CF vet???

[Millionpoundvet]

NC for this because it's very outing and I'd rather it didn't follow me around. For ease I'll refer to my friend as VF.

This is a bit awkward. One of my very, very good friends is a vet, she owns and runs two practices and has an impressive amount of qualifications; far more than your average vet. I'm not sure what they are, specialisms in some things.

I decided to move my pets to her practice because of the friendship, her expertise and I wasn't entirely happy with the old vet. She very kindly allowed my dd (12) to go and do a few hours of work experience, my animals have been well looked after whenever I've taken them. My kitten was neutered, vaccinated and chipped there, and they spotted and dealt with a potential abscess on his tail. All great.

I have an old lady cat, she's 14, still sprightly but had got very, very thin, was messing around the house and had moments of confusion. VF had been to my house a few times, cuddled the cat and I'd asked about what could be wrong with her. VF could feel a couple of thyroid lumps and suggested that she have an op to remove the thyroid gland. I booked her in and delivered her to the surgery. I didn't hear anything for a week or so, but didn't mind, I assumed VF was doing what needed to be done. I bumped into her in the pub a couple of days after that, and she tells me that the thyroid tests have come back as normal. She now suspects that it's lymphoma. She says the cat is too poorly to come home yet, she will discharge her soon.

Again, we hear nothing for a week or so. I ring the practice to ask about what's going on and I'm told "Oh, I'm not sure, it's VF dealing with this. Can I ask her to give you a ring?" No problem. However, no phone call either. Again, I bump into VF socially (lots of the same friends) and enquire about my cat. She doesn't have lymphoma now and is ready to come home. VF says something vague about the cat having a liver infection. Along the way I've asked her to keep an eye on the bill and tell me when it's gone over a certain amount (£600 quoted for thyroid op). If I ask her directly, she says "It's still in 3 figures."

Anyway (sorry, this is really long! Didn't want to dripfeed), I arranged to collect my cat yesterday and I am greeted with a bill of £1,250. I was absolutely gobsmacked. She's billed me for that huge amount, despite:

Cat didn;t have or need a thyroid op.

Cat didn't have lymphoma.

Cat has had no surgical procedures at all.

Cat has had a few blood tests and basically been left sitting there for three weeks, whilst I was under the impression that she was being treated for cancer!

I asked for a breakdown of the bill and was told they didn't have it ready but that they can post it to me.

Awkwardly, it was my friend doing the discharge and I didn't want to challenge her at the time, because I wasn't sure if the fee was a fair one, and I didn;t want to accuse her of something she hadn't done, so I paid the bill and left.

I came home to my partner (who is a GP) and he says that we've been taken for a ride by VF and he's furious about the bill. Now that I've had time to process it, I'm furious too.

But what should I do?? If I go back and complain it will make things very awkward between VF and I and I do genuinely like her. Or shall I just chalk it up to experience and move my pets elsewhere? I feel like I can't say nothing, but I also don;t want to overreact. Or have I done something wrong along the way which has allowed her to bill this much??

Opinions please :)

The weirdness continues.

On the one hand, a vet diagnosing hyperthyroid on the basis of nodules and booking her in for an op without testing her is really odd. As is having her in for a couple of on meds before the op.

As someone who’s had two older cats with hyperthyroid - vets do a simple blood test, try them on medication for a while, and only if the meds don’t work consider surgery.

But the oddness on the OP’s side continues too. It doesn’t matter how happy the vet/practice tells me my animals are I still go in to visit daily to reassure them and check for myself.

I’m not surprised she came back worse after 3 weeks, she’s been stuck in a small cage for a long time and presumably thought you’d abandoned her. (Sorry OP but that’s the reality).

Fascinating

£1250 for 3 weeks hospitalisation and tests is not expensive - however i’d Be asking what took 3 weeks?Thyroid disease can be diagnosed with a blood test within 24 hours, ditto lymphoma and liver infections. Maybe with and ultrasound scan too but basically all that could be done in a day or two.

What took 3 weeks? Why couldn’t your cat come home?
What is the diagnosis and what is causing your cats weight loss if thyroid, liver and lymphoma have been ruled out? I assume they screened kidneys?

