vet bill - aibu

[dailymale]

I have a small herd of guinea pigs, they are our beloved family pets.

We have a local vets which we've used for years without issue. Since Covid, you now drop pet at door and discuss with vet the issue, before they take pet and return, having admistered drugs or whatever, and present you with bill.

I took one of our pigs (pig 1) to the vet with what could be 2 things (A or B) - both contagious to rest of herd and need to be dealt with quickly. I asked specifically to check this. Pig 1 returned, vet didn't know, gave a cream which does not help either malady, paid £70 bill.

Returned 2 weeks later as the cream hadn't worked. Saw a different vet - again said, please check it's not A or B, given a treatment for A as they wern't sure which one it was. Fine. Paid £30 bill.

2 weeks after this, returned with all my guinea pigs, as they all now had symptoms of B. Saw original vet and said, I think it's B, please check. Vet returned, and had treated them all for A, said they also might have B but haven't treated it. The dose given to smallest (pig 1) sounded too high, so I asked for receipt. £120 bill.

The receipt didn't match what she'd told me, nor what each pig should have had, based on their weight. It was immediately obvious that the smallest guinea pig had been given double to the dose they should have, of a medicine that they can easily overdose on. The vet confirmed dose but said it was correct based on her weight - she'd checked, and brushed off my obvious concern.

When I got home, I looked up data sheet, sure enough, dose completely wrong for all of them - some too high, some not enough - the vet had given them all the same regardless of weight. Called vet who was super patronising, before checking and realising she had made a mistake, but they'd be fine, she was sure of it and I should just keep an eye on them, or wash it off if I was really worried...

I was completely furious, spent the next hour cleaning up little pig, then worried for next few days.

They are all fine. I've since gone online, bought the treatment for B and they are all looking much better.

The vet has called today chasing payment for the £120. I really don't want to pay!

1. The vet caused me a massive amount of stress. She also said she'd checked weights when clearly she hadn't.
2. The treatment they gave was incorrect for all the guinea pigs, not just the little one, and would have been ineffective for the largest ones.
3. The treatment given was not suitable for the issue I took them in for

AIBU?

I would email and point out the errors and say that due to their mistakes you expect the bill to be waived.

The weights and dosing issue is I think inexcusable - someones gone on guesswork and not double checked.

Treating for A when you've suggested its B, the first time, well they are the vets, if we were the vet we wouldn't be there...

However continuing to treat the whole group for A when they all now show symptoms of B does seem like someone wasn't listening. I would at least want to know why that was the decision made.

Change vets.
What’s that saying that gets rolled out about relationships? When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.

What to do about the bill? Is the vet the practice owner or an employee? If it’s not the owner, have a word with the owner and see how it goes. If it’s the owner, I’d pay the bill as it’s not worth fighting over but explain you are only paying to avoid collection and that you are leaving the practice as a result.

File a complaint and definitely change vets. You need to be able to trust your vet

@LemonPartA

File a complaint and definitely change vets. You need to be able to trust your vet

This^

Definitely changing vets, don't worry! Both vets I've seen most recently aren't the owner but employees.

I feel your pain op.. A locum charged me £80 twice at 2 appointments for ddog's suspicious lump... At the third appointment our own vet told us it was obviously a mammary tumour and cancer... Denied her locum had said otherwise.. I asked dh to ring to clarify ddog had cancer and why would prescribed antibiotics be helpful @£160?? Again denied all knowledge of cancer denial... Handed over another 2 k for poor ddog's bill all in..
Poor service indeed...
Hope your piggies are doing better...

Put your complaint in writing to the manager.
Tell them to waiver bill or you will go
directly to the RCVS.
They will write it off. The actual cost of medication they gave your pics would have not cost them a lot. Most of that bill will be vet time so it’s easier for them to waiver it. Don’t mention your going elsewhere as they’ll want to give a client a good Will gesture to keep you on.

(20 years experience working for a vet)

Pigs not pics

Its pretty much standard to pay £40 to cross the threshold at the vets, so the bill in itself seems reasonable. However they didn't do what you asked them to, didn't follow correct procedure and made the rest of your herd ill. Covid isn't an excuse for them not to do their job properly. Follow this up in writing to the owner / senior partner.

YANBU @dailymale But you will inevitably get a few people on here soon, telling you that vets should be allowed to charge what they like, as it's 'specialist care' that they have worked SO hard for, and you have all the nurses, the specialist equipment and drugs, and the electricity to pay for, along with the premises, yada yada, yada.

