To be shocked at how high vet bills are

[Cherrybloss22]

So obviously I’m paying them as id do anything for my cat.... but approx £1000 for 2 days treatment for pancreatitis She had to stay in overnight and have Sedation for blood tests etc
Didn’t get her insured as I thought that insurance doesn’t always pay out Anyway if it’s the cat, I’ll always find a way to manage Guess it’s a lesson to get insurance when you get a pet ....

It is not so much a con as that the vets will throw everything at it, knowing the insurers will pick up the tab - and it isn't necessarily in the animals best interests.

Yes, I found this when our dog was diagnosed with cushings. His tumour was on his adrenal gland so our regular vet referred him to someone with a bit more specialist knowledge.

The specialist vet got very excited when he realised we were insured and wanted to throw everything at it. Didn’t really take into account the quality of life for our dog after the treatment, his age, the medication he’d need after the treatment and their side effects, etc, etc. He just saw insured = chance try some new, exciting stuff which the insurance company would pay for

Our actual vet was much more measured and when I asked her what she’d do if it was her dog she said she wouldn’t have the treatment.

We didn’t have the treatment

PetPlan have been great for our 2 cats. Our girl had a knock and had to have her tail off. They paid it straight away. No problems. Would not be without it.

This is why i wont have any more pets again....insurance premiums that go up every year or expensive vet bills that i have to pay myself....much as i love animals i will not get anymore.

HRTWT but just adding my weight to previous comments......the only reason UK pet owners are horrified at vet bills is because they don’t get bills from the NHS. I had a minor procedure privately this week; the consultation was £200 and the actual procedure an additional £250. £450 in total. I was in the consultation room less than 15 minutes. And I didn’t even get mates rates!

I don't live in the UK and there is no pet insurance here.

Our oldest dog (10 years old), has cost us in the region of $10k in vet bills during the course of his life so far.

Major ones include:
Hit by a car, ruptured bladder, lung contusions, leg injury = $3700
Contracted bladder stones, operation to remove = $2200 + associated rehab costs
Developed skin/ear condition = $300

Now he has suspected Cushings Disease. To have the vet review him and not even run the Cushings test, I paid $870. To have further investigative tests will set us back a staggering amount, not to mention the costs of medication if/when he is diagnosed. We will not put him through it and at a cost of $300 a month in medication, we can't afford it.
Our decision is that he is our dog but he is not our child. I am not going to do anything that will prolong his life but not add anything to the quality of his life and certainly not at the tune of $300 a month.

We're going to wait and see. If he starts to deteriorate significantly (already dribbling urine relatively consistently) and seems unhappy (he's a hard dog to read, not particularly playful or affectionate generally, very unlike our other dog), then we will make the decision to PTS. It is not fair to him to be kept in a condition in which he is sore, uncomfortable and miserable.

My vets first question is always 'are you insured'? This shouldn't make a difference to treatment which makes me think if you are insured they will look at more costly treatment which ends up pushing up the cost of insurance premiums

My vet asked me that when my dog needed some fairly complex surgery. She wasn't insured, and I was pleasantly surprised when the bill was only £500 odd.

When I went to one of the follow-up appointments, we saw the newly qualified vet who'd assisted at the surgery. She was talking about what an amazing job the vet had done, and said that the operation took 3.5 hours.

I came home and checked the bill. Lovely vet had only charged me for 45 minutes of surgical time!

I changed vets a few years ago, because I was unhappy with the old one. The previous vet was purely small animals and equine, they didn't do any farm work. The new vet has a large agricultural practice and their fees are much lower than the previous one. I wonder if there is a connection?

Re insurance, I put a sum equivalent to the insurance premiums in a savings account every month, and use it to pay the bills. My first dog got through his whole 17 years without a single claimable event, my second would have had 2 small bills where I could have claimed, and even with the £800 bill for current dog's surgery and the cost of having her spayed, there is still £2,200 left in that account. (I have made large withdrawals when each of the previous dogs died, so that's built up over 12 years).

I used to love my vet, but over the past 10 years+ they have got increasingly corporate and expensive (and they have a 4*4 outside with the numberplate VET1 which makes me realise the money isn't all going on essentials)

They now constantly try to sell you extras, their expensive plans for routine care are really a rip off if you work out the individual costs.

The last straw was when they charged me £6 for 25ml of hibiscrub for my cat's acne. I googled what it was when I got home and realised they had charged me that much for pennies worth of hand wash.

When cat was insured they insisted on ultrasound with sedation for a simple urine infection, when uninsured no need for invasive procedures.

I was told cat needed urgent dental treatment, when I mentioned it to another vet at the same practice she said his teeth were fine.

