To think my vets is a bit of a rip off ........

[showtime7]

9 year old cat just taken to vets for annual injection. Whilst there, vet tells me he looks very healthy etc but there is a slight red mark above one tooth at the back of his mouth which will need cleaning etc. He says that this has to be done under anaethetic and he recommends blood tests done too - total cost £350.

I'm a little surprised that it is quite as much as this; I also want to mention that I took him along to the same vet practice 3 weeks ago ( I have a kitten and 9 year old cat seemed grumpy so wanted him checked over whilst kitten had first jabs). It was a different vet who also said he seemed very healthy. He said he had some plaque which he proceeded to scrape off and that was that.

Opinions please is £350 alot? Do bloods really need to be taken from a healthy cat? I admit that I could see that his gum looked red in a very small area above one tooth and would obviously get this done if it needed to be done but I don't want to be ripped off!

I have recently started taking my Guinea pigs to a large national chain and I was very surprised. There break down of all costs was displayed in the waiting room e.g. consultation costs, x-rays for dog/cat/rabbit jabs, etc it works really well as you know the cost before you walk in. They have also been very good at trimming nails and not charging and booking with the nurse for the final post op check so we didn't pay consultation costs.

It's definitely worth going to a second practice for a second opinion.

I would get a quote from another vet - there was a £250 difference between 2 local vets for the same operation on my old greyhound (extraction of 4 teeth and descaling of the remainder).

Yep, small animal and equine vets are a rip off - this is mainly due to the fact that most pets are insured so vets will know an owner will be able to pay. Farm animal vets are unbelievable low in price compared to pet vets but this is because they know a farmer wouldn’t have the vet out if they were really expensive and the farmed animal would just be shot!!

It might be worth trying a course of ABs first as it might be just a little infection,
Might be something hes eaten that has scraped the gum, although unlikely.
All my cats and dog are insured
Unfortunately pet insurance doesnt cover dentals,

I

Ddog had 2 teeth removed and a clean about 6 months ago, cost £170. Done under a general.

She was also speyed a few weeks later and had a mammary tumour removed and that cost about the same.

Thank you all for your comments which are mostly really helpful, balanced and informative.

Puntcuffin:

"You go and qualify as a vet and do it yourself then if you think it is so overpriced. hmm"

I was simply asking people's views, opinions and experiences about what they have been charged for a procedure. Like any business, costs can vary widely for all sorts of factors and I was enquiring about how this quotation fits with what other people might have paid.

We had a 22 year old cat who became very ill very suddenly - we felt that we should let her go, and took her to the local practice to be put to sleep.

Three minutes later, it was done - at a cost of NINETY-FIVE POUNDS!!!!!

I couldn't believe to They didn't even have to dispose of her tiny little body as we took her home to bury in the garden.

No the wonder some people put off taking their pets to the vet.

I am sorry to hear about your cat SchadenfreudPersonified.

Thanks, Showtime - it was very upsetting at the time - she was a little bar-steward - and quite vicious, actually, but my word, we loved her so much. Such a character!

Mine said our cat needed op for teeth cleaning, then I would have to do it regularly . All this for ££££.

I asked if there was a sensible, cheaper alternative...'oh, you could just feed her on dry food - that should do it.'

And it did... very, very cheaply, and without any need for visits to A&E!

I know a foreign born vet who believes that small animal vet care in the uk costs an eyebrow raising amount.

I don’t think PuntCuffin’s comment was aimed at you OP bit more on everyone else saying vet costs are a rip off by dastardly vets out to profit from you animal.

In fact most vets have to pay staff, pay labs, pay vetinaory nurses, pay admin staff and have premises. None of that comes cheaply and many vets end up with customers who never pay.

My niece is a vet nurse assistant and says that they get lots of non payers and those who are abusive. Obviously that’s outweighed by the lovely normal people they also see but it all adds up.

Vets are sadly well represented when you break down suicides by profession. One of the highest numbers when you look at professions are vets and that’s sad.

SCHAD I am so sorry to hear that :-( I do think though that the drugs, needle, syringe etc do cost a fair bit (I work in the NHS and am constantly shocked to learn of the price of stuff!) and of course you are contributing towards the salaries and running costs of the practice every time you are there, just like with any business.

It is very sad though, I am sorry

OP - we just had both our dogs spayed and it cost £300 for the consultation a few days before, the procedure, post op analgesia, and weird little suits to protect their wounds. Oh and a post op check up. The price you were quoted does seem high but I wonder should you try somewhere else if you are not happy? I won't go anywhere else as I love my vets and trust them 100% but if I wasn't feeling the love so much I would happily try elsewhere for a 2nd opinion if having doubts.

gut dried food alone won’t do it for tooth decay.

