of the time, we can tell whats wrong with a pet because unlike humans, animals can't choose to hide symptoms. Many of the illness can probably be home treated. The only time you really need to go to a vet is fecal test unless you know how to do it yourself, surgery and x-rays since we don't have the equipments, and antibiotics.

Rarely will there be any pet problems that doesn't fall into that one of those categories. If its a problem that just doesn't seem to have a diagnosis, then I'm willing to bet the vet probably doesn't know the disease either.

 

[matt41gb]

I think when it comes to disease and illness, compared to humans, animals just doesn't have an extensively long list. Not to say that animals arn't capable of having such a list, but I'm betting if we look at veteraniary text books, the list and treatment would probably be memorable.

With that said, many of the time, we can tell whats wrong with a pet because unlike humans, animals can't choose to hide symptoms. Many of the illness can probably be home treated. The only time you really need to go to a vet is fecal test unless you know how to do it yourself, surgery and x-rays since we don't have the equipments, and antibiotics.

Rarely will there be any pet problems that doesn't fall into that one of those categories. If its a problem that just doesn't seem to have a diagnosis, then I'm willing to bet the vet probably doesn't know the disease either.

I strongly disagree with your statement. The list of disease and illness in animals is endless. Now I'm talking about dogs and cats here since I work with them at that level. They get a lot of the same diseases that people do. Hyper/hypothyroidism, cancers, cataracts, allergies, pneumonia, blood diseases, fungal infections, AIDS, and the list keeps going. Veterinarians need to know the same things M.D.s do. There is just less risk of malpractice suits in the veterinary world. I've been a veterinary technician for four years now, and I'm amazed at the things my Dr. has to remember. He will forget more than I'll ever learn.

-Matt

 

[fifthdawn]

I was just talking about tortoises. I'm not saying they can't get certain disease. I have a feeling for reptiles, there is very little documented illnesses.

Majority of the problems we tend to see on forums are temperature or humidity problem, which are even disease. The rest of the majority is either impaction, worms, or RI. Rarily will it be anything else which is why most the time, vet visits seems useless.

 

[matt41gb]

I see what you're saying now. I'll have to ask my herp vet what kinds of other diseases/illnesses turtles and torts get other than the norm.

 

[moswen]

I went to the vet yesterday to ask about a fecal test for the torts and they said that they wanted $48.00 for the test. I was very surprised because I had always heard on here that vets only charged like $10.00 to $20.00 for a test. What's should the going price be?

my vet charges $19.00 for a fecal test but then another $5.00 for "fecal dispasal"!!!! really, just give me the poop back and i'll keep my five and flush it down the toilet when i get home.... but i've never actually said anything because it's only $5 lol...

 

[matt41gb]

I went to the vet yesterday to ask about a fecal test for the torts and they said that they wanted $48.00 for the test. I was very surprised because I had always heard on here that vets only charged like $10.00 to $20.00 for a test. What's should the going price be?

my vet charges $19.00 for a fecal test but then another $5.00 for "fecal dispasal"!!!! really, just give me the poop back and i'll keep my five and flush it down the toilet when i get home.... but i've never actually said anything because it's only $5 lol...

Fecal exams usually cost around $25, so you're actually paying less. It could vary from clinic to clinic, but I would that that's the average.

 

[dmmj]

I can not agree with the OT my vet is fantastic and charges reasonable fees. Whenever I take in an unwanted turtle or tortoise it goes to the vet for a checkup and fecal, I just took in a russian who came to me with a RI, ( remember there is no such thing as a free tortoise), I would imagine it would depend on your vet.

 

[Candy]

I can not agree with the OT my vet is fantastic and charges reasonable fees. Whenever I take in an unwanted turtle or tortoise it goes to the vet for a checkup and fecal, I just took in a russian who came to me with a RI, ( remember there is no such thing as a free tortoise), I would imagine it would depend on your vet.

Please tell me who your vet is. I think we live pretty close to each other and I am looking for a good vet.

 

[Shelly]

remember there is no such thing as a free tortoise

I have had my 3 for about 10-13 years and they have not cost me a single cent.

 

[dmmj]

Candy I live in La Verne CA, my vet's office is also in La Verne CA which is right next to pomona if you want my vets address and phone number let me know and I will send it to you.

 

[kimber_lee_314]

I can not agree with the OT my vet is fantastic and charges reasonable fees. Whenever I take in an unwanted turtle or tortoise it goes to the vet for a checkup and fecal, I just took in a russian who came to me with a RI, ( remember there is no such thing as a free tortoise), I would imagine it would depend on your vet.

