It is not practical to expect your veterinarian to treat your animal for free. Otherwise, he or she would not be able to stay in business. Your pet's annual, preventive check-ups, health care and treatment should be considered when you decide to own a pet. It may seem as though you are paying more for your pet's medical care because many people have health insurance plans and there are programs such as Medicare, which may pay a large portion of your personal medical bills. Human medical hospitals are subsidized by federal, state or local taxes.
Veterinary hospitals receive no government assistance.
If you examine the true costs involved in human health care such as insurance, deductibles and prescriptions you will see that veterinary care is much less. It is unethical and illegal to prescribe for an animal unless a veterinarian has physically examined it. There could be many internal reasons for a pet's illness that require a complete physical examination and diagnostic tests. A prescription based only on the customer's observations could result in misdiagnosis and improper treatment or medical care. Prevention is more cost effective than treatment of dangerous and potentially deadly diseases.