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.

Our vet phoned on the Monday after to check up on the Mother goat and if I was OK with doing the antibiotic injections.
I have also had general goat health advice on the phone at no charge.
I think I am lucky. Our specialist goat vet is Eastern European and she seriously loves goats. That's a positive vet sorry for everyone.

Actually I have to defend the corporates on vets pay - the packages are far better than independent practice particularly for women.

Independent practice tend to pay SMP only. The big corporates pay 90% of salary for 6 months and there is often a return to work bonus.
Independent practice sick pays is SSP only in general, corporates pay occupational sick pay.
Most corporate vets salaries are higher than comparable independent salaries.

This post makes me very very grateful for our vets…. It also confirms my belief that insurance companies are sharks!

To be fair, I could never complain about Petplan. They paid out thousands for Harry over the years and never quibbled.

I had £13000 of claims in just over a year for my horses and many other claims for horses and dogs over the years and have never had a quibble. But insurance is a product where you very much get what you pay for. The cheaper the policy the higher the likelihood something will be excluded or made difficult. That's how they keep them cheap

That's pretty much what our vet told us @countrygirl99 and was why we would insure another cat with Petplan

Yes, exactly this.

A 4k policy is the equivalent of just getting 3rd party car insurance. It will have a lot of exclusions and won't come close to covering something as standard as surgery.

@cat234 - RVN of 26 years here. I don't usually read this threads because it makes me want to cry and get angry all in one go . I can't get involved in this discussion as I may say something unprofessional to the vet bashers here and i dont want to gey into a bun slinging contest - my argument is communication is 90% of the problem, inadequate insurance , unrealistic expectations and understanding from pet owners and lack of responsibility. Everyone likes to moan about vets. They are the loudest voices ; but for every negative story there are 100 good ones and that is what I try to remember x I also wanted to say thank you for eloquently both putting our side forward ( for the MILIIONTH time) and trying to help the OP with her problem .
And hope the OP ' s cat can beat the FIP - got everything crossed for you xx

We've all gone mad. The money people are spending to keep an old cat alive, no matter how loved, when there are people starving, kids freezing, the Arctic melting, dear Lord. It's things like this make me wonder if humanity is worth saving at all.

I understand where you are coming from but 12 weeks ago my cat was literally dying in front of my eyes he is only 3 years old. Then FIP diagnosis we had insurance but only £4k worth we thought we would give him a try on medication and he improved on day 4 so we kept going on daily tablets (84 days) at nearly £29 per tablet. I've decided if he has a relapse enough is enough and I will call it a day. Insurance Co have paid 1st claim will I get 2nd claim 🙏 I hope so. The cat treatment has cost nearly £3,500. It's bloody ridiculous I know. I believe if you have animals and you can't afford vet fees you shouldn't have animals. So people thinking about getting a dog or cat or whatever get insurance and get maximum amount they will cover £4k is not enough I realise that now. 😓.

@Butterfingers1977

NO-ONE has said it's ALL vets. Get a grip. 🙄 There's no reason why vets should be exempt from criticism, as some of them DO take the piss, they DO upsell, and they DO rip people off. If you are not one of these type of vets, then why are you offended? If YOU don't rip people off, then this isn't about YOU is it? So why the faux rage?

As has been said by some posters... SOME vets are a disgrace... Trying to coerce people with only a brass farthing to their name to take on a £7000 'payment plan' for an elderly cat because they didn't have the funds to pay the bill. Refusing to euthanize a ten year old pitbull cross who is paralyzed from the waist down, cannot walk, and shits all over her owners furniture (and prefers to take 1000s of £££ from the 65 y.o. owner instead.) And trying to emotionally manipulate people into paying 1000s of £££ for scans, x-rays, procedures, radiology, imaging, surgeries they don't need, and multiple meds they often don't need. And almost always on older pets, that would be best left to die with dignity/be put to sleep. People who actually do PAY this money out, (£5K plus!) almost always have the animal die 6-12 months later anyway!

Some vets play on peoples emotions, and manipulate and emotionally blackmail them - like 'why would you NOT want to fork out 5, 6, 7 thousand £££ or more for your pet? Do you not care about them? Do you not LOVE them?' They plant this seed in peoples minds. And some refuse to euthanize, and insist the owners try this and that... and the other... This thread is littered with examples of incidents like this. Are you suggesting the posters are all lying, and all the posts are fiction?

It happens. SOME vets rip people off, and upsell, and take the piss, and take advantage of vulnerable and worried pet owners who only want to do their best by their pet. And yes! Sometimes it IS having them put to sleep. SOME vets don't like this, because it stops them rinsing people of 5 to 8 thousand pounds, and/or getting them to claim on their insurance if they have it!

You can "cry - and get angry in one go - " as much as you like. Doesn't change the facts that SOME vets do NOT have the animals best interests at heart (OR the owners!) Only their own bank balance, and the profits they can make. You say 'a lot of people moan about vets'........... There is a VERY good reason for that!

This. ^ The 'you should be grateful we have the NHS. Imagine if you had to pay THOSE bills! Be bloody grateful you ONLY have to pay a £3000 vet bill' type comments are lame and tired. They are moot points, and utter straw-man arguments.

The exorbitant costs that SOME vets are charging are fuck-all to do with the NHS, or what we'd have to pay if the NHS wasn't there. So as I said earlier, put that old chestnut back in its box. Coz it doesn't wash with me.

