£84 to see vet about hamster

[Hamsterloversrme]

Still reeling now. My hamster had sticky eyes, was gently wiping with cotton bud but thought I should get her checked out with a vet.

Was in and out of vet consultation room in under 5 minutes. She listened to his heart, looked at his eye and prescribed an ointment for his eye.

Almost reeled I’m shock when receptionist told me the cost. I like to think I’m a responsible pet owner but can see why some people just wouldn’t bother taking a hamster to the vet when the cost is extortionate.

Then they’re thick AF and irresponsible too. A quick google will tell you even small pets can cost a lot. The fact hamsters can be purchased for a small amount doesn’t mean they should be left without care, as if they’re disposable. The suggestion is psychopathic.

This sounds similar to that weird and horrible thread not long ago, with an OP commenting that as the hamster only cost £10, should she even bother taking it to the vet. Let’s see how this one goes. 🤔

I don’t think I will ever understand or empathise with people who don’t take their animals to get the help they need so YABU there.

Can’t be doing with fairweather pet owners. Hamster, stick insect or rhinoceros, I’d hope they’d brought far more than £84 worth of joy to your life.

It does but thankfully not at the point of use 😊

I think because the NHS is free at the point of supply people have no idea how much healthcare costs (for people and animals).

my dad was talking about a friends son who’s a vet and can’t get any staff for his livestock focussed practice - all the good money is in pet vet work. Apparently farmers look at vet costs differently and just put down animals once the cost of treatment is going to get close to the animals cost. People with pets see them as part of the family so pay it, but as cost of living bites, and vet costs increase- you’ll probably get people looking at the cost of replacing hamsters / Guinea pigs etc and just not treat them.

I worry about all those lockdown pets.

If it was a dog it would have been about the same. For my dog it was £35 consultation fee, £55 antibiotics (some of that would be dispensing fee). Same amount of time, expertise, ointment.

I knew someone would 'correct' this!

Believe me, every time I look at my NI contributions I think about what I pay. I also look up the proper price of any medications I have.

Highly trained professional's time (vet)
highly trained professional's time (nurse)
rent or mortgage on the property
heat
light
insurance on the building
receptionist cost
medical indemnity
cost of computers, medical equipment etc
cost of running the building, servicing the boilers, cleaner, plumber/electrician etc when needed
burglar alarm
postage
etc
etc
etc

What do you think a vet should earn per hour?

Our collie had to have an emergency vet appointment for damage to his eyeball. Appointment for examination of eye by a non-specialist vet plus medications £657!! 😮😮 We have insurance so cost to us was the excess of £125!

I’m not correcting it. I’m saying most people don’t understand the true cost of healthcare because they don’t pay the bill. Think about how much it costs to run a vets surgery. All the training and skilled staff, specialist equipment, etc. The price the OP pays is reflective of all of this. And the type of pet doesn’t affect the costs of provision.

Im not going to derail the thread, I mentioned it in a lighthearted off the cuff way, theres no need to prolong it, I dont want a long political discourse about the price of the NHS

I wasnt talking about the vet bills either, I pay those,, am happy to pay those and know how much it costs vets to provide treatment.

My daughter has just paid £130 to briefly see a vet and be given chloramphenicol eye drops for her cat.

If she'd have asked me I'd have told her to get the £4 chloramphenicol ones from the chemist.

Outrageous.

You're paying for their years of experience, skill and training, not the 5 minutes. ( As well as the huge cost of running a clinic).

How much do you think is left after practice overheads; professional insurance; medication; sterilisation of equipment; reception & nurse wages ..?

@karmakameleon absolutely!

People in UK are completely spoiled by 'free' Nhs so have genuinely no idea how much heathcare costs

Other country's pay to see GP & pay in full for medication.

Luckily there are charities that can help with vets if people are in financial hardship but I wish people wouldn't take on pets if they can't afford insurance or potential vets bills

It cost me about £55 a few weeks ago when I took one of my sisters guineas to the vet as he seemed off colour - worth every penny even though she couldn’t actually find a problem and he was fine a couple of days later . The vet sat on the floor with him on her lap and had a lovely conversation with him as she examined him . Hope the hamster gets well soon .

£180 this week for 2 rats to be put to sleep and cremated (no ashes returned etc just wanted the vet to manage the bodies)

Listened to his heart .. 🧐 and what would they do if needed .. bypass maybe 🤷🏻‍♀️

We have rabbits. I have learned from experience what can be treated with medication bought online.

I wouldn't imagine it would cost so much for a hamster to have some eye ointment- I can totally understand why people might avoid such huge vets bills. Saying it's never understandable that people don't seek help for a pet is like saying you don't understand why people don't go to the supermarket to buy food for their children, and have to food bank.

I think this needs to be a warning for all potential pet owners. People need to think very carefully before getting their child a pet for Christmas, which won't cost very much to initially purchase and set up.

It doesn't matter what the pet is, you are paying for the vets time, plus the upkeep of practice facilities.
If we have 20 15 minute appointment slots per day , and are very busy, each slot has to generate the same income so a £45 plus consult fee per 15 minute slot. It's simple economics and nothing to do with how much you paid for the pet.
Personally it makes my eyes water when someone brings in a hamster for something fairly trivial and I have to ring them up a £60 plus bill, buts that's how it works.we do always make sure everyone is aware of how much the consult charge will be.

A consultation for a hamster is the same as for a dog because it costs the vet the same. It takes up the same amount of time, and the overheads - maintaining the building, IT, staff, etc, is the same. Even a tiny tube of ointment can be very expensive, it depends on what medication it was.

Most vets are not financially well off at all.

Just spent £309 on pet rat..

Small animal does not mean small vet bills. The vet's time costs the same.

Regardless of the cost, you did the responsible thing and took the hamster to the vet instead of letting it suffer with icky eyes.

fallings your anger and aggression is misdirected at me as I have taken my hamster to the vets and paid the extortionate vets fees. How do you feel about people on a low wage/benefits who have pets and rely on charities like the pdsa to pay ALL their vet bills??

I paid £135 trying to keep one of my hamsters alive, about 7 yrs ago. It didn’t work, what they thought was an upset stomach turned out to be a tumour and he died.

One of our Guinea pigs needed her eye removing. They quoted £500, but in the end it was £675. She was only 18mths old, so DH thought she had years in her which is why he agreed to it. She rallied after the operation but 3 weeks later she had a stroke and died.

My last hamster had a tumour in her ear. I took her to the vet twice, but they couldn’t do anything , that was £70 for the consultations, on the third visit she had to be put to sleep. They said to me “stay there, and we’ll bring the card machine to you, then you can go out the back door as you’re upset”. That was another £50.

The thing is, you can’t insure hamsters but I really do think they should get the same care that you’d get if you had a dog. And Guinea pigs cost a lot to insure, so we just out £40 a month into an account just in case of vets bills. Fortunately we can afford to.

Vets train for something like 7 years - it’s a longer course than doctors. People will be leaving university with over £100k in debt and need to pay that off as well as earn a living, pay for premises, pay for a nurse and a receptionist and pay market price (no NHS subsidies) for drugs. The fact that an animal is small or cheap to buy doesn’t make any difference to those costs.