And they said that there wasn't a printout ready for me, they said they'd send it in the post. I'll give it a couple of days and then chase it if I haven't heard anything. I just paid the bill in full there and then because they wouldn't have let me take my cat home if I hadn't.

Wtaf.

How can they possibly know what the total is if they don’t have it itemised in front of them?

Demand they send the itemised bill by email today. Either they have it oe they don’t.

Sorry OP but if your cat is basically off her legs then she need to go back NOW, not in a few days time. Can you take her to another vet? Not sure you're going to get much sympathy with an update like that, just pre-warning you!

I can’t believe you weren’t phoning for daily updates- friend or not!! When our dog was in for 3 days we phoned twice a day, as the vet suggested (we’d never had a dog stay over night before).

"And do they really purr to self heal and if they're nervous??"

Yes. They do. And they purr when they're happy, too, which is where the confusion with cat-ownership actually lies. I had, as I've said, an elderly cat with FD, and another not-so-elderly (he's 14 in November) cat with FD, both of whom would purr whilst trying to gouge eyeballs out Always ours, never theirs (we had four neutured toms at one point and one spayed queen, and the only injury to any of them is a torn ear that may have been self-inflicted considering how ditsy the tom in question actually is!).

The question is... how didn't you already know this? You have a 14 year old cat. If she were a car, and she started making random noises (like purring), you'd take her to a garage who would set you straight. Would you abandon your car at a mechanic's for a fortnight and then moan about the bill?

My oldest cat died at the start of this year, and I'm actually having grief counselling because of it. He was the one with FD. Diagnosed at 6 years old, and I was encouraged by our previous vet to "do away with him" (quoting them, here, mind) at the time. I sought a second opinion. As I would, if it were my actual human child. As I did when my oldest (who is very much human) was diagnosed incorrectly. In either case, I did not abandon either of them to weeks of being shut in a small cage (and that may be why your cat can't use its back legs properly: vet's cat cages? Ludicrously out of proportion for most cats these days - one of ours is part Bengal and requires a small dog crate in order to be comfortable during short journeys, let alone to be left in for days on end).

Your cat deserves someone who will advocate for it.

Weight loss + weak back legs could be diabetes. Have they checked for that? Did they test for other cancers?

I don't think that going straight for an op for thyroid treatment is that strange - it's a permanent cure rather than being on meds for the rest of your cat's life - although it's not necessarily the best choice for an elderly cat. It is strange that they didn't do the blood test first, before booking her in. You do normally have to stabilise a cat before the op by giving them medication, but that can be done at home so again it's a bit weird that they took her in straight away.

What else is odd - apart from you not wanting detailed information when you spoke to your friend! - is that the vets didn't call you to let you know what was going on - my cat was in for something similar recently and the vets were on the phone twice a day telling us what was going on, how she was doing, what tests they were thinking of doing next, etc. Also the cost of everything was discussed in advance, even though we have insurance which covered it. Were you not desperate to get your poor cat home in all that time? I'd have been asking every day exactly what was going on and how long she'd be away from us.

And I have to say that although it's a big bill, for three weeks' care that is not a lot of money - mine cost that much for two days' care (without any operation!).

Did your cat have radioactive iodine treatment for hyperthyroidism? That might require a long hospitalisation.
Op you sound a bit mad. Why don't you just ask your friend what the cat had done and what the diagnosis is? You must have signed a consent form - what did it say? You should also have been asked to consent to each additional procedure. Vets don't just do 3 weeks worth of treatment without referring to owners. I can't help wondering what her side of the story would sound like...

@Beveren - "That makes two weeks. Where are you getting the third week from?"

The three weeks is from this sentence in the OP:

Cat has had a few blood tests and basically been left sitting there for three weeks, whilst I was under the impression that she was being treated for cancer!

I didn't abandon my cat and swan off into the sunset not caring whether she was alive or dead, as far as I was concerned I had her admitted to one of the top UK vets (so VF tell me, I haven't checked the vet league tables, or whatever they are but there is no reason to lie to me) for the very best treatment for her.

