Dog Eat Dog World

Today my dogs are barking and we lost our vet.

I totally buggered up my pinky toe today. I was vacuuming and turned around quick and whacked my foot into a wall that somehow, moved in front of me unannounced. This injury wasn't your normal stubbing type, where you might just mutter a quiet profanity under your breath. It was the all out screaming, 'oh *$%@,' crying type. I'm sure our kids were wondering if they should call 911.

I heard the toe pop when it hit the wall and thought, 'this can't be good.' But, in my persistence to be able to enjoy the present holiday weekend and not have to do loads of housework and cleaning, I kept going with my vacuuming. Despite my efforts to avoid the throbbing, I had to keep my foot turned up so that I wasn't in complete and utter immobile pain. My family would probably tell you I have hypochondriac tendencies toward illness, germs and pain but, just to refute those ideas, I was actually told by a doctor during one of my two c-section deliveries, my tolerance for pain was quite high. So, on I went about my day; vacuuming, picking up, making lunch, mopping the tile and hardwood. Then I took a shower. That was the end all. It was then I noticed not only was I in massive pain just from one little pinky toe, but that toe was now a deep purple and really crooked.

When my husband got home we went to a First Care. I got some mental reprieve because the kids and husband went to PetSmart to get our dog some special diet food (my rant about that will come shortly.) I got to spend the next hour at the First Care with a doctor that was quite difficult to understand, yet ordered x-rays and concluded that I broke my toe. I saw the complete break in the bone on the x-ray. I get to wear a lovely orthopedic shoe for four weeks. You know the fashion statement variety resembling a really bad slip on sandal with velcro? Yep, that's it. I'm not so thrilled this is how my summer will start. I had high hopes of wearing fun flip flops with pedicured feet. Now, I'll be sporting one ogre foot in a blue flat shoe instead.

Now, about the loss of our vet.

About a year ago, we tried to get our dogs teeth cleaned. To do this, we were required to do a pre-anesthetic blood work up. The results showed that our 10 year old dog had some kidney issues that could potentially turn bad if we didn't make some changes. We started with her food. Upon the Vet's recommendation, we switched it from an adult variety to a prescription food to help with kidney function. The 20 pound bag went from $27 a bag (PetSmart) to $50 a bag (same brand but only offered through our vet). I about freaked when I heard the new price we'd be paying to keep our 'first baby' fed, alive and kicking. So, I did some research online and through other vets and found out that the price I'd save with ordering online would not balance the price I'd pay for shipping 20 pound bags. So, I stuck with the vet.

Recently, East Peoria PetSmart opened a pet vet clinic inside their store. I decided to call and see if they offered the food. And sure enough, they did. AND for $6 less than our vet. The only request was the Rx script from our vet. So, I called the vet, told them I found a cheaper place to purchase the food and asked if I could have a script. They said, 'sure, but we charge $20 for the script every six months.' I was shocked. I asked them if they were serious and why they did this. The vet tech told me they did it to insure pet safety because of the prescription. Now, I'm not stupid and all I heard was 'KA-ching.'

Yes, it's only $6. But, $6 adds up over a years time and the principle of this just pissed me off. We have taken our dog to them since we got her from PAWS. They would have seen her for what would have been 11 years this fall. In the conversation with the vet tech, I was told that she'd ask the Vet if they could just charge us $20 for a year's script. I said, 'I don't think you are understanding me because I am not paying you anything to purchase the same brand of dog food elsewhere for a cheaper price. If you can not waive this 'all of the sudden fee,' we will find a new vet.' I went on to tell the vet tech that I did not want a new vet. I liked their service and that they've always been great with our dog and she loves going there. They've gotten us in for emergency situations and even if we just needed her toenails trimmed, always made room for us. I really didn't want to leave, but if making $40, or even $20 bucks off of us was more important than giving a loyal customer the script to save some money on food, then we'd be finding a new vet.

I didn't hear back from them for over 2 weeks. We had just purchased a small bag of our dog's old food to get us by until this was resolved. Well, we ran out yesterday and today my husband called the vet back. He told them to either have the script ready, be able to price match the food price or have the dog's medical records ready when he got there in 45 minutes. When he arrived, they had her medical records ready because the vet had decided that this was policy. Now, whether this policy just occurred today or it had been in place for years is unknown. I imagine it evolved because one customer, ME, decided to rock the boat. I wonder how many other people, mainly those that don't want to travel far for food or even have internet access to price compare, just pay out the yang because they aren't informed that you CAN go elsewhere and you DON'T have to get nickel and dime'd for an Rx script!!???

It's business. I know. But, customer loyalty keeps business and so does maintaining some sort of ethics in regards to client relationships. Obviously, we were just another dollar in your daily deposit Meadows Veterinary Clinic. And to lose a 10 year patient rapport, because you are too caught up in your $20 script fee charge, in my opinion, is just assanine.