To think vets are overcharging

[MyPunnyLemur]

I've just picked my dog up from vets. He got a grass seed in his paw and our first aid measures didn't stop him licking it incessantly so off to the vet we went. As I don't have insurance I was given a choice of prices. We had, apparently got the seed out but "to be on the safe side " a sedation of dog while given a thorough cleanse and check over was required. I suppose I could have said no but he's 11and I love him to bits, so I agreed to an estimate. £660 or £487!!!!! Obviously the paw was covered in a gold leaf bandage for that price. He came out 1 hour later with 4 painkillers a plastic cone and no covering at all on the wound. £487? I've paid obviously. Wth did they do for it to be so expensive? And to top it all whilst I was paying someone reversed into my parked car and then drove off so I'm left with a damaged car and another big bill. But that's another story .

Because not all treatments are 'cookie cutter'. A basic dental may cost £200 but if that animal is elderly they may needs bloods before anaesthetic, or may need teeth removing during the procedure, or antibiotics. Then owner then gets the hump because it is over the quoted £200.

Some will definitely be charging more than others. How much depends on the surgery. Obviously a vet surgery with an MRI, ultrasound and other diagnostic equipment will probably be more expensive than a village vet that has to refer for all these investigations. Simply because this equipment is hugely expensive to buy, maintain and train staff to use.

So then you price those things separately - it’s not hard. Basic dental @ X price, bloods @ y price, extractions @ z per tooth.

Again, I wasn’t asking why they were overcharging - I was asking why there’s an investigation into their prices if (according to PP) they’re not overcharging.

If you think it's expensive have a look at the cost of healthcare in the US.

There is no NHS for dogs

Took my two old girls for a booster each. Used to be about £28 each. About fell over as I pinged my card for £150 !!!!

My niece paid over £9k with £4k insurance cover for her dog to have an eye removed and cataracts removed on the other eye. Independent vet in a northern town.
Yet we paid £7k with £4k insurance for our dog to have a big operation, he was kept in for 7 days. Multi national vet in a Midlands town.

It’s not the vets themselves. They don’t earn that much and aren’t paid any extra for nights or weekends. It’s the corporate owners who are over charging. So please don’t shout at the vet as they hate it as much as you.

A friend of mine paid £90 for ‘tablets’ for her dog, which she lost between the vets and her home.
She rang the surgery and explained what had happened, and they said ‘oh, don’t worry about it. They weren’t essential anyway’.

She was: 🤷🏻‍♀️

We lived in an EU country for several years and took our dog with us. He was about 8 when we went and unfortunately we couldn’t have insurance for him there as we’d had here.
So I was a bit afraid as he had dodgy hips and we often had to take him to the vets. However the costs were a fraction of what they are here. Annual injections, flea and worming so so cheap. I think it’s because we now all have insurance for our pets that this has pushed the prices up really high here.

God I don't miss having those conversations on the phone as a vet receptionist.

'Exactly how much will this cost me?' Well, the cost of the consultation is £xx, and any medication and treatment will be on top of that. 'So, EXACTLY HOW MUCH?' Well, 1. I'm the receptionist, not the bloody vet, so clearly, I. DON'T. KNOW!!!. 2. The vet needs to bloody well see the animal, assess what it may be, before giving options and costs for treatment.

HOW HARD IS THAT TO UNDERSTAND??!!

In my time as a vet receptionist, I had a grand total of three people make in depth inquiries as to potential costs and options for having a pet and veterinary treatment.

On the other hand, I had a tsunami of idiots along these lines;

'I've just got a french bulldog. It's a rescue. I'm on UC, and don't have any money. What is it going to cost, because there must be special pricing because it's a rescue, and I'm on UC, right?'

Then there's the arseholes who rack up £1,000 to £3,000 in emergency treatment (often emergency c-sections for a bull dog), not even being a client, and then say 'well, I haven't got any money', never to be seen again. . .

Or the ones who say that well, this treatment only cost £30 ten years ago, why has it doubled?! Oh, I don't know, scarcity of resources, soaring costs of resources, oh, and guess what, you know how your electricity, insurance, and all other costs have soared? WELL SO HAVE OURS!

Oh, and my personal favourite, on being told the cost of treatment, 'so, what you're saying is you're happy for my animal to suffer?' No Ma'am, I am not. However, we are not responsible for getting your animal the necessary treatment - you are. You, bottom line, are responsible for your animal suffering if you do not get it treatment. So, perhaps, think bloody hard before having nine fucking cats and a rottweiler on your pension.

