over the counter medication?

[wolfy-hound]

"How to give my dog dewormer" does not equal "What meds can I treat imported exotic reptiles with".

A vet charges more for each shot because they are a BUSINESS. They are not in business to break even or go broke. They pay rent, insurance, ongoing education, college education, employees, employee expenses, electric, water, sewer, biohazard disposal, equipment, training for the equipment.... etc.

How exactly do you expect a vet who went to school for years to pay his bills if he charges exactly what his costs are? Of course there's a mark up. Some vets mark services/items up a lot, some not as much. That's usually regarding how much expense they have, not how "greedy" they are.

There's a lot of things I do on my own for pets. I give my own shots except for rabies(by law, it's only regarded as "given" if a vet gives it)and I treat for heartworms myself, deworm myself. But I don't consider a vet fee to be greedy just because it cost more to get shots from the vet than it cost me to go get the shots and give myself. If the dog has a reaction to the vaccine(happens fairly often, actually) then I have to run the dog to a vet and get it treated for the allergic reaction, which usually runs 4-5 times as much as the vaccine would have been(and the vet would have had to treat for a reaction since he gave the medication).

Vets are worth the cost if you don't have a lot of knowledge on what you're doing with your pets. I've worked with animals over my 40 year life, including livestock and dogs/cats. But when it comes to "Why is there a big sore on my monitor lizard" or a possible ulcer on my dog's eye... it's vet time.

And pink eye sometimes goes away on it's own, but also can end up becoming a massive ulcer, leading to losing the eye.. untreated or treated improperly. Seen it happen. A dog rubs at the eye, causing the ulcer, which makes them rub it more, causing a rupture, causing the eye to be surgically removed. And THIS is why the vet is sometimes worth the money, since if the dog had a ulcer instead of just pink eye, the easy treatment wouldn't have worked. This is the same idea for exotics, only exotics sometimes hide the illness better, have issues with regular treatment drugs or only respond to certain treatment drugs.

Of course, some vets are better than others.