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They have a pre-pay plan, kind of like an HMO. for an older cat, it woulf be about $30/month/cat. We now have 3 cats, so that would be $90/mo. In return, they are supposed to provide all tests, treatments, including dental.
Anyone with experience with this plan? How does it "really" work? Do they actually provide indicated tests, treatments, etc, or do they tend to limit treatments that are expensive? How good are the vets?
I have never used them but was told when I adopted that it's better to stay with a local vet or animal hospital closer to my home. I have however interviewed with them years ago and found they have a high turnover rate. Good luck!
Banfield is the Walmart of the veterinary world, not in that they strangle local economies (in this case local practices) but in that their services are cheap and you get what you pay for. Similarly, I avoid VCA affiliates. By way of retailer comparison I'd call them the veterinary Macy's. They're also a national chain, with corporate tie-in's - VCA clinics have Hill's Science Diet displays that you see as soon as you walk in the door. Staff members are instructed to push that brand for "whatever ails" your pet, and even for its regular diet. When the animal hospital I'd been pleased with joined VCA there were two things which became apparent fast. Along with the product prostitution my care bills for Weasie got steadily higher: multiple lab panels, vaccinations for "everything under the sun." The last straw was when her last two "fangs" were extracted despite no medical necessity. As soon as I found a local, independent practice that seemed promising we were outta there. (Weasie's PCP equivalent - PCV, primary-care veterinarian, perhaps? - had risen in the ranks to chief of staff at the hospital. She stood a good chance of "inheriting" the business when its founder retired. Yet, after the VCA takeover she not only resigned but didn't stop moving until she landed in an independent practice in Houston. What does that tell you?)
Pre-pay plans aren't set up with the customer in mind, don't kid yourself. If it wasn't a money maker it wouldn't have been established. During Weasie's later years her semi-annual appointments never set me back much more than $100. That included the purchase of heartworm medication - the need for which was dubious - and "arthritis powders." (Bear in mind that I live in the Boston area, where the cost of living is always ranked within the top ten highest of metros in the US.) Also I seriously doubt prepayment would cover "all treatments, including dental." Major surgeries would almost certainly not be included. And what ethical practice would even broach the subject of dental care? Weasie's vet dismissed the thought because of the risk involved with anesthesia in senior cats.
Notice that whenever you visit a doctor or dentist or, yes, vet you can see their framed diplomas on the wall. That's one of the things I check out. Not only did Weasie's original "PCV" have a way with animals, she had also started her post-secondary academic career at an elite college and then had received her veterinary credentials from Ohio State (among the best in that field.) Ideally anybody to whom you trust your and your family's people's and pets' bodies should be well qualified. It's Darwinian common sense that the individuals who attend the better regarded schools and excel are those who have their pick of practices to join or a good foundation to launch their own. What happens to the also-ran's? Banfield!
BUT! For every rule there's an exception. I was ill at ease when the vet to whom I'd transferred Weasie's care retired and sold the practice to a man who had, by appearance, not gone to vet school until after he turned 30. Not only that, the vet school was in Dublin. (It's common for people who are turned down by American veterinary or medical schools to pursue their training outside the country.) All kinds of flags went up - needlessly. For this guy is a rare find, a "cat whisperer" who levels with his human clients completely about expenses and options. He has all the time in the world for you. And when the clinic's business got out of hand by virtue of this it took the better part of a year before a suitable practitioner could be hired. Folks were willing to languish on a months-long waiting list to have their pets seen in that office. It could be that any given Banfield franchise has a gifted and dedicated vet who for whatever reason - unwillingness to relocate being one, aging out of full-time work another - wound up there. Moral of the story: Do your homework on sites like Angie's List and Yelp.
Please do a quick Google search and read some of the many negative reviews about Banfield, or just look at Yelp reviews. I would never use them. I prefer to use a local vet that was recommended by a friend.