Sorry but I feel you did abandon your cat. You may have felt the cat was medically in the best hands, but still from my POV (and indeed the cats) it feels like abandonment. In those weeks did YOU not want to see the cat, do you not think your cat would have been "comforted" by seeing YOU. How could you leave the cat in a strange and unfamiliar medical environment, no matter how clinically advanced the vet may have been. You may have been reassured by your friend saying she would call, but it wouldn't have reassured most pet owners, or indeed the animal themselves. Would the cat not have appreciated being stroked or cuddled, or even just a familiar voice?

Anyway, that being said I hope she settles down again, I guess home must feel a little strange for her after so long away. Good luck.

Would worry me a little that a vet thought purring was a good sign though. I'd change practices for that alone.

Even if I disregard everything else, I cannot believe your cat is even sicker and doesn't seem to want to use its hind legs properly and you're still saying you're going to give her a couple of days to re-acclimatise to home and then see how she is from there.
Seriously?
Go to another vet. RIGHT NOW. What is wrong with you?

And do they really purr to self heal and if they're nervous?? I never knew that.

Yes when they are ill, poor things and I'm guessing a cat purring in the vets is not purring because it's happy!! Especially when it's been dumped there for three weeks

And when I did ring the practice they couldn't tell me anything and referred me straight back to my friend

This I find very odd as it's the vet nurses that look after the animals in between treatments. Why would no one have a clue how the cat was apart from the vet??
I think it's all very strange tbh

Your friend sounds like a WF (strange fucker) more than a CF. And you sound like a nitwit, OP. Get down Vets 4 Pets and they’ll sort it pronto.

Oops Weird Fucker I mean.

With all your updates I can see how this played out and I feel the VF is more at fault than you. It seems the lumps in her neck were assumed to be enlarged thyroid lobes which is fair enough. That was ruled out by a blood test then I presume the lumps were aspirated to check if cancerous/lymphoma and maybe the cat was kept in while awaiting those results. I sincerely hope she wasn't actually treated for lymphoma in the meantime! When that was ruled out maybe they did other tests such a further bloods and scans to see if they could work out why she had got so thin. So the bill seems reasonable in the face of all that if it happened. What baffles me is that you appear to have no diagnosis for your cat or plan for further investigation to get to the bottom of things (which you may or may not consider appropriate or may be very invasive). I think poor communication is at fault here. However, it does sound like they have ruled out a bunch of things so there is value in that while it is frustrating to spend so much and not have an answer.

I can’t believe they said that they didn’t have an itemised bill. I even get asked it I want a print out when I only go in for my dogs flea/worm treatment.

If everything was above board then everything done or prescribed for you cat would have been put on their system and you would have seen exactly what you were paying for. Did they just pluck the figure out if thin air?

How long and well do you know this friend OP? Just from reading this thread she sounds like an almighty bullshitter who may have embellished her achievements.

One of my family is a veterinary nurse so I know a bit about bills and charges.

All I can say is I would have been panicking about the cost had my (mythical as I don't have one) cat been in there for three hours, let alone three weeks!

Don’t wait a few days - just call the surgery and ask them for the itemised bill. Say you’ll pop in to pick it up. Then you can ask questions on the spot.

Agree with this, except I wouldn't ask questions on the spot; I'd take it to a quiet cafe or something to have a good look and write questions down so I could go back and have a calm discussion.
But definitely go in, ask for it and make clear that you'll stand there until they've presented it. If the waiting room is full, all the better –embarrass them into it!

Poor cat. Locked in a cage for three weeks with an owner who can't be arsed to check on her.

your mate has taken you for a ride........some friend eh?
Also, i can't believe that you paid for surgeries that never took place!

I think what you got was karma for not caring about how your cat would feel stuck in a strange place for 3 weeks without seeing you regularly.
You wouldn't do that to your child if they were in hospital would you?

Beveren What Mia1415 and PeachMoon said. And you accuse other posters of being hard of reading?

Fuxache.

didn't feel the need to check up constantly. I didn't abandon my cat and swan off

There's a difference between not feeling the need to check up constantly and not checking up at all... you never phoned the surgery to ask how your car was, not once. I can't get my head round that. You just accidentally bumped into your friend and asked.

Surely you ring the vet daily for an update, most vets ring you daily even if nothing has changed, very odd