If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me this question, I'd be a wealthy woman! What most people don't realize is that, relatively speaking, veterinary care, especially when compared to human healthcare, is actually not at all unreasonable. As a former veterinary hospital manager, I can give you some behind the scenes insight into what makes up the cost of veterinary care.

Your cat's veterinarian is not just your cat's "family doctor"

Your cat's vet is also her surgeon, radiologist, dentist, dermatologist, neurologist, ophthalmologist, psychiatrist, ears/nose/throat doctor, and pharmacist, all rolled into one. I've always felt that a veterinarian's training and schooling is far more rigorous and complex than that of a physician. Not only can their patients not talk to them and tell them what's wrong, but they have to study more than one species. During the first years of veterinary school, students also have to study large animal medicine, even if they know they're never going to practice it. And even within the small animal track, there are multiple anatomies and disease processes to learn for each species, be it cats, dogs, ferrets, rabbits, or even scaly critters.

A veterinary clinic is a business

Just like any other business, veterinarians have to deal with overhead. They have to pay rent, utilities, and staff salaries. They have to purchase supplies, medications and equipment. They have to pay for laboratory analysis by an outside lab, or maintain an in house laboratory.

Myth: veterinarians get paid a lot of money

Trust me, nobody goes into veterinary medicine for the money. The average veterinarian graduates with a whopping $150,000 in debt. The average veterinary salary in 2011 was $55,000. By comparison, the average physician salary for the same time period was $300,000. (Figures are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics).

What goes into a bill for veterinary services

The following are some charges you may see on your veterinary bill, along with the explanation of what these charges really encompass. I'm hoping that this will help provide a better understanding of the value of veterinary care.

Office call/exam fee

This is the most important part of the bill. In that 15-30 minute time period, your vet will perform a complete health exam. You're paying for the vet's expertise, training, and experience, as well as his time. This fee also covers the time spent making notes in your cat's record (which is often done after you've already left the clinic).

Lab tests

Whether performed inhouse or sent to an outside lab, the costs for lab tests do not just cover the actual performance of the test, ie., blood draw, urine sample collection, cytology (analysis of cells in fluid or in a growth), etc., but also the cost of running the test, and the cost of interpreting the results. The latter is the most time consuming part, and is both an art and a science. The numbers need to be viewed and analyzed in the bigger context of your cat's health history as obtained in the exam, as well as her past history.

Ear cleaning

In most cases, a technician or assistant will perform a thorough ear cleaning, if that is required. You're paying for the technician's time and experience. Cleaning an infected or inflamed ear takes skill and attention to detail.

Medication

This is probably the most debated item on veterinary bills. The bulk of this charge is for the actual cost of the medications. Pharmaceutical drugs are expensive, especially if no generic version is available. You're also paying a dispensing fee, which covers labeling the medication correctly and answering any questions a pet guardian may have about it. You may be able to save money using internet pharmacies, but make sure that it's a pharmacy that is trusted by your cat's veterinarian. And beware of having your cat’s prescriptions filled at retail pharmacies. Unfortunately, pet prescription errors are far more common that you might think, and pharmacists receive very little training in veterinary pharmacy.

What happens when a client can't pay?

This is the worst part of the job for any veterinarian. Most veterinarians go into their profession because they care about animals and they want to help them. However, they also have to support themselves and their families, and even if they wanted to, they couldn't give their services away for free.

Pet insurance can be a good option for cat guardians who are worried about the rising cost of veterinary care. The Humane Society of the United States provides a list of resources for those who have trouble affording veterinary care.

I hope this helps dispel some of the misconceptions about what goes into your cat's veterinary bill. If you have a specific question about the cost of veterinary care, leave it in a comment and I'll do my best to answer it for you.

Photo: istockphoto

© Ingrid King 2013, All Rights Reserved 

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few decades you've no doubt heard about the benefits of yoga. Our overall health and well being can thrive with a regular yoga practice, but did you ever stop and ponder how your feline friends can reap the rewards as well? Just the mere possibility is enough to make one roll out the yoga mat and start practicing some serious downward facing cat poses!

Cats are the ultimate yogis and they certainly don't need us to mentor them in the art of relaxation, meditation, or how to stretch their bodies. They do, however, need us to create the ideal home environment so we can support them in being the little yogis they were meant to be.

Yoga is the purr-fect practice for investing in you while also benefiting Kitty at the same time. I've been practicing yoga and living with cats for over two decades. This is what I have discovered about yoga and how it has benefitted me and the felines who have allowed me to be part of their beautiful adventurous lives.

Yoga helps us improve our overall health and gives us a better outlook on life. Habits such as smoking, excessive drinking, and eating too much junk food begin to lose their appeal. Our stress levels lessen and the stress we do have is suddenly easier to manage. The cats in our lives benefit as well because happy, healthy humans have more to give, which translates into giving the finest of care to the felines we serve. If you're a stress ball wound up tighter than Kitty's favorite ball of yarn, then how must that affect her? Less stressful human equals less stressful feline!

Yoga aids us in becoming more flexible in both body and mind. Those pesky aches and pains often lessen as well. A flexible, durable body can come in handy for fetching toys from under the stove and other hard-to-reach places. If you can't touch your toes how can you keep Kitty's litter box spick-and-span and up to her standards? And don't forget the labor involved when you must coax kitty into the carrier for a trip to the vet. Cats can require a lot from us physically and we must be up to the task of keeping up with them!

Yoga makes you more intuitive to your own body and the bodies of those in your care. A sharp sense of intuition can help you anticipate your cat's needs more readily. Emerging health problems can be spotted quicker and might even save Kitty's life if nipped in the bud right away. Cats also appreciate it when we anticipate their desires for treats and catnip without them having to ask!

Yoga helps us develop a sense of humor. Yoga may not make us completely oblivious to all the hurdles that come our way but it can help us more easily handle life's trials and tribulations with humor and grace. Keeping a sense of humor is especially important when Kitty jumps up onto a "no-no "place for the 100th time in a row or keeps pooping on the bed for no apparent reason. Felines who wake us up at 4 a.m. when they know good and well that feeding time is 6 a.m. is another reason to keep your cool by letting out a little chuckle instead of blowing your stack!

Yoga helps us sleep better. Sleeping is under-rated in our fast-paced society that encourages us to flaunt our exhaustion as if it were some badge of courage. Yoga can aid us in sleeping better; if you don't believe me, why not take a cue from the little master yogis themselves. I have yet to meet a cat who had insomnia or didn't sleep well. Cats have a robust yoga practice and are living proof that yoga will help you sleep well! Kitty will sleep well whether you do or not but she will sleep much better knowing you are too!

Meow and Namaste!
Paige

Paige Guthrie Hodges, along with her feline yogi companion, Pippy, is the author of the blog Feline Yogi and the creator of the Feline Yogi Yoga Mat for cats. She has been practicing yoga and living with cats for over two decades. She has worked and volunteered for several local Los Angeles-based cat welfare organizations. An advocate of Trap Neuter Return (TNR), she is passionate about ending the killing of healthy, treatable animals, and finding homes for all adoptable pets.

Photo ©Ingrid King, 2013, all rights reserved