Hi, I’m Dr. Karyn! Read my introduction to learn more about me and meet my five funny cats: Clutch, Cyril, Alex, Zelda and Zazzles.
I want to let you in on a secret. The part of a veterinarian’s job that they hate the most is not euthanasia. These are not aggressive or excessively noisy, out of control dogs. It’s not trying to examine a cat with sharp teeth and a cat that would love nothing more than to scratch your eyes and eat your intestines for dinner. He is not even trying to communicate a complex surgical procedure or medical condition to an owner while his five children under the age of four run screaming around the consulting room unrestrained and apparently unnoticed by their unconscious parent, even though the last one is close.
The part of a vet’s job they hate the most is talking about money.
We all worked hard, studied hard, and spent hours and hours of our university holidays on practical placements, because we love animals, and we want to be able to help in any way. No vet gets into this job for the money, and if they did, they were clearly cheated somewhere along the way! Vets earn, on average, about $100,000 a year, placing us at number 86 in the salary ranking.1 I am not suggesting that $100K is a small sum, but considering the amount of technical knowledge, skills and responsibilities involved in the position, the fact that it takes about 8 years of study, with average university loans between $80-200K, I believe me, we do it for the love of animals, not because we hope to get rich!
Where is my money?
Most veterinary practices are businesses. We are not funded by the government, and as you all know, health care is expensive. Equipment, consumables, drugs, support staff, buildings, utilities, and ongoing training to stay up-to-date with techniques and information all cost money. And damn, your vet deserves to be paid too!
Something that has affected the veterinary burden in the last decade is the rise of Veterinary Consolidators, such as March, who have branched out from snacks and chocolate into the world of animal health care. This corporate giant now owns a staggering 3,000 veterinary practices worldwide, 37 major pet food companies, including Royal Canin, Iams, Whiskas and Sheba, 11 veterinary diagnostic companies, and has a controlling interest in major pharmacies and suppliers. online vets.
What does this mean for pet owners?
- It means that your local independent veterinary practice can be bought by a rich company without you knowing anything about it, because they cleverly keep all the original branding and signage, so that their corporate ownership only appears in the fine print.
- This means that in addition to all the ordinary expenses faced by a veterinary practice, any profit must be poured into the pockets of the shareholders and board members, who now control the price of your pet’s veterinary care , leaving the vets and support staff to handle it. the reaction from the increase in prices.
- It means that no matter how angry or frustrated you may feel when the cost of veterinary care increases, your veterinarian, even the owner of the practice, has no control over prices.
Why do veterinary practices sell to these corporations? Because the competition they have created in the market makes it almost impossible for independent practitioners to stay afloat.
What does it have to do with insurance?
Yes – let’s get back on track. Along with everything else, the price of pet insurance is constantly rising, which has led many pet owners to make the difficult decision to cancel their policies or switch to a cheaper company, but here are the problems with that decision:
- Many of the companies that offer lower premiums
- they increase the cost of their coverage every year, and every time a claim is made.
- pay only for certain conditions, and can only pay a very limited amount per condition.
- it only covers one condition for 12 months, which is fine if it’s a one-off injury or illness, but if it’s something that may come back later in life, or be a lifelong condition, such as diabetesa 12 month policy won’t be much help.
- If you change companies, any condition noted in your pet’s history will not be covered. For example, if your cat had a painful knee when they were 2 years old and then needed surgery on that knee five years later, if you changed companies during that time, you will not be covered for the surgery.
- If you cancel your insurance policy because of affordability, there is little chance that you will be able to pay for a treatment or surgery that could cost thousands of dollars.
- Pet insurance companies have a minimum of 14 days without a claim, so if you think you can only take out a policy when you have a problem with your pet, it doesn’t have to work.
As a veterinarian, there are obviously some things I can do for my pets, even if it is not always easy to detach myself from them to really do it! But all my pets are covered by pet insurance, so I know the things I can’t do will be expensive! As you know, I have five cats (and five dogs), so pet insurance is a big expense every month, but it’s something we’ve committed to paying to get these pets. We chose not to have any of the big TV subscriptions, we are extremely frugal when it comes to shopping, and we regularly buy and sell on Facebook Marketplace (which is also great from a sustainable perspective). I am very aware that we are in a much better financial situation than many people, but the point I want to make is that if you have a pet, I strongly urge you to see where you can sacrifice a monthly expense to do so. room for pet insurance.
Our cats depend on us to take care of them, and by taking them, we say that we are able to provide the best care that we can, and unfortunately, that care has become more expensive. Believe me, I know how frustrating it is to see your pet insurance premiums come out of your bank account every month, when it is something that (hopefully) you will never use; We estimate that we have spent over $15,000 on insurance for our current group of cats, and we have never made a claim! But if something happens to your beloved cat, and you are looking for a veterinary bill of $ 3000 or more, you will be very grateful to find that $ 15-20 per month for insurance.
When Sparky was brought into our clinic a couple of years ago after running away and being hit by a car, we didn’t know if he was going to make it; he needed major surgery to repair his broken pelvis and jaw, with an estimated cost of about $4000. Fortunately, Sparky had a microchip and we were able to quickly contact his owners, and they said the words that any veterinarian wants to hear in this situation: “go ahead, it’s insured”.
As vets, we don’t make money from insurance, and the only reason we recommend it so strongly to our clients is that, when the worst happens, we want to do everything we can to help your cat get healthy and back to life. home for you. We know that prices are rising, and we know how much stress that can add to an already difficult situation. Believe me, your vet hates having to talk about money when your cat is in trouble, but you know what we like to hear?
Don’t worry, we have pet insurance.
We hope you never have to, but when something goes wrong, you’ll be glad you did.
