Vet Costs

Natural Beauty Farm · #21 02/04/12, 08:49 AM

I think it just depends on if they are a farm vet or small animal willing to look at a goat.... and your relationship with them. I lost my farm vet of 20 years when he sold his practice and took a job as state vet, great guy, but knew nothing about goats and acted like he did. Local farm kid came home a few years later after becoming a vet, admitted he knew nothing about goats and had killed everyone he touched in school

He had a portable gas machine though and I needed a c-section done on a favorite doe ASAP, so I told him I would assist and that if she died I would not blame him. We got the 6 kids out, but lost her in the process. He didn't charge me for that call.
Two days later I again needed his help with a delivery, he was raised with cattle and was afraid of hurting the little FF, big hand.... small girl parts, so I went in and he talked me through what I was feeling. Delivered 2 does. Cost me a beer that had to be in the frig for at least 6 months and $10.
This year I called him at midnight when a doe went down, told him I would pay for all his beer the rest of his life if he helped me save her. He came 5 min after I lost her, helped me get her out of the pen, did a field necropsy, dug hole and buried her while the wind and rain howled in freezing temps. Charged me $30.
He still has not operated on a goat and had it make it through the surgery, but he is honest, calls mentors when I have a question, does necropsies for free, after we have beat our heads against the wall trying to figure out what is wrong and gives me meds with a phone call. We have both learned as we go along and he does not roll his eyes now when I tell him the ladies on the goat forums suggest XYZ for treatment.

....... oh and he is single ladies, if anyone wants to move to SW VA, lol

Natural Beauty Farm · #22 02/04/12, 09:31 AM

Sorry, but I have not seen any outrageous fees here. I think for the most part farm calls are cheaper than office visits and if I needed them, I would pay what everyone here is paying. The local small animal hospital charges $75 to walk in the door and they get a CC number when you make an appointment, so you get charged for the appointment either way if you don't show, then its $55 for exam, plus meds, lab work, etc.... They are working with pets, so they know everyone who walks in is hooked. I was paying $350-$500 twice a year for my dog's regular shots.

I can see a farm call charge (we called it convenience fee), extra mileage charge, exam charge, med charge, etc.... everything adds up even in this economy when everyone has less. Its why having a good vet manual, knowing how to use it and building a relationship with the vet are so important. It all saves you money.

I think my old vet charged $150 to come out, I live 12 miles from his office, most times he would look at the animal and say I had done everything possible and put it down, $35 in meds. Never mentioned HC, low calcium, bad hay. Did not take me long to figure out a $200 book and .05 bullet was going to save me money.

Jyllie63 · #23 02/04/12, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Natural Beauty Farm

I think it just depends on if they are a farm vet or small animal willing to look at a goat.... and your relationship with them. I lost my farm vet of 20 years when he sold his practice and took a job as state vet, great guy, but knew nothing about goats and acted like he did. Local farm kid came home a few years later after becoming a vet, admitted he knew nothing about goats and had killed everyone he touched in school

He had a portable gas machine though and I needed a c-section done on a favorite doe ASAP, so I told him I would assist and that if she died I would not blame him. We got the 6 kids out, but lost her in the process. He didn't charge me for that call.
Two days later I again needed his help with a delivery, he was raised with cattle and was afraid of hurting the little FF, big hand.... small girl parts, so I went in and he talked me through what I was feeling. Delivered 2 does. Cost me a beer that had to be in the frig for at least 6 months and $10.
This year I called him at midnight when a doe went down, told him I would pay for all his beer the rest of his life if he helped me save her. He came 5 min after I lost her, helped me get her out of the pen, did a field necropsy, dug hole and buried her while the wind and rain howled in freezing temps. Charged me $30.
He still has not operated on a goat and had it make it through the surgery, but he is honest, calls mentors when I have a question, does necropsies for free, after we have beat our heads against the wall trying to figure out what is wrong and gives me meds with a phone call. We have both learned as we go along and he does not roll his eyes now when I tell him the ladies on the goat forums suggest XYZ for treatment.

