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?

Sounds very cheap to me, too @lunar1.

I spent £thousands on my little dog and she ended up dying anyway. Vet bills are outrageous.

Of course blood tests are not part of the initial consultation, and therefore they have to be paid for. What would you have done if you had known the cost - not bothered about trying to find out what was wrong with your dog??

Consultation never includes the cost of tests etc. but that does seem really steep! Coincidentally I took my 13 year old dog to the vets today and consultation and blood tests cost £105. I also have insurance, but my excess is £80.

That's because vet flea and worm products are POM-V, prescription only medicines, therefore pet has to have been examined in the previous 12 months. You can buy over the counter products elsewhere.

What would the vet telling you the costs in advance achieve? Would you have refused your dog treatment?
You are using a service and yes you have to pay for it, like everything else.

Sounds reasonable to me.
Also as someone pointed out, 3rd trip in his life, so you don't vaccinate your dog or take him for a check up. I think it's obvious who is unreasonable here.

To be honest you should pay - and that’s pretty cheap for an old job to have blood tests! We’ve been stung by tests before for more than double!

Surely you knew blood tests wouldn’t be free? Last time my cat had basic blood test it was £100+

Always a good idea to have insurance or you could end up with huge vet bills.

I don’t think you are unreasonable to be shocked OP, I am an experienced dog owner with a lifetime Petplan policy but was still stunned to silence a couple of months ago when my boy lab but his foot and it cost me £500 for the op to stitch it and his meds etc etc

i had to pay on the spot but Pet plan covered it and I had the money back in about 5 days, sadly my vets stopped direct payments with insurer as people were saying there were insured then not paying and that was the last they see of them 😢

@MrsLargeEmbodied

The flea and worm treatment sold by vets are POMs (prescription only medications). This means that your vet cannot legally sell you these drugs without seeing your pet at least every 12months. This is to ensure that your pet is healthy, and the medication is suitable for them.

You could of course go to your local supermarket or pet shop and buy something like Bob Martins, but I can guarantee you won't clear the flea/worm issue, and could possibly make your pet ill.

Comments like yours re money grabbing, are partly why many talented vets and vet nurses leave the profession (and sometimes, horrifically end their lives). There are many veterinary professionals who are also members of Mumsnet - please think before you write such disparaging comments 🤔

In contrast my lab bitch was stung badly by wasps and had a (mild but requires the vets) reaction so the stings and had consult, meds etc and only £60 I was equally stunned 🤣🤣

vets are a lottery

""am annoyed at my vet
i wanted some worming/flea tablets,
not seen the vet since 2020, surprise surprise, no problems with ddog,
i have to see the vet since she has not been seen for 2 years!
crazy
money grabbing, recuperating their losses after covid like dentists""

Well. That says it all really.
As a vet nurse I am extremely used to taking phone calls that display the attitude above.
It is A LEGAL REQUIREMENT BY THE RCVS that the animal needs to have been seen within a certain timeframe before we can prescribe certain medications.
We are following the law.
If something were to go go wring with one of your pets because the vet just "gave out" any old drug without an examination of the patient, I'm sure plenty people would have a lot more to say then. Then it would be that the vets were money grabbing NEGLIGENT so and so's.
To address your point about covid.
We stayed open using a tag team system all through covid, putting our OWN health and the heath of our families at risk so that we would be available to see sick pets. Most of is worked MORE than we ever have before to cover for sick colleagues.
But no, we're all just money grabbing, and make the rules up as we go along.

It's no wonder people are leaving the profession in droves.

Slightly OT here but £188 is nothing.

If you have a 13 yo westie get insurance now as likely you will be hit with a bill for thousands when the stomach packs up.

Third trip to a vet?;does he not have his annual boosters and health check?

I think vet fees are outrageous at the moment but also that vet medicine is in crisis. I dread my animals getting ill.

Don’t get a pet if you aren’t prepared to pay for their medical expenses. The fact that you say you wouldn’t have had them done if you had known they cost more is awful.

if you don’t have spare money for a pet then get insurance or don’t get a pet. Be responsible

Of course you have to pay 😂 This is the reason I haven’t got any pets, I’m too tight to pay vet bills! Maybe you should rethink whether you really want to be a pet owner?

I think vet fees are outrageous

That's because you walk into your local hospital or GP surgery, see a highly qualified professional, have all sorts of investigations done and walk out without a bill.

The british public is utterly deluded about the cost of human health care because the NHS is free at the point of delivery, and because of this are horrified at the cost of pet health care..... IT COSTS THE SAME......you just have to pay for it.

if you were used to paying for human health care it would have occurred to you to ask how much the blood tests are.

I took my cat for her jabs a few months ago. While waiting I was listening to the receptionist talking on the phone about a brain scan. Heard her say it’s going to be in the region of 4 - 5 … thought to myself , bloody £500 ! NOOOO it was £5000 😱😱😱😱

Covid didn't affect our costs, the massive increase in pet ownership and demands of clients driving staff away from the profession is what did that combined with loads of our work force returning to Europe as they weren't welcome.
2019 a locum would cost £250 a day and now they cost upwards of £450 per day.

YABU but I’m surprised the vet didn’t mention the cost. I’ve never had a vet not say “it will be approx £X, do you want to proceed?” and then discuss the risks and benefits.

Did you pay in the end OP?

We took our pets to the vet many times so we know what they are like, this is the norm unfortunately, not sure why they never mention the costs. We pay pet insurance so it's usually covered.

Still, if service provided, the fee should be paid. Lesson learnt, ask next time.

I agree they should give a better indication of costs upfront, I don’t think the onus should be on the patient to say ‘hang on a minute, how much will that be?’. They should say we need to do x, it will cost roughly x, do you agree. Going to the vet was always like playing Russian roulette with my purse.

I’m with you OP. Before carrying out any extras our Vets always ask if we have insurance and also tell us roughly how much things will cost.