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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU refusing to pay this vet bill?

260 replies

NicoAndTheNiners · 28/05/2019 17:53

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.

OP posts:
BiteyShark · 29/05/2019 07:36

I never understand people moaning about vets bills in general. It is not the NHS, it's private medical care and if you saw the real cost of human private care you would consider vet costs to be cheap.

OP, I can't believe your attitude to your rabbit as you could just replace it for £20 so wouldn't spend £200 on treatment Angry

However, in this new scenario I think you do have grounds for not paying or paying a much reduced rate as they did not get your authority to do further tests. I have to give my boarder written authority when I leave him so she can sanction investigations and treatment in my absence for that reason.

lubeybooby · 29/05/2019 07:42

Pay it and have the further tests too. If they have a disease surely you want to know. It doesn't matter that the cat is 15, many live to 20 these days. I have a 15 yr old cat and she's not going anywhere anytime soon. Her comfort and if she needs meds etc... comes first

SamanthaJayne4 · 29/05/2019 08:46

OP's DD didn't do anything wrong, the vet did. When I looked after my friend's dog she needed surgery (existing condition) the vet insisted on speaking to friend to ensure that's what she wanted. I am well over 21 and said if I was wrong i would pay the bill myself. He said they are legally obliged to get direct consent from the owner.

Slicedpineapple · 29/05/2019 09:06

I'm on your side with the vets bill for the cat but you've lost my sympathy with the rabbit. Sad that one animals life is valued over another. We have a duty of care to all pets we buy and bring home, regardless of species. If we do not feel capable of providing for all of their needs, they should be rehomed.

BrightYellowDaffodil · 29/05/2019 09:08

The vets should have confirmed that they were speaking to the owner. There is possibly an issue of implied authority (as in, the vets believed your daughter had the authority to agree the treatment) but they should have checked. They should certainly have made clear the charges because you should only be expected to enter into a contract if you know the terms.

Had a vet once offer to run a test and quoted a price but I got a bill for 4 times as much because “we made a mistake”. The only concession they’d make was to let me pay off the full amount over two months - I would have had every right to refuse to pay the difference but there was a personal connection to the business which would have made it very awkward. So I paid up, but changed vets after that so they lost out in the long run.

While some owners seem to think that a vet is the equivalent of a NHS doctor and therefore the biggest bill should be a prescription, there are also some vets who are rip-off merchants. Some are brilliant (like my current one), some are a bit accidentally inept and some really are bloody awful.

floraloctopus · 29/05/2019 09:12

Very, sorry I don't get overly attached to rabbits or guinea pigs. I wouldn't see one suffer but I don't really see the point in spending hundreds of pounds on them

That's horrible. Ours are very much part of the family.

Crazybunnylady123 · 29/05/2019 09:17

Regarding the cat. I wouldn’t be worrying about the money issue right now. I would be sorting that cat out. Sounds a very ill animal.
If it was my cat I’d be a right mess doing everything I could to save the animal unless she is too far gone. Seems she is suffering a lot and the op is worried about a test she didn’t authorise. They probably shouldn’t of done it, but they are trying to save your cat!
I guess there are people who love animals and people that just have them because they can.
The rabbit comment was just awful, I lost my Dutch last year. She was 13 years old. She had arthritis In her back legs and I paid for pain relief for nearly two years. It got too much for the rabbit and I had to end it for her. Just awful I was crying for weeks. I loved her she was irreplaceable.
Please just help the cat now. Thinking of the cat.

EmeraldRubyShark · 29/05/2019 09:24

I had a rabbit years ago which they said needed £200 of eyelid surgery and I muttered that I didn't want it done as I could get a new rabbit for £20

That’s disgusting, OP, you should be ashamed of yourself. You’re not fit to be the owner of any animal. All your talk of ‘if you say you’d pay £500 to treat a hamster you’re lying’ is your own way of trying to convince yourself everyone has the same basic lack of humanity that you do. I sincerely hope you never adopt any further animals seeing as you see them as disposable objects that vary in value depending on how personally bonded you feel to their species. Sick.

llangennith · 29/05/2019 09:26

Unfortunately a lot of vets have form for this. Ancient pet in pain, not long to live anyway, but vet suggests expensive blood tests then tells you nothing can be done anyway. Then they charge you to euthanise the animal to end its suffering.
I think veterinary practices wrongly assume everyone has pet insurance.

NorthernRunner · 29/05/2019 09:37

I’m afraid I wouldn’t spend £200 on a rabbit either...

Vets bills are very expensive.

I think your vet misled your daughter intentionally. Not only should he have checked who he was speaking to, he should have been clear that the extra tests would cost, despite him not actually needing to take anymore blood. He didn’t make this clear, therefore she was totally unaware that she was agreeing to anything else other than another phone call.

Historydweeb · 29/05/2019 09:51

Look into titre testing, it will show your dog's current immunity levels meaning you might be vaccinating annually for nothing.

DarlingNikita · 29/05/2019 17:30

No, YANBU. Surely they have a policy of only speaking to/getting permission from the bill-payer? If not, they should, to stop exactly this kind of thing happening.