And the predictable comparison with the NHS will come along too.

Vet bills are extortionate at SOME vets, and they should be ashamed of themselves for charging so much. Everyone I knew some 40+ years ago when I was a child/teen had a dog or a cat, and I don't remember ANYONE getting a bill they couldn't afford to pay.

Yet these days, I rarely meet anyone who hasn't had an extortionate vet bill over this past 10 years or so. In some cases it has put them into debt, and has taken them as much as five years to pay it all off.

Just last January, my friend's dog got hit by a car, and had some bones broken, and the bill for the treatment came to £13,000! For a few hours treatment and mending a few bones! £13.000! The pet insurance wasn't worth the paper it was written on either, as the maximum claim in a 12 month period was £3,500. (It said it in the tiniest, finest smallprint, that you would need a microscope to read!)

I also have a friend whose dog had some dental treatment back in August last year. It cost £3,100! (It was not covered by the pet insurance conveniently.) The dog had to have a few teeth out, and had his gums cleaned and some plaque removed, and had some antibiotics, but that's it. My friend said 'this WILL cure the issue won't it?' The vet said 'of course.'

2 months later, the issue recurred. She took her dog back in, and they checked him over, (this took 5 minutes,) and gave him some meds, and gave her (another) bill - of £200! She said 'but should this not be covered, as I paid £3,000 for the treatment/removal of some teeth, that should have cured this?!' The vet said 'oh no there's no guarantee it won't come back!'

She said she wishes she had got it in writing (from the vet) that the problem won't recur. AND a few days ago, the problem seems to be recurring again! So that will probably be another £200.

Seriously, do these vets think that if someone has a pet, that they have an endless supply of money?!

Problem is with vet fees, they are limitless. They can charge what they like, and there is fuck all you can do about it. You are powerless. At this rate, no-one will be having pets - ever, and there will be 100s of 1000s of unwanted animals/pets.

Someone (in power) needs to step in, and start regulating the Veterinary Profession. Some of them seriously need investigating. And so do the insurance companies who rarely pay out when people try to claim, unless the figure is in the low hundreds. There is always something in the small print that means they get out of paying out on claims, as much as possible.

ALthough my post isn't really about the ££ (appreciate it's usually £40 a pop), I completely agree. Another one of my pigs is being investigated and I've already spent £350 on ultrasound and blood test. That's just to find out what might be going on, not to treat it, which could run into £1000's or, more likely, not be something they can treat anyway so...

To be a responsible pet owner, you are advised to take your pet to the vets, but I'm not alone in my experience and I really wished I hadn't bothered and just bought the stuff online in the first place.

I somehow missed the first line and then thought you were talking about oink-oink pigs for about half the post.

I would not pay the bill and I'd be putting in a complaint. In fact I'd want the £70 BACK because the medicine was completely inappropriate.

@dailymale

ALthough my post isn't really about the ££ (appreciate it's usually £40 a pop), I completely agree. Another one of my pigs is being investigated and I've already spent £350 on ultrasound and blood test. That's just to find out what might be going on, not to treat it, which could run into £1000's or, more likely, not be something they can treat anyway so...

To be a responsible pet owner, you are advised to take your pet to the vets, but I'm not alone in my experience and I really wished I hadn't bothered and just bought the stuff online in the first place.

Those prices are extortionate!!!

As you say, the bill could run into multiple thousands, for one animal. And you don't know how much you will end up paying. As I said, they can charge what they like, and there's fuckall you can do about it. (And like I said earlier, many pet insurance policies are 'capped' so they often end up only paying a small portion of the bill. Sometimes barely a quarter.)

Scandalous really. And as I said, some years back (pre 1990s) when I was much younger, I don't remember a SINGLE PERSON having a vet bill of more than a couple of hundred pounds.

I remember my aunt's friend having a dog who needed treatment after falling awkwardly off a 4 foot high wall. A few broken bones, some meds and a few hours treatment, and an overnight stay. It cost her £185 in 1980. Today's equivalent price would be around £950. NOT £13,000 like my friend had to pay (as I mentioned earlier in the thread.) And the treatment was very similar. The dogs were the roughly same size dog too.

So where on EARTH are these particular vets getting their extortionate prices from? And why are they allowed to rip people off?

Not much helpful to add but I have my own mini herd of 5 piggies, I know what wonderful creatures they are but sadly also how quickly they can get ill, and pass things on to each other. Hope you can get some resolution at the vets and that they are all feeling better soon.