Two years ago, I took Snickers to a Banfield clinic. I had a coupon for a free office visit/exam, and that's all he got. But they tried to push shots, testing, etc on me, and I declined. I walked out of there paying nothing. I used to go to another vet that was excellent, but he retired, sold the practice, and the Yelp reviews have been steadily going downhill.
I checked out vet reviews on Yelp, decided on one particular VCA vet, and also got a free office visit/exam. Smokey was was constipated, straining, and nothing that I gave her helped. I checked out vet reviews on Yelp, and decided on one particular VCA vet, and also got a free office visit/exam. The vet didn't push anything on me at all. After we looked at the x-ray, she made recommendations that were good, and I went with them. Along with the x-ray, she got subQ fluids, and an enema.
The cost of all this was $293.50, and I don't think that the bill was unreasonable. They called me the next day to see how she was feeling, and she's now back to her old self. This particular vet works with a pet sanctuary in Mexico, and also takes care of the police dogs.
Snickers will be taking a trip there next month for his free exam.
I probably would not use Banfield in general, but by all means scrutinize that plan or anything similar because that sounds modestly interesting. I'll have to take a look when I get a chance. Of course to come out ahead a given cat would have to cost more than $360/year in COVERED services. Make sure you know to the very letter what is and isn't covered. I mean, let's see, Amber has hyperthyroid. She goes to the vet twice a year for exam and a blood panel that rechecks her thyroid levels. And I think each one is around $130. So $260 and I'm done for vet service for the year over the last few years (I'm sure the Banfield thing would be covering prescriptions), and she's already almost 17 years old. Yes, something else could happen, but I've already saved $100 over that for a few years so in theory I could still be ahead even if some extra incident arises.
As far as VCA since it was touched on here, one of the emergency and specialty hospitals in this area was taken over by VCA a few years ago. All I know is if I need emergency vet care and have to go somewhere like that (my vet doesn't do his own late or emergency care) I will go to this VCA place before I go back to the other independent one that I hated so much.
I simply do't get the prices some of you are quoting. Its ALWAYS at least $200-$400+ for any type of visit, including basic lab panels, etc. Are perhaps some of you living in the past and quoting charges from a bygone era? Used to be I could rent a decent apt for $450/month, too!
One can easily exceed $360 in vet care at ONE visit, and that's just for basic stuff. No, I'm not ready to run off to Banfield, just looking for some place I can have half a chance of affording, especially for 3 cats!
I simply do't get the prices some of you are quoting. Its ALWAYS at least $200-$400+ for any type of visit, including basic lab panels, etc. Are perhaps some of you living in the past and quoting charges from a bygone era? Used to be I could rent a decent apt for $450/month, too!
You're forgetting location. No one is living in the past here. We all have cats and at one time or another we have all been to the vet in the recent past, if for nothing else to get a rabies booster which is the law in most states. This past Dec we took 2 of the girls in for exams and their 3 yr rabies booster. Both girls were examined for bad teeth, lumps, ear mites, fleas, had their claws clipped, their hearts and lungs listened to and got their boosters, the bill came to $70. That was for both cats.
I will look up what Callie's bills were when hubby gets back from the store.
Quote:
One can easily exceed $360 in vet care at ONE visit, and that's just for basic stuff. No, I'm not ready to run off to Banfield, just looking for some place I can have half a chance of affording, especially for 3 cats!
Pick a Animal Hosp that's outside the big cities or where the upper crust live. Choose a blue collar area to find a vet. Some vets in some cities charge $50 just to walk in the door. But that's the high-rent district - usually.
Banfield is a chain, and they're mostly interested in your money. The staff is required to try to sell you on having unnecessary tests and procedures done on your pet. It's part of their job. The VCA vet that I went to didn't try to sell me anything, nor recommend anything that was unnecessary. She did tell me (and I agreed) that if the enema didn't work, she would have to have surgery and bloodwork done before that. No pushiness.
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