We could break the poster down line by line but I think the main question is if the bathrooms are being locked only at Long Reach or all HoCo high schools. The impetus for the flyer seems to be the bathroom-locking issue.

You may want to clarify your question. Is what just long reach?

• bathrooms locked?

• substance abuse?

• a parent night on the issue?

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Does anybody know if this is just Long Reach or across all high schools?

Thanks for the suggestion! I do see Hickory Ridge is pretty popular in the other similar posts asked in the past.

I haven’t used my pet insurance either (thankfully! My dog has been in good health this far), but the plan I have doesn’t cover routine/preventative care. Although I titled the post asking for reasonably priced vets, I guess what I’m really looking for is best quality, even if it’s not a dime cheaper.

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I would be unhappy too if I left unsure that my pet got the care that they needed. I know it’s a big bill but I love the care we get.

My employer provides pet insurance now but I haven’t tried using it yet!

I love our vet. Well visits (incl vaccines) are reasonably priced in the $400 range for the full work up for our senior dog (14 this year!) Our younger dog is a little bit cheaper.

We have been with this vet with two dogs that have since passed. One dog had an aggressive tumor that she found. At no point did she ever press us for invasive tests or treatments and supported us every step of the way. With our other senior, she discovered a heart valve issue issue, guided us while she lived to an old age with conservative care.

I know $300-$400 seems like a lot, but our fast visits are still thorough. Then the fact that we have had such great experience with catching health issues has been amazing. You would think that cancer or cardiac failure would be $$$$, but that wasn’t the case at all. I’ve never felt judged that we didn’t want to pursue chemo or that we didn’t want to do an invasive surgery. That means a lot to me. The doctor calls to go over results too which I appreciate—good or bad, she gives us the updates personally.

We go to Hickory Ridge Animal Hospital in Owen Brown.

This is an odd thing but many independent vets now are owned by consolidator groups. They keep the same name and everything but the location is owned by a corporate “partner” behind the scenes. It’s virtually impossible to tell without outright asking the practice manager or DVM unless you know the group they are part of. Then the corporate consolidators are backed by financing groups.

So yeah, it’s a lot more complicated than it used to be and way more like human medicine than it used to be too.

I go there too! Routine vet visits with vaccinations for us have been ~$350.

PetVet in Clarksville is reasonably priced and they're all extremely nice!

I was nervous about finding a new place for my cats when I moved up here, but they're really perfect.

countryside vet in ellicott city has been the vet both me and my parents have gone to for years. they are a little pricey, but very thorough and ive always been happy with their services. they also have always worked hard to fit my pets in same day when ive had emergencies.

I take my cat here, too. I can’t speak to the costs of a dog visit, but they’ve been really nice and I don’t ever feel like they’re rushing through an exam, and they’re always very clear about the costs of what they’re proposing to do.

So I take my dogs to a "regular" vet for their checkups but take them to Vetco for vaccines which is much cheaper. They are also able to do the yearly heartworm test which you'll need for the Rx heartworm meds. Vetco is a mobile vaccine clinic and they make stops at local Petco stores. They allow for online scheduling now (they didn't used to and it was a mess). You can also ask your vet for written Rxs for any meds and get them filled elsewhere/ online- usually the vets charge more for the same meds.

I go to VCA and they’re amazing and nearby which is great, but they’re also pricey, which is frustrating.

Even your link lists 4 “core” vaccines, plus Lyme (which I think is important in this area), Bordatella (which we have to have), and Leptospirosis, which we might skip this year. I don see where we have been over-vaccinating our dogs. I will continue to research though.

I will look into it. We get ours Bordatella because we take them to the dog park when we are at a beach condo in the summer. They require it.

I agree it is not very effective, as I know some dogs who get Bordatella every time they are kenneled, despite the vaccine.

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Thanks for the reply! I’ll keep that in mind when looking at new vets. The current vet I take my dog to is just one vet, not a group. There are a couple of vet techs to assist, but that might also be a factor in why the last few visits felt very rushed even when I did have questions.

Also… just try a different vet in the group next time. It is a personality thing. Some vets have them and some don’t ;)

That said, if there is a cheaper place, I would try it. I just don’t see how some posters here are getting that list of vaccines for what they are remembering. I’d be willing to bet maybe they went and got a rabies booster or something and not the yearly exhaustive list.

I know routine well visits and vaccines are pretty quick, but for concerns, our vet has spent lots of time with us. Vet medicine is like people medicine these days - you have to stay on top of your providers so things don’t get missed. It’s a sad state of affairs, but nevertheless it is true.

If you see VCA in the name, it’s owned by a national company who sets policies, prices, etc. We took our dog to a great vet until one day they suddenly began insisting on expensive tests our vet didn’t do before — the practice had been bought by VCA.

$150 for what vaccines?

So even in human medicine, in a group practice you need to request someone you know or suspect is a good provider. I go to our vet because I love the owner, but I have to request her specifically or else I get someone else. The place is owned by husband and wife (different surnames though). Their kid is a vet now too and he has the same last name as Dad. If I want to request Dad, I have to be super specific or I get the son because they do have the same surname.

I know we pay about that for all the vaccines, maybe even more. I can tell you exactly in 2 weeks, as we have a visit coming up. I hate that they push so many vaccines these days, but they say it is because the corresponding diseases have been identified and vaccines have been created and it Is a good thing. Can’t really argue with that, I suppose.