The prescription urinary diet costs a small fortune if bought from the vet, I'm paying about half the price buying it from zooplus. Similarly they tried to sell me hairball paste once which I knew was at least half the price online.

It cost me around £30 for a week or 2 worth of prednisolone and antibiotics, I have no idea if that is because medicines licensed for animals are more expensive or a huge mark up. I know for humans these are really cheap drugs.

Luckily I have had a new vet recommended to me by the local cat charity who don't try and fleece you for every penny they can get.

I have noticed a bigger difference in the quality and integrity of the vets advice I've been given in recent years. I often prefer vets who have been around a bit as they don't tend to suggest all the invasive treatments and tests that the newer ones do. I have no problem with that route if that's what's needed, but so often a second opinion will agree that we go conservatively and it's been the right choice. Having said that my joint favourite vet at the moment is very newly qualified but utterly sensible and has my full awe for not flinching when my poor dog pooed dramatic blood filled diarrhea all over his consulting room.

I could strangle the locum who saw £££ signs and would have had the same dog, same incident admitted as an elderly very vet phobic inpatient to a strange site for days, and have several additional blood tests drip and was even hinting at scans. What she needed was some medicine and a quiet recovery time at home.

I’ve owned cats for the past 40 years and never insured any of them. Up to now, none of them have required more than annual immunisations and an occasional blood test.
My current cat has just needed an overnight admission, IV fluids, antibiotics, and a full blood screen.
£500 worth!
However, I reckon I’m still very well into pocket on the deal, compared with paying 40 years of insurance premiums.

We pay £30 a month insurance for our two rabbits but thankfully we do as one vet trip can cost £600+ definitely worth it!

£15 a month for a rabbit!

As Veterinari says we are not exposed to the cost of treatment due to not having to pay at the point of treatment.

That said, we ordered antihistamine for our dog. Vet practice wanted £200 for a box of 500 pills. We got the exact same thing online from the manufacturer for £9.

I have no objection to paying for their skills to care for our dogs. They saved our dog’s hind legs after he’d been hit by a car and spent 3 days hiding in local woods. Of course we didn’t have insurance because thinks it’s too expensive 🤦‍♀️

Our vets have been very fair even with insured animals.
We have the cat insured with Petplan, they paid out no problem when he fell out the window and partly impaled himself. ( emergency vet over night, operation, meds etc) true I had to pay then claim back at first but after that it was all direct to vet.
He had pacreatitis a few months back, he's recovered but now is diabetic. Petplan have been paying partially for the insulin .

I've checked prices for syringes, sharps boxes, meds and the vets are not over charging.

We take the NHS for granted forgetting the cost of treatments, the lab tests, the radiography etc etc

I wish you well with your cat OP

@Boysey45 interesting that you think it’s ok for someone to act illegally, plus steal resources from the NHS rather than pay their own bills.... Did your friend steal drugs to illegally treat their dog as well? Yet it’s the vets who are judged as being unethical!

Also to the PP:
my last few visits have left me feeling that if they would happily take the fillings out of my teeth and shake me for my last few pennies, if they could.
Which is pretty shameful for professionals whose primary focus should be on animal welfare.

Their primary focus is On animal welfare - which is why we’re encouraging you to pay for your pet’s healthcare! Who else do you think should be responsible? If you’re uncomfortable with the approach then feed that back or change to a different practice, but don’t Expect them to cover your financial responsibilities

Interesting that so many people are outraged at being charged for consumables used in the care of their pet Do they think those things are free?

Petplan are excellent. Paid 1200 for when my siamese had pancreatitis and 500 when she cut an artery in her paw doing god knows what outside. It gives me peace of mind

I just wouldn’t pay those prices.

Re insurance, I put a sum equivalent to the insurance premiums in a savings account every month, and use it to pay the bills.

If I did this for my dog insurance I'd have £120 in a year, it wouldn't get me much treatment if something happened.

My other dog hurt her leg and had to have treatment which came to 4.5K which the insurance paid.
Even before that anything that happened I claimed on the insurance because for an extra £1 per month there was no excess, they did away with that though as they were probably losing a fortune.

This dog we have now is insured but we haven't had to claim on it so far luckily but I would never not have insurance, finding £500 is bad enough with out having to find £5000

Itwouldtakemuchmorethanthis
I just wouldn’t pay those prices.

So what would you do? PTS?

I lost my gorgeous cat recently to heart failure, the vet bill came in just over 1k with ultrasounds, blood tests and medication. I resented the rising cost of the insurance but Petplan were excellent and paid out in 4 days.

I would have paid anything for my gorgeous little cat but having insurance is definitely worth it.

Definitely insure in future. I’ve always paid for the insurance for the cat despite him never needing the vets (so far) because you just never know.