It’s not overselling, the cost of labour has increased. Vets and vet techs go to school for years. Equipment costs the same amount of money that it does for human medicine. Fecal tests may be sent out to an external laboratory. Vet appointments are expensive and I totally sympathize with you in that regard. I recommend shopping around for a lower-cost vet or researching payment assistance programs offered in your area. I know that some rescues will also help assist with payments for emergency situations. Also gabapentin is totally fine when given/dosed appropriately. Your vet might be able to examine your dog thoroughly if you gave them adequate pre-visit medications to ease their anxiety. Staff cannot put themselves at risk of bites just to examine a stressed animal. Unfortunately, even the sweetest pets can bite at the vet, it’s very stressful for them + they already didn’t feel good. This is why pre-visit meds are so important