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The growing scarcity of large-animal veterinarians could be bad news for mere pet-owners like me.
Why?
Veterinarians seem to come in two varieties these days:
1) Traditional rural horse doctor, and
2) New Age sensitive small-animal practitioner.
Since I'm something of a cheapskate, I much prefer the country horse doc. He patches up our (castrated) tomcat after fights, provides the rabies shots, treats the dog after a close encounter with a rattlesnake -- and does it all quickly and affordably, without a lot of nonsense about the critter's inner sense of well-being or the necessity for a full check-up every three months.
The New Age sensitive practitioner, on the other hand, insists on a full checkup, from weighing to thermometer to a glance down the throat, every time a pet comes in for something routine like a rabies shot. There are lots of questions about how the animal feels. And there's a lot more on the bill.
And it's really hard to argue with these vets. We have some quasi-feral cats. We managed to catch them and get them neutered, but alas, that terrifying experience wasn't enough to provoke them into moving into somebody else's shed. We'd like to get them some booster rabies shots -- but the New Age vet (our regular vet was on vacation when we called) says they should get full checkups, at about $100 a head, or she won't give them their $20 rabies shots, which is all we want.
Often I run across people who've just spent thousands on something like hip surgery for an old dog. People like that keep the New Age vets in business, and the prospect of such an enhanced income -- earned indoors during regular hours, as opposed to pulling a calf at 2 a.m. while the wind howls -- doubtless inspires veterinary students to take the easier career path.
I cherish my dog, too, but if his vet bill were to get anywhere close to four figures, I'd tell the vet is was time to put him down.
So I blame rich doting pet owners who have moved into rural areas for the decline in large-animal vets. Before those People of Money arrived, all we had in the boondocks was large-animal vets, and they also took good care of our dogs and cats.
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