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.

Just taking a moment to be very grateful for the NHS!!

I had to take my cat to a specialist, they came up with a treatment plan which would come up within the insurance limit. If I'd had higher insurance or no insurance there would have been different options. I was so grateful there was a specialist who could help, my local vet would have amputated but the specialist saved the limb. Priceless!

This

This a million times over!

That is fucking outrageous and I have no idea how they have the bare faced cheek to charge these exorbitant prices. I am sure that someone will be along soon, to say 'well look at how much HUMANS cost for medical care lalalalala.' Save your breath. You can't compare pets to bloody humans. No WAY are any of these prices/breakdowns of the prices even remotely acceptable.

We had pets when I was a child (late 1970s and 1980s,) and always had a dog. No way was there EVER a bill that high for ANYthing. Not for anyone. It would never have been paid if there had, as no-one could have paid it as most people were brassick, didn't have access to credit, had very little savings, and would have surrendered the pet.

Someone will no doubt come along (also) and say 'but the treatments are sooo much more sophisticated now and pet vet-care has become so much more exquisite and intricate with fabulous new technology etc etc etc.' It's no more advanced now compared to the 1980s, than it was in the 1980s compared to the 1950s etc, So put that chestnut pack in its box!

I think some vets know that people have more access to money now, and better pay maybe, and that they will pay it. (Somehow.) Sure you can get pet insurance, but some conditions aren't covered, or even if they are it's only for a short spell, a year maybe, and also you struggle to get pet insurance for pets over 8 years old.

My cat's insurance TRIPLED when she hit 8, and I rang up the insurance company and said 'I am not paying that! Surely you can do cheaper!' She said 'that's it sorry.' I said 'well I will cancel it then.' She said 'sorry to see you go, have a nice day.'

Didn't give a shit that I cancelled. Didn't want an old pet registered that's all. I mean God forbid they may have to actually pay a decent amount out!

We have one cat left (aged 16.) When she has gone, we will never have any more pets. The vet fees are extortionate. And we have the preventative care (her yearly jabs/worming drops/flea drops,) and we have also had to pay multiple 100s (running into a couple of thousand) this past 2 years for dental work and things that were wrong with her ears.

Never again. As I said, vet fees were NEVER this expensive. It's scandalous! Nothing anyone says will change my mind. If people don't want 'vet-bashing,' as someone said earlier, then get them to drop the bloody prices! Utterly disgraceful what some of them charge.

Wtf!!! Daylight robbery.
we were charged 237 just for a dog check.
It’s obscene and animals will suffer as people will stop going as they simply can’t afford to take their beloved pets.

Some vets do take the mick and when they know it’s on insurance, they whack up the cost and it’s basically fraudulent.

They told me it would cost around £700, but in the end, I had a £1500 bill for a grass seed removal and when I asked for the itemised bill they’d put a bandage on there for £50 and guaze for £25!!

sorry but some vets rip people off bad.

I rest my case. ^ THAT is taking the piss!

At each point of care I'd have reiterated that I didn't want any treatment that would go over the £4000 limit.

I think you have to be very very clear with vets these days, vet prices have gone up dramatically at my vets over the last 18 months.

I simply can't afford the costs and as awful as it sounds if my cat was seriously ill I'd have to give her up or put her down 🤷‍♀️ that said my cat is now old and has a long term condition so not the same as a younger, otherwise healthy, cat.

That's an awful policy with such a low limit. One of the cheaper companies I assume. Unfortunately, the NHS means that people in the UK have no idea how much medical care costs. A single blood test is easily >£100 and a scan can well be >£1000. That doesn't sound at all unreasonable for the care your cat has had and I'm sure the small print says that it's up to you to make up any shortfall from your insurance. Unless you have something in writing that they'd keep the cost under a certain amount, your best bet is probably to negotiate a payment over time.

What's bad about this is that you don't know the costs until after they've done the work. They needed to say "we can do X for £; Y for ££ or Z for £££" then you would have had the full facts.

I adore my cats, but they are 15 now, and I simply wouldn't spend more than about £200 on veterinary care when they are elderly. Any bill higher than that I'd ask for them to be Pts instead.

Out of interest, how much would you expect a vet to be paid per hour? Just the professional fee, not including tests, rent, indemnity insurance, cost of the nurse, heat, light, building costs etc? Bearing in mind 6 years at university and many years of post-grad training.

