My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

The litter tray

Vet's bill

22 replies

PhyllisStein89 · 03/02/2017 20:11

Our adopted cat has a bad cough and we went to the vet today with him. She's booked him in for x-rays on Monday. Because he's got kidney problems he is going to be on intravenous fluids and under general anaesthetic. We've been quoted £327 for it! I've spoken to the woman from the cat rescue because she said she'd help out with vets fees but she says it's absolutely extortionate and thinks the vet is overcharging us. Just wondering if anybody else has had their cat x-rayed and is it worth shopping around?

OP posts:
Report
aprilanne · 03/02/2017 20:18

to be honest we paid 80 pound 5 years ago to have our rabbits teeth filled down so maybe its not to bad .our vet takes £35 pound just for a general checkup .and that only takes about 10 minutes .i took in a stray cat and he had sore skin and by the time i got cream and things it was about £90 pound they can charge what they like unfortunately .

Report
thecatneuterer · 03/02/2017 20:36

It doesn't surprise me but it is certainly worth shopping around. The vets in Pets at Home generally seem to be reasonable.

Report
Labracadabra · 03/02/2017 20:37

£35 just for 10 mins? A vet degree takes 5 years, maybe you could pop off and get one and save yourself £35? You're paying for a professional with training and expertise. Cats need a general anaesthetic for x rays as they're generally not great at lying perfectly still and it's not safe for a human to restrain them and be exposed to the radiation unnecessarily. So there is the cost of the drugs and the expertise to anaesthetise your cat and maintain them at the right plane (level) of anaesthesia during the procedure. Then there's the placing and setting up the IV fluids (not easy in tiny cat veins) and the fluids themselves. Then the X-rays and the vet's expertise to interpret the x-rays. If the vet makes all that look simple then that's a sign that they're skilled at their job. By all means get other quotes but I think you both underestimate the costs involved.

Report
Vinorosso74 · 03/02/2017 20:52

Personally I don't think that is too steep if he's going to be having a GA. A consultation at ours is £36. The drugs are expensive and remember about £65 of that will be the VAT they have to add.

Report
lljkk · 03/02/2017 20:54

yeah, costs £35 to get my vet's opinion on anything, too. The prices are what I would expect, OP. Now you understand why folk have insurance (but that's quite expensive, too).

Report
TrustySnail · 03/02/2017 20:56

One of my cats had kidney problems and was on intravenous fluids for 5 days - the whole thing cost me well over £1k in the end (he's worth it Smile) - so £327 doesn't sound unlikely. A basic vet consultation is £25 in my area.

Report
ewemum · 03/02/2017 20:56

Sounds about right.

Report
PhyllisStein89 · 03/02/2017 21:01

Yeah it's just that the woman from the adoption agency has obviously taken a lot of cats to the vet so I thought she'd know if it was too much or not. Thanks for the opinions, greatly appreciated.
Although labracadabra no one is trying to undermine the work vets do so you don't need to take it that personally Confused

OP posts:
Report
Want2bSupermum · 03/02/2017 21:04

GBP327 is high. I would ask different vets explaining that you can't afford that bill but don't want to see your pet go untreated.

I would expect GBP250-275 as a good price. Don't expect to find anything of good quality below that.

Report
WetsTheFinger · 03/02/2017 21:04

That is not extortionate. Feel free to go to a cheap high street vets but you get what you pay for..

Report
WetsTheFinger · 03/02/2017 21:04

P.s why don't you have insurance? 30 quid a month would have been the sensible option. But sadly so many pet owners seem to lack common sense.

Report
lljkk · 03/02/2017 21:07

30 quid a month is £360 a yr. £1k in less than 3 yrs.

Report
fluffandsnuff · 03/02/2017 21:10

Mine is going in for x rays with ivy fluids and scale and polish while he's under (vet ordered- he's not a glamour puss 😋). Quote is 280 pounds. DCat is insured but the vet doesn't think the insurance will cover it due to pre-existing condition/ dental work not covered

Report
empirerecordsrocked · 03/02/2017 21:12

Pets at home vets do. It have a good reputation here.

If you don't want to pay insurance pay what you would pay for insurance into an account and at least if you need it you'd have some cash to help.

Report
Floralnomad · 03/02/2017 21:17

It seems reasonable to me ,it cost me about £600 a couple of years ago to have my dogs front leg xrayed under GA . I wonder if the rescue place gets preferential rates at their vet as I know our vet does lots of work with charities and they get a better rate , would it be better to get their vet to look at him under the auspices of the rescue ?

Report
TrustySnail · 03/02/2017 21:23

Insurance is a bit of a gamble - if I'd insured my cat, now 17, for £30 a month, it would have cost me over £6k by now with only £1k claimed back(assuming they'd still have been insuring him as a feline geriatric) - the kidney episode was the only significant problem he's had, so it has worked out cheaper just to pay the bill. I have always had savings though, specifically for this sort of eventuality - if I had no savings, I'd definitely take out insurance.

Report
cozietoesie · 03/02/2017 21:26

I think it's maybe a little high but not extortionate - if it's needed in the first place. Did you ask the vet to explain what purpose the procedure would serve?

Report
Trustyourself2 · 03/02/2017 22:04

It sounds about right. Do a search on vet prices UK and you'll get a fair idea of charges.

Report
Toddlerteaplease · 03/02/2017 22:15

I paid £200 for a GA and a few stitches last year. So that sounds fairly reasonable.

Report
Toddlerteaplease · 03/02/2017 22:16

My vet only charges £19 for a consultation!

Report
cozietoesie · 03/02/2017 22:36

You're lucky, Toddler. Smile

Report
PinkSparklyPussyCat · 04/02/2017 09:01

Wets that's harsh. Maybe the OP couldn't insure the cat and insurance doesn't cover everything.

OP, that doesn't sound too bad to be honest and, if you're happy with your vet, I'd stick with them. My cat was at the vets a lot last year and at one point we thought about changing to a different practice. When we thought about it we decided to stay as Harry will probably need ongoing treatment over the years and he was looked after so well.

Report

Don’t want to miss threads like this?

Weekly

Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.