The Vet(s)

I have two dogs and four (well, five) horses. Let’s stick with two and four for now. My dogs are aging (13 and 11). The small animal vet says they are at an age where they are older than me. So, the vet wants to do a checkup twice a year instead of only once. This means blood work and analysis twice year besides the annual shots. I think they get the same tests I do (liver, thyroid, cholesterol, etc.) Oh, and then there’s the annual teeth cleaning to avoid gum disease, diabetes, and who knows what else. Teeth cleaning involves anesthesia since the dogs would squirm too much if awake. Then there are the flea protection and heart worm medicines you can only buy from the vet. (The makers of these products don’t stand behind them if you buy them on the Internet or any place except a vet.) Finally and obviously, with dogs, I take them to the vet.

With the horses, there is an annual blood test to rule out a particular equine disease and annual shots. Teeth need to be looked at perhaps once every three or four years and filed (called floating the teeth). It’s done with the horse quite awake and just standing there. Worming medicine can be purchased online or at any feed store. And the vet comes to you.

In all this, we’re talking about wellness medicine. No injuries and illnesses are included in the above. With all of this, I spend over twice as much a year on the two dogs combined as compared to four horses combined.

When I grow up, I want to be a small animal vet.