Vet shouldn't be doing this?

[HouseyNousey]

Apologies for long post.

A few months before Christmas our cat was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. She was immediately put on medication and we decided, following the vets advice, that she would eventually be treated with radioiodine.

The vet told us that because of her overall health, younger age and circumstances there would be no problem with the insurance covering costs.

We were then asked to bring her in two weeks time for blood tests and then more of the same two weeks later.

Both times, it seemed somehow to be that 'this is tests that cost £X but to really see what's going on, a more thorough one would be better, which, of course is more, £130 each time'. Why mention the 'not so thorough' test in the first place? Anyway, at this point we were on the understanding the insurance would cover the costs.

We had booked a long trip previously and were away for 4 weeks so she was in the cattery at this point and the vet said that was fine.

We came back and took her back a few weeks later - we would have taken her sooner but she was very upset by the stay in the cattery this time as it was over twice as long as normal. We didn't want to put her in the carrier again only a few days later and distress her more.

When we did visit the vet she was explaining about kidneys and listing possibilities that then culminated in 'bring her in tomorrow for a urine test'. I recapped with her the conversation, as it seemed she was jumping ahead somehow.

It turned out that depending on the results of the blood tests we were just about to have, there may be another test and, depending on THAT result, she may have to have her urine tested.

I felt that we were being manipulated and scaremongered into paying for tests not yet required.

Anyway, the results of the blood tests on that day were fine. Again, I'm now questioning so does she really need a test every two weeks, then, if four weeks was fine this time?

All in all so far it's cost £650-£700 for medication and tests. At some point earlier on we did have £40 back from insurance.

Because of the incident I mentioned earlier, where I felt she was jumping the gun, I've lost a bit of trust in them, which is why I'm asking for advice and opinions here.

My questions are: should the vet not already have sorted the insurance out or is it normal that this doesn't happen until the actual radioiodine. If this is the way, that's obviously fine but just need an outside opinion. And, does she really need blood tests every two weeks?

Thank you for reading!

Are you sure it's the vets job to sort out the insurance? Any time I have claimed on pet insurance I have contacted them and filled in the initial claim form myself, not the vet.
I've also been told if it's likely to be a long term condition to start the process when tests are being done and not to wait for the expensive part.

It's not the vets job to sort out the insurance claim it's yours so I'd crack on with that personally - the costs will probably spiral even more otherwise.

My vets also give a cheaper option and a more expensive one. The cheaper one is an acceptable level of care the more expensive is a gold standard. Blood tests every 2 weeks sounds a bit excessive if that is forever but presumably this is just until the results stabilise. I don't have this issue with my pets so it's only a guess. I your concerned your vets behaving poorly then ask for a consultation at another vets or ring and speak to a different practice.

Thank you no they have definitely told us that they will get in touch with our insurance? We did think it was odd tbh.

I know that my vets deal with the insurance directly for an ongoing illness but not for starting the process. If I were you I'd check the policy and contact them.

Some vets deal directly with the Insurance but it's usually specialists so our orthopaedic vet and our internal medicine vet deal direct.

Our regular vet doesn't so we have to complete all information and there's a part that the vet completes but we have to pay our vet and claim back.

Its not the vet who usually sorts the insurance. Generally you claim back the fees afterwards directly from the insurance. Also be wary just because the vet says it will be covered doesn't mean it will be!

Can't help from a treatment point of view but might be worth asking to sit down with the vet and discuss treatment options.

My vet claims directly from insurance, but for that to happen I have to fill in a claim form and give it to the vets so they can then compete their part. My vet doesn’t submit to insurance until treatment is completed.

Our vets (well the admin staff) have always dealt directly with the insurance. I assume that for an ongoing claim that they invoice every so often.

OP have you checked that your insurance is enough to cover the tests and radioiodine treatment? It's obviously expensive and the cost, along with the cost of all the tests, could be higher than the limit on your policy.

