To think out of hours vets fees are outrageous?!

[sensuallettuce]

Have arrived home from lunch to find cat in pain and passing blood.

Phoned PSDA out of hours line. It's £135 for a consultation BEFORE any treatment. It's normally £30 (so more than 4 times the normal cost!!) Snooty woman on phone informed me if I am on housing or council tax benefit I would be elegible for help but as I am not on any of those I need to pay the fee or not be seen, and the well being of my cat is my responsibility which I agree is true and I can normally afford the £30.

It's the end of the month and I don't have a spare £135 + in the bank so my cat will have to wait until tomorrow.

AIBU to think this inflated "out of hours" price is outrageous?!

Babylon1 I think it's more of a case of not wanting to pay OOH fee. OP has been offered advice to demand to be seen or ring round other vets but has chosen to leave the cat untreated until tomorrow when the normal fee is available.

Poor cat, I hate knowing a cats in pain but looks the MD wouldn't be able to help in this case. Nice to know the MD has his priorities right though. I've always seen it as a bit of a faceless charity and on par with RSPCA for compassion. But starting to look into the MD and its changing my view .

Avacado - it's about not being able to afford the fee and not being able to go in a wild goose chase while I have three sleeping children in bed.

I think you are being a bit extreme tbh.

The cat is asleep on my lap.

I could only go on your limited description of the cat and your instinct to ring for veterinary help and ask for a consult.

In my experience clients rarely go that far unless they see it as an emergency, hence my advice. well once for the famous poo stuck to cats bum emergency

I had to take my uninsured bunny 14 miles to the emergency vets in Nottingham last year, cost me £400. He had to stay in overnight and I had to pick him up again at 6.30am the next day.

They saved his life though.

It is an outrageous price, but I would do it again in a heartbeat if necessary. He's part of the family.

Hopefully your cat will be treated successfully tomorrow, perhaps you could start up a contingency fund for this sort of thing?

I think the OP is getting an undeserved roasting here.

A single parent, with her children in bed who doesnt have the money to pay what the receptionist is insisting she must may tonight, who doesnt have the money, a credit card or a friend to borrow from is being called cruel and uncaring!

Or perhaps, in an impossible situation where she cant do right for doing wrong!

She obviously cares about the cat, but I think she is right to not wake the children to go halfway across town to a place that has made it clear that they wont see her cat without the cash upfront. Yes, there are rules in place and I think that she should call back, get the vets name and the receptionists name and make a complaint. But that wont help her right now will it?

Oh and OP, I agree that a contingency fund would be a good idea. Maybe you could save say £5 a week towards it? More than insurance but less than emergency treatment in one go.

Oh and a word to the wise.....NEVER EVER post on MN that you cant get an injured animal seen by a vet within minutes, you will be burned at the stake.

I save money for a vets contingency fund. I once had to pay over £100 for the guinea pig to be seen by Vets Now because she'd been dropped and was going into shock.

You need to insure or have emergency money. If you choose to have a pet then you need to take responsibility for it.

Agree with bejeezus.

You would pay that much for an emergency plumber. A vet however will have had to spend 5 or so years at University, will have little social life and lots of stress due to constant out of hours work. You have to be pretty bright to qualify and most could have had a far more lucrative career elsewhere.

If you have animals, I think you have to plan to afford these things.

I couldn't afford an emergency plumber either.

I am not in the position to have contingency fund for my cat - I don't even have contingency funds for school shoes.

When I got my cat I was married, I fell out of love with my husband but not with my cat.

I have to admit that I couldnt afford an emergency plumber either.

Sometimes we take things on when we can afford them and then life changes. Should the OP have rehomed her cat on the basis that one day she might not be able to afford an emergency vet appointment?

Its easy to be right when you are sitting in a ivory tower...

My other cat (son of current cat) had a heart attack and died in front of us all aged 7 two years ago which was horrific and devastating.

There is no way I could rehome my cat we all adore her.

OP - YANBU

We made the mistake of taking our cat to the vet on a Sunday evening because she was clearly unwell. She ended up being PTS at which stage we were handed a bill for £375 - with no warning. This included an £80 turning up charge. I wouldn't use OOH now (well the cats we have now are insured so I would once I'd checked it would be covered).

