On November 6, 2008, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called for an increase in the California state sales tax to address the multi-billion dollar deficit in the budget and proposed a sales tax on all veterinary services. This was part of a larger combination of program cuts and revenue increases to balance the state budget. This proposal would have added approximately 10% to the cost of veterinary care. 

The CVMA mobilized our 6,000 members and they answered. Thousands of letters were sent to legislators and the Governor’s office by CVMA members. In turn, they mobilized their clients and the opposition grew. Our voices were so loud that a special extension was added to the Governor’s budget voicemail line to handle the opposition to the veterinary tax. 

We are grateful to our members, their clients, and friends in industry, breeder groups and the animal welfare arena who assisted in this effort. We also thank our state legislators who recognized that this tax would ultimately harm the animals that we cherish and the safety of our food supply.

While this is a great accomplishment, there is still work to do as there may be budget revisions in the future. The CVMA will continue to monitor the special tax commission appointed by the Governor to restructure and modernize California’s tax system and any proposals that could affect the taxation of veterinary medicine in the future.

We are very pleased, however, that our voices have been heard and veterinary services will not be taxed in the 2009-2010 budget!

When treating medical conditions, the veterinarian will sometimes recommend a recheck exam to assess the outcome of the therapy. Recheck exams can be performed for a variety of conditions but they are almost always recommended for skin, ear and eye problems. Why?

The short answer is that these conditions can be difficult to treat. There is no “one size fits all” therapeutic approach. Recheck appointments for assessment of the response to therapy and then revision of the treatment based on how things are going is not only important but in many cases, absolutely critical to a successful outcome.

Let’s use an example to illustrate the point. Duke is a 3 year old chocolate lab that came in for shaking his head. During his physical exam, the doctor discovers that he has an ear infection. Checking a sample of the wax reveals abundant numbers of yeast. The doctor discusses potential causes of otitis and Duke is sent home with ear cleaner and a topical medication to reduce inflammation and to kill the yeast overgrowth. A recheck is recommended for 2 weeks to assess Dukes response to the recommended therapy. Duke and his owners return two weeks later reporting that he is much more comfortable and they are no longer seeing dark debris when cleaning. An otoscopic ear exam reveals 90% improvement. Excellent! An ear swab is taken and low and behold there are still large numbers of yeast organisms. At this point, if treatment were stopped it would just be a matter of time before the ears were uncomfortable again. The steroid in the ear medication helped the inflammation and so Dukes ear feels better. The medication has also been effective at partially clearing the infection; however, the ears are not “fixed”. At this point a decision needs to be made as to continuing therapy longer, changing therapy or looking for an underlying cause for the persistent infection.
Without recheck appointments, we basically are left with assumptions that the pets get better. This is a fine approach as long as they really do. Unfortunately, especially with chronic and frustrating conditions like skin and ear disease, there is just no way of knowing, and ultimately of helping, unless we look again.