....... oh and he is single ladies, if anyone wants to move to SW VA, lol

I would love to find one like this ( not the single part...I'm married LOL ). When we started using our current vet, the first call to our farm was for an alpaca cria who needed surgery. The vet came out, did the surgery and gave us meds and it cost $211. I thought that was very reasonable. He was fresh out of vet school and we call him Doogie Howser

The next time he came out, it was an emergency where we ended up having the animal put down and he did a necropsy $121. This past time it wasn't an emergency, no surgery, guy (different vet same practice) lives in my town that's no more than 5 miles in diameter (but the "office" is 15 miles away) and it cost $145. I don't think a "farm" charge is bad, but the mileage fee is horrible IMO. I assumed that's what the farm charge was since they are still getting an exam fee. I don't know...guess I don't like to be nickel and dimed to death. Just tell me it's $100 farm visit and I probably wouldn't care

. My Dh keeps telling me I need to work at a vets office or even go to school because my intuition is always right. I don't always have the right answer, but I usually know what the problem is.

CaliannG · #24 02/06/12, 12:39 AM

My vet's farm call charge is $60. No mileage fee, no exam fee. It's the same whether our old vet, or his recently graduated colleague, comes out. They are both really good, will admit it if they don't know what is going on, and will refer me to other dairy goat owners.

They know something about goats, at least, even if their experience is with meat goat operations and they look at me funny when I say things like, "I'd have to put down a CL positive doe if one showed up in my herd." They do NOT tell me, like one vet in Colorado did, that I'd kill my goats with toxicity if I bolused them.

Also, I just need to ask for scripts and they are waiting for me at the counter when I show up. Sometimes pre-packaged in already drawn up syringes.

Hollowdweller · #25 02/06/12, 09:59 AM

One thing I think people should do is have a list with all their goats on it.

Then they should have data on that goat like Linear Scores, milk production and any sickness or vet care.

Then you should factor in health costs of that particular doe into your selection process. Any goat can get sick but it is often possible using this method to identify goats that are more constitutionally strong and develop a line that does not require any expensive vet care.

dosthouhavemilk · #26 02/06/12, 10:21 AM

Fee depends on which practice, what vet, and the reason behind the visit.
We are about one mile from the Vet's office we get our meds from and they charge anywhere from $30-$65 for a farm visit. The same office that if I were to get my vet license I have a job waiting there for me. After losing Fred a number of years back, we have been through vets at that office like crazy. A couple were fantastic (the one even moved on to Kansas to study goats specifically). We've had cases where the vet came out, killed the doe in question (kids were too big and her uterus tore...our second ever loss during kidding), and then showed me where and how to cut for a c-section. Found out she was carrying twin doelings (I knew it was twins). Never saw a charge for that one from the office. We've only ever had vets out three times for kidding issues. I was in Kansas the first time and dad tried but could not get them straightened out. That doe survived just fine. Second time was Veruca, ended up losing her to shock. The kid had been dead and decomposing. Don't think there was a charge on that one either. May have been. That was the vet that went to Kansas. Wonderful woman! Miss her dearly. Third time was the one we had killed a couple years ago. We have generally considered it worth having the vet out since I have always learned something new each time. Like if you are pulling a decomposing kid, it is not a good idea to try and pull it out in pieces because it can tear the uterine lining (kind of a duh, but it was 6AM in the morning and we had been working on her for 5 hours at that stage).
We have usually taken goats in for issues that need addressing. I had to spend $15 for a office visit in the next town over. He checked Chimi's ankle and agreed it was broken. Told me we should just splint it. He has been the secondary choice for a vet for our farm for a long time. Used to be referred to as "Kill'em quick Kemp." His solution to most issues with a cow was ship her quick so you don't lose money. He's gotten better thanks to the most recent wife.
Mostly, we do our own vet work when it comes to the goats. We've used vets for decades though. Had a Grade A dairy cow farm for decades, so you have a vet out regularly for testing and vaccinations (Bangs, TB, Johnes, etc), preg checking, repro health checks and other issues having a vet help with. We haven't used vets for Milk Fever in decades, we treat our own.
Having that history helps a lot. It helps even more that I job shadowed at the vet's office. I ask for drugs, they hand them over. I am blessed and I know it and appreciate it.
Having a good relationship with a vet is a wonderful thing, if it means you have access to what you need. So some of the costs of that is paying high fees once in awhile.
Jill, sorry about this summer. We had a very similar one with the goats. Lost a large number of animals we should not have before we got it straightened out. Darn parasites.