Please tell me who your vet is. I think we live pretty close to each other and I am looking for a good vet.

I have a great vet in Claremont if you need a referral.

 

[brymanda]

I have had my 3 for about 10-13 years and they have not cost me a single cent.

Free water, food and housing too? cool.


Btw, a comprehensive stool test for humans costs insurance around $255. And the protocol followed by the lab really isn't all that different. Just be grateful that veterinary medicine isn't charging the exorbitant prices human medicine costs, especially since the cost of veterinary school is pretty much the same as the cost of medical school.

Part of the reason that vets don't often know much about tortoises is that it is only a minor part of the general curriculum. Tortoises aren't where the money are so only vets genuinely interested in learning about them are going to pursue that track. There's now a boarded specialty in reptile medicine so if you're looking for a good reptile vet, that's what you want to seek out.

Also, bear in mind that just because some people on this board may have years of experience in torts and have talked to other people with years of experience, there are also people like me who are just starting out and learning. If I think there's something wrong with my tort, I'm not going to trust myself to guess at the right solution. I could ask here, but you all can't see my tort, so what if you unknowingly gave me the wrong answer? I invested a lot of money in my torts between housing, heating, humidifying, etc, and they have sentimental meaning to me beyond the money. If a $55 vet call is what it takes to save them, I'll do it. And if there was nothing really wrong with them? Well, it was peace of mind, and next time I may not be so lucky.

Overall, I think this has been kind of a sad and judgemental thread. If your first child had his first fever and you had no idea what to do, would you look on the internet and take a guess? Or call up a doctor? And just like there are vets out there that aren't spectacular, there are definitely doctors out there that aren't great either. But don't draw generalizations about a profession that has dedicated a career to helping creatures that can't help themselves, for a lot less money and clout than their professional counterparts in the human world.

 

[Shelly]

I have had my 3 for about 10-13 years and they have not cost me a single cent.

Free water, food and housing too?

Yup.

 

[moswen]

the vet i took tula to two years ago charged me $80 to pick her up, turn her over, and say "she looks good. she's very active and friendly!" and proceed to tell me about a greek tort she had as a kid... she then told me that tula would "learn the sound of my voice" and come to be fed. i found that statement kind of interesting, being as to how i already knew that tortoises don't pick up the higher-pitched frequencies and actually can NOT hear human voices; most likely they know your footsteps or have already seen you if they are coming to you when you call them...

so some vets are not as good as others, as has already been stated, and sometimes you do end up wasting your money. but i have peace of mind afterwards, and that's worth a lot to me! i find myself worrying a lot about my hatchlings because i love them so much and i'm so scared that they're going to be dying and i won't know it because animals are supposed to hide their discomforts to prevent them from being prayed upon as an "easy meal." and i've never had any tort besides tula before and i don't think a bear could kill her, she's a hardy 'ole gal!

at this stage in my "experience chart" i would rather be safe than sorry, but i feel with experience i will be able to become a better judge. i think if a new tort owner wasn't worried about random things that seem abnormal to them then they probably don't care very much about their pet, and that's sad.

i honestly feel that the time i've spent on this forum reading old posts and learning new things has been of more value to me than any amount of vet visits, but i still will not hesitate to take moswen or ayana or safina or even tula to the vet if they start to act a little funny. until i get more experience behind my belt and i can rule out an illness because mos didn't eat his breakfast, or he stayed too long in his hide, (or whatever, these are just random examples) i'd just like to hear someone else tell me that he looks fine. but this is just my opinion, and nothing more!

 

[-EJ]

I've been self treating reptiles for about 35 years. That's because 35 years ago there were no reptile vets.

Tomorrow I'm taking one of my tortoises to a vet to help me save it's life. I've got a good idea of what is wrong but need the advice of an educated person to help me make an informed decision.

Most times a keeper waits until the last minute to take a pet to the vet in the hopes that they can save the bucks.

I could be misreading this post but the person who posted shouldn't have pets.

In reading the forums here for the last couple years, I would anecdotally say that about %90 of time that a visit to the vet is mentioned it is a complete waste of time and money.
For every post where somebody says that "The Vet cured my tort! Yay!!" there are about 10 others where the visit was completely and totally unneeded, or the vet had no clue what the problem was or how to treat it.
If your friend sneezes while in the same room as your tort, you don't need to rush him to the Vet "just to be safe". If he goes a couple hours without eating, he probably isn't dying. If one of his toenails is too long, no need to call 911.
If you cannot tell the difference between a genuine important health issue and an imaginary one, you probably shouldn't have pets.
(the examples have been edited out by moderator out of courtesy to the OP's in the examples)

 

[ChiKat]

I have had my 3 for about 10-13 years and they have not cost me a single cent.

