To think vets charge too much **title edited by MNHQ on OP's request**

[Looobyloo]

I took my 10 yr old cat to the vets earlier for a check up as she has seemed a little lethargic. Vet examines her and says she has a little arthritis in her hip and needs these tablets, one a day. I ask how much, she says £9 a tablet! Everyday for the next, however long she lives. £63 a week!

She gives me a free sample and says if they work she'll give me a prescription So I can get them online. I checked online, 49p a tablet.

We don't have insurance as we've never been able to get her to the vets for injections etc as she's very stroppy (she attacked the vet today)

I know people say don't have an animal if you can't afford and we do have a private cat fund where we put £60 a month into. But even then £63 a week! I'd be torn if it was life and death as much as I hate to admit to it.

Are vets just taking the piss nowadays?

Horlicks all round everyone! Time for bed, non? Peace and love...

@Veterinari Goodnight! :)

I saw you peddling the 'be kind' mantra a few times on this thread, (the last time in your post at 22.26

So my response to swan is me ‘ordering everyone’ is it? Like I said, you might want to practice your reading comprehension

Also sock-puppetting is against site rules...

I kept ferrets..
Girl ferrets that don't get bred need to have a Jill jab. In my home town vet a Jill jab was rung for, booked in, took seconds and cost £9each
When I moved, a Jill jab was rung for, booked in, took 15 minutes and cost... £63... Each...For the same amount of Proligesterone.

Go figure..

Shouldn't post as I think @Veterinari has put it a lot more eloquently than I can, but as a fellow vet I feel compelled to.
Unfortunately the majority perception from the public seems to be that vets are minted/raking it in/"robbing bastards" (I don't think it was the OP's intention for the thread to turn out like this but the title was fairly inflammatory).
For clarity- myself and my DH are both vets, >15 years qualified and both earn less than all the teachers in our families (standard primary/high school teachers). My "part time" hours are usually around 35 a week over 3 days, often without a lunch break. We struggle to make ends meet most months, haven't been abroad in 3 years and both drive cars >10 years old.
The treatment I recommend for your pet does NOT influence what I get paid, my responsibility is to the welfare of your pet. I will give a range of options from bare minimum to gold standard (within the bounds of welfare) and am guided by you as an owner as to how much you want to do/how much you (or insurance) can afford. Whether you are insured does not change the cost of treatment.
For the most part, the general public has no idea what it costs to provide healthcare because we have the NHS- the treatments/tests/diagnostics we are using are exactly the same standard as what your GP/hospital uses (and gets done a hell of a lot quicker!) Our monthly practice drugs bill is £20K. This is only a fraction of our monthly outgoings that are translated into your bill. I don't doubt there are individuals/practices out there who are untrustworthy but surely that is the same in any field- you are well within your rights to shop around.

I am lucky in that most of my clients are lovely and do not have the attitudes that have been displayed by some on here. Regardless- both me and DH are constantly considering leaving the profession and it's in part because of this. I hope I won't be doing this job in 10 years, which is a shame because I think I am what a lot of you complainers are describing as a good vet.

And PMSL at you ordering everyone to 'be kind' whilst calling people 'trolls,' 'nasty,' 'downright spiteful,' 'bullies,' and feck knows what else!

To be fair, this thread is absolutely teeming with nasty, spiteful trolls so I don't see why she's being unreasonable to point that out.

Agreed. My cat needed a consultation which was less than 10 mins, a dose of antibiotics and some painkiller and it was £80. Too little to claim on insurance.

@missmouse101 I run my own company. I am not an idiot. I know all those things apply normally but this time it was different.

It was blatantly obvious that the hamster had an eye infection but there is nowhere to buy eye drops for hamsters, off the shelf, so I had no choice but to go to the Vet.

I didn't need a consultation, nurse etc. I just needed eye drops but they had me over a barrel. They don't let you just order what you need and I was in and out of the vets in less than 3 minutes because it was so obvious.