My now DH moved vets when we first got together because of this exact reason. They'd recommended an MRI, at considerable cost at the time. Even if the MRI had shown the issue they were looking for in his brain there was nothing that could be done, but the GA for the MRI would have been a considerable risk for the dog. We had a "consult" for him with a neurosurgeon (mil's job). It made DH look at other tests etc they'd had done and he moved to the vets my family have used for 40 years or more now. The first vet seemed to be all about the ££££s less the animal welfare, so yes it definitely does happen. I'd shop around.

Oh and the dog never did have whatever it was they were looking for, he lived for a good few years after this incident.

Thanks to everyone, yes, sorry SimonJT I forgot we did fill in part of a form and give it back to them.

They are a well-established, respected practice with more than one branch so it wouldn't occur to us not to trust them implicitly.

I've decided we will double-check with them about the insurance and then, if still concerned, we will start shopping around. I have already had a few recommendation in our area.

Many thanks.

Vet here. Hyperthyroidism, whilst very treatable, is very hard to stabilise and sometimes stabilising the thyroid reveals kidney issues which were previously masked. Blood tests every 2 weeks is normal in the beginning.

If you don’t trust the vet then call and speak to the practice manager - not in an accusatory way, but ask if the vet can summarise what’s gone on so far. And mention the insurance and get that sorted.

It depends what vet you are with. When I had a Westie, he started itching badly. The first question the vet asked was 'is he insured?' The best treatment for him was allergy testing and a desensitisation programme with injections daily. However, the test has to be sent to America and the injections were £600 per month. If he hadn't been insured, she'd have just prescribed some good antihistamines.

My current dog had bad ears and needed a GA flush out. All in all, £1300. The vets offered to claim direct. When he ate chocolate a couple of weeks ago, the bill was under £250 (just) so we had to claim ourselves. It's just been paid today.

Re insurance, this is my very recent experience. Our pet came home friday night clearly haven hurt themselves. Took them to vets on Saturday (thats a whole other tale of possible incompetence), back at vets on monday. We paid excess on Saturday and completed a form vet gave us for insurance. On Tuesday we had an email from insurance saying our vets had made a claim and to contact them asap if we disagreed and yesterday they emailed to say they had paid the bill.

Its my only experience of pet insurance but i was impressed.

I'm always amazed by the efficiency of Petplan. They send a nice little email saying sorry your pet hasn't been well, too.

Arrange a phone call with your vet to discuss this. They are trying to do their best for your pet but sometimes cases are complex and it can be difficult to process this when you are worried about your pet. I'm a total nightmare when mine are sick. Ask for a summary and write down the questions you want answered. Be calm but tell them you are worried
The insurance is a separate matter. It's not the vets duty to sort this but often they do help. The contract is between you and the insurance company. Again call them and speak to them.
I'm a vet and clinically I would say what your vet is doing is spot on. They have given you the options for treatment and monitoring and costs associated. The reason we give options is that not everyone has the funds to do the "gold standard" testing/treatment or sometimes people just don't want to.
Since most of us get slated time and time again regarding fees we try to be as transparent as possible. Remember vets just people trying to do a good job. The amount of abuse we get as a profession is shocking.

we had a vet who recommended scans and multiple blood tests all the time for EVERYTHING. We moved. We have a great vet now (cute too who is minimal intervention and very sensible. Love him. Literally

Hi. My cat has just been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism as well with a bout of acute pancreatitis. Blood tests and treatments have cost me well over a thousand pound so far. But now she is stabilised, the next set of blood tests was at three months. I will be looking at the iodine treatment then.
My vet takes care of the insurance but I had to ask them to send it off while treatment was ongoing as I wanted some money back in time for Christmas.

Yes we are with PetPlan. We had a problem with our cat before and they paid out within a week.

