Price gouging at the vet

Yesterday I took my dog to the vet, a chain-run operation called Banfield that is associated with PetSmart. My dog has a mild eye infection - lots of green eye buggers that started in the right eye and spread to the left. Pretty typical problem, so I expected a quick and cheap remedy. But no.

The vet examined my dog and gave me some spiel about how they should run a fancy test to verify she didn't have an abrasion or ulcer on her cornea. I knew that was bogus, but how could I argue with a professional?

I reiterated that the problem spread from one eye to the other, hoping that would narrow the diagnosis clearly down to an infection (scratches don't spread), and also told him that my dog had not been scratching her face in any way, excluding the possibility that she had scratched her eye inadvertently. The vet stood up and said let he would draw up a treatment plan.

A "treatment plan" ?! That sounded a little too severe for what is really a simple, common doggie issue. I mean we're not talking about cancer here.

So the treatment plan included the fancy eye test. Oh, and since the test involves placing this fluorescent substance in the eye that causes discomfort, anesthesia is also recommended. Together it was going to run me about $50. Of course I was free to do what I wished, he said, but the test was a standard recommendation for a situation like this. And if I didn't want to do the test? Talk about a guilt trip, jeeze.

I decided to go with just an antibiotic eye ointment sans eye test. If no improvement after 2 days, I figured, no harm done, I will just go back to have the test done.

I left pissed. Not because the vet was stupid or inconsiderate - he wasn't - but because I expected him to use his experience and intuition to suggest the most common sense remedy. He must have known there was 95% chance it was a simple bacterial infection, so why didn't he just say so? And why all the scare tactics like saying "treatment plan" instead of "medicine" and recommending unnecessary tests?

Health care (for people and their dogs) has become uncomfortably intertwined with business. When price gouging becomes transparent customers will get upset and weary. An upset patient will just seek another service, but a weary one? Now that is troubling, for a weary patient tired of expensive visits may not consider going to see the doctor next time for simple, routine problem, even when they should.