To not pay the whole vet's bill

[Member869894]

Hello. Honest opinions please. I took my dog to the vet today as he has breathing difficulties. The vet listened to his heart and lungs, pronounced them fine and then said he'd do a couple of blood tests and call me with the results. The whole thing took15-20 minutes.
On leaving I was presented with a bill for £188!!!!! I said that I would pay for the consultation fee (£56) but that I hadn't been told that the blood tests would be extra or that they would be so expensive

I'm kicking myself I didn't ask more about if the cost of the blood tests and if they were included in the consultation as Iif I had known how much they cost I would have said no. Equally, I think I should have been very carefully advised of the cost before they went ahead. What do you think?

And more than likely your name will be passed on to other local vets as a non payer

Why take the dog to the vets if you don't want tests to find out what is wrong?

i have weighed her

Why on earth did you think blood tests would be included in the cost of the consultation? You really shouldn't need someone to spell it out for you... you could have asked about the cost if you were that worried. Pay your bill and don't be that person.

I really don't understand why you would expect a vet to treat your dog for free. And the fact that you were even considering refusing to pay is baffling.

That's not being "money grabbing" - that's doing their job, ffs.

They can't just give your pets medication without making sure they're fit and healthy, and they need to check their weight to make sure the prescribed dosage is accurate.

You weighing them yourself at home means nothing - how do they know your scales are accurate or that you're even telling the truth?

If they gave your pets medication over the phone and your pet died from an overdose, I'm sure you'd be thrilled 🙄

Yabu. So he's only been to the vets 3 times in 13 years is that right? So he doesn't have his yearly check up and vaccines? As a pet owner of 13 years surely you must know things cost money and why wasn't the dog insured 13 years ago. I've 2 dogs 3 cats and they are all insured yes some months it's a struggle to find the money but I do it because it's a necessity same as rent /mortgage as far as I'm concerned.

Yup, this. It boils my blood to hear about people not getting tests or treatment for their pets, that are needed, because of the cost. If you can't afford to pay for the vet fee, or get insurance, you can't afford the pet.

Absolutely!!!!

the vet, as a professional, needs to check the animal's weight themself rather than trust every owner to do this accurately. Most medication is prescribed according to weight.

Loving the assumptions here. ...I can afford to pay. My issue is that the extra costs should have been mentioned before being incurred.

YANBU

Veterinary practices need to start stating prices. Costs are extortionate and there’s often different treatments.
EG my dog had an ear infection, one vet wanted bloods, an MRI (£1k alone), then sedation for an ear clean - told me he could do it cheaper but would be painful for the dog…. (nice). I’d already paid £400 for an emergency appointment and they wanted more $$$$$$$
Took my dog to another practice who prescribed a course of steroids and ear cleaner- about £80 total.
Have changed practices now, where pricing is more transparent and the vet isn’t in it for the money, they care for the pet.

Does your dog not have annual check ups? My cat certainly does.

But it’s obvious that these costs would be extra, the vet is a medical professional, not a sales man. It’s not the vets fault you’ve been so incredibly lucky and only had to visit them 3 times in 13 years of your pets life and so haven’t worked out the system. Unbelievable that you would then begrudge paying £188, in the context of time and how much your pet must mean to you it’s not a lot is it. I hope your dog recovers quickly OP.

Our vets are brilliant about telling us what things costs before we start spending money (it's a chain, Vets for Pets) and I really appreciated not having a horrible surprise at the till. I would either move or ask for costs at the outset. YANBU

YABU, I'm sorry.

You received a service, you need to pay for said service. In future ask the cost before agreeing to tests.

I'm glad your dog is ok.

Insurance generally has an excess to pay, mine is £250 for a cat with Petplan so one consultation and blood test wouldn't be covered unless it was part of ongoing treatment.

Did the vet explain exactly why the blood tests were needed? I expect at the point of payment they could have just destroyed the blood and not tested since it would normally go to a lab.

It's bloody obvious that an additional service is going to cost more though... if you went to the hairdressers and they asked if you'd like your hair cut or blowdried after your colour, would you expect it for free if they didn't explicitly state 'but that will be an extra £20'?! The mind boggles.

Definitely unreasonable. My dog lost the end of her tail. Cost me more than that for consultation antibiotics and painkillers nevermind a bloody drug test. She had several flow ups at £28 for about a 5 minute visit. My fault for lack of insurance so I sucked it up! They don't work for bloody free so pay up. I lived off beans for 2 months after paying but my dog was worth more to me.

I understand you've not been for ages but you didn't just have a consultation, as there were tests required, so you didn't just get billed for a consultation. If medication was required you'd have been expected to pay for that too in addition to the consultation. I get the frustration, but it's a bit odd that you would expect not to pay for tests.

Do dogs not have yearly check ups like cats? Mine is almost 20 and she's has yearly immunisation, weight, heart check ect. Bloods now she's an old girl and has just started a renal diet.

I always ask during consultation so that I can keep track and know what it's going to cost. They always provide it when asked.

If you want to continue with them as your vet then they need to do a health check and weigh your dog before prescribing anything.

Yabu too

I think in some instances, vets do indeed take liberties, take my ginger cat, 18 this year, now suffering with arthritis, so is now on a low daily dose of Metacam, even with cost of a prescription -£14.00 added in, I can get the same thing for £16.00 cheaper on line, than at the vets.
Metacam is a very common prescription medicine, they must make a bomb out of it.
That's just my vets, some vets charge up to 25. for the prescription alone.

Having said that, I do expect to pay for blood tests, although my vet has a lab on site.
If you didn't want to pay, why didn't you say you don't want them to carry the test out?

This is just daft
Of course YABVVVVVU

You have a 13 yr old dog that only been to the vet three times, that screams neglect as no health checks or vaccines or routine effective parasite prevention been happening .

What on earth would make you think bloods would be included in the consultation, it's like going to the dentist and they say you need a filling, would you expect that to be included in the check up price? Or taking car for an mot and it needs a new tyre. Can't think of a single situation where you would get an extra service that valuable for free.

All you had to do was ask? V simple
" how much extra will that be please "
Absolutely no reason why you couldn't do that.

Pay the bill or expect debt collectors and finding a new vet