To think vet fees are taking advantage?

[Catlady332]

There is making a financial commitment to a pet, and then there is paying extortionate fees.
I pay monthly for a vet healthcare plan for my cat who is older, and this is supposed to cover certain things and include discounts.
They suspect he has a thyroid issue and needs a blood test, and I've been quoted £250 for the blood test.
I think these fees are extortionate and taking advantage. This is in the north West, as I said I know pet ownership is a financial commitment but I'm worried about having to pay these sorts of costs regularly.

You will just end up paying more for the insurance!

If meds are needed like a pp said much cheaper to get prescription and order online. Mine cost £21 a month vs probably nearer £100 from vet.

£700 for an xray for my cat few weeks ago on his hips and back legs! Insurance is a scam too. He had a blocked bladder over a year ago. £1500 vet fee for that. Insurance won't cover that condition now even though its managed by special food i buy with no prescription off zooplus because they say that's the same as him being on medication. Couldn't get cover anywhere except existing insurers as he had existing condition so over a barrel.

I agree with the poster that said there are a lot more treatments for pet available. Training and equipment costs money.

I also think that with the majority of owners having insurance that the prices are higher. You will pay the excess and the insurance will pay the rest - for some treatments the price can easily double.

On a personal note, my pets are not insured (MN shock horror!!). I do have a large savings pot in case of emergency.... but (more shock horror) I will not pay out 1000's for certain treatments or conditions. Rule of thumb: age of pet × condition ÷ quality of life/ impact of treatment (including side effects).

You can, but most have anywhere between 14-28 days where you can't claim when opening the policy.

The cat is 12, hopefully he could have another 8 years or so, I know this thyroid issue is supposed to be common in senior cats.

One of my cats had thyroid issue. He was on meds, and we avoided certain things in food (I think it was chicken).

The vets are expensive enough, £57 just for a consultation at ours, clearly displayed, but out of hours is another thing entirely, our vets don’t provide any, the service they use charges £227 for the consultation, maybe, just maybe I could understand it if it was three in the morning, but this clicks in at 6pm

OP have a look at Animal Trust vets. They are a CIC and may be more affordable.

Their prices are high because they know insurance will pay out.

We spent £30k across 5 terminally ill cats with no insurance. However £250 is high for a blood test. Our (independent) vet always told us to watch out for our emergency vet recommending it as it's often not needed and just an upsell, but it sounds like it's needed in your case.

This just shows how little we Brits understand about healthcare and its associated costs. It’s expensive, and we only recognise it when we need to get care for our pets, because there is no Pet NHS. I want everyone to remember this when the government eventually says that the NHS needs to go. In the US, asthma inhalers are $350+, an epi pen is $300+, childbirth is $10,000-$30,000, an ambulance is $2500+, the coil birth control is $1300+, etc etc.

I had an issue with my pet last summer. Had long standing thyroid issues but started losing more weight. Potential heart issues. They said she also had bad teeth so was in pain from them and maybe that's why not eating.

However they couldn't do the teeth unless they resolved the thyroid issue as she wouldn't survive anaesthetic. But the thyroid would take time to resolve and in theory she wouldn't be able to eat. They quoted £1200 for heart scan. She was nearly 16

I rang another local vet for second opinion, heart scan through them was £650. I moved cats to them and was best thing I did - she didn't make it in the end as she had fluid in heart and it reoccurred after draining but new vets explained everthing properly and also did a second scan free of charge in the room with me when she declined again.

My other cat is also Now with them.

That's is because those vets will have been at work since 8am that morning. They finish at 6pm. If they see an animal just after 6 as an emergency they could be there several more hours to diagnose and treat. The animal may need to be admitted and need care overnight and the vets simply can't do that unless they are a 24 vet hospital with different shifts of vets and nurses working.

20 would be unusual/very good age for a cat. I’ve just google it and 14 is the average. Unfortunately you’ve got a senior cat who’s the right age to develop expensive age associated health issues.

Teeth and hyperthyroidism I would treat but have a think about what else you can afford and would want to treat.

Thank you. Yeah, my friend's cat recently passed away at 20, and I know a 15 year old cat, but maybe these are rare.

Im just going to have a think, shop around and see what the best course of action is. Thanks

They absolutely are! My cat injured her leg and the vet, who was Spanish was actually mortified to tell me the price. She said she was embarrassed every time she had to advise clients of the fees, as they were completely extortionate compared to Spain. So literally from the horses mouth, as it were.

The OP was.

You could say that for a lot of things at the moment - everything is going up.

I have this or similar. Flea / worm every month , nails anal glands etc and a big if discount of special food etc.

the cost is less than just the flea and wormer for us.

Corporates became involved largely with the advent of pet insurance, which has played a huge part in terms of deciding what medical treatment many pet owners are prepared to put their pet through when they don’t have to foot the bill themselves. From there, consumer expectations of what should be on offer for their pet have vastly increased – and that’s where group structures and private equity took such a foothold in the industry in the first place. The landscape of veterinary medicine has changed enormously over the past few decades because the average practice now offers / needs to offer the sort of treatments and surgeries which virtually nobody would have dreamed of their pet being provided with until relatively recently.

As a result, modern veterinary medicine has enormous capital costs and overheads: everyone wants the best treatment for their pet and equipping a surgery with all the latest gear from MRI scanners to oncology isolators to state of the art biochemical analyzers to hydrotherapy pools to a stock of pharmaceuticals which retail for eyewatering amounts doesn’t come cheaply. Small, independent practices ultimately found themselves completely unable to raise the levels of capital they needed to be able to equip themselves and remain competitive against larger surgeries and groups which could – so they either folded or were bought out by groups backed by private equity, who can inject the required capital.

That's exactly how my vet is. I don't feel she overcharges. She's fantastic- spend a lot of time in C America treating pets and stray animals with few resources. She's great at thinking outside the box, knows cheap and effective treatment whereas others will charge a fortune for some funky name chemicals.

Our vets don't have an overnight oncall service, it goes to a surgery a few towns away (30 min drive).

we have to pay £50 for a 7.5 minute long repeat medication check every 12 weeks. It used to be an annual medication check but now it's gone to 12 weekly. It's extortionate costs. So 17 years ago when we brought the dog we did factor in these costs, but we didn't factor in the changes in legislation.

my youngest dc takes a controlled drug - his medication check is 6 monthly with a consultant at the hospital. Legislation is stricter for the dogs drugs than it is for a Childs !

My dog recently had a blood test and antibiotics for £160 and I thought that was a lot! The trouble with going to the vets is you literally have no idea what they're going to bill you. It’s scary going to the vet’s pay desk.

How come your insurance only pays £21 for blood tests if it costs £250 for the test? Is that normal? My dog isn't insured. How much is that insurance per month and what's the point if it pays out so little?

Who owns the practice?
If its one of the large groups they charge extortionate fees because they know they can especially in areas where they have a heavy presence.
I was with a vet that was bought out by one of the large groups mentioned here
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-identifies-multiple-concerns-in-vets-market#:~:text=To%20illustrate%20this%20another%20way,Pets%20at%20Home%20and%20VetPartners)
Overnight their fees went up, consult went from £45 to £80.
The staff went from being helpful and knowledge to reliant on a variety of locums with no consistency so I changed to another independent. Much, much, much cheaper and better care.

I'd be surprised if your excess wasn't nearly as much as the blood tests ... if it covers them. We claimed on insurance and our premium went up massively at renewal. It was either pay the increased premium or swap insurance provider and the condition would be pre existing so not covered.