I’ve a cat who prefers dried food and has had loads of teeth out and another who has never needed any dental work. Both see the same vet and you can see the difference just by looking in their mouths.

Tooth decay cat was runt of the litter, from a mother who’d had loads of litters and whose health wasn’t great. Rescued eventually by the local Cats Protection which is how I got her.

Dear OP,

YANBU. Have a read of 'The Patient Paradox' by Margaret McCartney, and then imagine that times a hundred for animals.

God people are just clueless thanks to the NHS. Dentals are often the most time consuming difficult ops. The cost includes

The time and expertise of 2 highly qualified professionals
Pre med drugs which are very expensive and have short lifespans and high wastage
Analgesia
The GA drugs and equipment
The expensive surgical equipment
Expensive monitoring equipment
Disposables
Xrays
Post op observation by qualified nurses
Sterilisation of all equipment
Post op check up consultations
Admin time

That little red mark is probably a FORL, basically a hole in the enamel which will get bigger exposing the pulp, very painful.

Vets actually massively undercharge for their professional services in comparison to other professions and instead rely on huge mark ups on drugs. With the expansion of online pharmacies and their ability to bulk buy I fully expect this will have to change and the cost of services will soon be much higher.

Mine wanted to perform investigative surgery on my guineapig for ‘a minimum of £350’ for a lump she had. This was after the £120 the appointment had cost because they decided to X-ray and attempt to needle aspirate 🙄. I actually had to refuse. Another guineapig they wanted to do monthly general anaesethics to clip his teeth. He hadn’t managed to eat since the first surgery and it was going to cost £150-200 a month 😳 I swear vets have no concept of what is actually realistic both financially but also on the stress on the poor animal :( the one with teeth issues had been syringe fed for a month by this point and had already lost lots of weight

Yep, small animal and equine vets are a rip off - this is mainly due to the fact that most pets are insured so vets will know an owner will be able to pay. Farm animal vets are unbelievable low in price compared to pet vets but this is because they know a farmer wouldn’t have the vet out if they were really expensive and the farmed animal would just be shot!!

Drugs cost vet practices a lot of money as we have to use drugs that are licenced for use in animals and they are costly to buy in for a start. Equipment, instruments, consumables are also expensive. Believe me vets and vet nurses are not well paid, most of the money that comes in pays for the aforementioned things plus there is rent, bills, wages, courses if you want whoever sees your pet to be up to date with knowledge on illness/surgery, etc. List goes on.

Also there is still a surprising amount of people who don’t have their pet insured and some who do have rubbish policies that pay out very little. It’s due to us having the NHS that we have no idea on how much things cost. A hip replacement for a dog at my work is around £4500, my Dad just had his hip replaced privately at a cost of £11000 so as you can see vets prices are still cheaper than human medicine!!

Would you want to undergo an anaesthetic without any bloods done beforehand? Whilst they aren't strictly necessary if your cat has any underlying medical conditions that could affect its care then you will never know and therefore that risk is on you if you decide not to have them. I would always choose them and have done before my dog underwent anaesthetic in the past as I want my vet to know as much as possible incase there are complications.

Vet care is private health care. Honestly having seen how pricey it is for humans then vet care seems great by comparison. Personally for the equipment, the general overheads, the anaesthetic, post op care, staff and their expertise it really isn't that expensive.

You can just say no and have the cleaning with no blood test. We were recommended to have our dog's growth tested to see if malignant. We said no. Vet said it didn't look malignant and we werent going to put an old dog through chemo so we just said to them to remove the growth but not to test.

£80 for neutering and chipping?! And that's heavily subsidised? That's appalling. It's £35 at my vet for both, £5 if on any sort of benefits.

Having teeth looked at can also help to show up some cancer.
Your blood maybe high if they need to sedate, it maybe cheaper if they don’t need to sedate them.

Itsatravesty has said exactly what I came to say, right down to the possibility of a FORL, which are excruciatingly painful.

If you're in doubt you could ask for a breakdown of the cost and shop around - though bearing in mind that the other practices won't have examined your cat and will have little idea if he's likely to need pre-op bloods/fluids/x-ray/complex or multiple extractions/extra anaesthetic time until he's on the table. Dentals can be one of those how long piece of string type things.

Those saying that spays are cheaper - they are typically undercharged massively, with little or no professional fees/time added compared to a normal abdominal surgery. Veterinary version of a loss leader!

Bloods will be to check for kidney function prior to the anaesthetic. My old boy is in next Monday to have a clean up and at least one extraction, if not more. This will cost my around £600.

Dental care is important because it can cause a lot of pain and impact upon general health.

My dh was quoted £1100 for one injection to treat his trigger thumb (very painful and a long wait at gps). Healthcare is expensive. We don’t realise because of the nhs.

Pet healthcare is just as expensive.