Ms. Li said that two months ago, her cat Ahua (pseudonym) suddenly started not to eat or drink, and her weight became lighter and lighter, so she hurriedly took the cat to a large chain pet hospital. When I arrived at the pet hospital, the doctor fi...
Ms. Li said that two months ago, her cat Ahua (pseudonym) suddenly started not to eat or drink, and her weight became lighter and lighter, so she hurriedly took the cat to a large chain pet hospital.
When I arrived at the pet hospital, the doctor first performed various indicator examinations for Ah Hua, including blood tests, urine tests, biochemical tests... It cost more than 3,000 yuan for the examination alone!
"I was also anxious when I sent it, so I didn't ask about the price. Finally, I felt a little 'skier' when I paid the fee, and I felt that the cost was really expensive." Ms. Li said.
Through screening, cats were identified as "cat infectious peritonitis" (a relatively serious disease in the cat world, referred to as "abdominal transmission"). At the doctor's advice, Ms. Li bought a therapeutic drug worth 60-80 yuan per pill online. In more than a month, the cat has taken 50 tablets, and the treatment has cost several thousand yuan!
"The next re-examination will be conducted. If the treatment continues, the cost will be tens of thousands." Ms. Li was in tears. "The hospital I went to is relatively formal, but if I explain to me before the examination, the cost would be better. In addition, I don't know what channels the pet treatment cost is regulated."
Ms. Li's complaint aroused Xiaoxin's curiosity and sense of justice. Xiaoxin, who was indignant, found the chain pet hospital and planned to question it, but unexpectedly, the doctor "anti-PUA".
01Doctor: The examination is expensive, and it makes sense.
The doctor said that because animals do not express their feelings clearly like humans, they must first determine the examination type based on their own symptoms, which is more expensive. "For example, if you don't eat or drink or lose weight suddenly, you will have a test for cat plague at the beginning. If it is positive, then we can treat it directly; if it is negative, it is more troublesome, and you have to have a general examination, which will cost more than 1,000 yuan." The doctor said again: The treatment is expensive, and there is a reason for it
Even if it is a general gastrointestinal disease, the treatment cost for cats and dogs alone may end up with 1,500-2,000 yuan. "Including the cage fee for the hospital, labor fee for infusion and operation fee, the medical fee is also relatively expensive. Some are imported medicines, such as cats' anti-emetic medicines, which can only be used with sarining. Not to mention that in the end, it was found that there were serious problems such as abdominal transmission and kidney stones."
went to the Internet to check it out, and two more pieces of knowledge were popularized.
First, pet medicines are veterinary drugs, produced in accordance with the GMP standards of veterinary drugs and are managed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. The entry threshold for the production of veterinary drugs is very high. If you want to approve a new drug, it will cost millions of yuan from nature research, leading trials to preclinical research, and phase III clinical research, and it will take several years to make it. Even if it is approved and can be produced, the production volume of veterinary medicine is far less than that of human medicine. Compared with human drugs, the pet drug market is much smaller after all, and it is naturally more expensive than human drugs when it comes to sales prices.
Secondly, from the perspective of the operating costs of pet hospitals, scarce veterinary talents and expensive medical equipment are all hard costs. In addition, pet hospitals have limited customer flow, not to mention profitability, even if they maintain operations, it is inevitable that some places will use medicine to support medical care. Moreover, currently, pet hospitals in my country have certain independent pricing space for selling drugs.