It's outrageous that they didn't say up front that these extra tests would go ahead immediately and how much they'd cost.

I was going to suggest that you ask to go in and sit down and talk to someone, pleasantly and calmly, in the interests of keeping the relationship; but since reading about the dead dog and their general behaviour, I'd say fuck em. Tell them in writing why you're not paying and find a better vet. It'll be worth the extra time.

cricketmum84 · 29/05/2019 17:36

While I agree with your position on the vets bill You've instantly lost any sympathy from me with your attitude towards animals.

You should be ashamed. :(

Lovemusic33 · 29/05/2019 17:38

My dog became poorly yesterday morning, I told the vet how I didn’t want her having surgery as she was elderly. Vets did xrays, blood tests (I agreed too), they gave her several medications and another procedure which I didn’t agree too. This morning I had to have her PTS and was treated with a bill for just under £1000 which included the call out early this morning. I am now grieving the loss of my pet whilst worrying about how we are going to eat next week. Vets prices are crazy and I feel stupid for not having insurance, no way would I have another pet and not insure them.

Middersweekly · 29/05/2019 17:41

No YANBU I wouldn’t pay for an extra blood test which hadn’t been discussed with me directly. They are being CF’s. TBH £140 for a blood test is outrageous also! You need to take your pets to a better veterinarian who thinks about the animal not about lining their pocket!

lyralalala · 29/05/2019 17:42

But we expected a large bill for all this. When the bill arrived. We didn't have to pay a penny.

What a lovely vet you have. It cost me £240 for blood test, one night at the vet and euthanasia for my cat a few years ago.

And the first vet who suggested the overnight stay and more tests was completely contradicted by her colleague the next day who basically asked me what I was hoping to achieve as my cat was clearly dying from the first set of results. They only waived the cost of the second lot of tests after I pointed out that I’d been told two contradictory things and wouldn’t have had them, or the overnight, if the first vet had been as honest as the second. Apparently she struggles to give people bad news...

Their cock up on my kitten inadvertently lead to her dying. She was tiny and had a few health issues. They were to neuter her at the same time as sorting a hernia and one other thing. To this day they’ve never admitted if they forgot to neuter her or if what they did failed, but after I let her out she got pregnant (obviously I didn’t think that was possible!). She and all but one of the kittens died. They’re still genuinely surprised that I took the kitten to another vet for her care, even though they offered free care for her until she’s 3 and don’t seem to get why I don’t trust them with her.

dreamyspires · 29/05/2019 17:48

Just wondering why blood tests are so dear.

BiteyShark · 29/05/2019 17:52

Just wondering why blood tests are so dear.

Price of mine varied depending on whether they could be analysed in-house (mine is a large practice) or needed to be sent off to a specialist Center.

CBsDad · 29/05/2019 17:57

I've just left a vet partly because of a lack of clarity on their charges.

The vet needed to say specifically 'I'd like to run some further tests, this will be an extra £xx are you happy with this' - presumably that's the point of then ringing up, otherwise what were they calling for.

Yes it was a misunderstanding, they happen. Their fault. Leave the practice as you don't want to leave your animals in the care of people like this.

doublehelix · 29/05/2019 17:58

Dreamy spires

All blood tests cost this much. Medical care is very expensive. It's just when it comes to humans the NHS (whilst it lasts) makes it free so people forget its value.

It will be like this for people too if we aren't careful sadly.

LauraAshleysKnickerDrawer · 29/05/2019 18:02

If it is FIP then please put your poor cat to sleep, they can suffer so terribly with it.

Ali1cedowntherabbithole · 29/05/2019 18:04

I would only pay for investigations on an animal if the results affected the treatment they needed.

In the OPs scenario, I suspect I too would have paid for the initial blood tests, but knowing the cat had a poor prognosis, no more.

I’d be looking for a different vet too.

With rabbits and small animals I would consider the usual life expectancy, and the likely recovery from the surgery. It’s not just about the cost, you have to consider the animal’s welfare and whether you can justify a surgical procedure.

Tiredoftalking · 29/05/2019 18:07

Might be a bit insensitive but have people never heard of pet insurance? My wee dog needed emergency surgery after eating ds3’s sock and we agreed to pay whatever was needed. She is part of our family so we would have done it either way but thanks to pet insurance £110 a year we paid only the first £70 instead of £900.

Tiredoftalking · 29/05/2019 18:09

Also a whole afternoon off for boosters to go a 16 mile round trip? We are rural and have a 22 mile round trip and still manage it in an hour.

Pliudev · 29/05/2019 18:23

I'd also be a bit careful falling out with them in case they work in tandem with the vet 8 miles away. I mentioned to our new vet that I had not been happy with some dental work (a healthy front tooth had mysteriously disappeared and they said it must have been loose) our previous vet had done and the new vet said 'Oh I know them, they are very good, in fact they often do our dental work'. So you might find yourself blacklisted in some way. I think I'd pay up but never go there again. The £300 for the dead dog sounds excessive to me too.