Free water, food and housing too? cool.


Btw, a comprehensive stool test for humans costs insurance around $255. And the protocol followed by the lab really isn't all that different. Just be grateful that veterinary medicine isn't charging the exorbitant prices human medicine costs, especially since the cost of veterinary school is pretty much the same as the cost of medical school.

Part of the reason that vets don't often know much about tortoises is that it is only a minor part of the general curriculum. Tortoises aren't where the money are so only vets genuinely interested in learning about them are going to pursue that track. There's now a boarded specialty in reptile medicine so if you're looking for a good reptile vet, that's what you want to seek out.

Also, bear in mind that just because some people on this board may have years of experience in torts and have talked to other people with years of experience, there are also people like me who are just starting out and learning. If I think there's something wrong with my tort, I'm not going to trust myself to guess at the right solution. I could ask here, but you all can't see my tort, so what if you unknowingly gave me the wrong answer? I invested a lot of money in my torts between housing, heating, humidifying, etc, and they have sentimental meaning to me beyond the money. If a $55 vet call is what it takes to save them, I'll do it. And if there was nothing really wrong with them? Well, it was peace of mind, and next time I may not be so lucky.

Overall, I think this has been kind of a sad and judgemental thread. If your first child had his first fever and you had no idea what to do, would you look on the internet and take a guess? Or call up a doctor? And just like there are vets out there that aren't spectacular, there are definitely doctors out there that aren't great either. But don't draw generalizations about a profession that has dedicated a career to helping creatures that can't help themselves, for a lot less money and clout than their professional counterparts in the human world.

Excellent post!!

 

[terryo]

"Btw, a comprehensive stool test for humans costs insurance around $255. And the protocol followed by the lab really isn't all that different. Just be grateful that veterinary medicine isn't charging the exorbitant prices human medicine costs, especially since the cost of veterinary school is pretty much the same as the cost of medical school.

Part of the reason that vets don't often know much about tortoises is that it is only a minor part of the general curriculum. Tortoises aren't where the money are so only vets genuinely interested in learning about them are going to pursue that track. There's now a boarded specialty in reptile medicine so if you're looking for a good reptile vet, that's what you want to seek out.

Also, bear in mind that just because some people on this board may have years of experience in torts and have talked to other people with years of experience, there are also people like me who are just starting out and learning. If I think there's something wrong with my tort, I'm not going to trust myself to guess at the right solution. I could ask here, but you all can't see my tort, so what if you unknowingly gave me the wrong answer? I invested a lot of money in my torts between housing, heating, humidifying, etc, and they have sentimental meaning to me beyond the money. If a $55 vet call is what it takes to save them, I'll do it. And if there was nothing really wrong with them? Well, it was peace of mind, and next time I may not be so lucky.

Overall, I think this has been kind of a sad and judgemental thread. If your first child had his first fever and you had no idea what to do, would you look on the internet and take a guess? Or call up a doctor? And just like there are vets out there that aren't spectacular, there are definitely doctors out there that aren't great either. But don't draw generalizations about a profession that has dedicated a career to helping creatures that can't help themselves, for a lot less money and clout than their professional counterparts in the human world. "


I think this post says it all ! I agree with you Katie...excellent post.

 

[goodsmeagol]

My last visit was a total waste of 100 bucks.
Lets see, (dye in the eye) yup looks all good, have a nice day.
Week later, irritated eye again, yey.

However, back to the vet I go this week to drop another $100...
Eye still stays closed for a few minutes if it has been closed for a bit.
His right eye opens right away, but it takes him time to open the left.
I am guessing it is 'sleep' getting dried out keeping ti closed...

Waste of money? Maybe, money well spent? Maybe too...

 

[zzzdanz]

My vet is awesome and I'm lucky to have him.He specializes in reptiles and is a tort freak as well.
My last visit to him was for my beardie who wasn't looking to good.
I had blood work done,fecal,de-wormed, and meds given to me for a whop'n $50.At that price, I don't feel like I wasted any time or money.

The same amount of care for 1 of my rescue torts was $53..And my vet calls or e-mails me just to check up on how everyones doing. That's priceless to me.