Vets bills....

[slaneyrose]

as needed or do you have your horses insured??? And if you insure them....how much does it cost per horse????

 

[mountain_waif]

We pay them as needed. We also have a budget for all our expenses and every monthy we put a little extra money aside in our savings account for unexpected expenses. Then when the vet comes or the farrier, we already have it sitting there waiting.

Lois

 

[Jill]

I do some of both. DunIT and Destiny are insured, and the others as of now are not. I've been fairly lucky and not had any whopper vet bills regarding horses. I have a mare who required colic surgery as a yearling, but she was one of my show horses and insured at the time. If I remember right, that bill was just over $5,000 but was covered by the insurance.

My biggest out of pocket vet bill last year was actually for my dog / best friend, Winston. He had bladder stones and one stuck in his urethra (sp?). It could have been really bad if the surgeon was not able to remove the stuck stone, but thank God, he got it. The bill for that was a little over $3,000. I just don't know how I'd have gotten over it if Winston wasn't okay.

The thing is with animals, dogs, horses or whatever, you can have a $100 vet bill or a $10,000+ vet bill! There's just such a range of things that can sometimes go wrong, but for most people, it's not something that happens often where it's "huge".

 

[shane]

well my insurance is £150.00 for two horses.which is $ 300 approx, i get it for piece of mind

: as for the vet,we have our own money and always have enough to cover most situations,but then again its better for me as i only have two horses,and we keep ours out the back of our vets ,which is handy

:

 

[IllusiveHussler]

My big mare is insured and on that PreventiCare program. Though she is also free now since my mom works at the vet. But before Fiona was a free pet she aborted and we had some hefty bills. Luckily Fiona was insured and some of the bill was paid off.

Lucy is now my free pet, but before that she was a discount pet and we payed right away. If it was a hefty bill though we'd do payments. Lucy is also on that PreventiCare program and she should be insured by summer.

My mom insured Fiona because Fiona was(and is

: ) one of those "once in a life time horses" for me and she's afraid if anything happened to Fiona(like a death :no: ) she wouldn't be able to afford a horse as good as Fiona...I'm not sure how much it is per month or year to have Fiona insured but it's not terribly bad.

 

[capall beag]

Well Illusive Hustler I certainly love her name Fiona

:

: :lol: :lol:

Sorry couldn't resist!! That is my name

 

[Dr. Pam]

whew! I read the title of this thread and all I could think was--Yes, please pay your vet bills! :new_shocked: :new_shocked:

 

[MBennettp]

HAHAHAHA Dr. Pam! I thought the same thing!

I pay my vet bills as soon as the animal is treated. I keep a "stash" fund just for such emergencies. I also help out when needed at the vet clinic. I have gone several times to help with gelding or shots or minor stuff. I help at no charge and get credit at the vet's office for when I need something.

Mary

 

[Michelle@wescofarms]

We don't have any of our horses insured at this time.

We pay our vet bills as they come up - generally by check, but last year with 'vet bill heck' a few went on the credit card. UC Davis bills us for farm calls, but ICU visits are pay 1/2 down and the balance on pick up. So is the other hospital we use, Loomis Basin.

 

[Jill]

Hahaha, Dr. Pam! I'm with you... I say at work so many times "as much fun as this is, we need to get paid" (not to clients, of course). Plus, if a horse owner has any sense whatsoever, they KNOW, one person you do not want to tick off is your vet!

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I pay up at the time. There is no point in doing payments, for me, as I have no income, so what I have this month is what I shall have next month.

At the moment I am broke, but I have the mortgage money if necessary, so I just pay.

If you insure, you can never afford to insure them all and you can bet your boots it will never be an insured animal that gets ill!!

If it is a HUGE bill I always talk to the practise manager- as I am considered a "good patient" I get a percentage knocked off, but I always have to ask!!

:

 

[MeadowRidge Farm]

We pay our vet bills, everytime she comes out. This last January when I lost my 7 month old filly, and then Chilly (she was the one that had the MRI and cat scan done) was a real eye opener , but I do what I have to do..and regardless of cost. I do not have any of mine insured, as when I checked into ins. it was very expensive to ins. 40 minis! ...and you can bet, if I was to insure 20 the opposite 20 would be the ones who needed it!

