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USDA Approves New Parvo Treatment
In early May 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved a conditional license to Elanco Animal Health Inc for a new parvo treatment that uses antibodies. Until now, veterinarians only could provide so-called “supportive care” rather than an actual canine parvovirus treatment. In other words, this is pretty big news. Unfortunately, it’ll be a while before it’s available. Here’s why.
Goldens in Golden (My Hometown)
Despite a dismal cold and snowy weather forecast that more than came true and resulted in a bit of a dicey drive home, I ventured down the canyon to our hometown of Golden, Colorado, for the 4th annual Goldens in Golden event. It’s one of the biggest gatherings of Golden Retrievers in the country. Photos and about 5 minutes of video ahead, including the cheering for the massive group photo at the end of the video!
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I really like this blog regarding Veterinary Costs. Such an amazing content shared by you. Thanks for sharing. Keep Blogging.
I as well always go to a specialist, if my Happy has anything serious. If it’s just an itch or something similiar, I’ll stick with the vet, but as soo as it gets worst, I’ll choose a well-known specialist in my are. I just feel much better, when I knwo Happy is in good hands and this is what specialists are for.
I’ve heard AVMA estimates that animal caretakers have to spend around $227 per dog and $378 per household dogs as some owner may have more than one dogs. Similarly for a cat, $90/cat and $191 per household cats
I think those numbers are WAY low … at least for the kind of dog families I know.
My dachshund was just recently diagnosed with epilepsy. He is still very young so I have no idea how much the his medical bills will add up over his life. Thanks for shining light on this topic, if you encourage one person to prepare for unforeseen medical cost you will have done a great service.
I’ve heard AVMA estimates that animal caretakers have to spend around $227 per dog and $378 per household dogs as some owner may have more than one dogs. Similarly for a cat, $90/cat and $191 per household cats. Sometimes insurance may also vary the cost I think. As we have human medical insurance, pet owners should purchase pet insurance as well and I believe it’ll savvy for them to minimize costs.
Hi Roxanne! Here in Greenville SC we have Upstate Veterinary Specialists and the ER Vet in the same building. And, our primary care vet is accredited by AAHA. He’s probably one of the most expensive vets in the area, but he’s also – IMHO – the most compassionate, knowledgeable vet in town. I’ve been taking our pets (first our two parakeets, then my poodle, Kissy) to him for 20+ years. The only time I take the girls to the ER vet is when Doc is unavailable. And the last time we went to the specialist was for Callie’s first TPLO surgery and follow-ups. Cost is a little high at both, but to me the most important things are my trust & faith in the vet and my dogs’ comfort levels with him.
Whoops, that should be Callie’s *second* TPLO surgery and follow-ups.
Agree! It really matters to me that there is a good working relationship, with our main veterinarian and with specialist. In an emergency, it helps overall to know the quality of the hospital, even if you don’t know the particular ER vet.
Where I live in Montana we really don’t have specialty hospitals other than perhaps one that has a CT scan machine and does complex orthopedic surgery. This particular hospital in Great Falls MT is very good. However we have the WSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital about 6 hours away. I did take one of my dogs there a few years ago for evaluation of a condition no one locally could figure out. My experience was fantastic. We were there for 3 days. Everything was very efficient. We had a 4th year student assigned to us and were able to spend a lot of time with the internal medicine specialist who happened to be the doc in charge of the small animal service. He was also available by email after we left for my questions and our main veterinarian’s. Cost of the whole thing which included a CT scan and several biopsies etc. . .was surprisingly reasonable. If I am ever in that situation I would certainly go back but I like the Great Falls practice too.
Oh, that’s interesting, Julianne, that you don’t have many specialty hospitals nearby. I’m glad you have the option of going to WSU. That’s quite a DRIVE, and the extra cost of hotels and such isn’t easy, I’m sure.
Our 10 year old Shih Tzu also has undefined neutropenia and has been on prednisone for a couple of months.
We are in a suburb of Orlando, and I can tell you the specialist practice here charges significantly more than our local vet for the same tests. In addition, they misdiagnosed him with Lymphoma, and thank G-d we decided to get a second opinion at the U of Florida Vet School.
My advice – if you’re dog is diagnosed with an immune disorder, take him to the nearest Vet School you can (ours is a 90 minute drive each way). From the exams to the staff to the diagnosis, they have been incredible – and they work with our local vet on his care. For example, we’ve had to get several CBC’s and these are done at our local vet, who sends the results to UF.
Although many people swear by the specialist here, we will never go back. They were very expensive compared to UF and our local vet, and in my opinion jumped to the highest cost diagnosis for the $.
I realize folks in rural locations may not have a University vet school in practical range, but even if you have to drive and spend the night it may be worth it. There is no comparison based on our experience.
Scott – I’m so sorry to hear about what’s going on with your dog. We have a long-standing relationship with this particular specialty hospital that’s relatively close to us (about a 45-minute drive) from our rural mountain home. We’ve used them for many things with many dogs for more than 20 years. I feel like I have a pretty good relationship with various doctors there. I’ve only had to trek all the way to the veterinary teaching hospital at Colorado State University (in Fort Collins) once for a behavior consult that I really couldn’t get locally. I do have friends who swear by going straight to the vet school when they need a specialist. My sense is that clients don’t get nearly the 1-on-1 attention because of all the rules and protocols at the school. We’re very lucky that there are MANY good specialty hospitals in the Denver area. Maybe more so than most communities. I’m glad you went for a second opinion and that things seem to be going okay with your case. I know, though, that long-term steroids is no picnic either. Thanks for your input.
When we did the bone marrow biopsy last year at our specialty hospital, they sent the sample to a big-time dog bone marrow expert pathologist at a vet school in Michigan … so we did get that level of input when we needed it.