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?

YABVU get pet insurance or don’t have a pet!

Going against the grain here. The costs sound fair, and I expect to pay extra for treatment beyond the consult at the vets, however my vet has always told me how much the additional treatment would be if it isn't included in my yearly plan (vaccines etc. are included for an annual fee at our local practice). I'd be shocked to be asked for lots of extra money at reception when I hadn't been warned beforehand. Even if the costs were very reasonable.

I think it was naive to assume treatment and tests were included in the consultation fee.

I am shocked a long time pet owner doesn’t understand how vets work.

I have had a cat for four years and have spent an absolute fortune in vets fees (despite having insurance!). Everything costs - but you should really be making regular visits to the vet. What about vaccines etc??

Routine bloods for cats is £200 at my vets, so you got off cheap. Brace yourself because vet fees are astronomical

We used to find that a lot - the other favourite was to say they would get the money sent to them and then spend it while asking us to do them a payment plan. For some reason clients didn’t like being reminded that to do that is fraud…

13 years old and third vet visit? You’re either lying or a bad dog owner. They need an annual check, as a minimum - it’s not like they can tell you something’s not quite right (they can communicate a lot of stuff, but they’re hardwired to cover pain etc).

The vet should have explained the costs. I think the cost of vet treatment has risen hugely in the last 5years and I fear this is in part due to the takeover of many small vet practices by large organisations concerned only with profits for their shareholders. This article is quite enlightening www.gov.uk/government/news/cvs-takeover-of-the-vet-raises-competition-concerns

I have owned cats and dogs for 25 years and I have noticed an increasing tendency to try and increase the number of check ups. Often in my opinion unecessarily and can be stressful for the animals. My cats in particular really do not like going and react badly but now it is impossible to get flea and worm treatment without a minimum of 1 year check up and my vets are now encouraging 6 monthly check ups.

I am also very cynical about pet insurance as we had a pedigree dog who sadly had a couple problems early in life(18 months onwards) - hips dysplasia for example and insurance became ridiculous. I had life time cover for him but that meant staying with the same insurer. At age 5 we were being asked to pay £1500 per year so we self insured. Insurance is fine until you need to make a claim and then the costs skyrocket.

The reliance on pet insurance and the popularity of tv vets has also contributed to rising costs as 'the insurance company will pay'!

I'd be shocked but would pay. This has actually happened to me before, was asked over the phone if I wanted blood tests, just to be safe blah blah blah. Of course I said yes but then was shocked at the final bill. They never mentioned the extra cost at all, bit sneaky. My cat is going in to be castrated soon and the cost is quite reasonable at £68. They didn't mention blood tests so I bet they try and sneak the question in when I drop him off.

Understandable that you might want an estimate before proceeding, but you should really ask for one in that case.

There is an awful lot to pack into a (typically 10-15 minute) consultation. Once a thorough history has been taken, physical exam and then diagnostic and treatment options discussed it can be tricky to fit a detailed itemisation of costs into the time allocated. That's not to say it shouldn't be done when requested, it totally should. However you need to accept that if this is done every time, without (eg insured) clients asking for it appointment times would need to be extended and guess what that would do to the consultation fee?

Also remember that the fee you have paid for bloods includes the sample being taken (typically two professionals required), the lab fees to run the tests, the interpretation of them and the time the vet will take to call you and discuss them. It really isn't the crazily profitable racket many think it is.

As for the upset over flea and worm meds requiring a check up it is a requirement for POM-V products that the pet is under the care of the veterinary surgeon. This does not apply if the practice have not seen the pet for two years. Asking a vet to prescribe regardless is asking them to risk their licence to practice and their livelihood. It's really upsetting that clients can be so agressive about this. There are other products which can be sold over the counter but if you want the prescription ones please don't be angry when the practice want to comply with legislation.

YABU. One of my cats came home on a Friday night during lockdown and wouldn’t let me or DH touch her. We eventually wrangled the cat and she had three cuts to her belly caused by another cat. A trip to the vets on Saturday and no sign of blood or infection but she ended up with a weeks worth of antibiotics to make sure nothing came of it and it cost me £65.

A payment plan for less than £200?? Do you have no plan for unexpected expenses with your dog

I'd think it would be obvious to anyone that blood tests wouldn't be included in the consultation fee. It really is on you to ask the costs. Our vets have their basic prices on their website and on the wall in the waiting room.

Not sure how an annual check will prevent/address pain a month later?

This. All the this. I’m another statistic who left and because of the attitudes of people I had to deal with daily. I’ve had friends commit suicide and seen more vets and nurses leave a profession they adore and train for years to do, only to get told they aren’t good enough/money grabbing/don’t care about animals all from people who don’t understand how expensive healthcare is because we’re so lucky in the UK and we’ve got the NHS.

having said that - I rang my vets to ask for a prescription to get anti-inflammatory drugs online, I had a phone call from the vet within half an hour telling me that they were happy for me to have a prescription, but they wanted to blood test my dog to check her liver and kidney function before they’d give me the prescription. I don’t have much of an issue with that - obviously it’s good to know what is going on, but the fact that the phone call happened so soon after me requesting a prescription for a new bottle rather than buying it straight from them did make me raise an eyebrow and you can see why people sometimes think it’s all about the money…. ( no mention of them wanting to do tests until I asked for the prescription to get it online - as we know, the bulk buying capacity of the online pharmacies makes it impossible for a vet to compete price wise)

188 /13 years works at at 14.46 pounds per year of your dogs life. I think you can afford that, seeing as though you have neglected all your pets annual vaccines, check ups, worming and flea treatments over the years. Why would you assume anything is free. Pet ownership is a luxury not a right, you pay for treatments and you should have asked the vet how much this will cost, you agreed, you pay the bill. You dont pop into Tesco assume its all free, fill your trolley and walk out the door

That’s because they have a legal obligation to have seen your pet within a certain time frame to be able to treat them. A lot can change and vets can lose their license for prescribing medication without examining your pet properly. It’s the law and part of their duty of care. Honestly ungrateful ignorant nasty comments like this are part of the reason people are leaving the veterinary profession in droves.

YABU. My daughter wants to be a vet, I’ve asked her to reconsider because I’ve read how both badly treated and paid they are. All fuelled by the entitled society we have today that believe you should be allowed to have everything even if you can’t afford it. If you can’t pay insurance don’t have a pet. Simples.

Not the case at the practice i work at , protocol is that we quote before client agrees with what the vet suggests needs doing .
Perhaps your vet made the wrong assumption you understood that there would be extra costs but surely you knew that the consult fee was purely for a consult , you wouldn't expect a fractured leg to be fixed or a wound sutured for just a consult fee.

Blimey

I do have pet insurance

I am not single handedly causing vets to leave nor am I aggressive, weird responses

He told you that he was going to do blood tests, that was the time when you should have said no. I agree that he should maybe have emphasised that it would cost more but experience tells me that they think that you are prepared to pay up. By not saying anything you agreed to it. Pay up.

Our vets tell us if they believe tests are needed and then tell us cost before we even leave the room ... your vets receptionists must get so much grief when presenting bills if the vet isn't clear ...

Possibly with a 13 year old westie he assumed you knew that blood tests equal cash 🤷‍♀️

Terrified by one of the pp's saying they hope their pet doesn't need treatment cause they can't pay for it 😐

Poor animals, paying the price for their owners stupidity and entitlement.

And yes the vet should have given you an idea of costs. But it was naive to expect tests to be included in the consultation. Ive had to prompt mine before as they can get carried away thinking about the clinical side of things that they forget to discuss the costs. Just ask for an idea of costs and ask for an estimate of each of your options, they will do that no problem.