While celebrities gathered for the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards celebrating the best in television programming, bold outfits became the focus for the evening.
Dr Kenneth Tong , founder and head vet of Animal and Avian Veterinary Clinic, attending to a client. - COURTESY OF KENNETH TONG
For example, cataract surgery for a dog today costs between S$2,700 and $4,000, while urinary stone removal is upwards of $1,000. The most expensive procedure is a hip replacement, which would most likely start from between $4,000 and $9,000.According to the National Parks Board , there are about 610 licensed veterinarians in Singapore as at July 2024, an increase from 590 in May. This could be due to higher demand for veterinary services over the years, it said.
Heart surgeon Eric Hong, who adopted a black labrador retriever puppy born with hip dysplasia, sent the dog for surgery to correct the defect when it was less than four months old. Without the surgery, the dog would be unable to walk properly or jump and may suffer crippling pain. Dr Fred Chua, director and principal vet of Allpets and Aqualife Veterinary Clinic, who has been in small animal practice for about 35 years, acknowledged that vet fees have significantly risen “between 100 and 300 per cent, particularly in the last 20 years”.
“ means a larger ageing pet population – older animals with more medical needs, which are more commonly treated, compared with a greater readiness to put animals down in the past,” Dr Chua said. “I spent almost $13,000 just for her first 10 days’ stay at the intensive care unit, and that included several scans, including a CT scan, to find out what was wrong with her,” said the 55-year-old, who did not want to be identified as her family does not know how much she spent on her dog.
Rental and manpower costs, the two most significant items in the vet business, have increased tremendously over the past few years. “To be honest, if I factor in the cost of education, CE , time, materials, staff, I would have to charge more. However, we made the decision to charge in a way that is affordable for the masses,” said Dr Yang, who is also a certified vet acupuncturist.Recently, private equity firms have moved into the business of pets worldwide, snapping up independent vet clinics in corporate roll-ups, where multiple smaller companies are acquired and merged into a larger entity.
Today, Mars Veterinary Health operates a network of about 3,000 veterinary clinics and hospitals around the world. It employs about 70,000 associates, including more than 12,000 veterinarians and roughly 22,000 para-professionals. “As these large groups focus more on profits, the diversity and personal touch that smaller clinics can offer may diminish,” he said.
“We ‘bought’ him another two years of life and a loving family, and we think it was worth it. If we did not have the savings to dip into, we would have had him put down,” said Mr Wong, a 72-year-old retiree.
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