We had a vet (moved to them as they were closer) who was quick to offer procedures. We were happy to have some lumps removed from our dog, but while under GA we were called and they had found another lump so would remove that too...ok no problems. Then they asked if we wanted his umbilical hernia fixed, this would increase the price of the surgery as it would take longer blah blah. We declined because he had the hernia from birth, it was closed behind the hernia with no bowels or insides coming through so he only had like a bulge of fat (previous vets not concerned about it at all)

We claimed insurance and were sent a letter saying that the would it pay a, b, c and X would be part paid as we had been overcharged for them. (Drugs, gloves, etc).

They were also always wanting to give our cat a GA for a scan of her heart as she had a heart murmur. Previous vets said to keep an eye on her for fainting/struggling to run/lethargy, etc but would leave her be as she wasn't showing symptoms of the murmur. This vet would suggest the ga and scan every time we visited.

We moved to a vet a bit further away and are a lot less money and operation obsessed. Dog got lumps, they put a needle in and could see from that they were fatty lumps and no surgery needed. And again they're happy with a wait and see how the cat is regarding her heart murmur. She's 10 now and not suffering or showing any signs so doesn't need a GA and scan.

The vets were with sort the insurance out, all we have to pay is the excess.

You can put your claim in as soon as you've exceeded your excess, then a second, third or subsequent claim can be added as time goes on. You'll only have the excess deducted from your first claim for this condition until renewal, when you'll be charged the excess again.

We have a cat and a dog, both of which are insured, when our dog had an accident, the vet explained that, insured or not, they have a duty to be open about the costs involved. I was confused as to why they seemed to be itemising everything unnecessarily, but they said they had to.
We had to fill in a claim form with any previous vets details, and they filled in their part to send off. I'm not with Petplan but I understand they settle with the vet directly. The vet still has to tell you exactly what they are claiming for.

If you promptly gave the claim form to the vet to claim direct from PetPlan you should not have paid anything apart from the excess.

At our practice the senior receptionist deals with the claims, the other receptionists don't know what's happening on that score and sometimes they request payment - I just tell them it's a direct claim, then there's no problem.

However, did you make it clear that you wanted the vet to claim direct from PetPlan? They may have thought you wanted them to just fill out their section of the form and return it to you, so you could reclaim the money having paid the vet yourself. You need to speak to whoever deals with claims.

I saved my pets' Petplan numbers on my phone, so that if I have to take them to the vet I can fill in the form there and then.

You can also track your claim on Petplan, so if you put in your cat's Petplan number and your postcode into the tracker, it will show you your claims history, so you'll know if the vet has submitted a claim on your behalf.

Just because something is cheaper, doesn’t mean it is better. The wait and see approach is fine as long as you are prepared for things to go wrong because you haven’t had it checked out properly. Vets don’t offer these tests to make money - they offer them because they have been taught that it is best practice to offer them and likely to give the best long term outcome for the animal. If you choose not to take the tests, that’s fine, but dont blame the vets for trying to do the best for your pet.
The vast majority of vets are salaried so it makes absolutely no difference to them financially if you take all the tests going or if you switch to the vet next door.

My old girl has hyperthyroidism and kidney issues, one of her kidneys had died but blood and urine test didn't show that as her other kidney was working for both of them.
infact she is rare that even small changes in the dose can send her into major crisis including a 5 day specialist vet hospital stay with levels so high the machine couldn't read it and 2 other separate crisis interventions but eventually we changed to the liquid medication that means we are able to make very tiny changes to the dose (as in a couple of drops 0.1ml)

In the beginning the cat will need regular testing because until you can get a dose that stabilise the levels but you don't know that until it is tweaked every couple of weeks depending on the results of the bloods.

Once it is stabilised your cat won't need to see a vet apart from a blood test and potentially a urine test every 3-6 months. As long as your cat is not showing symptoms and seems well.
The kidney issues are normally managed with diet.

Your vet might be taking the piss but it is likely that you are just in the horrible expensive early days until you get a regime that works.