Why the medical expenses for dogs are so much less expensives than Humans?

[muishot]

Blind abandoned Boston puppy recovers from surgery
By Associated Press | Friday, October 16, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Coverage

BOSTON — A blind Chihuahua puppy abandoned at a Boston supermarket is recovering from what animal doctors are calling successful brain surgery.

Eight-month-old Jonah underwent a three-hour operation Thursday at Angell Animal Medical Center to drain built-up fluid crushing its brain.

Brian Adams, spokesman for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said the small dog will be monitored at Angell around the clock as it recovers.

Jonah was found abandoned in September at the bottle recycling center of a Boston Stop & Shop.

The hospital is seeking donations to pay the cost of the surgery estimated at $2,500.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1205171&srvc=rss

I understand that our anatomy is more complex than dogs but it why there is such a huge different in costs? It costs only $2,500 to perform a brain surgery for this dog (of all things), yet it costs us Tens of thousands of dollars just for a simple procedure, let alone a brain surgery?

[1mmortal 1tachi]

I understand that our anatomy is more complex than dogs but it why there is such a huge different in costs? It costs only $2,500 to perform a brain surgery for this dog (of all things), yet it costs us Tens of thousands of dollars just for a simple procedure, let alone a brain surgery?

I think its something like...

1.) Dogs and cats don't need health insurance which results in reduced overhead and 1 less abstraction layer of complexity.
2.) Medical centers, hospitals, etc, sometimes purchase expensive machinery such as CAT scan machines, etc. The bill for specialized and or expensive medical technology is delegated in the form of higher health care costs to patients.
3.) Doctors claim they need to do more tests than are necessary to help protect themselves from malpractice lawsuits. Supposedly, this raises the cost of health care for all.
4.) Supposedly, the administrative and clerical model utilized in health care implementations is inefficient and costly.
5.) I have heard of cases where health care providers have been told by the government to raise their costs, because they were "too low" but to be honest, I can't confirm or deny it.
6.) I think there are a few more reasons but TBH, I can't remember...

[Darknesz]

Most of the money involved is labour charges, I take it and there is much less harm in killing a dog than a human, since they can just pass it off as "The dog, already in a bad condition, was unable to be revived" whereas if a human died there would be a massive scandal and they might even lose their job.

So the doctors need it to be worth losing their job with a human, so they get paid craploads :)

[The Pink Ninja]

Because they're only dogs. No one really cares.

[The Comedian]

Because dogs don't generally piss people off for no reason :C

[Willaien]

Insurance can drive costs up - doctors can charge more for a procedure than a person can pay, thus encouraging higher costs.

If insurance for dogs were common, I'd bet that they'd bring the costs up there, too.

[Last of the Arrancar]

When a human gets surgery there's like 10 people involved to monitor and assist and whatever, you need those people because yes, a human's life is worth more than a dog's life, with people you just can't take any risks that something goes wrong.

[Shinobi Mugen]

Because Dogs don't have money of course, ya Dipshit! Duh...

[dummy plug]

because if you have to choose, human life > dog, seriously :quite

[The Space Cowboy]

Itachi, you've got it all wrong.

Having a vet care for an animal is cheaper because putting the animal to sleep is always an option. And that has a value in dollars. Whereas putting a human to sleep because treatment is too expensive is unthinkable.

[Tokoyami]

Whereas putting a human to sleep because treatment is too expensive is unthinkable.

But you thought of it.


THEREFORE YOU HAVE COMMITTED AN UNTHINKABLE ACT!!!

[aquis45]

Because dogs don't generally piss people off for no reason :C

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2OcE7vQ_wI

[T4R0K]

In France, they do it backwards. Pets are more expensive to treat than humans ! My colleague paid 50 € for a simple check up for her cat, but for a human, it's 22 € !!

[Casyle]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2OcE7vQ_wI

*Laughs* Reminds me of Tatonka, a 100% Great Northern Timber wolf we had the honor of having as a family member. He was playin' w/ my sister's asshole ex-husband and bit his weiner and balls.

As to the cost, both are ridiculously expensive, imo. At least around here, it costs around $100 just to get a damn vet to look at your pet(s). We had to get 2 cats spayed and one neutered, and they insisted on shots, ended up costing over $2,000! May need to start considering pet insurance.

[1mmortal 1tachi]

Itachi, you've got it all wrong.

Having a vet care for an animal is cheaper because putting the animal to sleep is always an option. And that has a value in dollars. Whereas putting a human to sleep because treatment is too expensive is unthinkable.

I don't know about that. :awesome

Maybe 2 years ago, a doctor took maybe 20 minutes to put 16 stitches in my left hand. The cost was about $1,000.

In OP, a veteranarian took 3 hours to do brain surgery on a dog. The cost was $2,500.

Considering we can compare these 2 scenarios in circumstances which do not involve putting animals to sleep, one might think it was obvious 3 hours of brain surgery @ $2500 is considerably cheaper than 3 hours of brain surgery on a human.

PS -- Stop huffing those PCB fumes.

:awesome

[Shinobi Mugen]

Maybe 2 years ago, a doctor took maybe 20 minutes to put 16 stitches in my left hand. The cost was about $1,000.

That just absolute fucking bullshit! The materials don't even cost a dollar and they could get an intern to do that for like 5 bucks or something...

The US health care system must really be a lot more fucked up than i already thought. No wonder your government can hardly afford things like Medicare and Medicaid as it is. 99% of your health care costs are just for lining the pockets of greedy doctors and insurance companies!

[Foxve]

Because dogs are not as important as humans.

[Shinobi Mugen]

Because dogs are not as important as humans.

Yeah right, i bet you feel real important when you pay $2000 for a consult! Makes you all warm and fuzzy inside... :amuse