You are really quite rude.

They don't let you just order what you need. Of course they don't, they'd be breaking the law and risking being struck off if they did. Vets have to prescribe in accordance with the medicines act 1968, a patient has to be under their care and have been physically examined. Do you think you could ring your doctor and tell them to give you a prescription only medication without being seen? Oh and there are dozens of different eye drop for different types of infections, and eye infections in hamsters can often be due to dental problems so yes your hamster did need to be seen.

I absolutely love my vets, they’ve worked very hard with my cat when he was very poorly and always tried to do the best they could to save me a bit of money.

I do only have one minor niggle with them though. I don’t know if this is to make money or if it’s just a precaution. Sometimes when I’ve taken DCat in, say for a bit of a scab on his face or something. They’ll say ‘well it’s not infected but we will prescribe antibiotics anyway just to be safe.’ Or if DCat has been vomiting, they’ll say the same ‘it’s probably just something he’s eaten but antibiotics just in case.’ Surely this is dangerous to do with antibiotics because of building immunity etc

And therein lies the problem. Clients who have 'googled' something, know exactly what's wrong with their animal, 'know' what drug/treatment they need, and expect to be given it without being seen. It happens ALL the time. But if it's that easy to diagnose something, why do vets and nurses spend 4+ years at university? Clients would be the first to complain if a drug was handed out without a physical examination, and the pet had some sort of dreadful reaction to it, or it didn't work because it was the wrong type of medication, and you then had to end up paying out for another kind. Your argument then would be 'the vet didn't bother to examine my animal!'. We are bound by LAW to have a consultation for prescription only meds, and also if your animal has not been seen for a certain amount of time. For instance, eye problems can be caused by lots of different things, not just infection - dental issues, prolapses, foreign bodies, congenital diseases, trauma, etc. We are just supposed to take an untrained persons word for it that its 'an infection', and hand over some medication? Perhaps GPs should operate the same system?

So it is ok for humans to get eye drops for Boots but hamsters need to see a specialist?

Yes, they take their pound of flesh.
They do save pets, but charge unreasonably, and press on a soft spot of an owner who is afraid to lose their pet. All these anti-flea treatments for a cat with no fleas, invitation for a regular vaccinations for an indoor cat - bollox like that are also peddled regularly.

I wish your cat good health and that you'll find a cheap way to get her pills. Try PDSA if there is one locally and if you have time to sit there and wait till they see you (as their queueing system is all over the place)

@BloodyDisgrace Fleas live in the environment and not on the pet.
Most vets will not push vaccines for an indoor cat who is low risk, but it is up to the client to decide anyway. I personally did vaccinate mine because if they escaped and ended up catching something from another cat which I could have prevented i would be devastated.
It's a risk I am not willing to take.

Vets can't just go "oh, you had a look on Dr Google and you've diagnosed your pet? Ok, I'll dispense some medicine for you. See you around!"

They have to examine the pet. The pet has to be under their care for them to prescribe medication.
They can get struck off otherwise. And yes, you'll have to pay for a consultation, and some medications (unless you request a prescription to get them online, which you can do - but obviously depends on the urgency that the medication needs to start and you may not want to wait) but that's life; and part of owning a pet. The vet legally HAS to examine your pet. They may spend 'two minutes' doing it but they go to university and study for years, hold a lot of knowledge and experience. If your pet needs a prescription medication; they need to be seen.

So it is ok for humans to get eye drops for Boots but hamsters need to see a specialist?

Eye drops that treat infections are POM's (prescription only meds) so no you wouldn't be able to buy them in boots without a prescription. And yes by law as previously pointed out your hamster would need to be seen.

