vet costs

[cowman]

Apparently you can buy a lot of vet drugs a whole lot cheaper in the US than you can in Canada? Ivomec is the most frequently quoted, but basically just about every drug is a lot cheaper? Which is kind of weird as human drugs are a lot cheaper in Canada than the US?
Now personally, as far as cattle go(and for myself!)...I just say no to drugs!
Have a bottle of 3 year old liquimiacin in the fridge but haven't given anything a shot for at least a year.
However if you are big on living better chemically, I would think the cheap US drugs might make some sense?
Of course our vets are not too keen on this idea...they seem to suggest that they need the drug money to keep operating in the manner they have become accustomed to. I often wonder if we really need vets in this day and age? There are always solutions to just about every problem you might encounter with an animal...that doesn't require the vet...including the old .22! Of course this doesn't apply if you failed to get your gun registered and can't buy ammo...you might have to get out a baseball bat or axe or something!

[kato]

I used to check their prices out when we went over the border (don't do that any more because we don't go!), and often found them to be higher down there. Maybe things have changed. Exchange rate???

A trucker from North Dakota used to buy Ivomec from us because it was cheaper here. I know the generic ivermectin is cheap like dirt down there, but it's not even available here, so who knows what it would cost here if it was.

One thing I found down there that was strange was that you could buy gentamycin off the shelf. It's a prescription here.

Maybe some day we'll go back and see how things have changed, but not yet.

[WoolyBear]

Rabies vaccines for the dogs........my wife found it in the USA for about $2.50 a dose(plus freight of course)...... but they can't send it north.

Up here, it has to be administered by a vet and that puts the cost up to over $30.

Don't understand why if they can trust us doing our livestock, why not the pets?

I guess I shouldn't feel quilty if I happened to have a question sometimes and get some "free advice" from them.

[kato]

The reason rabies vaccine is so expensive here is that an examination is supposed to go along with the injection. It's part of the official MVMA fee schedule in Manitoba. Your vet should be giving the dog a thorough inspection at the time of vaccination.

Also, rabies vaccine needs to be given by a vet because of the fact that it is a reportable disease, is fatal, and the vaccine is just not safe to be sold over the counter. The consequence of an accidental self-injection is extremely serious. (aka deadly). It's amazing they sell it in the States.

[WoolyBear]

So is Micotal deadly and they still sell that. As far as an exam...... I guess thats done, but I didn't see a stethescope, but I did see that the vet had all his fingers after he vaccinated the old feller!

[Willowcreek]

cowman- actually for years most vaccines and medications have been cheaper in Canada- one local feedlot bought almost everything up there... I don't know if this has changed this year with the monetary exchange changes...Generic Ivomec definitely is cheaper down here- what used to cost almost $5.00 a cow is down to about $1.00....