Saying "no" to your Vet

I took Lilly to the Vet today for her inoculations, rabies and distemper.  In the process I also managed to aggravate my Vet, which is okay, you see I don't really like the one I had to deal with today.  A while back I had written about managing your Vet, well she's one who needs to be managed.  She will fill your cart with far too many expensive charges if you give her the chance.

Take the fecal parasite exam, that's a $30 charge just to see if your dog has worms.  My dogs have both been wormed.  Yet my Vet wants to do this exam every year.  They also feel it's necessary to test for Lyme Disease every year.  I don't let them.  This morning my Vet arrived prepared to vaccinate Lilly for Lyme disease.  Today, when I said "no," my Vet became a little nonplussed.  When I pointed out that Lyme Disease in dogs can be cured with simple antibiotics, she fumbled.  "Not always," she said, "if you wait too long and it's well advanced antibiotics may not work."  Then I added "and 90% of all dogs infected with Lyme Disease never develop symptoms."  And her retort was "but people are finding ticks everyday.  And deer ticks are very tiny."  You will notice she did not correct me, nor even deny what I said because most people just nod and say "yes."

LEARN TO MANAGE YOUR VET!

Educate yourself.  Don't ever take what they say for granted.  Never forget that they are running a business.  Laura, the Vet I dealt with today, drives a Mercedes.  There's a reason she can afford to drive one.  I am not part of that reason.  Today's visit cost me $107.  Had I not educated myself well enough to know I could say "no" it would have cost me $215.  What's sad is that as I was leaving a gentleman was arriving with a cat in a carrier and I felt bad for him.  You see, even though I had the temerity to say "no," he will most likely say "yes."  While not all Vets will take advantage of the feelings you have for your pet, there are many who will.  And they will do so by hiding behind the mask of a caring individual.  Once you learn how to say "no," you will find they drop the baby talk real fast and get down to doing their job.  Oh, and they'll be very efficient at it too since they don't want to lose you as a customer.  They also know that as you walk out the door some other sucker will be walking in.