AIBU refusing to pay this vet bill?

[NicoAndTheNiners]

I have an elderly, poorly cat who I took to the vet last week. Vet did a consult and said he wanted to run blood tests which I agreed to. He never said how much they were. £140 when I got to the desk which I nearly fell over at but paid. He said he would ring with the results either that evening or the next day.

I was out when he rang back and he spoke to my teenage dd. He admits he didn't clarify who he was speaking to. He told her some of the blood results and said he'd like to "do some more tests" He said he wasn't sure what was wrong and was going to speak to someone and ring back the next day.

He rang the next day to say he thinks the cat has a terminal condition, we can do more tests to confirm. I declined as when I asked how much it will be £hundreds. Cat is 15yo.

I've been back at the vet today about something not to do with the cat and they called me over and said I need to pay £48 for the extra blood tests. I asked what they're on about and they said they'd run an FIV test after the other tests. I said I hadn't agreed to this extra and wouldn't have done.

Vet came out and said he'd spoken to someone on the phone who said ok. DD said she had no idea it was another blood test, that it would cost more money. She thought when he said he wanted to do more tests that I would need to take the cat back in for these tests and that's what he was going to ring about the next day.

I haven't paid. They've said they will knock it down to £40 and give me till next month to pay. I am close to ringing them up and saying it's not happening. There is no way I would have said yes to another £48 of tests and dd had no clue he meant to charge more or that she was actually agreeing to anything.

Problem is if I fall out with them its 8 miles to the next nearest vet. So maybe I should just pay to keep the peace. But I did that 5 years ago when my dog died during a routine dental and they billed me £300 for the dead dog. Now I just feel like they're fucking useless and taking the piss.

My Nan was in a similar position with her old girl. She had started peeing herself whilst asleep. She forked out £££ for medication that didn’t work.

They wanted to test for cancer which Nan didn’t want to do and they made her so feel so guilty. Telling her if it was cancer and she received treatment at ££££ she could have a few more years left.

Nan went to see another vet and he said straight away ‘this old girls ready to go’

The second vet was much older ( more experienced?) than the first vet and I wonder if the first very was just more enthusiastic at trying to preserve life rather than seeing an old girl who was losing her bladder and more kinder to let her go.

I would hope vets don’t aim to rip people off

Technically speaking, you are the owner of the cat. Vet was just doing what is convenient for him and should have called back and speak to you about it.

If I were you, I would take the cat to the other vet and ask their opinion as it sounds from the other things you said that they are quite greedy and keen on doing more tests to be able to charge more! And it’s not only the money, your poor cat won’t enjoy this ungoing testing/poking/drawing blood either.

I'm a vet. We record every phone call for instances exactly like this where it comes down to two different accounts of the conversation (assuming the vet says verbal consent for the test was obtained?) - it's worth asking if your practice does this. It's part of our policy to explain costs at every stage to avoid this situation, but then we get 'you are only concerned about the money' so sometimes you just can't win.

Veterinari nope, I was there. The yard owner called the vet to her own horse, but only wanted to pay for a shared visit. She got the vet to scan mine as it was lame at the time (didn't need the vet, pricked foot 🙄), by the time I came round the corner it had been done. She got her shared visit, we got the bill.

And with regard to colics veterinari we are quite clear with our vets that we won't operate (done it twice, never again). We've had to be very clear about that as the yard owner will not euthanase a horse under any circumstances if there's any chance, however small, that it could be saved.

Your dd should really have told them to ring back and talk to you about it.

How was the vet to know? They rang to ask whether they could carry out more tests and they were told yes. So they did.

Just out of interest, if they had spoken to you, would you have said yes or no?

Nothing to add to what's already been said. Other than that our vet is about 20 mins drive away and there are several on our doorstep, but ours is wonderful and we would never go anywhere else. A good vet is worth their weight in gold. For example ours spends ages on the phone to us explaining blood test results for our cat with a chronic condition, and getting us to phone with updates on how new meds are working rather than bring him in so they don't have to keep charging us consultation fees. I would definitely try the other one. Yours sound very unhelpful.

