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DVMDream said:
Not necessarily, just as we were mentioning that every clinic is charged differently based upon their contract with the lab. This is also part of the contract. If the clinic doesn't have enough business sent through Idexx, they do not receive this discount.
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Huh. That’s interesting. I didn’t know that. I did know that there was a minimum number of labs that you had to send out to get certain benefits though. I think for my hospital it’s like an average of 4 labs per day.
 
DVMDream said:
And all their in-house machines read blood wrong. Every single one and they have known it is a problem for a while, but meh, after years, they are just now slowly replacing the machines. Don't get me started on all the issues I have seen in clinics, corporate or otherwise.
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Might explain why my kitty didn't get her CKD diagnosis until she got bloodwork done at school
 
DVMDream said:
My own cat's bloodwork is coming due and even with my friend giving me a discount, it'll still cost ~$200ish.... which I'm fine with, but not all vets are getting free bloodwork.
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Damn. That’s still a lot. My boss and I are pretty close and he’s the kind of guy who if he can give you something for free he will. One woman he worked with years ago went once to become a vet and she was giving her dog experimental bone grafts. She called him up after not seeing him for years and asked if she could get x rays and rebandage his legs. He said okay and ended up just not charging her for it. I’m sure he’d let me do that down the road.
 
WildZoo said:
Might explain why my kitty didn't get her CKD diagnosis until she got bloodwork done at school
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It was more just always reading ALP/ALT high and every hematocrit being like >60%... annoying crap. I'd have to explain constantly "this could just be sample hemloysis/lab error or real, we should send out or recheck in a month." They'd also refuse us to send out for conformation if the machines were being off, which was frustrating because that didn't cost them anything.
 
DVMDream said:
Oh and can't forget that not every vet works for a clinic that has Idexx available. Industry vets, lab vets, relief vets, vets who work at clinics contracted with Antech or another lab instead, etc.... they can't just send blood to Idexx for free.
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We used antech where I worked before vet school and dr’s got free bloodwork for their pets. I’m sure it’s a similar deal to idexx and varies by clinic/location.
 
Skimble said:
We used antech where I worked before vet school and dr’s got free bloodwork for their pets. I’m sure it’s a similar deal to idexx and varies by clinic/location.
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It varies. One clinic I was at it was all staff got free labwork, another was just doctors, other clinics you just get a percent off. It gets a bit tricky because you also have to add in the government and taxes. Employees can get up to a 20% discount anything above that must be reported as additional income and you are taxed on it. So just keep that in mind when looking at a job that offers a 75% employee discount... 20% of that will really be "free" the other 55% is considered income and is taxed.
 
DVMDream said:
It varies. One clinic I was at it was all staff got free labwork, another was just doctors, other clinics you just get a percent off. It gets a bit tricky because you also have to add in the government and taxes. Employees can get up to a 20% discount anything above that must be reported as additional income and you are taxed on it. So just keep that in mind when looking at a job that offers a 75% employee discount... 20% of that will really be "free" the other 55% is considered income and is taxed.
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Huh, that’s interesting. We didn’t get a mark off on our invoices or anything, things were just literally entered into the computer as the employee pricing, and it worked out to the 50-70%. Wonder if that’s a work around.
 
Caiter92 said:
Huh, that’s interesting. We didn’t get a mark off on our invoices or anything, things were just literally entered into the computer as the employee pricing, and it worked out to the 50-70%. Wonder if that’s a work around.
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I just know that one clinic I worked for wasn't reporting that extra above the 20% and, well, they finally got a big hit via taxes once it was noticed.
 
DVMDream said:
I just know that one clinic I worked for wasn't reporting that extra above the 20% and, well, they finally got a big hit via taxes once it was noticed.
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But was that extra marked on an invoice as a discount? I’m just curious if they were reporting that.
 
Caiter92 said:
But was that extra marked on an invoice as a discount? I’m just curious if they were reporting that.
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I honestly can't explain details on it as I wasn't there and can't recall what our receipts looked like. I just know that they definitely made a big point about it in their contract as most people just see "75% discount" and don't think about the rest. Where as prior to them getting "caught" they weren't reporting that additional 55% as income for each employee.
 
Skimble said:
We used antech where I worked before vet school and dr’s got free bloodwork for their pets. I’m sure it’s a similar deal to idexx and varies by clinic/location.
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I know my hospital gets we get x amount of free labwork per year as a hospital. It's not geared towards certain staff or limited to like 1 panel/pet, at least as far as I know. Once we hit that amount, then there are fees and the free labwork is only for like CBC/Chem/T4/UA/HWT type stuff. Anything beyond that like urine cultures, cytology, extensive thyroid panels, etc has a fee. I do think our Antech fees are reasonable but that's mainly because our specific staff and that we have an Antech employee on site 5 days a week and a ridiculous caseload.
 
