It's no wonder that many people feel that can't afford vet charges.

We have two adult cats, ages 12 and 6, who are in excellent health and
have annual wellness checkups.

A month ago we adopted two 4 month old kittens, brothers from the same
litter, from Petsmart.  The lady who had fostered them was quick to tell
us that one of the kittens had previously had a bout with ringworm, but
it had been treated and appeared to be cured.

Last week we discovered that both kittens each had several rignworm
lesions.  We made an appointment with the Banfield veterinary service at
Petsmart, since we had received a $30 coupon with the adoption.

Yesterday we took the kittens for their apointment.  After a fairly
thorough exam, we were presented with a course of treatment, the bottom
line of which came to $485, including the $30 discount!  One of the
charges was $29 per kitten for a black light exam which took less than 2
minutes per kitten.  The oral medication came to $284, the anti-fungal
shampoo came to $32.  

I can't even afford those prices for my own medical care.  We left with
the anti-fungal shampoo and a bill for $284 less than the original
estimate.  We clearly could not afford the oral medication.

After returning home, I did a bit of net surfing for both the shampoo and
oral medication.  What I found was an astounding difference.  We could
have purchased the identical shampoo for as little $12.95.  The same
dosage of the oral medication was $130, still a rather high price, but
certainly more manageable.

Despite the much lower cost of the oral medication, we decided to forego
it altogether because of the possible serious side effects, which were
not explained to us at Banfield.

We are treating the kittens with the shampoo, to be repeated once a week.  
We are also using Lotrisone cream, which is commonly used on cats and
dogs as well as humans.  These topical treatments will surely be safer
for our kittens.

Banfield, though...what a rip!