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?

I've messaged you op.

Saving instead of insuring is fine as long as your pet stays well for the first few years ago that the cash had time to accumulate. If your six month old cat gets hit by a car, it's highly unlikely you're going to be able to meet the thousands of pounds it might cost to save them from your discrete pet savings account.

I've got elderly dogs.
I get my metacam online from vetuk
My vet gives me a prescription for 4 bottles rather than a single use one
My 180ml bottle of metacam is something like £21

I don't get this. Surely you are insuring against the (for instance) horrific injuries from a RTA - requiring intricate surgery that your pet could survive into a long life from? Admittedly rare, but these procedures can cost 10s of thousands and I don't believe insurance payments will cost that over a lifetime.

If you have many animals over your lifetime you will end up better off saving than insuring them all. If the injuries from an RTA were that horrific, I made decide it is kinder to PTS than endure lengthy, painful surgery and containment in any case. I think the fact I have horses influences my views here. I've known my vets for years and we can have an adult conversation about costs/benefits. They can often suggest conservative treatment alternatives, but if you are insured may throw everything at it, with lost of unneccesary diagnostics and hospital stays. That is actually more traumatic for the animal as well as more costly. That is my view and experience, in any case.

It does seem high but our cat was possibly hit by a car in December, there was a real chance his leg/hip was damaged and we were told the op would be around £500, luckily after medication to reduce the swelling it was apparent his leg and hip were fine and they recovered well on its own.

@TheNavigator

I don't get this. Surely you are insuring against the (for instance) horrific injuries from a RTA - requiring intricate surgery that your pet could survive into a long life from? Admittedly rare, but these procedures can cost 10s of thousands and I don't believe insurance payments will cost that over a lifetime.

If you have many animals over your lifetime you will end up better off saving than insuring them all. If the injuries from an RTA were that horrific, I made decide it is kinder to PTS than endure lengthy, painful surgery and containment in any case. I think the fact I have horses influences my views here. I've known my vets for years and we can have an adult conversation about costs/benefits. They can often suggest conservative treatment alternatives, but if you are insured may throw everything at it, with lost of unneccesary diagnostics and hospital stays. That is actually more traumatic for the animal as well as more costly. That is my view and experience, in any case.

I do see your point but a young dog, for example, can fully recover from a broken leg and live a full and complete life. I wouldn’t put a dog to sleep for that and an operation can easily cost several grand. It’s not helpful if you’ve been saving £30 a month for less than 2 years.

That sounds ridiculously high. My vet is in a pricey area, isn’t the cheapest and my dog had a an eye op which required two vets. With the aftercare drops etc it was about £750 - so that seems ridiculously steep.

My dog had a growth removed from her face recently, she ended up with two stitches. My bill was £499. That included £105 for the growth to be sent to histology. Thankfully I have pet insurance and so got the majority back. Look at pet insurance OP it's worth every penny for those unexpected bills.

Doesn't seem that high to me. Recently had to take our dog to the vets due to a painfully cracked nail, they needed to sedate him to remove it in the end. Came to a little over £350 including a course of antibiotics. For the treatment you've described I wouldn't feel like I'd been overcharged

For those saying it would be cheaper on the nhs... well the ga alone would be £600 without the actual surgery or anaesthetist fees either!

I'd say that was expensive - had similar done 5 years ago cost £250 - we're in the south east but recently a small wound was cleared out and it came to £400 - have refused further treatment and am moving Vet due to the fall in their quality of care and the rise in their prices.

My dog had an Ultrasound recently- £850!!! No sedation! I'm sure that's more than I paid for a Radiologist to administer a steroid injection under Ultrasound in a private hospital.

Its so hard to get an independent private vet now, these corporate chains seem to own everything and their prices are through the roof

Blimey, UserError, that's steep! My girl didn't have any sedation either, didn't need it, and they were just very quickly checking that she wasn't pregnant (she's not).

But yes. £40. I am very glad for my vet (they are mostly a large animal practice, but they are excellent with dogs and cats too).

I had exactly the same issue. My bill was £460

euthanasia injection is one (very cheap) drug injected once. A general anaesthetic involves a pre-medicant (2 drugs mixed together), an induction agent (like propofol) and then oxygen/gas to maintain anaesthesia for however long, plus the nurse's time to prep and monitor

@Zaphodsotherhead

Blimey, UserError, that's steep! My girl didn't have any sedation either, didn't need it, and they were just very quickly checking that she wasn't pregnant (she's not).

But yes. £40. I am very glad for my vet (they are mostly a large animal practice, but they are excellent with dogs and cats too).

He will need two a year because he has a heart murmur! This year alone his Vet bills have been £3k - I have insurance with a £100 excess - so that's £400 bill for us for 4 conditions. I dread to think what our premiums will be next year.

My dog had a gash in her paw repaired recently. It was £350 including the sedation, initial assessment, 2 follow up appointments to review and the antibiotics and pain relief. It was with vets4pets.
My cat also had a cat abscess cleaned, debris Ed and monitored when it got really infected and needed a few doses of antibiotics and pain relief and that was £250 including a £100 out of hours surcharge.

Was it medivet? They wanted to charge me £900 to keep my dog overnight on a drip when other opinions said this wasn’t necessary.

RVN here.
It does sound a little excessive but it totally depends on your geographical location too. If you're in the middle of London for example, I would imagine the overheads are far more expensive which will be reflected in the final price you are charged.
As has already been said, 'anaesthetic' to euthanise is not comparable to a fully premedicated, then monitored anaesthetic which is induced by an injectable anaesthetic agent, then maintained throughout the procedure on anaesthetic gas. No comparison.
Our practice was taken over by a corporate two years ago. I think the prices have gone up a little but not by a drastic amount. It is VERY hard to find independent vets nowadays, even those you may think are independent may have been bought over by corporates. We were told not to change the name or branding of our practice, and no announcement was ever made to our clients or on any of our social media presence, for fear that there would be a mass exodus of clients to another practice. Personally I feel its quite disingenuous, as I feel people have a right to know who they are doing business with. Many clients still have no idea we are part of a chain.
I also feel for new grad vets who will likely never own their own practice or be partners in a business.

@littlecabbage Dorset, not a charity although two vet businesses one behind the other, one part of a chain, very expensive, one independent which is the one I go to.

My dogs leg surgery stiches in and out and follow up appointments and x-ray and medicine was 700!

It was £950 for my dog to be sedated and have his ears flushed recently.

And this is why we have no pets!!! 😮

Does seem a tad on the high side but there are a lot of hidden costs clients aren't aware of. A stitch up will require a theatre to be set up and cleaned before and after op (nurses time) premed drugs are expensive then the ga drugs (completely different from the drug used to euthanise), sterile gowns/gloves/instruments, ppe for both vet and nurse, anaesthetic monitoring by a nurse (from premed through to recovery) plus drugs and operating time. Then vets have to write up your pets clinical notes, receptionists have to produce invoices/update clients. I could go on but you get the picture.