Think you should write down what happened FAO the practice manager and suggest they waive the bill as their communication is very poor re giving estimates. If the vet had said to your daughter "I would like to do an FIV test and it will be an extra £48" then it is likely your DD would have said I need to check with my DM.

Fair enough @Kedgeree

Vets are often put in tricky positions in yards though for reasons like shared visits and with actual owners often absent. It does make things tricky. Are you still on that yard? The owner sounds like a CF!

Took my 10 year old cat to the vet last week, as her breath was smelling really bad, the vet lod and said she needs a clean and polish, maybe teeth out but cant see the back ones until she is under anaesthetic, but would usually do blood tests first in case anything else is wrong, will be £48,i said no, just do what she needs, hopefully none out. she didnt need any out, but still cost me £190
At a pvious vets, another cat about 7 years ago,had 3 teeth out, and when i took her back or a checkup, saw another vet who said she needs some teeth out, what?? i said she has just had 3 out
The poor cat died not long after, as before the teeth out she had a big operation, and was on so much meds, it ruined her kidneys,
I had asked for a kidney failure test, but they wanted to do a full blood test,i said no kidneys only, the young vet said it wont be her kidneys, she had to ring me later and admit she was wrong, still cost me £600

Your dd should really have told them to ring back and talk to you about it.

Why should she? Is the onus not on the person placing the call "hi is this MRS G Boobird?" Normal request, would a doctor ring someone with test results and ascertain the correct recipient before disclosing the results? VETs are after all professionals.

How was the vet to know? They rang
to ask whether they could carry out more tests and they were told yes. So they did.

See answer to question above! DD could've been anyone and just agrees. Ridiculous statement the person requesting confirmation and then payment should've made sure they were talking to the correct person.

Just out of interest, if they had spoken to you, would you have said yes or no?

I think OPs made her views clear.....

Out of interest are you the VET?

Why is it down to the DD who at 17 has probably not had a lot of life experience with VET payments!

veterinari no, it closed down unsurprisingly because the owner didn't pay her bills (rented the yard from a stately home). They're all the same though IME, and it's worse because DH is a horse professional and they still take the piss.

I think your vets were definitely wrong in not discussing costs before tests and also you have a very good reason to not pay for the extra test as you as the registered owner and bill payer did not give consent. Very poor communication....
But as far as the rabbit scenario I'm a bit perplexed? So you would ask a bet who's sole purpose is to aid animals, whether to keep them fit and healthy or end their suffering, when the time comes, to put a perfectly healthy rabbit to sleep because you can get a new one for £20??? I wonder how many people realise the emotional toll on vets?
And people's perception of costs involved is totally skewed because we as humans get all of this "free" on the NHS

I would also take to social media with this if they continue to hassle you

I swear vets have dollar signs in their eyes sometimes makes you thankful for the nhs

To some extent you are correct - but that doesn't mean that vets are all money grabbing bastards, it means that we in the UK don't understand the actual expense of healthcare because we are used to, spoilt by free access to the NHS.

I absolutely wouldn't have agreed to pay for anymore tests for the cat if asked.

The results from the initial test show the cat is very anaemic, has a high white cell count and high bile acid levels. Coupled with the fact it looks like its lost a third of its body weight in a week, has an abdomen full,of fluid and its oozing constant yellowish slime out its bum which is not poo or anal gland discharge and it isn't really doing much apart from sleeping and is 15yo I would say cat is dying.

I wouldn't have agreed to an FIV test to see if its dying from FIV or dying from something else. I guess it doesn't matter whether it's FIV, cancer, FIP or cardiac issues.

