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?

Strikes me I know a darn sight more about the veterinary profession, being on the inside of it, than someone who declared that it was nonsense that vets have the highest suicide of all professions.

The vast majority of vets are extremely caring and compassionate people who do their job for the love of animals. They earn substantially less than most similar professionals. My starting salary as a vet, barely 20 years ago was only £14k. Hardly rockstar wages is it? The national average now is around £30-40k. Still not exactly wealthy considering the hours and expectations.

I too must go to bed, work early in the morning - got vet bills to pay.

Seriously though, I think as with everything on AIBU, the answer is IT DEPENDS!!!!!!

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.

The cost of medicines, xrays, OD equipment etc for human and animal use is probably very similar, hence my comparison. I have no agenda, I'm a pet owner and knew when I took on my pet that ownership comes with a cost.

Just look online

@Looobyloo

Well hopefully it’ll help you to feel better to know that statistically, your vet is 4 times more likely to commit suicide than you are. As am I.

Primarily because of shit like this by clueless pet owners who want all the benefits of owning a pet and non of the responsibility of paying small businesses for their professional services. But then I guess we deserve it as we’re ‘robbing bastards’.

OP check out Pet Drugs Online. The tablets you mention are £11.40 for £30.

I used this company for DDOG. You send a copy of the prescription and the tablets are delivered to you. Very quick and simple.

It’s odd that you are praising the NHS I’m assuming since it’s free? (Well we all know it isn’t but you don’t have over cash at A&E)
However if you needed a kidney scan you would go on a lengthy waiting list, your vet however would have you booked in usually within 48 hours.
These are highly skilled professionals who have spend thousands upon thousands on training, equipment, rent, electricity, gas, licences, insurances, general perishables, water rates and all overheads that come with running a business, all this before they take a wage

Whilst I agree with the posters that are saying ‘if you have a pet you should have insurance’ - you also need to keep in mind that sometimes they don't pay out! Also, as our pet’s get older, sometimes the policies do become too expensive and with too many exclusions etc, simply because of the age of the animal and not necessarily because of their health.

When I first got my cat (over 10 years ago now), she was insured with Petplan. About 5 years ago, my premium was nearly £30 a month and when I went online to compare policies, I noticed that Petplan had changed all their policies and mine no longer existed. The new policies offered better cover but were not available to me as my cat was deemed ‘too old’. So I was paying more for less, so to speak. So for the last few years I’ve chopped and changed with insurers who will still cover ‘senior’ cat’s.

Every year my excess increases, as does the percentage that I have to pay towards any fees I claim for. Soon it will probably not be worth having because the excess and percentage will be too high to make it worthwhile claiming...

www.payscale.com/research/UK/Job=Veterinarian/Salary

Average Veterinarian Salary in United Kingdom £31,551

No. I think you're totally wrong.

Vets train hard and work hard, you have the option to put your cat to sleep if you don't want to pay for its health care.

Some vets’ charges can be eyewatering but I don’t think they make phenomenal amounts of money. I don’t see flash vets cars outside our practice.

It reminds me how fortunate we are to have a NHS because if we were charged to visit the doctors, buy medicine, pay for operations etc a vet would seem a cheap option.

@igotdemons

Good points.

Some insurance companies don't pay out half the time when it comes to pets.

They will only usually pay when it's a sum of less than £150, and your bloody excess is £75!

I think some people on here think poor people should not be allowed pets. Probably think they should not be allowed anything! Probably the same type who think if someone is claiming any tax credits or benefit that they should not be allowed a TV, a day out, a meal out, or a mobile phone. Keep the poor down eh? Throw them scraps of mouldy bread, as that's all the bastards deserve.

FFS. This FUCKING place sometimes!

Primarily because of shit like this by clueless pet owners who want all the benefits of owning a pet and non of the responsibility of paying small businesses for their professional services. But then I guess we deserve it as we’re ‘robbing bastards’.

And probably such a clueless owner got their pet via some dodgy Gumtree "breeder" and then wonder the poor animal has so many health problems.

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!

That's not bollocks. That's basic common sense.

