£101.67?!?!?!?!

[ChristmasisRuined]

A year ago, DD's Hamster had to sadly be put to sleep. I agreed to let them 'handle' disposal of him due to DD's special needs. She certainly wouldn't have been able to cope with a little burial.
The cost of this, including 'disposal', came to £39 which I thought was reasonable.

Fast forward a year and DD's 1yr old Hamster (who really helped her grieve for the loss of her last little friend) has unfortunately had to be put to sleep this evening as she was really suffering. This was at a different Veterinary practice. They too asked if I'd like to take her home or have them dispose of her. As last time was a reasonable cost which included this, I just agreed to them disposing of her.

So imagine my surprise when I got to the counter after was presented with a bill for £101.27!?!

I paid and when I got home, I called to double check it was correct and yep! Same price for a Hamster as it is for a Cat! Apparently, £30 of it is for them to dispose of her. Now, had I been told this I would've taken her home and buried her myself without DD knowing, as I'm a disabled, widowed parent on a very low income (as I have no choice but to claim disability benefits now). At NO point did anyone tell me that disposal would cost £30 extra. Yes I should've asked but given the other, also independent Veterinary surgery charged just £39 TOTAL last year, I never imagined disposal could cost so much so it didn't seem relevant to ask. Surely if something costs extra, then the morally decent thing to do is to point it out?
Anyway, even without the £30 disposal fee, £71 to put a Hamster to sleep???

I then looked on the website of the Vets I used last year, and their price is now £42 inc disposal for all animals smaller than Rabbits.

Christmas is now pretty much ruined. Due to my circumstances and the COL crisis etc, like many people, I only had £150 budget for DD's presents and the food. Now £101.67 of it has gone when it could've been just £42 down had I used the other practice....

I'm up sh** creek now and could cry. DD is crying because she's lost her little friend and I'm nearly crying because of the cost of it!!

Should I complain? Or is this roughly what others have paid??

Thanks

Thank you. Bloodandfire is now even troll hunting me on the loss of my DH and my previous job. Another expressing 'concern' for the fact that two hamsters have been put to sleep within a year of each other, just to imply I'm harming them in some way. The first was 4 and suddenly grew a gigantic growth that kept growing. The second was only 11 months old but had cancer in her ovaries.

I work at a vets. The price sounds about right unfortunately as it will be a set fee for euthanasia and another for cremation. Depending on their collection day you might be able to get the body back and a refund for the cremation but you would need to cal them asap as collections are often very early, sometimes before the staff get in. Be warned the animal will have been in cold storage which is essentially a freezer so will probably be frozen solid and may not look very nice if you decide to collect.

Couldn't you just get your daughter something small for Christmas and explain you'll get her this expensive item she wants in a few months when the money comes through from these?

I BEG your pardon?????? The very first sign of any suffering and we went straight round the fucking corner to the closest vets in town. How DARE you

Bloody hell, yeah but mine will be going on gas and food. I doubt many of us on disability benefits will have any left by Christmas!

THIRTY QUID! And I bet they just put him in the bin.

We had to have our beautiful dog PTS 7 yrs ago. We were expecting a massive bill as euthanising our cat 2 years previously had cost £95 with a different vet.

The vet charged us £65. When we said we wanted to take her home to bury her in the garden he took £10 off the bill. We had also had a pre-euthanasia sedative to avoid as much distress as possible.

(Unfortunately he has retired now and the new practice is sh*t.)

It's shocking the difference between veterinary practices in the same area. You can understand the difference between a posh practice in Hampstead and a rural vet out in the sticks, but not when the costs for running the practice will be similar.

Yes which is needed for bills. You know, the what it's intended for

For future reference a Jaffa cake box makes a good hamster coffin. RIP hammy.

Extortionate costs of euthanasia will massively contribute to animals being dumped/ left to suffer.

Oh gosh, you poor thing. Hamsters are so cute and I have had lots. Never taken any to the vets though. They are so little never thought they could do anything. We have always dealt with those domestic issues ourselves.

Paid out for dog treatments though.

3 years 10 months if you need me to be perfectly precise. I was pulled up on being too precise on amounts earlier in the thread so 🤷🏼‍♀️

We used a Ferrero Rocher box

That's a massive piss take.

As an ex vet nurse. Disposal unless it's a private cremation service is pretty standard and in no way should a hamster be the same as a cat.

For what it's worth I've buried all my cats as it's allowed

I'd complain tbh.

Was part of the cost from diagnosing the cancer in her ovaries? Not something you could tell without scans etc I guess? Maybe that's why the cost was so much.

I'm in East Yorkshire and have lots of Our generation I could donate if you're interested. Private message me.

I am just baffled at so much unkindness in this thread. Sending you good vibes only.

They will only collect for crematorium once a week usually so there's a good chance it's still there.
Just give them a call first thing , be honest that you didn't realise cost and you can't afford it and I'm sure they will let you collect and you can bury in garden .
Legally all animals left at vets have to go to a licenced crematorium and they will charge the practice per pet, that charge has to be passed on.

They don't check what you are spending it on you know (I get this help too) ...nobody is going to throw you in jail for a late utility payment so it might be worth trying to juggle things. You'll get no thanks for paying bills on time after all.

Well perhaps this was the world's second-oldest,

One of our fancy mice was FIVE! They rarely live past three years. He was just bones covered with skin (had lost all of his hair) but was pretty active until one day we found him as stiff as a biscuit (4 year-old son's description) when we went to give him his breakfast.

Some of the comments on this thread have really, really upset me. I never asked if I was BU to 'presume' it wouldn't cost 150% more. I acknowledged this in my OP. My question was whether the price was expected. The fact that it's affected my child's Christmas was just to explain why I'm so upset about it. But I've been accused of being a scrounger on the beg, accused of abusing both hamsters, accused of lying about my DH's death, my previous job and accused of expecting cremation for free - when I never expected ANY cremation (I genuinely assumed they'd be sent to landfill as awful as that sounds).
All because I'm a 'scummy single mummy on benefits'. Im only a 'single mum' as a direct result of my husband's death. I'm only on benefits as a direct result of being made permanently disabled.

I only asked a question. Some people are cruel, nasty little bullies who should be ashamed of themselves

I don't want to go into detail but the cancer was only presumed due to the sudden, rather obvious and gruesome symptoms which appeared this afternoon

Not true. Everything has to go to a crematorium.

I don't think anyone has called you a scummy single mum apart from yourself OP.

Sorry OP, things sound tough but the price sounds about right to me. My mum had her cat put down about a year ago and I can't remember how much she paid for that bit of it but she paid £160 for an individual cremation and we had to take him to the place and collect the ashes. Looking through the brochure, a goldfish cost about £50! (A horse almost seemed a bargain by comparison at about £1200 including collection and casket). I think if you let the vet deal with it (unless they work with crems for individual cremation) they're collected in bulk by companies who then incinerate them. I guess the rise in energy prices will have put prices up. Hope things improve for you soon.

All because I'm a 'scummy single mummy on benefits'

That's awful, who said that?