We'd only taken the cat on as a favour to someone.

Your pet insurance would cover that surely?

My local vet is ~£20 for a consultation.

The only times I've had to phone out of hours - once on a bank holiday weekend - I've had good advice and no charge whatever.

Reckon there may be better alternatives to PDSA if you're a paying customer.

Vets Now operate on the PDSA premises. They hire out the place and equipment/staff from what I can gather.

That's correct HiddenHome, this is NOT a PDSA issue at all x

Can I defend Vets Now from a ODDS client point of view?

Firstly, veterinary hospitals are not the NHS. Anyone who has had dealings with a private hospital will know that each and every item is itemised. Syringes, swabs, tape to secure cannulae, blood tests, drugs, etc.

Any vets practice will charge a consultation fee. Like any other business, their fee will be based on their costs for opening, etc., spread across how many patients they expect to treat. They will have perhaps just one vet, one or two vet nurses and a receptionist, but their static costs such as building operation will be the same as daytime.

Certainly for PDSA Waterlooville, Vets Now do not use their premises. They are based in London Road, Portsmouth.

PDSA is a charity. It gets no Govt. funding. It is very clear on it's eligibility criteria.

As I said upthread, mum & dad were treated with utmost dignity by vets now. The vet examined Skipper, gave her opinion and outlined our options (PTS immediately; Admit, sedate xray to confirm, then PTS; Admit, sedate, xray to confirm & if spleen remove, if liver PTS). The vet would have operated that night probably at Midnight.

The vet was kind and gentle. Absolutely sure of her diagnosis. Even agreed to wait for my Dad to be brought to the surgery to decide and/or say goodbye.

Not once was their PDSA status mentioned and not once did it have a bearing on their treatment of my parents.

This thread is not about the vet. It's about the cost of pet ownership.

Incidentally, my DH earns under £11k and we have 3 children. We have 2 dogs, both insured with Pet Plan. Yes it's expensive (£70 per month) but we took the view that if we couldn't afford to treat our dogs, then we couldn't afford not to insure.

We are going to switch to PDSA though, because we meet their criteria.

I made the comparison with an OOH plumber. I don't think OOH vet fees are unreasonable. We are all just used to the NHS which is why we don't like paying for medical care for animals
HOWEVER I don't think OP is cruel and irresponsible to not have the money to pay. Her vet sounds unaccomodating. I suspect you don't have a regular vet by the sounds of it? The receptionists response sounds as if you are not known to the practice?

I am SP on tight budget also. Our cat adopted us. We can't afford treatment for ANY injury/sickness. It's only because of my experience as a VN that I realised the costs involved and how stressful and heart breaking it can be (especially with kids!)

GET INSURANCE! make sure you get a LIFE TIME policy. The really cheap ones that aren't life time are a false economy if your cat develops an ongoing condition

Vets generally have decent social lives BTW. They aren't martyrs!

I agree, it isnt unreasonable. And a vet is usually far more trained than a plumber. I think that the NHS has confused people about the cost of healthcare.

Morning Sensual. Hope everything goes ok this morning.

YABU about the fee pricing. They have other costs, like extra insurance and paperwork, to cover. They would essentially be working overtime as well. Also, the fees are steep not in small part to discourage little old ladies/men from calling at inconvenient hours to ask if the vet could immediately see their tabby who is looking a bit under the weather.

YANBU about being expected to pay upfront before the vet will even take a look. As with most expensive procedures, there should be an option to have a payment plan.

As with most expensive procedures, there should be an option to have a payment plan

There usually is, if you have a regular vet
If your cat/dog has the vaccinations that they should have- you will have a regular vet and be known to the practice. Problems of trust arise if you call a vet OOH, which you are not registered with, want to be seen but cant pay. Alot of money is lost through unpaid OOH fees

We had to have the vet to one of our horses on Christmas day. Now that was eye-wateringly expensive! (still on beans on toast after that one)

Hows your cat today OP?

She is fine took her first thing and it cost me £80 in total, and vet said I was right to wait as it wasn't life threatening or an emergency, she even said sometimes it goes away on its own, they just treat the inflammation although I did pay for Ntibiotics as well just to be on the safe side.