One of the issues with comparison with human medicine is that veterinary medicine is more tightly regulated.
Veterinary medicine is treated as one area regardless of whether we are treating a hamster or a cow. The regulations are designed to protect the food industry. So we can not prescribe generics as first line treatment we have to work under the cascade system, so if we would like to prescribe amoxycycline for your cat we can not prescribe the generic product we legally have to prescribe the licenced to cats branded product.
We have to ensure that the animal is under our care, that is to say we have examined it recently. This is regulated by inspections which we have to pay for, every practice has to pay to be a pharmacy ( if your vet has 3 branches they have to pay 3 fees) and every vet has to pay individually to be registered to practice and prescribe. My 5 vet, 3 branch practice has to pay £2.5K every year just to be able to prescribe and dispense medication. The online pharmacy pays £650 to be able to dispense from it's single site.

Wow! It's taken me a while to read all the posts, but a lot of them have made me feel very sad.

I'm a Registered Veterinary Nurse, who has been in practice for just over 20 years. My fellow veterinary professionals on here have already stated the contributing factors for 'expensive' fees, so I wont go into that. I just wanted to say the majority of us certainly wouldn't be in this profession for the money! I have been a qualified nurse for over 14 years now, and only within the last 2 years have I gained a salary of around the £22k mark. That is my full time wage of 40 hrs per week, plus night/weekend/bank holiday duties. The Veterinary Surgeons I know, and some have been qualified a while, are earning £35-45k a year (with similar/longer working hours).
Obviously Head Veterinary Nurses, Clinical Directors etc will be earning more, but that is because they have the responsibilities that come with a managerial role.

If I was starting as a newly qualified human nurse now, I would be earning approx £24-£26k. And I would definitely be earning more than that with 14+ years qualification/experience!

It's our love of animals and science that drives us into this profession. And yes, it hurts to read such negative comments.

Without getting involved in the prior debate, I would just like to be another one on this thread to express my gratitude, appreciation and respect to the vets who do all they can to help animals, including you @Veterinari.

When I had my beloved cat put down when she suddenly developed a blood clot in her spine, the vets were dignified, understanding, helpful and respectful of my grief.

Yes vets are expensive, but so is ANY firm of highly trained professionals providing a service using their privately paid for building, staff and equipment.

Owning a pet is not a right, if you cannot afford a pet you should not have one.

I did work experience at two veterinary practices and heard the same thing repeated by several members of staff - the job is rewarding and satisfying, they enjoy the job, but the pay is ridiculously low for what is required of the vets and vet nurses, and it is a hard industry to be a part of whilst maintaining positive mental health.

I just wanted to say to any vets, veterinary nurses or other members of veterinary practices on this thread that I, along with many others I know, appreciate and thank you for all you do for our pets.

I’m not sure anyone on here has criticised vet nurses.

I had no idea how hard it is for junior vets. None. perhaps the reputational issues are caused by the corporate owners?

Now here's an interesting correlation. Vet nurses earn less than human nurses. All the vet nurses I have met have been polite, kind and interested in my animals as well as being knowledgeable and helpful. I can't say the same for human nurses.

Odd one that. Ooh perhaps not! If the staff are rude, the vet won't get paid.

@OhTheRoses No, if we were rude the animal wouldn't get the treatment it needed - we care about the animal.

Odd one that. Ooh perhaps not! If the staff are rude, the vet won't get paid

The vet gets paid regardless. The vet gets paid a salary. The same salary whether they provide your pet with £100 or £1000 worth of treatment.

Practices with cheap costs can only stay in business by reducing costs elsewhere. Where is the question that should be asked. I've seen horrific practices in my time. There was one place with lovely staff, nice waiting area, nice consulting room and cheap fees. Behind the scenes however, was shocking one example is they were operating on an operating table surface of MDF that clearly couldn't have been sterilised between patients. Needless to say, by the time I'd seen enough they were suitably reported...

@smokeytoby
Thank you. I know that all veterinary professionals also appreciate owners who are doing the best for their pets

It’s also great to see so many awesome RVNs on this thread, and i’m Grateful for you support and kind words. Guess we can’t be so bad if you guys like us! Glad at least you guys have escaped the vilification we get