. . . to be cheesed off at vet prices?

[RedPandaFluff]

I had a premolar extracted last week in preparation for having braces fitted. Total cost of the x-ray and extraction was £145.

Had our cat at the vet today and she needs a tooth removed. They've quoted £950 for the x-ray and tooth extraction.

AIBU to feel a bit ripped-off? The vet said we can phone around but we're unlikely to find a vet who will do it for less than £800! Is this really a reasonable cost? Absolutely prepared to listen and learn why it's so expensive, but it just seems excessive!

Small animal vets cost are wild and so much more than a large animal! A dog trip to the vets for vaccs cost more than a vet coming to my stables to vaccinate my horses.

My dog has just had dental surgery following an attack by another dog.

here’s what my vet said about costs.

£800 is generally their “top” quote. As they often don’t know what is in the animal’s mouth until it’s anaesthetised and they can get a proper look. £800 is their ballpark for tooth extraction allowing for a couple of suprises, needing more teeth out than expected (this is usual, if one needs doing it’s likely others will). If it turns out to be one tooth very simple it will be nearer £500- but it’s pretty rare not to find more issues apparently.

secondly dental surgery is much more expensive than stuff like routine spays- they called it “dirty surgery”. Due to the mouth’s environment the infection risk is very high and there’s a much higher risk of complications.

There’s no harm in getting a few more quotes though.

@Thatbloodyhedge

It annoys me when bulldogs are singled out for vilification, no-one ever complains about dachshunds have long back's constantly failing or basset's with legs too short to carry huge weight , or what about German shepherd / labs propensity to hip dysplasia etc etc it's always bulldogs . Men bloody snore but no-one suggests not breeding them lol

Sorry that was more of a rant than I intended .

Totally agree
Folk who spout crap know nothing.

I have no sympathy
People shouldn't own animals

🥱

Dental treatment fees for cats and dogs is really expensive, whether it’s right or not is another thing. Do you have insurance?

Reminder for everyone here with a cat or a dog, check you have decent insurance to cover these things. Look at the policy wording for what is not covered, most look like they have decent cover but it’s carved out in the small print so this is super important - you get what you pay for with expensive pet insurance - if it’s cheap, it’s cheap for a reason!

We lost my dog after an infection a few years ago, the bill then was £3k so I’d expect it now to be £5k. That was only 3 days worth of treatment to try and save his life.

Agree with other PP that we have the NHS so don’t realise how much treatment can cost for our pets.

I'd say you're being ripped off. My vet would charge less than half that.

Obviously the difference between your procedure and the cat's procedure is the general anaesthetic needed for the cat, but £900 is still a major rip off.

We used to use an amazing small vets practice and they were absolutely amazing!

However in the past couple of years they built an annex and something else and now their prices have doubled…used to be £30 for the consultation now it’s £58 for one!

I’ve actually now gone to a chain as it’s cheaper which is a shame as I’m all for supporting local businesses

When my old dog was poorly as soon as they found out he was insured the bill went from 2.5k to around 5k…I’m not entirely sure he needed all the extra treatment…a dog inhaler was £105 ffs you could buy them on Amazon for £20!

Regarding insurance, most policies don't cover dental treatment. And even if they do (and you're likely to be paying much more for it) according to Money Supermarket they won't cover:

Routine teeth cleaning
Cosmetic dental treatment
Treatment for pre-existing conditions, general tooth decay or anything else that the insurance provider believes you could have prevented by taking better care of your dog’s teeth.

So they could easily wriggle out of paying up.

Edited to add: no idea what it would be for cats, but can't imagine trying to clean a cat's teeth!

You guessed wrong - as British as tea and chip butties.

I work with dogs all day long, I count multiple vets and vet nurses as friends and deal frequently with people buying brachy breeds without realising the costs and the maintanance required and the potential surgeries necessary for those dogs to live relatively comfortably.

It’s a provocative post, and I disagree as I know how much joy pets can bring people, but I do agree this is a wider issue.

Owning pets has become a national obsession, certainly in the UK, and as a nation we are far too sentimental about them. It’s almost become an entitlement.

The pet industry has exploded, and I’m pretty sure the exploding vets bills aren’t a coincidence. People are so obsessed with their pets and are being told they need this, that and the other when in reality a lot of these services are just not needed. An industry where consumers are so passionate is a corporate gift - you can almost charge what you like.

To tell people they shouldn’t have got a pet if they can’t afford it isn’t fair though - it’s the rapid and extortionate increase in costs that people are struggling with. No one could have predicted that. Having said that, one of the reasons I don’t have a dog is because I know I couldn’t afford the vets bills.

I also think we over treat our pets. I know many dog owners who rush their dog to the vets if they accidentally eat a bit of a chocolate, for example, get charged a fortune and it’s just not needed. Ditto keeping elderly animals alive for as long as possible - when often bring PTS is a far more humane and less selfish option.

I adore my pets and they bring us a lot of joy, but we do need to keep things in perspective.

Financial regulation of the veterinary industry is now desperately needed, the sheer profiteering and blatant price gouging is utterly obscene and entirely without justification.

It's not just the profiteering either, the level of customer service they provide is a disgrace with practices now obviously ran on a skeleton staff with long waits for appointments, even emergency appointments, that's if they even grant you an appointment at all!

Ultimately the industry will just kill the golden goose (no pun intended) and price itself out of existence as there will be a huge reduction in levels of pet ownership eventually.

Many small, local (once) independent vets have already been bought out and taken over by big corporate entities, but they do it in a stealthy way by retaining the old name and branding etc so most customers don't realise its under new corporate ownership.