£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.

But vet charges have soared in a few years. Way above inflation.

I worry more about the impact of high vet fees on rescues. They get a lot of little animals in terrible condition and they all have to go to the vet. A lot of small animal rescues are set up by ordinary people in their ordinary homes. The rescue i got my gerbil from had 46 gerbils! 46! 23 from a situation where someone abandoned 23 gerbils when they moved out. I have seen go fund mes for abandoned rabbits and guinea pigs, it is so sad, but I can't donate to help every little animal in need. Oh and the vet fees are in the thousands.

43 years ago when I took my hamster to the vet with a tooth problem he charged me 50p. Who says the 70' weren't a great decade?

It was in my dogs case. She was a rescue pup, that had had a shit life. We had her from 3.5 months. At 5 months she had a seizure, which turned out to be due to a liver issue.

An operation and special food for a few months fixed her. She would possibly have lived up to a year or two without the operation, maybe less.

Now there’s no reason she shouldn’t live a long healthy life. It was the right and kind thing. She’s amazing, healthy, full of energy and does all the things dogs should. Loves her walks, runs on the beach, jumping in rivers, plays. She’s the happiest little dog I’ve ever known. Thank god she found us and we found her. 🙏🏻 Thank god we chose treatment.

thing is (I spent £150 on cat in last 2 weeks):

I phoned up vet at 4:30pm on Friday, saw vet at 6pm. £85 later...
Phoned up vet at 9am on next Friday, saw vet at 12:30 same day. £65...

Phone up NHS anything and ... days later. Telephone call maybe.

Or weeks later for in person appt.
What an amazing difference in service between vet & NHS.
I'm struggling to complain about the vet fees even if they are painful.
I dare say I'd pay £40 to see my GP if I could guarantee an appt within 3 hours.

I was £85 for a consultation to confirm my dog had a a tummy bug! It’s the price we pay - your bill is covering it just your time there, but the education of all in the building, the cost of buying the building, their electricity etc etc etc - it all mounts up.

I can always see the GP the same day. But I am in Scotland.

Humans are a peculiar bunch. Get worked up about the value of life of a hamster, pet rat. Then don't care at all, mostly, about animal welfare of chickens, or sewer rats. Surely a life is a life. If someone doesn't want to pay 500 to put a pet rat , or any other small creature, through a traumatic operation that would put a massive strain on their heart, and possibly kill them anyway, dont judge them! Not when you would call out the exterminators in a heart beat if you had a family of rats under the garden decking.

I know. I’m wondering about these patients that see their GP 7 times a year mentioned in another post. We can’t even get through to ours.😬 We actually have used a private GP when desperate and got a same day appointment.

I hope your cat is ok.

If you don’t want to pay for treatment then you must have them pts. Just don’t leave them in pain. U

As for not caring about animal welfare, I really do.

Listening to his heart is probably able to say quite a lot about his general condition and how well his body is coping with the strain of fighting an infection.

Cat is good, he has 2 eyeballs again!!
(his eyes were bad with conjunctivitis which we / I / vet realised belatedly was caused by large abscess on his head). One lovely jab of antibiotics did job on 2nd visit.

This specific cat is the favourite of family. DC would probably choose that cat over me if one had to stay & other had to move out.

Fallingshowifeel yes, fully support a kind pts option for any animal when vets bills are too high, and/or the operation would be traumatic for the animal due to its size, or the experience it would have throughout a prolonged illness/ operation.

To be clear the thing I don't support is people being bullied into thinking that the only correct thing to do is get in debt or otherwise cause financial hardship to themselves or their families by taking on these monstrous vets bills, rather than the kinder, more practical, pts option

This is why patients should be told how much it costs every single time they visit the GP. Perhaps they would then be more likely to use the service appropriately, rather than draining resources for trivialities.

Kids. 😂

Glad to here kitty is ok and has 2 eyeballs again! We used to have a cat that was always fighting in his younger days. We spent a lot on antibiotics to treat abscesses.

@Missdotty I agree. If people can not afford vets' bills they should not get into debt.

Personally I would spend a lot to save an animal, that’s just me. But I understand others can’t. Or don’t want to. I only ask that they are not left to suffer. Get them treatment or pts, either are kind.

This.
Would anyone question why their blood pressure gets taken in A&E after being admitted with a broken leg?

Paid 90 quid for a guinea pig, plus a follow up appointment for guinea to be put to sleep.

The guinea pig cost £24.

However, it showed my kids that we take care of our animals, and that we could have done no more.

Pet insurance is also very expensive. We have just switched two of our pets from £75 a month each with Pet Plan to just over £85 a month for the pair!

Terrible! They milk what they can from you! Always ask for a payment plan, they won't say no but never tell you that option as they want to make money from you

Tesco Pet Insurance is my best friend - after a rather expensive year for my 13 yr old cat, I will never cancel my cover

Ddog is diabetic. I can buy a months worth of insulin online for £24 or I can buy it from the vet for £90. So I pay the vet £10 for a prescription for six months. Same with needles a months worth from the vet for £30 or £15 online.

Adding this just to highlight that it is worth doing if you have a pet on long term medication.

Our last vet trip cost £95 for a call to the poison service as ddog got hold of a piece of what looked like rat bait.

I remember decades ago taking our Guinea pig to the vet to have her nails to be clipped. Cost? 0.25p! Cost of actual Guinea pig? 0.25p!!!

Imagine a business wanting to make money. 🙄