AIBU VET BILL £5700

[bellewilson]

Long story apologies- We own a beautiful Exotic cat she is one year old. Perfectly healthy took for one year vaccinations and she had a bad reaction temp and loss of appetite and started getting wobbly on back legs after 6 days. Obviously back and forth to local vet but when became wobbly local vet suggested she was better off being assessed in local veterinary hospital. Take her there (have insurance with £4k limit was supposed to be their top of range superior plus policy) vet hospital assessed her and said we need to admit her for tests and suspected neurological FIP (cat coronavirus) sedated her and did X-ray and scans and biopsies of fluid found in chest and abdomen and blood tests. Only had her in for 24hours and bill was £3150 took a week to finally get results as positive for FIP carrier with low probability of infection which means with her ongoing symptoms they think she has neurological FIP. So as now 7 days later our cat has got more poorly not eating or drinking having to syringe feed/drink. Re-admitted to hospital and they agree to only do minimal care to keep her comfortable whilst antivirals drugs kick in (drip and appetite stimulation) and would cost max £280 a night admitted for 3 days and everyday checked with vet the bill and costs and how much left on insurance. Collected today to be told owe £5700 so £1700 over insurance. Was expecting £600 max but £1100 more than I was told on the phone several times is a joke. Ask for bill breakdown and it’s CF at its best and laughable they can actually get away with it… from working it out the initial £3150 they have charged approx £1400 just for sedation to do the X-ray £450 and ultrasound £680 plus extra for biopsy and tests plus nursing care and £450 consultation. I made it completely clear to them we couldn’t afford a large bill and they agreed all along to do a direct claim with our insurance company and get pre authorised payments from them through a portal. Turns out didn’t do that either so if insurance doesn’t pay we have to. What can we do. I have Googled and average cost for Anastasia for a cat is £300/400 in Uk so how can they charge 4x the average cost. AIBU? Any advice please so stressed.

That’s so sad, what is wrong with people 😞

Vets are very expensive. By way of an example a prescription of paracetamol needed for 1 of our dogs cost £34 but we could get 32 for 60p in Tesco. Go figure. I feel your pain. Monthly repayments will be the best option.

I did a lot of research into bet costs after our exotic cat cost us about £12k one year.

Yes we ended up paying about £6k on top of our insurance limit. This was at a specialist referral centre and our vets combined for an inpatient stay plus diagnostics. Not even surgery.

It's really hard. There is obviously no NHS for pets. We are so lucky having an NHS as we never have to make cost decisions about the humans in our lives (unlike say the USA). We couldn't afford it, and I felt rushed into it on an emotional rollercoaster. The cat also had an emotional support role with my daughter who was suicidal at the time. ☹️ It was so complicated.

I decided against the surgery which had a low success rate and no guarantee of improvement. It would have led to a life of treatment, medication and infirmity, possibly discomfort. Instead she rallied and we had a final year of life, watching her like a hawk for signs of deterioration.

However, the extensive research I did into vet prices showed that on average vets aren't brilliantly well paid compared to their experience and qualifications. I think on average it's about £45k.

That's not commensurate with the salaries of senior medics in the NHS. The costs are real, and the NHS keeps costs down incredibly low by being super efficient. Don't believe the newspapers.

It's heartbreaking for owners but sadly it's the harsh reality of life that we are sheltered from normally. I only realised we were under insured when something went catastrophically wrong.

I now pay a fortune for lifetime insurance of my two cats, because I'm terrified they might get ill like the last one and end up costing me that much.

Oh - and it was a lifelong condition so we had to pay the Year 2 bills in full.

The one time I did feel genuinely ripped off was an out of hours vet called "Vetnow". They charged me about a thousand pounds for one appointment, and wanted a further £3,000 for an overnight stay till the normal vets opened. The decider for me wasn't the cost, it was that I'd have to have left her to die. They were understaffed, busy, and not very caring. I decided we'd rather be with her if she died, rather than them letting her die alone in a cage.

I hope you work things out. ❤️

Sorry, don't mean to go on but I read that you used AnimalFriends. That was our insurer and I found them awful, and they didn't pay everything, they nitpicked the bill. Not animal friends at all. ☹️

The only reason we got near their upper limit was because the care cost double the limit. I was shocked.

I've now switched to Petplan for our Persian crossbreed and they are amazing. I'm testing out Manypets for our moggie.

I learnt my lesson - no more purebreed pedigree cats. The Persian was a rescue, but fortunately has turned out to be well.

Our cat was eventually diagnosed with FIP in March it took over £1,000 before they realised it was FIP. I currently pay £28.70 per tablet you need to have 84 tablets (12 weeks) of treatment. We have 13 days to go.

My crazy dog had to have 2 major surgeries last week after breaking her elbow and leg. The vet at my local practice had to bring in a specialist to help as both surgeries were very complex.
The final bill was £9200, which we had to pay up front and we are now keeping our fingers crossed that the insurance pays out.
Luckily I'd taken out a good policy so have cover up to £10,000. We do however have to pay an excess of £80 and 20% of the final value. The vet explained that insurance policies haven't increased their cover in line with the increase in policy costs and £2000 of cover Will actually get you very little. It's only when the worst happens that you realise how much cover you actually need.
The figures do seem outrageous, but I can't thank my vets enough for their expertise, care and specialist knowledge that they obviously have in order to rebuild my dog's leg.