 

[justanothercowgirl]

whew! I read the title of this thread and all I could think was--Yes, please pay your vet bills!

I had to laugh when I read your reply Dr. Pam I thought the same thing too. I hear so many stories from the clinic where my Mom is at, where folks decide they are not going to pay because the animal died or some such thing, it doesn't matter that they let the poor thing suffer for two days before they ever bothered to call though. Just ignore the bill and then when they get a call say "well...the horse/cow/sheep/whatever died so why should I have to pay??"

To answer the original question, I do pay as I go, although if I did have something big happen I would arrange something with the clinic(thank heaven Mom works there). I know any vet would rather have you make some kind of repayment plan than the whole avoid them and not pay them plan, lol I think Fizzy is right about the insurance thing unless you insure them all, it will be the uninsured one that decides to need the major vet care.

 

[Minimor]

We don't insure ours for medical/surgical/mortality (ours are on farm insurance for fire/theft/etc)-- for 30+ horses, $250 each for insurance, that's $7500+ per year. Given the odds of having a bill of $7500, it's not worth paying for the insurance on everyone.

Like the others have said, if you insure only certain of the horses you can be sure those won't be the ones that will need the coverage!! (At least the way my luck works!)

 

[IllusiveHussler]

Well Illusive Hustler I certainly love her name Fiona

:

: :lol: :lol:

Sorry couldn't resist!! That is my name

LOL I actually hated the name "fiona" for a horse...(It's good for a person, I just didn't think it was good for a horse), But I saw her training video and I was like "The name fits..." But now at horse shows all the little kids ask where her boyfriend Shrek is...It's so hard getting out of that one! LOL

 

[justaboutgeese]

I have always just paid as I went. When dealing with everything from house dogs and pet horses to hogs and cattle I am afraid for the "commercial farm animals" different rules of economics apply. Where I would not face a $175.00 vet bill for a hog there is never a question about a $1500.00 bill for a hound with a blocked salivary gland. The difference is for me atleast is in the intrinsic value of the animal. No profit in a hog worth $220.00 when you have $300.00 invested in him. But the hog does not sit on my feet at the computer either. Over the years I have had huge vet expenses and regardless of what they came from the vet is paid each and every month. For me atleast medical insurance on an individual was never considered as a feasable option.

 

[Relic]

We pay all vet bills as they come up. Sometimes there small and sometimes huge but what are ya gonna do the animal needed help and the vet expects his money. BUT if l had a CHOICE l would throw some of them bills away they sometimes border on the edge of outrages.

 

[shminifancier]

I have always been very lucky when it comes to paying for vet services.. The biggest one was the Shetland that only dropped one testes.. And I was even lucky there as I had a friend that was working as a vet tech at a small animal clinic, and she got her boss to do the procedure..Much much lower then any big animal hospital. But for the most part I have been able to Work Off my vets services~! :aktion033: he owns a dairy farm and I help him do things on the farm~! For repaying any vet services he has done for me.. And the only insurance I even had was on a Purebred Arabian mare that I was paying on time for, then it was only for accidental coverage.. So if something happened on the way to a show or something I was covered~!. And after I got her paid off I no longer kept the coverage up..

Now if something happens on the drastic side where it is going to be in the 1,000's and 1,000's well a person has to look at such things realistically and such as that. and weigh out the chances of a complete recovery or what. So in a case of several 1,000's well there might not be much of a vet charge at all then, just putting the animal down.. You also have to be realistic which such things as that. As some people are i am sure..

 

[Magic]

I pay my vet bills as they come in. The one time I had to do payments was when I had colic surgery done on a weanling filly, and as I am a good customer my vet clinic allowed me to make payments instead of putting it on a credit card.

They've built a new vet clinic in the last year, it's gorgeous-- and the many thousands of dollars I've given them over the years (how many I shudder to think, lol) has surely been a big factor in building it. :bgrin