Vet fees

[Sprockersmum]

AIBU to complain about an additional vet fee.. An extra £17:98 just to give a monthly injection in the scruff.This is in addition to the drug. The vet fees now are horrendous as it is but this additional charge came into effect a few weeks ago. I'd just like your thoughts please before I send in my complaint

The UK is completely oblivious to how much medical professionals cost, as we have the NHS

Your vets charges are what they are, if you don't like it, you don't have to accept it, you can move elsewhere, but no you don't get to complain

Is it something like Librella? The vets do check my dog over each time, but then again she is nearly 15!

Is it cheaper if the vet nurse does it? It is at our practice.

I suspect this is the visit fee? Do you have a copy of the invoice? Did you not query it at the time? I'm sure they could have explained.

Is it...

Consult fee + injection fee + drug

Or is it actually

Injection fee (a smaller % of an actual consultation fee) + drug?

The latter is what my vet does. The injection fee is about £15 where as a normal consultation is about £60.

It doesn’t take expertise to inject a drug. Some practices allow the owner to take the drug home to administer or a nurse can do it- the nurse charges are £25 here. The vet charges £67. 🤦🏼‍♀️
Vet charges in other countries are alot cheaper, it’s just here they’re extortionate.

I agree it is unreasonable if you are already playing for the consultation fee bit is not unreasoable if it is the only thing you are paying for.

I changed from a chain vet to a small practice and the difference is amazing. The chain tried to gouge every penny they could from you but the small practice is far more reasaonable.

Is it Librella @Sprockersmum ? I got a private prescription and ordered it from Violet and then administered it myself. Now that was easy because I have a HCP background. However when my dog died I had several doses left over and a friend ( no experience whatsoever) whose dog had also been prescribed the same medication so I gave it to her and taught her how to do it. She didn’t find it easy at the start but very quickly learned.

Doing this roughly halved the cost.

My 12yr old cat's Petplan comprehensive insurance is £20pm. I will have to pay the first £100 of any claim. In our area (South East England) it's £50 to open the door, let alone what the initial consultation and meds cost.

I don't qualify for my cat being seen by the PDSA as I earn too much.

I'd politely ask if your previous monthly cost included the cost of administering the drug and are they just now itemizing them as separate elements (and as such the cost of the drug will decrease) or if that previously the administering was free... just to make a point

It's all so expensive. My dog recently had a grass seed removed from her paw which took 10 seconds. On top of the £60 consultation fee I was charged £40 for the procedure. I thought that was a piss take . They also charge £30 to print out a repeat prescription. All vets in the area have similar prices. Could you be shown how to do the injection yourself?

@MatildaTheCat no not librella it's cartrophen... I'm lucky that our local chemist will help with disposing sharps. I'll certainly give it a go. Thanks

@Donna1001 thanks, I hope your dogs op goes well on Wednesday 🤗

@Cookiedefender I understand what you're saying.. however, this is a new fee additional fee.... Like I said before it's the principle of the thing. Even the staff agree it's unreasonable but their hands are tied obviously.... I'm glad I asked for Mumsnetters opinion before I made a tit of myself... Thanks 😊

Oh don't misunderstand me, i think the UK is terrible for charging for "extras"

or forcing us to to pay for things that we don't always need.

e.g i need more prescription flea and tick treatment, that was always just paid for and nothing else but now i have to take the animal in for a "check up" once a year... Goodbye £65 then i have to pay for the meds :(

Trouble is, so many EU vets left the UK in recent years, there is now not much competition between practices (See Dentistry also)

e.g i need more prescription flea and tick treatment, that was always just paid for and nothing else but now i have to take the animal in for a "check up" once a year... Goodbye £65 then i have to pay for the meds :(

@Cookiedefender do your vets not do the check-up at the annual vaccinations appointment?

@Cookiedefender of course they need to see the animal when they are prescribing drugs for it , in the same way that people on long term medication should be reviewed. For all they know your cat / dog could be dead and you are using it for some other animal .

YANBU. Vets fees are so much and it is not simply because as some claim we do not understand the costs. They have soared since the pandemic. I took my cat for the exact same reason I had to take her 3 years ago. The cost with drugs had nearly doubled. Its a piss take.

@Floralnomad it is flea treatment. The animal does not need to be seen for that regularly.

Sure see the vet initially but not for made up "Health checks" every time i run out.
The knock on effect is people don't treat their animals consistently (due to cost) and we get drug resistant parasites

My vet is demanding a 3 monthly checkup for flea prescription. It's a dictat from the royal vet college. It's a total piss take. It's not even the money, it's the time and stress on my animals to take healthy animals to the vet X4 per year

Dog is fine but our cat shits and pisses herself being transported in the car, its horrific for her.

Of course the RVC has the best interests of the consumer at heart! not!

You can order a lot of animal prescription meds online.

Aye coz why should vets or nurses be paid for their time eh? They should just work for free, for the love of the animals. Screw feeding their families.
The heating, electricity, reception staff, kennel staff. That should be paid out of their wages too right? They earn too much anyway. Nevermind that 5 year degree that they’ll be paying off the rest of their lives. Fuck em. The animals welfare is more important. It should ALL be FREE. The money grabbing bastards 🙄

FYI that's not the law - they have to have seen your pet within the last year, but they don't have to see them every three months.

Vast difference is because pdsa costs are subsidised.

@Cookiedefender said they want to see her animal once a year - that is not excessive when they are handing out prescription only medication. It may be a flea / worming medicine but it’s still on prescription .