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?

Thanks for the apology Looobyloo - very polite for AIBU!

OP I totally agree and this is why we have no pets. It’s far too expensive.

@Jollitwiglet
And yes vets do need specialist training for exotics. That's why there is specific exotic vets, because they've had specialist training. Its all well and good going on about basic knowledge in guinea pigs, but if you're not trained in exotics and don't keep guinea pigs as pets, you won't necessarily have that basic knowledge!

Yes, this is my point. We paid the higher consultation fee for a specialist "exotic" vet for the guinea pigs - they should have the training, after all, and those are the vets we are required to see for the guineas. However having paid for said specialist knowledge, the woman in question didn't know a few basic things about guinea pigs, which we as owners know, a simple Google will tell you, and which a guinea pig specialist who we are paying a lot for should definitely bloody well know!

@shesgrownhorns I used to work with the BVA. I'll tell my friend who left the profession following a suicide attempt how good the money is and I'm sure he'll sign right back up. Oh no wait he made below average wages after 7 years of training being abused all day by people blaming him for the fact their animals were ill and they didn't insure them.

My cats aren't insured so if they get something expensive I'll be saying goodbye

You shouldn't have pets.

@Jollytwiglet

Those doubting the suicide rates of vets need to get a grip. If you don't work in the industry you couldn't possibly understand how physically and emotionally draining it is.

Because no OTHER profession or job is physically and emotionally draining IS it?! FFS!

I am pretty sure people on minimum pay, with mortgages and bills they can barely afford, going to food banks to feed their family, and knowing they will go under financially if they off sick for a couple of months have just as many problems than vets. Or the dentists and solicitors!

And I don't give a shit if the money doesn't all go into the vet's pocket. SOMEONE is making fuckloads of money from vulnerable people who have poorly animals and not much money.

And I knew someone would come up with the 'can't afford vet fees, don't have a pet' bollocks. You're all heart! NOT! And you have the nerve to have a go at people slating vets. Jog on.

@cacklingmags

Some are robbing bastards and cruel, keeping a pet alive long after it is time for them to go just to make more money. I can't trust my local vet to do the right thing with my pets, but have found a visiting vet who is good.

Yep, I have seen this happen. Reading some of the posts on here, you would think they were all angels who can do no wrong and are SO hard done by! Just because they 'heal animals,' that doesn't mean their shit don't stink!

I am sure some of them are perfectly nice, decent people who don't charge over-exorbitant prices, but don't patronise people on here by trying to make out they are all bloody perfect.

@shesgrownhorns

Corporate veterinary practices in particular can be very greedy, and have a habit of 'pushing' products onto clients that the patient could quite well do without. Think creams, supplements, analgesics, etc.

Might I suggest that those who do not believe that veterinary medicine can be extremely lucrative consult companies house to look at the profits of a variety of practices. The corporates are doing very nicely indeed.

Yep, all of this too. ^

@NcHere

It depends on the vet.

My dog got hit by a car.

Emergency appointment. They kept her in for obs. Put her on a drip.

She stayed in 5 hours.

The cost? £49.

PMSL £49??? Errr OK then! 😂

I didn't say no other profession was physically or emotionally draining did I though? I just said this industry is physically and emotionally draining. Or would you like to quote where I made a comparison to any other industry? Oh you can't? That's right, because I didnt.

OP, you're right. MN is full of nasty twats these days. Much more hate filled than it used to be.

Oh, excuse me. Wrong thread. Wonder why I got them confused?

Whether or not there is a higher incidence of suicide (which I must've been very sheltered from because I have known many many vets and they're all still alive and kicking AND practising, apart from the old guys) you are missing the point making the stress argument. We don't factor in your stress when we are paying for our animals. Sorry, it's a difficult occupation but it is not my problem that it is stressful. I'm looking for value for money treatment.

I actually think vets are very reasonable. They've told you the cost AND helped you find a cheaper alternative.
You've chosen not to get insurance which would be a fraction of the cost you claim to be putting aside.
Pets cost. YABU.

I was only in there 10 mins today and it was £40! The thing is when I went a few months back I could swear I paid a lot less for all my three cats to be de-wormed, de-fleed and checked over.
Could be wrong, I'll check my bank account.

I must say my local practice has had a lot of different vets and vet nurses these past few years.

A local physio charges £60 for half an hour! Just to compare.

