I mentioned on another thread that my 8 month old lab is a vet bill waiting to happen. He likes jumping (which this won’t help with) and being a Labrador, he likes eating stuff. Particularly stuff that isn’t always food or appropriate for dogs, such as teabags. Which is when we discovered the animal poison helpline.
I understand the costs associated with vet trips and my post isn’t an alternative to the vets in every situation. Obviously if your pet is ill and/or you don’t know what they’ve eaten, the vets should probably be your first port of call. Let’s face it though, pets like to eat stuff they shouldn’t when
a) it’s Christmas morning and they got into the Christmas snacks
b) it’s 9pm on a Saturday after you’ve had a drink
c) when you’ve decided to go for a nice leisurely walk and you’re miles away from anywhere
d) you’re on holiday, not sure where the nearest vets are and you also picked that holiday cottage without WiFi or 4g to start Googling
Each call will cost £35 Mon-Fri 8am-8pm. Outside of those times or on bank holidays it’s £45. They take payment over the phone and will ask what you pet has eaten, how long ago, what quantity and information about your pet. You might still end up at the vets anyway if they’ve eaten something particularly toxic but most calls end up with pets not needing vet treatment.
By the way, the Labrador was fine after eating the teabags, although keeping him away from teabags is an additional challenge now he’s got the taste of them 
We didn’t end up with an out of hours vet appointment and he did also manage to sleep that evening despite the caffeine.