I recently had a £9000 vet bill. £7000 covered on insurance. 5 nights in hospital (2 of which were with a specialist vet), two general anaesthetics, an MRI, ultrasound, CT scan, sedation, lots of fluids plus loads more smaller stuff. It was horrific. So although I get that vet fees are expensive, I think we probably got better value for money than you (the MRI alone was in the region of £2000). We are in the London/south east area too.

35 per hour max

This is true. I have known vets to ask if someone was insured and they said 'yes with a maximum of £5K,' and the bill ended up at £6K. (So insurance paid out £5K and the customer paid £1K.)

The same treatment for someone whose pet is not insured was £3.5K. Still high, but the other was clearly bumped up because the pet was insured.

And yes, whilst some vets are fine, and only charge what is necessary, some DO rip people off - and the insurance companies.

We have just spent 9k on our boy. Issue wasn't covered by insurance as a birth defect.

Surgery and tests.

Prices are mental and they know they have you over a barrel.

At least you’re still in the 4-figure range. Once you hit 5 it all becomes relative.

I had the dubious and expensive honor of providing our emergency vet with it’s first (and hopefully only) mass casualty event with my 3 cats. When you see surgeons and vet techs hourly/on call rates on your itemized bill you know you’re in for some pain. Luckily all made it but yeah that was a painful lesson on how high vet bills can go.

Everyone is correct, your understanding of medical care real expense is skewed because you just don’t see it. And you signed up for providing for your animal when you took ownership. So you pay.

I recall having been charged a total of £270 about four years ago for a straightforward ear infection in my Labrador. I went nuts (hubby took dog paid then told me what was owed 😫) challenged them but they stood firm and in the bed only shaved about £30 off the bill. I left the practice and went to another vet. It was quite unbelievable. Vets absolutely rip ppl off :/

The economics of vet care are terrible. The treatment available has progressed (we did not have MRIs in the 1980s!), and the costs have risen dramatically, but people's ability to pay has not. I've seen figures -- some corporate vet chains are making a nice profit, but the vets themselves really aren't.

The vet should have costed it out for you first, but the charges themselves aren't outrageous. You need to have a frank conversation with the vet about your cat's prognosis as the news with FIP is usually not good.

Yes also sadly FIP is mostly fatal

Vets charge what they like these days because most people have insurance.

A few years ago, our cat was unwell with feline epilepsy. It became untreatable with medication from our usual vet and they referred us to a feline neurologist. We had a consultation with them which was around £400, thankfully the insurance paid. Unfortunately, their estimate on diagnostic tests was around £4k and then treatment would take it up to around £8k, or possibly more and that was if it was even treatable. Combined with the medication we were already getting from the vet (£130 month, covered by insurance) it took us over he threshold of the insurance limit and we had to make the sad decision to let him go.

At no point however did I think the costs were unreasonable given what they were suggesting as diagnostic tests. I do work in the NHS though, and have a fairly reasonable understanding of the actual costs of tests, equipment and medication - the prescribed medication for the cat was human medication with very little mark up, so they aren't taking the piss, we're just very sheltered by the NHS.

I heard that only 38% of pet owners in the uk insure their pets - with cats much less likely to be insured.

I love animals but this is legit enough for me to never want our own. I’m so sorry OP. Payment plan sounds best

I do agree that vets are absolutely extortionate - one dog had a leg op a few years go... £8500. Another dog who had a digestive system blockage and ultimately died... £5400. A cat who had an unfortunate accident and had to be rushed to the emergency vets in the middle of the night - £2200.

What annoys me is I took a dog in for a skin complaint, prescribed some medication etc all fine approx £200 then told to take him back a week later to check it was improving... Another £90 consultant fee! I could see it was improving myself and didn't realise you paid the consultation fee even for 3 minute check up. They didn't used to do that.

However, I recently had minor surgery done privately, I was under anesthetic for 40 mins - current bill is £4700 and I have another few check ups to go and that didn't include medication costs. I have medical insurance so only paid £100 but medical care is expensive 🤷‍♀️

Also not to pile on but a £4000 limit is not very much as per above the costs we've ended up with with our animals. Weve always had at least £12k of cover as we never want to be in a position where we can't save our pet due to financial issues. For 4 animals that currently costs me £130 a month, one dog is 12 though so he is the majority of that cost.

Oh wait I forgot about the sodding rabbit that had a year duct infection that would not go away so we had to travel the country to specialists for her. She wasn't insured and it costs about £5000 all in. Finally got it sorted out and the cowbag died 3 weeks later 😡