Vets bill, have we been ripped off?

[6demandingchildren]

On Tuesday our cat has got a gash in her leg, we could see that although it wasn't nasty it did need stitching due to the shape of the would, we got a same day appointment (this was not the emergency vet) they gave her an injection of antibiotics and a pain killer and bandaged her leg and told us to return at 9am for it to be stitched.
We took her and at 11:30am we had a phone call to say everything went well and too collect her around 13:30.
The bill was £649 !!
I paid it and asked for a breakdown
The anesthetic alone was £178, but the same practice put our labrador to sleep and they said it was an overdose of anesthetic and that was £113.
Surely she didn't have that amount let alone more.
The dog was PTS in December so not that long ago.
Have I been ripped off?

Ask for a breakdown of all the costs. Our vet gives out a very itemised bill.
Still usually too bloody high but that seems extortionate op!!

Bloody hell! I have no idea whether that is overpriced, but it seems extortionate to me! Do you have Pet Insurance? You might be able to claim back on it, and they will definitely let you know if it cost too much, as they won't be willing to pay out.

Did the anaesthetic include monitoring? As they’d have a nurse there to monitor during the procedure or was that added on top

Bloody hell. My cat had a badly broken leg fixed up for less than that.

A PTS anaesthetic could well be short compared to one for an operation. Plus there’s all the aftercare.

I don’t think that sounds ridiculous but asking for a cost breakdown is a good idea.

That seems really high!

What were the other costs on the breakdown?

That seems horrifically expensive. I thought probably around £250-£300.

Our cat got into a fight a few months ago and needed some antibiotics and painkillers. He didn’t need anaesthetic or stitches so that would have ramped it up a bit. However, we paid no more than £150 for the antibiotics, painkillers and two appointments. We use Vets4Pets at Pets At Home, I’d recommend them if you’re looking to switch.

We only have insurance for 1 pet, we have a credit card for vet bills and that is paid from what we save each month by not having insurance for them.
So we are £££££ up but it's the thought that they have seen us coming.

Er....you can see your hospital number in that pic OP.

Looks ok re bill to me, any queries suggest you raise with practice, but yes, as per PP assume is for nurse monitoring anaesthetic admin.

Sounds standard to me, my moggy managed to cut her paw open last year (she is an indoor cat, we still don’t know how she managed it).

It isn’t just medication to carry out surgery, but breathing support and monitoring throughout the surgery, obviously this doesn’t happen when an animal is put to sleep.

Jesus!

My cat was attacked by a fox last year, had a huge gash on his leg and underside sewnup, anaesthetic, antibiotic injection, antibiotics and cleaning solutions for two weeks - just over £200. And that was taking him to a vet at midnight!

You bill is eye watering!

I think it sounds about right
Hope your cat makes a full recovery

Yeah I would say you’ve been ripped off. DDog had an op on her ear and it cost £200 including antibiotics. Same dog had a lump removed for less than your bill £400ish.

Sorry - there was no GA - but still, yours does seem expensive.

I would have thought anaesthetic for putting a pet to sleep is cheaper. I know its counter intuitive but when putting an animal under for a short time it's got to be much more accurate so it's not too little that they wake up or not too much that they are under for too long. They also need to be monitored to make sure no bad reactions etc. If you think about it for a human operation they have an anaesthetist just for this one aspect of the op so it's not a case of just giving an injection and away you go

That stuff all totals the £559 so why was your bill £649?

Seems normal to me. Get insurance.

One of my cats came home with a clean but deep cut on his leg. That needed antibiotics, stitching etc and IIRC was almost £300 about five years ago. Your bill does seem on the expensive side!

@Smallsteps88

That stuff all totals the £559 so why was your bill £649?

I was wondering that. Even if there was VAT on top it wouldn't add up to what was paid...

The problem in the U.K. is that we have free healthcare so we really don’t know the real costs. You’re paying for the drugs, monitoring, nurse’s time to prepare, vets time to examine and conduct the surgery and then check it all after recovery. They also need to pay their staff, business rates, building running costs, Equipment and maintenance, the years of training that vets and vet nurses undertake. They are a business at the end of the day and healthcare is very expensive.

You could query it but it's doesn't seem absurd when you look through the breakdown. Also your hospital number is in the photo.

That's sounds ridiculous considering they do routine neutering for a little over 100 quid.

YABU, medical costs are high and we lose sight of this as we don't get an itemised bill in the NHS.

Vet bills include access to highly specialised people. The cost of anaesthetics are going to be very high.

Obviously some vet practices will vary in some things such as consultations etc. My niece works in a vet practices which does a full range of stuff including equine work. Their consultation costs are much higher than the previous vet she worked for which only dealt with small ajimals. She was shocked when she first moved over to them.

Generally though you are paying for expertise and safety .

Vet insurance is the way to go for bills