It is a lot, I'd have to do go fund me, though I know treatment for FIP is quite new and very intensive. I hope your cat recovers.
We've recently paid getting on for £2000 for our rabbit. Luckily we have had help from friends. We had to take her to a specialist rabbit vet.

This - it’s not vet bashing I agree. I took my old cat to the vet this morning just for an injection (£178 please 🙄). Arrived dead on time. The vet strolled in 10 mins later then took another 10 mins doing who knows what before I was called in. No explanation, no apology. While I was waiting, I looked around at the place - absolutely gone to pot. Shelves that used to hold nice displays are empty, everywhere is FILTHY, noticeboards not updated (be aware of hedgehogs in your bonfire!) and there is a general air of neglect. And the prices keep rising - the cat’s other meds that very recently cost £47/month are now charged at well over £60. It’s money grabbing - that’s all. And don’t get me started on the fucking insurance companies - thieving bastards one and all!!

You pay a lower rate if you have an emergency appointment, as I’ve had this before when I’ve been surprised at the low cost which included treatment.

Reading this I’m shocked at how little vets get paid, they deserve much more. We are lucky we have a lovely vets who don’t overcharge and sometimes don’t charge us at all for a quick check. It’s still expensive though. We have insurance and would never be without - we’ve had a few cats over the years and you never know when something will happen which will cost thousands. We’ve never had an issue with our insurance paying out. I wouldn’t have a cat without it (though premiums can get crazy when they get older). It’s saved us many thousands - it only takes them needing one simple op and it can cost a couple of thousand.

Did they make you aware that there were any risks involved with the jab? If you weren’t given informed consent you may have a case . You should be entitled to compensation from somewhere.

It’s interesting that your cat was fine until it went in for vaccinations. Perhaps the vet should be compensating you for injuring your cat. I’m so sorry.

My cat was healthy and then suddenly developed bad breathing. After (many) tests it turned out his heart was too big

ge had a cardiologist appointment once a year and it was £6700. For one day. Every. Single. Year

we did however have cat insurance so he was already insured before that. His first years insurance was £10 a month

by the time he passed it was £150 a month.

people don’t realise how expensive vets are and you should really be putting aside £200 a month. I had a veteran horse and she was a good £1000 a month at the grand old age of 35. It happens.

How would you prove that the vaccines caused FIP?

At the end of the day the extra £1400 which you said is laughable is actually good value for money

mt cars £6700 yearly bill was 27 years ago!!! Today it’s over £13,000

dpesnt matter if you can’t afford it. That’s how much animals are…. They won’t stop care if you can’t afford it will they?

Our cat was diagnosed with lymphoma and over 15 months of treatment at our local University’s small animal hospital, our insurance covered £16000 worth of treatment which involved monthly consultations and supplies of chemo tablets and antibiotics, and several overnight stays for more intensive treatment. Before the insurance company authorised direct billing from the hospital, I received itemised copies of each bill and they were horrendous. At the end, the bill for euthanasia was over £300.

I’d recommend everyone to shop around for pet insurance because some are a lot better than others, and generally if you pay a bit more you get better cover, but watch the small print. Most won’t pay for dental problems or pre-existing conditions, so be careful about swapping insurance companies if your pet has already been diagnosed with a condition of any kind. We have insurance for our little dog with the same provider, as they were great when our cat was ill. We’re with ManyPets and among some other really good benefits, they provide £15000 of cover each year, dental treatment in the case of illness or injury and 24/7 access to FirstVet service - video calling with a vet online.

OP I’m sorry you’re in this situation.

I learned my lesson regarding pet insurance after my 12 year old cat fell ill suddenly - I could tell he was extremely unwell and when I took him to the vets they said he would die if they didn’t do anything- 6 hours of tests later and he was PTS 😔 leaving me with a £2k bill I’m still paying off.

I wish they’d been honest about how ill he was, I felt unable to make a rational decision with my two young kids with me absolutely heartbroken.

As a vet myself all I can really see as the issue here is possibly a lack of communication from your vets rather than the costs themselves.
£5700 for diagnosis of FIP in a specialist centre, including a few vials of remdesivir (incredibly expensive and most practices will book this out with no/very little mark up) actually seems very average/reasonable.

A lot of people expect their animals to be treated and managed with absolute gold standard care, whereas back in the day much less diagnostics would be done and therefore a lot more pets would die - but vet bills were cheaper!

the sedation will not have cost £1400, there will be more to it than that. And unfortunately £4K of insurance is normally the minimum amount of cover offered for a lot of insurance companies. Most reputable insurance companies offer £12-15k as their premium policies.

I promise you that vets are not making as much money as you think - the overheads are HUGE and the amount of staff and equipment and expensive drugs used to diagnose and treat your cat with a disease that was until recently impossible to diagnose to treat will be a lot more than you could imagine!

