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?

"How can they say they charge £9 but online they're 50p?"

Because a veterinary practice is a completely different entity to an online pharmacy? Their overheads, buying power and and diagnostic/treatment capabilities make it a meaningless comparison.

The tablets are onsior 6mg.

I seem to remember we did look into getting her insured but the vet said even as a kitten she was likely to have future problems with her teeth so the premiums were expensive and had so many conditions. So we decided on the cat fund (unfortunately only after our other cat died a few years ago)

Some are worse than others. Of the vets where I grew up, the ones in a chain always seemed to push 'extras' more than the single-practice ones. The two near here are both independents. One you feel you need a mortgage to see, the other, who I've only ever seen out of hours (and so would expect to be expensive) has always left me asking for the rest of the bill. If they weren't 40 miles away I'd go to them all the time.

I get a reduced rate at our vet's for our dogs and sheep (agricultural rate), but not for the cats. Even so, I find them really good value and very committed. I'm sure I wouldn't want to have to work their hours, with patients who bite, scratch and shit on you.
Medicines are expensive, and most vets seem willing to work with you to make treatments less expensive if possible.

My vet is excellent. Not cheap but worth every penny.

I took put my insurance when my little one was a tiny kitten, no health checks or requirement for vaccinations. Life cover.

I paid £16000 trying to save one of my cats!! Worth every penny but we are also fortunate that we had insurance that covered it. That said if they didn't we would have used our savings!! He managed another 15 mths before needing to be put to sleep to stop him suffering 😥😿 still miss him everyday x

What I DO object to is some vets chasing for money in a delicate situation before the invoice has even been sent 🤬

Friend of mine had to have her dog PTS over a weekend. On Monday she received a phone call asking if she’d received the (posted) invoice yet. As it was Monday morning, of course she hadn’t yet. They took her email and sent an invoice that way. She paid it the next day, but still received a further 2 hard copies in the post! All within 3 days of losing her Ddog!!!!

Miles apart from my equine vets - when I lost my baby horse, the first thing they sent me was a hand written condolence card. The invoice didn’t appear until a week later. A little compassion goes a long way!!

I our local vet is independent and we're lovely when we had to have our much loved cat put to sleep and didn't charge for the euthanasia injection.

We even gave them a thankyou card as they were so good (£800 good!)

FWIW knowing it's Onsior and thinking of the drug markups where I work, I suspect you've been incorrectly quoted price per tablet including the dispensing fee. Might be worth a call tomorrow to ask how much for 30.

Ok let me explain. Online pharmacies buy in bulk and store all goods in one place. Vets have to use veterinary wholesalers who charge way more. They also have daily delivery fees and pay more for their drugs at cost than online pharmacies sell at retail, they could actually buy from the online pharmacies cheaper than they can from the wholesaler but are not allowed to do so. Vets have kept their professional fees low by relying on drug mark ups wrongly imo, this is all changing. Vet fees will rise dramatically due to the use of online pharmacies as they have to make a profit what with being a business and all.
On top of all that, there's all the overheads associated with running a practice plus a vet has to diagnose and prescribe the drugs (time consuming), the pharmacies just have to hand them over.
Plus your vet actually offered to give you a prescription so you could save money .

I once paid a total of £80 to be told my cat had a sore throat.....

And? Do you think the consultation and clinical exam should be free of charge? Like I said I would be expecting consultations alone to be in £80 region soon so do bear that in mind if considering more pets in the future.

Was it Medivet? by any chance

I think the vet was not robbing you in this case, as you could get the pills cheaply elsewhere.

Where they rob you is when after numerous tests all you get is "It might be this, it might be that" get prescribed steroids or antibiotics, they don't have much effect, then more consultations and more tests, and still no clear answer.

The only definite in these cases is the bill.

The vets I know have an average salary. They trained a long time, they are clever, they work long hours as people expect surgeries to be open after work, they get shit holidays as their practices have to pay for locums. And they get injured regularly. If I'd done all that, frankly I'd expect a higher salary. Of course an individual vets isn't going to be able to have the same prices as an online only store

@kyries we spent £800 and I don't regret a penny. A week of tests, x-rays, staying overnight, he had cardiomyopathy. I still miss him too.
@lively that's terrible! My friend used the vet I've just been to when they had their dog pts. They were wating to pay, crying and the vet told them to go and settle up later.

I don't begrudge the vets a good salary I realise they're highly trained and very clever.

I was just shocked at the cost and very worried that I couldn't afford it, I don't want my cat in pain.

I didn't realise you could get insurance without injections, may be worth looking into for my three year old.

Or maybe just vaccinate your other cat instead of relying on herd immunity

When they charge £200 to scan your cat's kidney for 2 mins I'm inclined to agree when you compare it to £80 for a private baby scan done by a consultant who looks at every part of the foetus.

Also our vet got the cost for our pets operation wrong... by £500 then tried to increase it on the day.

Highly trained - yes. Over the top and taking advantage of insurers - also yes.

She is immunised as we took her a few months back for a full check up. It's the 10 yr old we've struggled to get In her cat box over the years (she can be vicious but she's gorgeous)
To be honest I thought the £60 a mo the would cover any Illness or injury going to Google cat Insurance.

Yes, they are in my opinion! We’ve spent just over £1500 since June on our Dcat - this is mainly consisting of blood tests! Seems like every time I take her she has to have one - and it’s not joke at £200+ a pop! 😱 Most of the time the Vets just look at me as if they’re expecting me to tell them what’s wrong?! I won’t be getting another animal after this one has departed, simply because I cannot believe how expensive Veterinary care is these days. I just cannot see how a Vets practise can justify £300 for the blood test my Dcat had yesterday, it’s astonishing! 😱

@igotdemons

Blood tests are expensive. Have you ever seen the cost of blood tests for humans?! It’s insane.

We just rescued a second cat yesterday and I got a multi pet policy with Petplan. £23 per month for both cats and the whole of life cover so I can claim for illness year after year. I think the limit per condition is around £7000.

Much cheaper and easier than putting £60 per month away.

Well the vet when to university (lost income plus fees), then they have to pay rent, rates, insurance, tax, various costs associated with getting unpaid monies, hiring other staff like receptionist, cleaners etc, equipment and tax. How do you propose they meet these costs if not by charging their clients? Do you expect them to work for free?

As PPs have said, it comes down to buying power although there is also an element of being a business and needing to make a profit. Most vets are willing to give you a prescription to buy online though.

DS found out the hard way when he paid £25 for a couple of generic omeprazole tablets at the vets. They cost about 25p each. And they went straight in the bin as it turned out the bunny didn't have gastro issues, she was in labour...

Before anyone flames him for not being responsible enough to have her spayed, she was too young for the operation and he had only had her for a couple of weeks. Clearly there had been a mix up in sexing the baby bunnies at the rescue centre and a boy had got in with the girls.

You’re are paying for the rental of the premises, the vet, the nurses, electricity, experience & expertise, they aren’t an online supplier with a warehouse. Of course it’s going to be more expensive. Wait till you see what Brexit will do to the NHS!

@Schuyler They were nowhere near that expensive when my Vets weren’t owned by a company. When they were owned by a Vet they even used to do them in-house - and for a lot less than £300! 😫