I called the vet on the way home from class to make an appointment for Aisha’s second round of shots. Being the frugal (read: broke) individual that I am, I asked the guy on the phone how much the total would be for the visit, and he started rattling off various numbers. He covered the three shots, the technician fee, the office examination fee, and the medical waste disposal, concluding that the total would be roughly $93.
I nearly exploded. I swallowed my dignity.
“Umm…can you possibly explain why it’s, um, like, so much? I mean, why do I need the office examination?”
He started telling me that puppies grow so much at this stage (gosh, really?), so it’s good for them to be examined by a doctor regularly. My interpretation is that it’s good for the vet’s profit margin for my dog to be examined by a doctor regularly. Aisha was at the vet’s for her first round of shots and an examination two weeks ago, and she is going back for her third round and another examination in more two weeks. I do not want to pay an extra $35 for a fully unnecessary third examination.
“Can I just skip the examination and have a technician do the shots?”
He stammered, “well, we strongly recommend that Aisha see the doctor.”
I’m shameless. “I am strongly averse to paying for her to be looked at when she was looked at two weeks ago and will be looked at again in two weeks. If there was something noticeably wrong with her, I would bring her in.”
He finally acquiesced. As he scheduled my appointment, I could hear him etching the black mark of bad parenthood next to my name. That’s okay. I can deal. I saved $35, which is like a month’s salary for me.