… what did you expect?

I hate vet bashing. They’re highly skilled and have taken on lots of debt to train. Why shouldn’t they get paid for it?

We don’t bash Doctors and Nurses for wanting more money out of the poor NHS piss pot.

Stuff like this isn’t down to the vets themselves but the drug companies.
LEGALLY as vets we HAVE to prescribe veterinary licensed products if one exists. We can get in real trouble if we don’t. And we have no option but to charge what the drug companies charge us.

That being said I will often “strongly advise” some dog paracetamol but also casually mention it’s exactly the same stuff you can get from Tesco’s “and I can’t force you to buy it from me” blah blah. Then leave it to the owners to decline the treatment and go and buy it from tescos!

most vets really do try their best to make sure animals are not suffering and to ease the financial cost to the owners but often our hands are completely tied

A lot of people expect their animals to be treated and managed with absolute gold standard care, whereas back in the day much less diagnostics would be done and therefore a lot more pets would die - but vet bills were cheaper!

No pets get out of this alive you know. There is a bizarre guilt tripping to your post with the drama about pets dying.

As you are a vet you clearly believe in all these modern treatments. Many people believe it was actually better when treatments for animals were simpler, however.

Thats ridiculous, our dog was ill and was in the vets for three nights and the vet hospital with one to one care for 3 nights. She has loads of bloods, scans, xrays, meds done at both places multiple times and the bill was 2300. They are ripping the utter piss.

It just frankly sums up modern life that any criticism/ discussion/ having a different opinion is bashing.

Being a vet is a shit job for sure these days which is sad but people are still allowed to question their philosophy and motives including the role of vulture capitalists.

I haven't read every post, just most plus the OP's, so apologies if this has already been pointed out.

There are two different problems here. The first is the high charges made by the vet. There have been several posts by vets and others on here justifying these in general terms, and although this vet seems to have been on the higher end, this may not be a winnable argument.

The second problem is more serious - and winnable - IMHO. This is the fact that the OP was in regular contact with the surgery and trying to limit costs and stress that there was a budget maximum. This communication seems to have been totally ignored, and the surgery seems to have ignored the customer's wishes and simply incurred as much cost as it felt like. This argument should be totally winnable. Point out to them in writing that they disregarded clear instructions, misled you about how much cost had been incurred, and then presented you with a bill you cannot pay. Tell them that you are prepared to fight this legally. Pay the first £4000 (less whatever your insurance company refund) since you instructed them to limit treatment to £4000 (assuming I have understood your posts correctly).

You then have the choice of letting them sue you for the rest of the bill, which they will be silly to do if you have explained clearly that they ignored your instructions, or paying the rest of the bill and taking them to the small claims court for the additional money. (I'm a bit vague about the route 2 option, as is probably clear).

The last time I took my dog to vets was for an unusual looking bleeding spot on her nose, the first vet saw me in the car park in the dark in the rain (during lockdown) she prescribed wide spectrum antibiotic injection told me she didn’t know and to come back in week if hadn’t cleared. and charged me £100.
I wanted to see a vet in consultation room so went to other vets who allowed that, he said he would have to admit her for a biopsy for £750 the next day, I rang up and cancelled it. The Spot had completely cleared in a week. It was as Google told me, and the other vet had covered, a bacterial infection from soil not an extremely rare nose cancer…
I think the spiral of expensive insurance over expensive treatments has got completely out of hand. I could give you more anecdotes of other vets I have tried and dumped because of mis-diagnosis, and expensive bad practice, it is such a shame. They should give you a choice of minimal cheap treatment and no holds barred expensive treatment and not just look at your insurance plan. Which are full of exclusions. I once took my puppy to vet because I was worried she hadn’t poo’d and perhaps she had eaten a chicken bone at the park… he assured me, told me to wait for few more days, gave me treatment, I paid the bill. I found out later from my insurers that she was no longer insured for any ailments due to digestion even though I had not claimed.
They play on peoples guilt and use emotional blackmail.
I feel very sorry for people who are struggling financially already. Thank goodness for the PDSA which I support and donate monthly because there for the grace of god go I, and all of us.
am very sorry to hear of your cats trials and your bill OP 😢

@Teateaandmoretea it is a sore point with so many vets as we seem to be the focus of a lot of very unneeded and unfair criticism. It has been pointed out numerous times on this thread that vet wages are not high, and a lot less than doctors for instance. And yet we still get all the criticism for being money grabbers, only in it for the money etc. I’ve been at social functions, most recently a wedding, where someone asked what I did. As soon as I said I was a vet they instantly said “oh well you’re all just money grabbing chancers aren’t you?” I mean it was very rude and unnecessary. And as for the “if vets really loved animals they would do it for nothing” comment that also makes a regular appearance. So should mechanics do it for nothing as they love cars?

Just maybe all stop to think that vets are real people with real feelings. And have a suicide rate more than double that of other professions. Look up Not One More Vet. Yes there are greedy corporations behind many practices now. But there are also decent vets working for them who have no choice about the fees set. And some of us, like our practice, are proudly independent and do the very best we can for a mostly very grateful client base.