I feel every time I need to see a veterinary, no matter how small a problem, I end up spending over $500. How do others afford to take care of their pets? I feel these costs have greatly gone up over the last many years. I understand this is a service that is hard for people to turn down, since our pets are our family. Just like healthcare, food and education. Necessary things in life seem to have the largest markup. Where is the rip off coming from? I read veterinarians are not rich. I understand. So what is the problem? Is it the ownership of the company by someone that is only in it for money and makes all the calls? Opaque costs? Lack of transparency? Why does a checkup to see if there is an ear infection cost $500 even if there is no issue and is just over concern from the parent? Why am I charged $80 for an “exam” that literally has nothing to do with the actual exam for the specific problem that brought me in the first place. Why isn’t it just called a visit fee which is exactly what it is. Is it the business owner? Is it the practice? Is it a field that is able to be exploited due to our love for our family pets? Constantly pissed the F*ck off that veterinaries that I used to frequent for years suddenly change and now cost a car payment or mortgage for every non emergency simple visit.

Hi,

My 1 year old lab was taken for neutering. We were aware that he would be a crytorchild situation as his 1 testicle was not descended. VET did check for 2nd testicle by his abdomen incision but couldn’t find the other testis for a long time. N now recommending to go for a higher level ultrasound with a surgeon..to confirm if there is another testicle or not in the body. N then do the next procedure accordingly.

1. Is that possible to have just one testicle in Labrador dog?

2. If its hard to find the undecended testicle via ultra sound, can we take plan B – the visible n descended testicle is removed n then blood test is done in 4 -5 months for testosterone hormones in blood if anything changes to be sure if there is another testicle in body?

Youemf valuable inputs are much appreciated

Thanks mahesh

Hi Krysta,

Just recently saw one of your videos regarding IVDD our soon to be 6 yr old Chocolate Lab Bruschi was recently diagnosed with this condition. We don’t know what to do surgery seems out of the question financially. What are some physical therapy practices we can do to help him? Please advice

My 14 year old Lab mix has been diagnosed with Laryngeal Paralysis around 6 months ago. She is doing okay except at night sometimes coughing for 15-20 seconds and then going back to sleep. Please let me know what experiences there are from the surgery. I want to see if this is something that she can survive. Thanks for your help…

Saturday I was working in the yard and later came across poison ivy. My 6 year old lab was out with me and I’m worried I touched his toy with poison ivy hands or his toy touched poison ivy. Should I be concerned that he will get poison rash in his mouth?

I have two dogs who made “friends” with a skunk about a week ago. I have bathed them in hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, dawn dish soap. Also had the bathed at the groomer and then bathed them again at home with Skunk Out shampoo. The still smell but not too badly. What seems to really stink is when they open their mouths. I use Fresh Dental in their water with limited success. Any other suggestions?

PYOMETRA SURGERY QUESTION: I have a question for Dr. Krista. Below is background information and I will include cost info for anyone that might be searching for cost information in the future and stumbles across this website. (also uploading a picture of doggie with stitches to gallery)

My 7.5 year old Shepherd/Husky mix just had surgery for pyometra. It was approximately $2000 at a pet hospital in Tennessee for the surgery. (actual surgery was a little under $900 and then additional things such as anesthesia, overnight boarding charge, IV, antibiotics, e-collar, medication, etc ended up racking up the charges to almost $2000.) Her symptoms that caused me to go to the vet were not eating, depressed, excessive drinking, constant licking her private areas, and I did notice she was drooling a lot as well. Her not eating was the main thing that had me worried as this dog will eat anything and gobble her food up in seconds and then lick the bowl clean searching for any missing bits under normal circumstances, yet she even turned her nose up at her favorite foods. I had initially been worried about blockage since she had eaten some table scrap bones a few days prior (which I now know not to do for future reference), but after googling , I came to the conclusion pyometra was more likely. She had just finished her heat cycle a few weeks prior, so everything lined up on her symptoms matching pyometra. The vet did an x-ray and blood work and it did end up being Pyometra. I had never heard of this before and really wish I had as this was an expensive lesson for us to learn and painful for our poor doggie. If we had spaded her when she was younger, it would have been $250 at the exact same place I just paid $2000 to for pretty much the exact same surgery. (though now much riskier and doggie sick) The vet did the surgery the morning following her initial examination. (the initial exam was $425 for exam, x-ray and blood work and was not included in the cost of surgery. I received a 25% discount off of this price for being a new customer) She had the surgery at 10 AM and stayed the night to get extra fluids and antibiotics as she had a pretty bad infection and keep and eye on her. I picked her up at 2 PM the day after her surgery. My doggie was happy to see me when I picked her up and seemed to be feeling much better. She wagged her tag and happily jumped in the car and was excited about going in our house. Once in the house, she visibly drooped, though. I thought that was probably normal after having surgery and she slept a lot. She ate that night and I gave her the medicine in her food. This morning, however, she once again refuses to eat- even her favorite foods. She drinks normally, but doesn’t eat anything, so I also cannot give her the medication, which consisted of an antibiotic and pain pill. I tried forcing a piece of bread in her mouth with the pill inside it but she just spit it out. My question for Dr. Krista or anyone who has had experience with pyometra…. is this normal for a dog not to want to eat a couple of days after surgery? It has now been almost exactly 48 hours since her surgery. She went to the bathroom a little bit ago and both urinated and had a wet bowel movement. I have tried offering all different kinds of foods and she shows no interest. She is just laying around. She is still drooling more than normal, but seems in better shape than when I initially took her to vet… but worried about her lack of appetite. How I can give her the medication if she will not eat. Any recommendations?