Any one who is interested in actual facts rather than just being needlessly unpleasant (@user1493759849 ?)
might want to read the following articles
www.telegraph.co.uk/pets/news-features/pet-costs-do-vets-charge-much/

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/10/06/vets-threatened-regular-basis-pet-owners-angry-cost-treatment/

www.vettimes.co.uk/news/studies-prompt-appeals-to-help-prevent-suicide/

Hello
Another Loobylou here, not to confuse the thread I hope!
I am a veterinary nurse. My cat (sadly put to sleep a few months ago) was on thyroid meds, heart meds, kidney meds and diuretics. ALL of which had to be sourced from an online pharmacy, because even AS A MEMBER OF STAFF, I could not get the drugs for anywhere near the costs of the online pharmacy. This was also factoring in a 25% staff discount. My practice simply could not compete with them, the cost we were buying them in was about twice the price I was paying online. Drugs don't have as big a mark up as you would expect. And vets earn nowhere near what the average person would guess, most vets I know are struggling for money! As a nurse I can confirm that the salary is awful, I know people in unskilled shop or office jobs that earn more than I do after nursing for 10 years.

I can only echo everything that has been said in this thread. You are paying for the building, the overheads, the staff, the equipment, the specialist knowledge. You can't compare it to an online service.

And I can only tell you how demoralising it is to have clients calling us names and insinuating that we do it for the money. Believe me, NO vet nurse does it for the money, and I've never met a vet yet who is in it for the money.

Our practice was recently bought over and we have gone from an independent vet to part of a corporate chain, so we will see how that goes. Just to say, you may also be surprised to learn that your practice is part of a corporate vets, they often don't change the name/branding/uniforms, to give the impression it is still independent, and no announcement is ever made to the clients. You can check online if your vet practice is owned by a corporate. I have my own feelings about this, but that's another story!

How can she be robbing you, when she says she will give you a prescription to buy the pills cheaper elsewhere.
And yes, dont have pets if you cant afford to look after them and keep them healthy and pain free.
One of my dogs had cancer twice, totally different kinds, by the age of five, both times it cost in excess of 10,000.00, she went to a specialist centre, which my insurance paid for, so a hundred pounds or so a month savings wont make a dent in that.

I’m on first name terms with my horse vet - in fact she has her own mug here because of the amount of time she’s been here lately , because idiot boy creature decided to cat leap five feet of post and rail , which he cleared only to wrap himself in next doors electric fencing , and slice two legs down to the bone . The night he did it , she came out at 8 at night , from 30 miles away , with a mobile x ray machine , her vet nurse , and stitched him until midnight . Since then , she’s come back a dozen times , and we’ve been through more dressings than Boots stock . I don’t begrudge her a penny .

And I can only tell you how demoralising it is to have clients calling us names and insinuating that we do it for the money. Believe me, NO vet nurse does it for the money, and I've never met a vet yet who is in it for the money

Most people don't think that and are really, really grateful for compassionate care, I think you're all bloody wizards

CSJ reckons £30k salary limit for immigrants is too low. Should be raised to £36,700. Bang, most younger, employment mobile vets would be out of scope. Older more experienced vets who can command higher salaries won't have the mobility to jump countries so readily. So, if this policy comes in, well done us on turning off the supply of EU vets we rely on.

www.google.com/amp/s/www.tes.com/news/immigrant-salary-plan-could-harm-teacher-recruitment%3famp

@user1493759849 Yes I recently had a claim refused because they decided I shouldn’t have visited the emergency Vets on a Sunday with an elderly cat with an eye that had suddenly swollen up (within the space of 20 minutes!) who is on lifelong medication that can cause facial problems! 🤔 OK then, I’ll just leave my cat to suffer until Monday morning...! 🙄

@veterinari I've already apologised for the thread title. I had no idea that vets have the highest suicide rate and no it doesn't make me 'feel better' to think that anyone would want to commit suicide. Silly statement!

I think some people on here think poor people should not be allowed pets. Probably think they should not be allowed anything! Probably the same type who think if someone is claiming any tax credits or benefit that they should not be allowed a TV, a day out, a meal out, or a mobile phone. Keep the poor down eh? Throw them scraps of mouldy bread, as that's all the bastards deserve.

Not at all but equally why should I be personally responsible for the financial obligations of my clients?

Do you expect mechanics to subsidise your car servicing or electricians to cover the cost of your re-wiring? So why should I pay for your pet care?

There are charity schemes available in many areas that offer veterinary care to low income pet owners (i’ve Worked for several of them) bu

@neweeeyebroes thanks, I'll take a look.

...but essentially choosing to have a pet is a financial and moral responsibility. It’s not reasonable to expect someone else to subsidise that