Banfield...
 

I'm curious as to know if anyone has used Banfield Pet Hospital's services? Did you like them? What were their prices?

I'm asking because I'm looking to save some money on vaccinations. It's $32 just to walk into our vet's office then the price of the vaccinations on top of that. At Banfield I get an employee discount since I work at PetSmart.

Depends on where you go. The Banfield vet my friend used for his dog that I also used for my ferret was a great guy and very personable, but I've heard horror stories about some other ones too, so it helps to meet with this vet you wan to go to and grill them

What kind of vacs? Some if not all you can do at home... You just need to save the receipt for the rabies ones and take it to the place you get the tags from and show them.

Not here http://www.pitbull-chat.com/images/smilies/frown.png By state law here a rabies vaccination has to be administered by a vet. The rest we can do ourselves. So, check your local laws first.

As for Banfield, I have heard horror stories and I have heard great stories. Just like anything else, I think it depends on the individual vet you get to see.

Ah, forgot about that. Yea check your laws! lol sorry!

I second that, my Gma used it for all her Yorkies for a while, didnt have a complaint, but when right back to our regular vet once he beat his cancer. Just depends on the vet, go in, meet them, talk a bit and if you dont like them or dont get a good vibe, run lol

Ditto this. I've heard horror stories about some in my area. But then again, I know my FAVORITE vet I used to go to (when I was a kid, we took all of our dogs to her) now works at one, and I wouldn't have a problem taking my dogs to her. So it just depends.

Do you have any low cost clinics in your area? I know the ones in mine don't have exam fees, you just pay for the shots. That's where I take all of mine for their shots, and one place even does a mini exam for free (checks ears, teeth, listens to heart/lungs).

I believe Ohio allows you to administer the rabies vaccine yourself. But with the apartment already questioning Shelby's breed I want to have documented proof she's up to date on her shots through a licensed vet. And I don't know if we have any low cost clinics in our area.

http://www.cincysuperads.com/cats_an...ic_3_6_11.aspx

March 6th this one is doing 6 in 1, rabies, Bordatella vacs for $38. Also, check craigslist. Search "Low cost clinic". I found a mobile vet that does shots that way, a few rescue's hosting low cost vaccine events, and a microchip clinic near me that way.

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Try here, as well. They say they offer low cost vaccines on the weekends.
http://www.hamiltonavepethospital.com/

Thanks!

Banfield is a rip off. Yea, there are some great vets that work there, I work with a few now that used to be Banfield vets and I love them, but aside from the vets themselves, the place charges way too much and corporate requires them to push unnecessary vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments. This has come from the mouth of these vets that I work with. I would stay away from them. Even if you get their packages where you pay monthly, it usually ends up being more in the long run than if you wen somewhere else.

My friend uses Banfield and she likes it okay. And she is on a really tight budget but she says its very affordable. However I'm not brave enough to try it and when we looked into it, we just weren't sure about it. We decided against them.

We get people that come into our clinic with estimates from Banfield for various things and they just floor me every time (maybe it also has to do with the fact that I work for a non-profit clinic, but still). One recent example was a man who brought in an estimate for annual visits on 2 dogs that came to over $700! But then again 2 dogs can get their annual visit with all vaccines (3 yr protocol), fecal, hwt, and 6 months of preventive for $100 each so I may be a little bias lol

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$700 that is really high for an annual visit for two dogs. For one dog it costs us around $100. (Maybe $110) For two it was never more than a little over $200


I'm going to ask my friend how much her dogs last check up visit was. I would hate to think she is getting ripped off.

Yea the clinic I used to work at which was average priced for the area we were in, it was a set $185 for a dog annual, not including preventives. Where I am now, if you cut out preventives, and the fecal (which we really only do if the dog has been off hw prev or having issues with its stool), and most of our patients don't go to dogs parks, daycare, boarding, or grooming so we can cut out the bordetella, you get your annual exam, hw test, 3 yr Rabies, and 3 yr distemper/parvo/lepto for a grand total of $50. Add on $15-$28 for 6 months of ivermectin based heartworm prevention (Tri-heart Plus is what we used) based on size and you are set to go for a little while. I love where I work http://www.pitbull-chat.com/images/smilies/biggrin.png

Just wanted to add in case I did not make it clear, yes we do bordetella ($11) if the dogs lifestyle calls for it. We always ask. I just realized that the way I said it made it sound like we just don't do it because the majority of our patients don't need it.

I second the idea of a low-cost clinic. Our Pet Supplies Plus store here has a great low-cost clinic every Sunday. Also, a few of our local SPCA's have low cost clinics as well. Much cheaper and easier for routine shots and whatnot.

Well the clinic that I work for actually is a full-service clinic. We have 2 spaces in our building, 1 for the walk-in vaccine clinic which is open Tues-Sat 8-4, then the other space is a treatment center for sick visits, surgery, xrays, etc. That space is open 8-8 mon-Fri and 8-4 Saturday. Needless to say we are very popular around here with the number of people who can not afford to take their sick animals in to be checked out at a regular vet (I hate that term since we have great vets at our place, but can never find a better word to use lol). Oh and we open our 3rd space next week, for 4 hours on M,W,F we will have a separate space to see parvo patients so that we do not risk contamination of the main clinics.

If anybody is interested in checking it out since I am spouting all this off, this is our website (which still has some glitches in it since making the new one). Can you tell I am bored this morning?

http://wellpethumane.com/

For vaccines, fecal, HW test, and a physical I think I paid $138 per dog at my newest vet this year. Around $185 per dog for the same services at the old vet. HW preventative runs between $40 and $80 for 6 months depending on which dog. Yeah, that $350 per dog that guy was quoted is a bit much.

---------- Post added at 12:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:53 PM ----------

np http://www.pitbull-chat.com/images/smilies/smile.png

Peanut's first dr was a banfield. he had to stay there once. i have no idea what happened to him but the next time we came in he would not stop screaming..not barking screaming. because of his sudden fear of them i requested his records and found a new vet. i have no clue what could have happened to him but i know when he is not happy. to this day if we walk past the banfield part of petsmart (the one he went to) he cowars and runs past it. now he is at an awesome vet that is always super nice to him and every time we walk in the door he starts trembeling once he sees his doctor he relaxes and they are his best friends.

Going to Banfield and choosing your vet is like choosing a vet in your area. I take my dog to Banfield and I love my vet. She loves my dog. I pay for the wellness program 1 time a month and everything is free depending on which plan I choose. I don't pay for visits or shots. I am getting a puppy and he will be going there as well.

Banfield= corporate

I try and and use local everything http://www.pitbull-chat.com/images/smilies/smile.png