Quote Originally Posted by dsirkle View Post
A year ago my now 8 year old Doberman had a tumor on her gum line that the Vet found when he was cleaning her teeth that the vet thought looked cancerous. I told him to remove it (another appointment) and 3 golf ball size fatty tumors that she had, one on her ankle where it was always getting bumped. He put her under anesthesia and found that her mouth tumor was into the bone and took much more time and work than was expected to remove in it's entirety. It proved to be benign in the lab analysis. When he was removing the fatty tumors he discovered a cancerous tumor in her armpit area (for lack of a better word). That was another big and unexpected procedure. The Vet made a lot of money that day. I had another dog once break a rear leg and had a vet install a titanium rod in her leg. Over the years I have spent a lot of money for veterinary care, but I would never give a Vet carte blanche authority to go wild in my pocket.
This was a tumor in her mouth as well, but luckily strickly in the cheek area although she did end up with several teeth being pulled and the few remaining cleaned as well. It ended up being a teeny bit more than the upper end of his estimate, but all in all I was pleased.

I do feel some vets do tests and procedures simply for the knowledge and the ability to charge you some money, which is why it's so important to have a bit of basic medical knowledge, budget and a good vet.