Fair enough, thank you. I think one of my cats would need sedation for her claws now I think about it!

I'm just wondering if OP's dog is that type or if they just sedate as standard to get more money? Like did they try it without sedation? It was only cleaning a wound. That the dog allowed OP to extract the seed already. Maybe I'm being too cynical now...

I’m going against the grain here to say they are ripping us off. I recently took my dog on holiday, to Europe. It took 20 mins for my vet to fill in a form, scan her microchip and look in her eyes and ears. On our return we had to see a French vet, who spent 15 minutes doing a small bit of paperwork, scanning microchip and giving my dog a tablet.

UK vet charged £256
French vet charged €21

Oh and was recently charged £80 as dog had conjunctivitis, came away basically with Optrex. Could have bought some from Boots for £6.50.

in last five years vets bills have increased by 60%.

My cat had a weepy eye earlier this year, £50 for the consultation, £35 for this tiny tube of cream, I queried the price of the cream, they said their mark up 'wasn't much' - so I came away with their cream, online the very same tiny tube of cream was £4 - same eye cream that humans can use so much for their mark up not being much... scandalous I thought in this instance!

I do have cat insurance which has been a tremendous cost saving for having all my cats teeth removed and digestive issues, was not going to put in another claim considering my excess is in the region of £60.

Not sure what the answer is to the ever increasing prices!

There might not be an NHS for dogs but that doesn’t mean some practises don’t massively overcharge people. I pay £19 for a consultation including basic care like anal glands, yet some practises charge over £60 just for the consult alone.

Yes they absolutely are. Anyone with livestock will tell you that! Our ewe had her uterus sewn back in when it prolapsed....£80 Inc 10 days or injections (provided) of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory) One of the dogs was bitten by another dog and required stitches, antibiotics (oral) and anti inflammatory.....£1400. They are over charging.

That does feel expensive but having had this done recently for my dog it genuinely did feel like a better option having them do a full check. We were given options though - ie do yourself or sedate. We chose sedate because he's a spaniel and also quite fearful at the vets so having a full check up felt like a good option particularly with how 'fast' he lives.
It was £360 though so much less than what you've had to pay! That was with a vet, 2 vet nurses, and all the associated treatment and care on the day so didn't feel overcharged.

A) Get decent insurance.
B) Yes they are expensive - this includes the numerous years of training and expertise from the veterinary staff but also ultimately they are running a business not a charity.

Yes they do have a lot of training but most of the increased prices are coming from the big corporate bosses.
We took our dog to the vet while on holiday in France and it was so much cheaper than here

I know my vets isn’t the cheapest - just had anal sac flush done under sedation and including antibiotics it cost just under £700. I’m glad my girl isn’t in discomfort. It was a senior vet who specialises in the issue that saw her several times, and carried out the procedure. Can’t fault the treatment she got and they du kitted the insurance claim for us (that cost £30 but I was glad of the peace of mind). I expect the cost to be expensive and I factored potential issues in in case we had to claim. That being said the insurance will probably jump up now and I already pay £70 a month.

If my finances had been tight I wouldn’t have got a dog as I know from family members that emergencies can prove very expensive.

I hope your dogs paw is feeling better now.

£80 sounds cheap, is that a typo??

This is why patients who access the NHS should at least be shown the cost of every treatment they receive, because people have absolutely no idea of what it costs.
You are paying for professional expertise and years of learning and experience (be it from a doctor or a vet) - why do you think that should come cheap, OP?

But it does depend. Not every examination is equal, I know that as an owner.

All the receptionist or even the vet has to go on is what you're telling them on the phone, they as much as you, don't know how in depth they're going to have to investigate until they find the problem and they have no idea at what stage that problem is at, or will become apparent in the examination.

So they can tell you an examination is £20 (for example ) and do the basics like weight, general condition, eyes and ear and temperature, find nothing, hand the animal back and say the examination found nothing or they can tell you that they genuinely don't know how much it will be if you want a diagnosis because they don't know what they'll need to do until the animal is in front of them and they start examining and follow the evidence as it were.

I honestly don't think it's that hard a concept to understand.

Lol I got quote of 350 for dog teeth treatment in London.
Went to Croqtian coastal town and did it for 35. Same procedure.
We still joke about taking my dog on a plane to dental work abroad like fucking Mariah Carry

But that 200 presumably wasn’t just for antibiotics. It was for an appointment. So professional service. You are paying for 5 years of veterinary school plus continued education. A surgery’s facilities, staff and all running costs.