Chrystal hasn’t taken either of her two dogs to the vet in five years.
Key points:
- People are traveling hours for cheaper vet care as cost-of-living pressures bite
- Vets say more owners are choosing euthanasia over expensive procedures
- Owners are urged not to try and do vet care at home
But as the mother-of-four, who wished to have her surname withheld, visited the local food bank for the first time amid financial stress, taking the dog to the vet goes to the bottom of the list of what she can afford.
“I can’t visit the vet because I don’t have the finances. They probably need vaccinations, and they probably need surgery,” she said.
Chrystal has a 15-year-old border collie cross and a 13-year-old cavoodle.
When she found herself with no savings, multiple bills, and a sick dog a few weeks ago, she resorted to doing a “home vet” job.
Her dog had a 7-centimeter gash with pussy leaking out of it.
“I had some dog antibiotics from a vet visit years ago. That seemed to help, I also used saltwater and watered-down Betadine,” she said.
Chrystal suspected the cavoodle’s wound was a ruptured cyst.
“I patched her together and kept an eye on it; she’s good now,” she said.
“I’d have to go into significant debt to get my dog looked at. If I had to, I would. But if I can avoid it … I do.
“It is hard — it’s embarrassing.”
Browse travel hours for cheaper pet care
Central Victorian veterinary surgeon Mark Sycamnias urged owners to avoid “playing vet” at home as it could be dangerous.
“I’ve seen animals die from people giving them human medications,” Dr. Sycamnias said.
“One client had arthritis medication and she was sharing it with her dog because the dog had arthritis. Most human medications are based on weight and size.
“Her dog was only 4kg and it bled to death.”
He said more people were shopping around when they came to veterinary care and were traveling hours to access cheaper care.
“We’re getting clients coming up from Melbourne for procedures,” the vet said.
“They can’t afford metro vet prices and they’re traveling to the country because it’s cheaper.
“We had a client drive from Horsham to our clinic [in Bendigo] based on cost. That includes fuel costs, and they take a day off work. It was still cheaper for them to do that and drive three hours.”
Dr Sycamnias said the clinic was performing more euthanasia procedures, as people chose that option over expensive surgeries and treatments.
“When we get a young, healthy animal that comes in with a broken leg and it’s euthanized based on cost it’s devastating,” he said.
“It’s not what we’re here to do.”
The veterinary surgeon said if owners put off their pet’s regular vet check-ups, the animals were more likely to develop chronic conditions.
“We see some animals in chronic, horrible pain. You just think, ‘How are they managing to live like this?'” he said.
Pet owners sacrifice food to pay bills
Central Victorian veterinarian Max Tori said some owners were going into debt to pay for vet bills, and some were even putting off buying essentials.
“Some pet owners will go without eating to pay for the service,” Dr. Tori said.
His clinic was also seeing more people canceling appointments and not showing up.
“We’ve definitely noticed we don’t have as much demand for services,” Dr. Tori said.
“We are noticing this ‘How much is that going to cost?’ question coming up a lot more.”
He agreed the idea of animal owners doing “home vet” jobs on their pets was alarming.
“If you think it’s serious, it’s best to get into the vet sooner rather than later,” Dr. Tori said.
“Putting things off just increases the severity of illness and pushes up the cost of care.”
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