My dog ate plastic

I am so happy things worked out so far I'm still keepeing an eye on the little guy, he has a little gass but that's it, the blood work came back clear.

Thanks again!!!

When you say that it doesn't cost any more for us to develop an xray vs a regular Vet, again, we are there 24 hours a day, where as regular practices are open at most 12 hours a day 5 days a week. Consider the increased utilities (electric, water, etc), increased staff costs, increased inventory due to 'unusual' medication we have to carry, we have several ecg machines, endoscopes, etc, etc, etc. Therefore, we carry a higher cost of doing business. And yes, we go over money, IMMEDIATELY. Because unfortunately not all people believe they need to pay for the privilege of owning a pet. At least one third of the patients seen have the owners refuse treatment because they can not/will not pay. Your pet is not our fiscal responsibility, it is yours. I am sorry that there are people that can not afford treatment but I have to tell you that if my friend called at 3 am and said they needed a loan to treat their pet I would do it in a heart beat. What does it say about someone if even their friends or family will not loan them money, why should we.
 
When all is said and done, I realize that there are many Vets running emergency services (or otherwise) that are not in it for the pets but please don't lump us all together. There are many of me out there who do this for the love of the animals.
 
Oh yeah, and as far as the wages go, don't you think if you spent over $100,000. and 8 years of your life you MIGHT expect to earn half as much as a human doctor. Who by the way, treats 1 species, Vets treat many, many species.

First of all Benita, I don't know what a vet expects to make after spending the money to go to school. BUT I do know that it is not hard to figure that out before going.  Plain and simple, and they make their decision on whether they want to go or not.
When I took my dog to the E.V. they were not there during the day, they were only available "after hours!"   Again, I don't know if that is nomal or not, because luckily I have only gone there once...that is in Cleveland Ohio.  So they were not open 24 hours. My own vet clinic has all the newer equipment, and I am sure I pay more for their services then the couple of vets I pass to get there, little country vets who don't have some of the modern equipment. But THAT much more?  Not sure! Dave paid $90 for an ex-ray probably in the same neighborhood as he paid $211.  To me, that is ridiculous! I CAN see having to pay more for emergency service. But from $90 to $211 sounds like a gouge. They got you, if you want to save your beloved best friend!    It is VERY sad to me....because like everything else, prices have gone way up, and our salaries haven't compared to them.  In general, its hard for a lot of people to take care of their dog the way they should when it comes to medical service. A dog is a mans best friend....why does it have to be that only more well to do people can have a best friend?    Then to have one that has a medical emergency,,,and pay upfront,,,,some people just plain and simple can not do!  Maybe in some peoples eyes, they should not have a dog,,,but what a shame as there are so many millions of dogs looking for homes, that could be loved by people if they could afford to have one. We can't say they should not. 
You seem to be suggesting borrow the money from your friend to take your dog to emergency, maybe that is not a bad idea. And if your friend called you at 3 AM you would do it.  If I had a sick dog that I had to rush to the vet, maybe for bloat for instance,,,,I wouldn't be calling around to people I know, I would be breaking my butt getting my dog to the vet....and THEN maybe I would borrow from my friend to help pay. The emergency vets don't even give you that option. Its "give me the money upfront or go home!"  Sorry, that is never a person that cares about animals.  I'm sorry, thats how I see it. I would think you (Benita) have one heck of a hard time turning away people that can't pay because your an "animal person",,, I couldn't work there if I had to do that honestly.