Guinea pigs pose a problem as far as vets go. They really need to see an exotics specialist (who are few & far between) as they are so difficult to treat for many things.
I wish we had an exotics specialist near us, but we don't, although there are vets who are better than the one in this thread, in general practice. Unfortunately OP I don't think you have found one of those yet! I would definitely query that last bill as you did not get proper treatment for your pets. I'd describe that as dangerous prescribing, if I were writing the letter of complaint.

This is why we don't have pets anymore :-( Vet fees are extortionate and it's £60 a go for them to not really know what it is and so do random blood tests.

@Tal45

This is why we don't have pets anymore :-( Vet fees are extortionate and it's £60 a go for them to not really know what it is and so do random blood tests.

Exactly. My neighbour took her 14 y.o. cat into the vet a few Mondays ago. She had lost about a fifth of her body weight in about 5 or 6 weeks, she had not been eating much for the past week and a half or so, and had not eaten anything for 3 days, (except for a couple of teaspoonfuls of tuna.) She was not even drinking water for the 3rd day. (The day before she took her to the vet.)

The vet did a blood test to check her kidneys and liver, and she also did a thyroid test. She said she was going to check for cancer, but couldn't get enough blood from the cat, as she didn't like having the needle poked in her. (NO SHIT!)

So she sent my neighbour away with incomplete tests, an appetite stimulant, and a steroid injection, and a bill for £275...

She still no idea what had caused her going off her food, and losing a fifth of her body weight (dropped from just under 5.10 kg to 4.10 kg,) and the vet said it could be cancer, but they couldn't test for it, and to just bring her back if she deteriorates again. Hmmm, there's another £275. Ker-ching!

Vets make a fair wage - and do they should! They’ve studied for years and the job is hard!
However please don’t think vets are rolling in it!
It’s the share holders and the business managers that the money is going to.

People think nothing of paying £90 for an emergency plumber but get angry at paying for a vet to examine their animal.

However the money goes to the people on top not the vets

(20 years experience working for a vet)

And so they should *

I think the difference though is that your pay your £90 to plumber and they fix the issue! My recent experience is paying £100's to not only NOT fix the issue but potentially harm my beloved pet. My issue is not with the money, but with the vet's blasé attitude. Completely agree that it's a hard job with years of training but handing over £70 for a 'dunno, try this' when you've specifically asked to check for the most likely cause, is infuriating.

As an aside, I do wonder if the increased costs are related to increased insurance, pushng up prices across the board. If so, guinea pig owners are likely bearing the brunt as they are a common small pet that is not regularly insured unlike dogs, cats and rabbits.

Vet bills are extortionate at SOME vets, and they should be ashamed of themselves for charging so much. Everyone I knew some 40+ years ago when I was a child/teen had a dog or a cat, and I don't remember ANYONE getting a bill they couldn't afford to pay.

40 years ago there was relatively little that could be done in many situations that are now treatable. We now have everything from chemo for dogs to Supervet type situations. 40 years ago those animals would simply have been put down, which is cheap.

Vets bills get broken down in this way
20% VAT
20% the vet
20% all the other staff
20% building, equipment
20% profit

So of the £40 consult £8 is profit. So lower than catering where profit margin is expected to be 33%.
@dailymale you have a fair complaint write a calm factual account to the practice manager. If you have lost confidence then move vets.

@LadyWhistledownsQuill I agree. I'm paying for investigations that wouldn't have been bothered with 40 years ago, and that has contributed to guinea pig life expectancy increasing. While most people think guineas live for a couple of years max, even 40 years ago life expectancy was about 6 years, now it's 8+. It makes me sad that they are seen as disposable pets (even by some vets it would seem!) when their life expectancy us on a par with many dog breeds.

You can’t compare a plumbing issue with a live animal. You can have the most experienced vet in the world and they won’t always get it right I’m afraid. Same with drs.
I agree you’ve had a rubbish experience and I’d def put in a complaint.
A lot of the cost with vets is also drug companies charging what they do to vets. Also running a vet practice is very expensive. The upkeep of equipment is ridiculous!

Vet prices are not regulated- I think they should be! I’ve known drugs have a 200% mark up!
Pet insurance will one day become unaffordable.

Pets will be for the rich I’m afraid- it’s very sad.

Just remember the actual vet you saw isn’t seeing much of that money- it’ll be the share holders