Vet practices - cost of treatment and set price for appointment?

[Alexandramae2]

Any one else finding the set price I pay £35 before we start, I’ve even been asked to pay for repeat prescription items with a consultation ?
I have used vet practices all mylife but this is a new conceptAs a complete rip Off. what’s the alternative Anyone know? With the
Coming financial turndown and lost jobs Animal will suffer for sure!

[BiteyShark]

Not sure I understand what you mean by a set price? Do you mean a price for consultation?

If so then actually £35 isn't that bad as I pay almost £50 for ours and then any treatment on top. However given that it's private medicine and the equivalent time for a human consultation at a hospital would be £150 I don't grumble.

[tsmainsqueeze]

So unreasonable, you have no idea the work / skill involved in being a vet , and the behind the scenes costs of running a practice.
You use the nhs i assume, you would be totally shocked how much their costs are , and how hard that would be if we had to pay for our own treatments.
You should shop around some vets are cheaper but i doubt if you will find one that does not charge a consult fee.
You are paying for a very skilled persons time ,all the vets i work with go out of their way every day for pet / client.

[vanillandhoney]

This is totally normal. Surely you don't expect to take up a vet's time for free. Vet consults at our practise are £18 but some are much more expensive. You can shop around if you don't want to pay £35 - try a farm vet, they're often much cheaper and just as skilled and experienced.

[VeggieSausageRoll]

You pay for the vets time (the £35) plus any additional items or services. This may be drugs, additional procedures, a written prescription etc.

Standard procedure and has been for the 20+ years I've been working in practice.

[Floralnomad]

Our vets do a short consult fee or a long one I think they are between £20-40 , that’s perfectly normal and acceptable . If you are getting medication prescribed I can totally see why they would want to see the dog at least 6 monthly and obviously you’d need to pay for that consultation .

[Lonecatwithkitten]

I am not certain why you seen to think that a consult fee and an examination every so often to be able keep prescribing medication is a new thingI have been working in veterinary practices for 31 years and this has been the practice all that time.
The consult fee covers the vets professional time just the same as a solicitor or accountant would.
Veterinary practices are inspected regularly to ensure that they follow the law regarding prescribing. If an individual vet has been found to break this they run the risk of losing their licence to practice.

[Sitdowncupoftea]

vets are suppose to tell you costs up front. Vets do charged consultation which is to be expected. However if you can buy meds cheaper than off them they should be informing you.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

@Sitdowncupoftea we have to inform clients that we can provide them with a written prescription ( for which we can charge), but we don't have to say that the medication is cheaper. It is up to the client to investigate whether the overall costs are cheaper.

[vanillandhoney]

@Sitdowncupoftea

vets are suppose to tell you costs up front. Vets do charged consultation which is to be expected. However if you can buy meds cheaper than off them they should be informing you.

I don't think that's true at all. It's upto you to do your research and see if you can get things cheaper elsewhere.

Why on earth would a vet actively encourage you to spend your money elsewhere on a regular basis?

[Chilledchablis]

Like a few others, I don't get what you are complaining about? The vet is a highly qualified professional doing an amazing job and needs to charge accordingly. I agree, it isn't cheap but if you choose to have animals................

[Sitdowncupoftea]

I think you will find from a legal point of view vets are suppose to discuss charges with you. My vet tells me regards pricing and if its off the shelf medication or prescription only.

[vanillandhoney]

@Sitdowncupoftea

I think you will find from a legal point of view vets are suppose to discuss charges with you. My vet tells me regards pricing and if its off the shelf medication or prescription only.

There's a difference between them telling you "it will cost you X amount" before you get to the reception to pay, and saying to you "oh but don't bother buying it from us as you can get it for 10% of the price online".

I've used three different vets in the last ten years and none of them have ever told me that I can get medication cheaper elsewhere.

[Pelleas]

There's always been a consultation fee in the 20+ years I have been using vets.

Ours doesn't charge for the annual health check with vaccinations, so you only pay the cost of the vaccinations - they do a vaccination for life offer too - so it may be worth shopping round for deals like that but I doubt you'd find a vet that does free consultations - why would they work for free?

[Sitdowncupoftea]

@vanillandhoney Maybe your vets do not discuss pricing before treatment but mine do. I don't personally know of any vet that would tell you to buy anything online if it was only 10% cheaper that's idiotic. My vets have told me if there was a substantial price difference and written me a prescription to purchase elsewhere as it would be cheaper.

[vanillandhoney]

[quote Sitdowncupoftea]@vanillandhoney Maybe your vets do not discuss pricing before treatment but mine do. I don't personally know of any vet that would tell you to buy anything online if it was only 10% cheaper that's idiotic. My vets have told me if there was a substantial price difference and written me a prescription to purchase elsewhere as it would be cheaper.[/quote]
They do discuss pricing beforehand, but more in the sense of "X will cost this amount, if you want this as well, the price will be Y", are you happy with that before we proceed?

And I didn't say 10% cheaper elsewhere, I said 10% of the price elsewhere. Totally different things. It's my responsibility as the pet owner to do my research and decide what I'm willing to pay. However, I typically choose to support my practise as they're a small independent and don't charge extortionate prices, plus we have four animals registered with them and they've always been fantastic.