The initial blood test I guess was worth it even though expensive because to me (who admittedly doesn't know much) it demonstrates the cat is very ill. Its not like the cat has a bad tummy bug or a serious worm infestation or something simple. So at that point I was already accepting of the fact of no further tests, no further treatment, food and cuddles and pts sooner rather than later.

so you would ask a bet who's sole purpose is to aid animals, whether to keep them fit and healthy or end their suffering, when the time comes, to put a perfectly healthy rabbit to sleep because you can get a new one for £20??

The rabbit wasn't perfectly healthy, it had inverted eyelids which were scratching its eyes and causing ulcers. Rabbit needed an expensive and risky operation and yes I would have preferred to pts and buy a new one. Where do you draw the line? Its quite personal, I'm sure some people would pay £200 for a rabbit. Would you pay a £200 operation for a hamster by the same logic? How about a £500 operation?

She's under 18. She can't consent to a contract. She also isn't the cat's owner. The vet is on to a hiding to nothing. Refuse to pay. Do so in writing saying that you did not agree to additional tests and they only spoke to your daughter, who is a minor and not authorised to make those decisions. They know they cannot actually charge you for this. They're just being pushy and hopeful.

Find another vet. Even if it's a little further away. I'd be concerned about this practice's professionalism.

Have commented already but with your further update would say the vet was BU for suggesting any further tests when it was clear how ill your cat is and there would be nothing different treatment-wise to be done if FIV positive or negative. Ludicrous.

I’m honestly shocked that her heart wasn’t checked.

My cat went for immunisations recently and as part of the appointment was given a check over and found to have serious heart murmur.
We discussed what this meant for her (and I was asked if she was insured and to a decent amount) before we agreed to an urgent referral to a cardiologist. She even gave me an idea of immediate cost implications were.
Less than a week later, seen by specialist and cat confirmed to have substantial issues with her heart following scans. All from an immunisation appointment that I had scheduled and in mind because it’s part of the contract for insurance.

Sorry, there’s my tangent. Op I’d be very much disputing this charge. And changing to a vets practice who you feel more comfortable with the care of your pets.

My experience of vets has been nothing but brilliant and I think to do such a caring professional job in the face of some really crap situations, you’ve got to be a pretty amazing person. And ridiculously smart

Some small animal vets do seem to just see ££ signs and it's difficult to find a honest, reliable vet.

I use the RVC equine hospital for my horses and local small animal vet for my cats and hens.

The small animal vet will charge £150 for two cats to have yearly jabs. For the same price I get two half tonne horses sedated, teeth done and jabs for the same price and that includes the visit fee.

Same small animal vet also tried to charge me £78 to put one of my hens to sleep. He didn't give her a consultation, didn't even euthanise in front of me, instead took her out the back and said 'I will do her later'

He never as much picked up a stethoscope.

He looked in her mouth. He sniffed the slime tissue I'd brought with me. He weighed her. He felt her tummy and said it felt like fluid. He did an ultrasound which showed fluid. He said he wanted to run some bloods which I agreed to, he took the blood and then we were done.

I think most people would assume that when the vet said he wanted to run more good tests, that you'd be taking the cat back in. I certainly would.

Vet sounds awful but you lost me over the rabbit.

Bay and blonde did you agree for him 'to do her later'

@bayandblonde. £78 for a chicken is bonkers.

Sometimes my vets are really good. They've put a chicken down for £3 for me and then wanted to do a post Mortem to see if it was Marek's. I think she knew there was no way I was paying for a PM on a chicken and before I even said no way she said she would do it for free in her lunch time because she was curious herself. Sadly that one seems to have left now.

Some of the prices seem quite cheap, some prices seem bonkers but I accept there's a lot of costs in vet practice which I don't understand, blood analysing machines, ultrasound machines wont be cheap for the initial outlay.

Then they do something like I needed a vet referral for a dog behaviourist. They'd already seen my bonkers dog several times. I had a form, I needed it signing. I'd filled the form in. They charged £50 for the signature because that was the fee for a behavioural consultation. I never had a behavioural consultation, I just took the form for them to sign!