A colleague at work, was in a similar situation with her dog, it had a skin condition, and required expensive treatment, that she couldn’t afford, so she asked for a prescription so she could buy it elsewhere.
The vet wouldn’t give her one.
After lots of arguing, and this colleague was a bit of nightmare, ( argues, always causing upsets at work) she finally got the vet to agree to write the prescription for an inflated price, so she could buy the medicine cheaper elsewhere.

@moredogsthansense you're welcome. Its good to see the other side.

The vets working for the corporates are not raking in the profits made by the corporates. Of course other people have it hard in other ways and of course there are some greedy or incompetent vets, just like any other job in the world. But there is a particular problem for vets in trying to bridge the gap between what they think the animal needs and the owner’s expectations, which is particular to vets (and maybe some other jobs like teaching) because of the emotion involved. I’ve had a client try to run me over because we didn’t stock the drug he wanted for his animal, which wasn’t even my decision. Any vet could give a comparable example. But I’m going to bed now. Hope your cat feels more comfortable, OP!

I have 2 dogs. I walked in the vets the other day to buy flea stuff expecting to pay perhaps £5 ? Came out £26.62 lighter for 2 tablets - 1 each !!! Robbers.

So much ignorance. Try private healthcare for yourself if vets are such a rip off. People in the UK are so spoiled with our free at the point of delivery NHS, they have no idea how costly it would be if they had to put their hands in their pockets.

Equipment for vet use costs the same as if it was for human use. And a small veterinary practice is still expected to be fully equipped.

Maybe if Donald Trump gets his way and takes over the NHS and people have to start paying, they might realise just how good value for money their vet provides by comparison to human private healthcare.

The average vet doesn't even earn enough to be on the list of professionals allowed into the UK post Brexit if IDS's think-tank gets its way.

So much naivete Spinarette...

What a horrible thread.

I think part of the problem is that because we have free healthcare, people in the UK arre completely divorced from the reality of the costs of it and so can't fathom why animal healthcare is so expensive and assume they are being robbed.

For example have a look at this:

"Without health insurance, surgical treatment of a broken arm typically costs $16,000 or more. For example, surgical treatment of a fracture of the humerus (upper arm bone) costs about $14,911, not including the surgeon fee, at Baptist Memorial Health Care in Memphis, Tennessee. A typical surgeon fee for surgical treatment of a fracture could reach $2,000 or more"

As PP have said - we are sheltered from healthcare costs by the NHS. I saw a consultant privately a few weeks ago £225 and I was in the room for 10 minutes. The tests he ordered were another £500. Vet fees only reflect the cost of healthcare.

Oh, a bit of cross post with you there, Spinnaret

@shesgrownhorns, I provided a link upthread to accurate information on the suicide issue. Of course it’s not the client’s problem if it’s a stressful job, and of course most vets don’t commit suicide - nobody I know personally has done so, though I know of plenty at second hand. But the AIBU was are vets robbing bastards, to which some of us said no, actually, most vets are doing their best in difficult circumstances, with the suicide issue being good evidence that the job’s not usually just an easy way to make money.

Right, I really am going to bed now.

A word in defence of the chains. Our vet is a branch of Medivet. We have been going there for ten years and have had two seriously ill and uninsured cats (a calculated risk as they were old and premiums had risen to the point that only something very serious would cost more to treat than the insurance premiums).

They have been fantastic. The vet advised that they would happily give us medication at their cost price but this was still substantially more expensive than buying online so he gave us all the details and told us the best website to use. He said that as soon as we brought a cat in he had to charge consultation fees so I was to phone with updates on their conditions and we would agree any dosage changes etc over the phone where possible. He is selective about which bloods to run, to keep the costs down. And when we had to say goodbye to our girl, he helped us make the decision even though we probably could have kept her going a bit longer and he could easily have stung us for a few more visits. He is a treasure even though he works for an evil corporation.

They really have very little say in how much they charge you for meds but if you’re a regular customer they might let you have them for their cost price although this may not be much of a saving.

@Spinnaret

The average vet doesn't even earn enough to be on the list of professionals allowed into the UK post Brexit if IDS's think-tank gets its way.

PMSL! 😂

The Brexit board is here luv...

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/eu_referendum_2016_

And @ghostofharranel and the others banging on about health costs if we had no NHS. Stop trying to derail with your whataboutery! . This is about VETERINARY costs. So quit the running off the tracks of the subject matter, to suit your agenda.