Ms. Li said that two months ago, her cat Ahua (pseudonym) suddenly started not eating or drinking, and her weight was getting lighter and lighter, so she anxiously took the cat to a large chain pet hospital.

When they arrived at the pet hospital, the doctor first performed various indicators on Ahua, including blood tests and urine tests. , biochemical... The examination alone cost more than 3,000 yuan!

"Because I was in a hurry when I sent it over, I didn't ask about the price. When I finally paid, I felt a little bit in my heart, and I felt that the fee was really expensive." Ms. Li said.

Through screening, the cat was determined to have "feline infectious peritonitis" (a relatively serious disease in the cat world, referred to as "feline peritonitis"). On the doctor's advice, Ms. Li purchased 60-80 yuan of therapeutic drugs online. Currently, the cat has taken 50 tablets in more than a month, and the treatment has cost several thousand yuan!

“The next step is to have a re-examination. If we continue the treatment, the cost will be tens of thousands.” Ms. Li was about to cry. “The hospital I went to is relatively formal, but if I follow up before the examination, It would be better if I explained the cost, and I don’t know how the pet’s treatment costs are supervised.”

Ms. Li’s complaints aroused Xiaoxin’s curiosity and sense of justice, and she was filled with indignation. Xiaoxin found the chain pet hospital and planned to question him. Unexpectedly, he was "anti-PUA" by the doctor.

01 Doctor: Examination is expensive, and there is a reason for it

The doctor said that because animals do not express feelings clearly like humans, the diagnosis must be based on its own symptoms at the beginning. Check the type, this part is more expensive. "For example, if you don't eat or drink or lose weight suddenly, we will do a test for cat plague at the beginning. If it is positive, then we can just treat it directly; if it is negative, it will be more troublesome and we will have to do a full-body examination. It costs more than 1,000 and 2,000 yuan.”

02 The doctor also said: There is a reason why treatment is expensive

Even for ordinary gastrointestinal diseases, it only affects cats and dogs. The cost of treatment may end up being 1,500-2,000 yuan. "Including the cage fee for storage in the hospital, the labor fee for infusion and the operation fee, the drug fee is also relatively expensive. Some are imported drugs, such as antiemetics for cats, almost only Serenin can be used. Not to mention the final investigation. There are serious problems such as abdominal disease and kidney stones."

I checked on the Internet again, and found two more pieces of knowledge.

First, pet drugs are veterinary drugs and are produced in accordance with veterinary drug GMP standards. It is managed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. The entry threshold for the production of veterinary drugs is very high. To get a new drug approved, it will cost millions of yuan and several years to go from property research, pilot trials to preclinical research and phase III clinical research. time cost. Even if it is approved and can be produced, the production volume of veterinary drugs is far less than the production volume of human drugs. Compared with human drugs, the pet drug market is much smaller after all. This is reflected in the sales price, which is naturally more expensive than human drugs.

Secondly, from the perspective of pet hospital operating costs, scarce veterinary talents and expensive medical equipment are all hard costs. In addition, pet hospitals have limited passenger flow. Not to mention making profits, they just need to maintain operations. , it is inevitable that some places will rely on medicine to support medical treatment. Moreover, my country’s pet hospitals currently have a certain degree of independent pricing space for selling drugs.