WildZoo said:
I doubt that's universal, even for small practices 😉
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Like DVMDream said, it’s usually a perk related to hitting goals. It can probably be universal as long as the office manager asks the rep about it and is adamant about it. My last office manager could get pretty much anything he wanted. It was almost like a super power.
 
We get free labwork from both Idexx and Antech for DVM pets, 50% off for staff pets. No limits, not related to any goals. We rarely use Idexx (only for things they offer than Antech doesn't since they don't have courier service in our area), so I was pretty impressed that they still give discounts. Basically anything that gets run through a machine- CBC/Chem/lytes, ua, thyroid, clotting factors, cortisol, progesterone. It comes in handy for my crazy creatures 🙂 I think things like histopath and cytologies are discounted a little but not as heavily.
 
You know how dogs often look like they’re smiling when they’re actually very stressed and anxious? I feel like some breeds of dog that are more expressive than others (like golden retrievers) actually smile when they’re happy as well. Does anyone have some insight on this?
 
ajs513 said:
You know how dogs often look like they’re smiling when they’re actually very stressed and anxious? I feel like some breeds of dog that are more expressive than others (like golden retrievers) actually smile when they’re happy as well. Does anyone have some insight on this?
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Our golden, Sam, would smile his head off when he was happy. If he was anxious or stressed, the ears would go back, and he definitely was NOT smiling. But, you know, just one out of how many? I am sure that there are those that don't, and those that do. I personally feel that Sam was a special boy. 🙂
 
ajs513 said:
You know how dogs often look like they’re smiling when they’re actually very stressed and anxious? I feel like some breeds of dog that are more expressive than others (like golden retrievers) actually smile when they’re happy as well. Does anyone have some insight on this?
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I know a yorkie that smiles when he’s happy. Actually I know two yorkies that do this.
 
here is our Sam...
 

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ajs513 said:
You know how dogs often look like they’re smiling when they’re actually very stressed and anxious? I feel like some breeds of dog that are more expressive than others (like golden retrievers) actually smile when they’re happy as well. Does anyone have some insight on this?
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I feel like they do smile. But I see it more around the eyes - they just relax a bit more when they’re happy. I notice it most when discharging surgical patients to their owners. Such a happy reunion!
 
ajs513 said:
You know how dogs often look like they’re smiling when they’re actually very stressed and anxious? I feel like some breeds of dog that are more expressive than others (like golden retrievers) actually smile when they’re happy as well. Does anyone have some insight on this?
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Agree with others above that there are differences between the happy "smile" vs anxious/stressed out of their minds "smile."

There are other body language cues that can help you figure out what might be going on, too -- a "smile" of either sort is generally accompanied by other signs.
 
You know how when people see the price for their visit on their invoice they say something like “I’m gonna have to make fluffy get a job!”? Today one of our clients actually went through with that and inquired about having her dog become a goose chaser. They have an interview tomorrow.
 
DVMDream said:
I'll double check prices Monday when I get to work, but last I recall I told techs I wanted a senior panel and when the plopped it into the estimate it was just shy of $350, which really isn't unheard of around here. It might be a bit more than some places, this one clinic does run a tad here, but like $50-60 not $100+ more.
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I wouldn't be so surprised. Lab costs can vary quite a bit between hospitals. Like between two hospitals I work at that are within 20 min drive from each other, the CBC/superchem/T4/UA/HWT packages are $300+ and $100...

In the first practice, there isn't a panel under $140 (cbc/chem5)

It's a matter of what package deals the hospital can make with the lab and what markup they decide to use.
 
ajs513 said:
You know how dogs often look like they’re smiling when they’re actually very stressed and anxious? I feel like some breeds of dog that are more expressive than others (like golden retrievers) actually smile when they’re happy as well. Does anyone have some insight on this?
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My dogs totally smile when they are happy!
 

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That just reminded me of something. Does anyone have experience with preservedpets.com? I stumbled upon it a while at one and remembered it when I was talking to my aunt who has an 18 year old dog that we’re convinced is going to live forever. She’s actually kind of considering it but I’m wondering if anyone has heard of it/used it/know clients who have used it.
 
TheGirlWithTheFernTattoo said:
We had a rabbit in stasis come in last night and I was just picturing it as a tiny colicy horse. All hindgut fermentors are the same, right??
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I mean, pretty much, except for the whole cecotrope thing
 
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