£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.

This. When you consider the cost of purchasing a dog/puppy before you've even had to take it to a vet, it has left us unable to have a dog. I remember when we used to buy a Collie pup from a local farm for £20!. Simply unheard of now.

Now we just have hamsters. We took our first one to a vet when he hurt his leg and they didn't even charge a consultation fee. We only paid £12 for a steroid injection. They were great.

But can vets really do much for hamsters?

I feel your pain OP. I once spent £200 on a chicken 🤷🏻‍♀️

DH had a few opinions on that.

I've recently had a wobble on whether to cancel my dogs insurance as he's 8 now and his premiums have gone up significantly due to him being considered "geriatric". He has NEVER been to the vet other than for vaccinations, so Tesco have had a lot of money from me over the years. BUT, his younger brother broke his back as a pup, insurance only paid out half and now I can't get him insured (within my budget), so there's that niggle thinking don't cancel just in case. I just think the costs our pets incur are something we have to suck up. But let's face it, many people will be giving up their pets over the next few months. Even the cheapest food has gone up, there's upkeep costs, grooming etc, owning a pet seems quite a luxury at the moment.

Vet fees have gone up massively in the last couple of years.

About 5 years ago I took a hamster to the vet as it had an abscess in its mouth. The vet had a look and said we can have a go at draining it but the hamster was quite old so might not make it. I asked how much and he said £21!!

The vet did drain the abscess and the hamster went on happily for another 6 months or so.

Now that same treatment would probably be £150 at least.

Nothing costs less than £100.

Recent vet trips;
The dogs ear infection £140.
The cats fur loss £110

Both simple to treat and for 10 min appointments.

I get that vets have lots of costs but the massive price hikes have taken me a bit by surprise.

My hamster just passed on. I paid around £140 in his last month of life for an appointment, another follow up appointment and medication. tbh, you would spend much less on a hamster compared to a dog as hamsters don't need regular checkups or vaccinations or deworming and live for a far shorter time (so less likely to spend a long time in ill health unlike cats or dogs).

I got two rescue gerbils who now live in his cage (150 cm by 60 cm tank style cage which was not cheap at all so I want to reuse it). I registered my gerbils at the vet and they told me that it would be £54 per gerbil for an appointment! So if both were sick at the same time, it would be £100 just for an appointment. I have realized i prefer gerbils to hamsters as they are awake in the day as well but I must say that this is a major disadvantage. I know that realistically it makes sense to charge per animal, but still... The bonus is that apparently gerbils are quite healthy so hopefully would not need the vet as much.

I still don't think saving a dogs life should cost 17k

I had to pay over £300 to have my cats claw trimmed cos he turned into Satan on the table and had to be knocked out...

His teeth cost me as much as mine.

Pet ownership is expensive. I appreciate that people can fall on hard times and circumstances change, but people shouldn't go out and get a pet if they can't afford the associated costs - you need insurance for all animals really. Just because an animal is small or cheap to buy, doesn't mean it isn't deserving of proper care.

You can definitely get insurance for hamsters/small mammals.

OP, at least vet fees are the only thing that is expensive about owning a hamster. Or gerbils. And hopefully they don't need it too much. The cage is a one off cost and there are lots of second hand cages around or you can DIY.

for dogs/cats/rabbits/guinea pigs, its a different story. Dog and cat food cost a lot as does daily fresh vegetables and hay. the 50-£100 it costs to keep guinea pig/rabbit/cat/dog per month can be used for vet fees.

What did that include? lots of expensive drugs? Scans - the cost of the scan goes towards the cost of buying and maintaining the machine. Surgery? Do you really think people will go to all the effort of studying to be a vet and then be happy to earn low wages?

@70isaLimitNotaTarget I lost a piggies to eye poke. He seemed to recover, but I reckon something must have been brewing inside. Had to be PTS as I didn't want to put him through eye removal. So sad. I buy different hay now for his elderly brother.

Yes.

They can be operated on, they can have painkillers, antibiotics, mite treatments, eye ointments etc.