Exorbitant vet bills have fuck-all to do with having to pay for medical bills because there's no NHS. Because there IS an NHS. This argument is pathetic and boring, and is always dragged up by a few posters on these threads, with cries of 'stop vet-bashing.' As I said earlier, it's just white noise now, and I will NOT stop serving criticism to some vets, who deserve it, because some rando on the internet tells me to. LOL. As if!

As several posters have said - incl @Agapornis the comparison to prices in other countries, proves that some vets rip people off 100%.

We were charged £140 to look at and put a gerbil to sleep - outrageous imo.

Sheesh this is why I don't usually wade into these debates....i merely wanted to thank the PP who is a vet and trying to help with advice. I am going to slink off now ...I really can't be arsed with arguing something I have tried to help explain for many many many years. I never get compassion fatigue for my patients and i have never worked with or been aparty to the vet behaviours you describe in all my career . In my experience it is almost ALWAYS a breakdown in communication between vet and owner. We need each other to work together for the benefit and best outcome for the patient. End of. Better communication is needed. And don't believe every single story you hear . There is always two , sometimes three sides. Cynicism helps noone - least of all the animals . I am coming off this thread because I actually just can't be arsed!
Good luck OP I think it's fair to say everyone is routing for your little one to recover xx

How would me not spending money on my cat stop the Arctic melting? Should I have donated the money to charity rather than pay his vet bills? He was more important to me than a bunch of people I don't know!

Oh and just because an animal is old doesn't mean it's not worth treating. There are many things that are easily treated which was the case for my cat. I wouldn't want a vet to not give me all the options just because my cat was over a certain age.

I am glad your cat is a bit better and yes, vet bills can be very high, but...

YABU for paying £700 for a pedigree cat when there are so many lovely cats and kittens in rescues.

Also the fact that a young cat has FIP would make me suspect maybe the breeder doesn't exactly breed the healthiest kittens.

Why are you acting as though Joe Bloggs spending 10k on his elderly cat is the reason for kids freezing and people starving?

The two issues are totally unrelated.

Dentists earn about twice what vets earn so your dentist isn’t in the wrong job! I’m guessing you weren’t under general anaesthetic for your £16 filling? Why not compare the cost to a human dental extraction under anaesthetic which would cost the NHS a lot more than £1000. Also a £16 filling sounds like it was subsided by the NHS. Vet costs really aren’t that high if you compare it to human medical costs which are never seen in the UK due to the NHS

I'm not saying the money could help kids or the environment. I mean that when we're spending £1000s to buy 'pedigree' pets when there are loads lying around in rescue centres, then spending £1000s to keep them alive, our priorities and values need some looking at in the world. Everything discussed here, pharmaceuticals, corporate ownership, insurance companies making a fortune, pedigree pets; let's not pretend it has anything to do with the love of animals.

YABU for paying £700 for a pedigree cat when there are so many lovely cats and kittens in rescues.

I used to think like that until I tried to adopt after my cat died. These are the reasons I can adopt from various rescues:

My garden is cat proofed and cats should be allowed to roam
I plan to let the cat into my cat proofed garden and cats should be indoors
I don't have a spare room for the cat
I don't have children

Rescues don't exactly help themselves - it's almost impossible to adopt an animal if you work full-time, have primary aged children or have any other animals in the home.

As for spending £1000's to keep them alive, why would you not save the life of your pet if you could? And we're not necessarily talking about putting an 18yo cat through chemotherapy here - lots of relatively minor issues/illnesses can easily rack up massive vet bills.

As for spending £1000's to keep them alive, why would you not save the life of your pet if you could? And we're not necessarily talking about putting an 18yo cat through chemotherapy here - lots of relatively minor issues/illnesses can easily rack up massive vet bills.

Harry had a lot wrong with him but all treatable with minimal hassle for him. He had heart failure, kidney disease and arthritis, all of which he could have medication for in his food. Why would I put him to sleep for any of those when he still had a good quality of life?

I only had a £4K insurance limit but that was because he was an old boy and there was only so much I would ever put him through. We're lucky though, our vet can do the same treatments as many referral vets so it was cheaper and he didn't have to travel.

I think the expectation of keeping animals alive at whatever cost is the main thing going on, with insurance forking out vast sums probably adding to the expectations.

Vets feel obliged to offer expensive treatments and scans etc, for animals with a 10 - 20 year lifespan; I'd sooner be able to offer a good quality of life for a shorter time than prolong a miserable life.

Far too many cats and dogs exist to have good caring homes, and if we limited pet ownership to only the wealthy, then where does that leave all the overbred homeless animals?
Euthanasia doesn't need to be the first option, but I do think it should be raised as an option for expensive protracted conditions more frequently than it is. It is better to euthanise than to leave an animal suffering imo. Of course nobody wants to lose a much loved pet, but unless vet treatments are more affordable then it may be the way things have to go.

I did insure our first dog, with pet Plan, but when they refused subsequent claims on a trivial/spurious basus, I stopped and saved the money elsewhere. Dog two cost almost nothing for six years until he had an acute onset illness (myeloma) and went from healthy to PTS in three days, the bill was moderate. Dog three (now 9) is also not insured but we can afford enough vet treatment for comfort. However, I would not spend big big money. Comfortable and happy, enoying food and walks, but faced with a terminal condition, I would PTS without a big delay.