My four-year-old boy Chihuahua named Buddy is in very rough shape. He is such a loveable highly active very fit healthy dog. He suffered a type one IVDD incident. This was six days ago. He went from stage one to stage four in 48 hours. He was not diagnosed until after an x-ray when he was already in stage four. Four days after that he has been diagnosed to be in stage five. He showed signs of improving his stability when holding himself up with his front two legs two days ago and did not eat until just 12 hours ago. He’s eating and drinking and his general comfort seems to be much better but he has zero high pain feeling and has no bladder or control of his annular muscles. My regular vet who is not a surgeon has recommend putting him down. I named him Buddy because he literally is my buddy. He was adopted two years ago and rescued from Mexico with scars all over his body that already healed when I got him. He is a survivor and so am I as I have suffered emotional and physical scars as well. I can’t bear the thought of losing him and not seeing him run and be happy again. I don’t want to give up on him yet. I also don’t want him to suffer. He is totally responsive from his front legs forward. He is kissing, eating and drinking now. I am hoping I hear from Krista. I have seen Krista’s videos on IVDD recovery stories. I don’t know what to do for him. I am doing every thing I can but not surgery which I can’t afford. Is there any hope?

It’s a long story, but I will try to make it brief. Molly, 3.5 month old Labrador patient of Dr. Magnifico, unfortunately found a canister of Trident Gum that had fallen between the front seat and back seat of the vehicle. We were traveling across the state and stopped at a Vet Clinic. I knew Xylitol was poisonous to dogs. The receptionist consulted with the Dr. and he said to call the Animal Poison Control Center and meanwhile try to induce vomiting. We didn’t have to induce, but she started vomiting on her own. I did administer peroxide to make sure she emptied her stomach. This all took place within 1/2 hr window. We started on the road again as the nearest Emergency Hospital was an hour and 1/2 away. I called the Poison center and the Veterinarian on the line did the toxicology calculation and said Molly really needed emergency treatment. She told me to give Molly some kibble to ward off hypoglycemia. We got her to the emergency hospital and they started testing her blood sugar (elevated to 133), administered an antidote for Xylitol, checked her ALT liver value (114 reading) and gave her dextrose and a liver supplement. This all took place late Monday night into Tuesday. On Tuesday, Molly seemed to be recovering nicely and I was expecting her to come home on Wednesday. On Wed afternoon, they said her ALT Liver value was elevated 1 point (76 instead of 75 which is normal) and they were concerned. 1 pt doesn’t seem that alarming, but I’m not a toxicologist. They will do another test this evening and I am to call them Thursday morning. 🙁 I have already paid $1500 for what was supposed to be for up to 36 hrs care. In your opinion, does the 1pt ALT elevation warrant another evening in Emergency Hospital as opposed to her staying with Jarrettsville Vet for care?

My dog got spayed on August 1st, she is a 13 year old poodle mix. She also had a mastectomy along with her spay so she has a very big incision. She is on her 4th week and the lower half of her incision does not look like the top half. The surgeon said it may take a while to heal because of the placement but I noticed a bump at the base of her incision at day 4 that has not gone away. She keeps licking at it and the surgeon suggested we must let her heal and later investigate. Also, at day 10 I noticed a white tiny pimple sized thing trying to come through under her skin. I really checked it out today since it has not gone away and it feels like something sharp poking under her skin, she has two of these that feel the same. I am scared she might have torn her internal stitches but the surgeon did not seem too worried. I notice when she eats she seems to look like she feels uncomfortable. She threw up yesterday but I took it as maybe her pancreatitis acting up. I am freaking out and don’t know if I am making a big fuss over nothing. She did not run during her recovery but she would stand up on her hind legs no matter how much I attempted to keep her calm. She did slip 3 times and land on her tummy, twice at day 8 because I had her on a short leash and she would try to run, the third slip was at day 13 and for the same reason of the short leash and attempting to run. I feel so sad and don’t have peace of mind. I feel guilty she slipped on me those three times but then again don’t know what to make of that lump at day 4. After the two slips at day 8 and after on day 10 she started having severe diarrhea. I contacted the surgeons team and they suggested boiled chicken and boiled rice, but at day 12 the diarrhea was a soft serve ice cream consistency and then she thew up so I took her into emergency immediately. At emergency they checked her vitals and incision and could not figure out what may have caused the stomach upset since from her pancreatitis history did not have the swollen tummy and her incision looked fine. They attributed the upset to possible pain med side effect and prescribed a probiotic and to stop the gabapentin. It’s has been a tough healing process for her. I will attach pictures of of what the incision looked like at day 7, 10, and now. I hope it’s not what I am fearing but it’s better to know if I should advocate for her and have them check again. Thanks guys, sorry for the long story but this is my little girl who is my first owned dog and who has been by my side for 13 years. I love her so much and it pains me to see her uncomfortable. Fyi her appetite is always good no matter what and her bowels are back to normal since the 18th of august and they were fine before the 10th of august as well.