That's totally insane. My cat had a sticky eye a while back and when I rang the vets the receptionist suggested washing it with cooled black tea for a day first which worked and saved me going to the vets at all.

I found 2 dead kittens and a half frozen one under my neighbours motorhome the other day. I brought the alive one in and warmed it up, fed it milk replacement for a few days which involved no sleep whatsoever as it needed feeding every 2-3hrs.. It perked up, but went downhill on day 3, took it to the vet who prescribed antibiotics and gave it a flea spray. £175. It did on the way home from the vet! It was very sad, but it wasn't my kitten and I tried to do the right thing. I couldn't get over the cost though!!!

I donate to the PDSA. I just don’t want animals to suffer.

If you go behind the back of the practice it’s like a hospital. It’s not just a vet with a scalpel and a nurse. I’ve been in some vets and they have ultrasound machines and CT scanners! The équipement there is very expensive.

We have a pet plan for my puppy pay 20 quid a month includes deforming, flea treatment vaccinations unlimited consulations, nail trimming and additional other stuff.

insurance makes absolutely no sense for small animals like hamsters or gerbils.

My hamster incurred £180 in vet fees in his two years of life. if i had gotten insurance for £10 per month, that would have been £240 for his whole life. The vet fee excess is also £65 under exotic direct, which is the only insurer for small animals in the UK. Under that i could probably only claim £30.

Responsible owners of small animals have a savings fund. Rule of thumb is £250 per animal. Some say £500.

Can't you do mite and eye treatments yourself?

This is part of the reason we don't have pets, we've had a couple of dogs and the vets are so expensive.

The vet will charge the same regardless of the species; you’re not paying for a hamster consultation, you’re paying for a consultation. Why should they charge less for their time? For their expertise?

Pet care is expensive, and so should it be, it doesn’t matter what the creature is. You’re paying for a professional opinion, that comes from years and years of training and associated student debt. Ongoing CPD. Relatively low pay for the training involved (I was a VN for 11+ years and the highest wage I reached in practice was 18.5k full time). It’s not an easy job and it has one of the highest rates of suicide - for many reasons but public attitude is certainly in the mix.

I can also tell you from at least 5 years of doing the cashing up and stock ordering for a busy practice - the daily takings are surprisingly small for the number of staff and equipment required to operate the business safely as responsibly. I wish people knew this.

The vet is charging correctly.

They used to charge less until the US firms moved in. They also did cheaper procedures. A vet treated our rabbit years ago easily and cheaply. Last year the vet insisted the procedure could only be done under general anaesthetic and with a high fee. The old-style vets were more used to opting for cheap treatments. I also had the same advice as another poster about a kitten's sticky eye - free treatment. Wouldn't happen with the new style vet. It is less about the animals and more about making money. I am not sure we will get more pets when our current ones die.

Yes, they are hospitals. When we went to visit one of our dogs as she was in for 12 days, they would wheel her out to us on a hospital bed/trolley. 😂

She’s went in due to having seizures. She had numerous blood tests, medications, ultrasounds, X-rays and scans to find the issue and extent of it. Then a massive operation, anaesthetic, stitches, more bloods, more meds, various antibiotics, more scans to see how things looked, 12 nights in the hospital with 24 hour care from vets and nurses, specialist food, bandages. They kept us informed, with twice daily calls, they did our insurance claim for us, they were kind, they even hugged me when I cried. Then 2 follow ups face to face appointments including removal of stitches and final ultrasound. There cleared up her sick, they bathed her. I’m sure there’s more they did.

They worked so hard to save our dog and to look after her when she was with them, the operation was a total success even though we were warned it may not work. The vet who operated cried at her last follow up appointment as our dog remembered her and was wagging and covering her in licks. Very different to the dog she first saw. Then all the nurses who had cared for her including night shifts came and fussed her.

£13k and worth every penny.

I think insurance means that more treatment is taking place that really should not. It is not always kind to treat an animal.

Healthcare costs a lot unfortunately.

GPs get an average of around £155 per patient per year. The average patient sees their GP 7 times per year. This might illustrate why GP practices struggle sometimes- there really isn’t very much funding.