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 .

Maybe you should spend a few days shadowing a vet. Then you might have an understanding.

My dog had a check up, we were told she had an ear infection. Can’t remember the bill, but around £160. ‘Come back in a week to check all ok.’

Went back, quick Look in ears, all ok. £50 please. This is a chain.

How much do you think an employed vet earns per year? And a vet nurse?
It's shit compared to how long, difficult and specialised the training is. And also it is a stressful job, emotionally charged through owners a lot of the time.

My lovely (independent) vets recently mentioned that if my dog were to require painkillers for an (ongoing at the time) problem, I could buy Calpol. He told me the ratios to use for his weight, and said that he didn’t think it was necessary at the moment but if I later felt that it was, and had forgotten the dosage, to give a call and he’d tell me again. Not all vets are money-grabbing, and although fees can be high, we are paying for expertise which has taken many years to establish, as well as the years and £££ spent in training.

@Birchtree1 Personally I think that most vets work hard for their money. The only aspect that I don't like is if they try to pressure an owner into treatments for elderly pets. Most of the vets at our practice accept that as our dog is elderly, we just want to keep him pain-free and happy at this stage in his life - and he is. We don't want investigations and further testing; we certainly don't want him to have a knee replacement just because he walks slower than he used to. He's nearly 80 in human years, of course he's slowed down! But he shows no sign of pain.

One of them does try to push me into agreeing to all sorts and it irritates me. I prefer not to see her tbh.

My shepherd has injected herself with animal antibiotics in the past. 🤪

Well the actual price sounds comparable to what I paid for sedation and stitching a cut paw. I was shocked at the price too. My immediate reaction was horse vets are way cheaper! Happened to bump into my equine vet the following day. He guessed £350 and was a bit shocked when I told him the amount.
so I think yes there could well be an element of overcharging.

Qualified vet earns £34-40,000. If specialise might earn up to £60,000. Vet nurses a disgusting £28,000. No extra for weekend or out of hours.

Ask for an itemised invoice.

Ex vet nurse here with over 20 years' experience. I have NEVER encountered anything like that and find it extremely hard to believe.

I had a pony euthanised in England 8 years ago, vet bill including emergency call out was £435 (and the idiot vet totally effed it up). I've just had a pony euthanised in France, vet bill including emergency call out was €145. So yeah.

I agree completely with you!
And what owners need to remember is that it is their pet. They make the decisions about treatment and investigations.
I certainly always offered all options ( including no investigations, just pain relieve etcetc) this is what I learned early on in my career. And at my practice we certainly try to work WITH the owner. But then I don't work for a corporate.
We also can't buy drugs for the same price as they are sold online and are ALWAYS happy to write prescriptions for owners to order their meds online.

A horse will be stitched in a field with a bit of local ( or in a stable) this is not ethical or possible for most dogs and cats. As soon as their is an anaesthesia involved you have 1 nurse just monitoring this, another nurse to prep the animal and the vet suturing, then a nurse recovering the animal from the anaesthesia....voila....3 people, drugs, monitoring equipment, GA equipment etcetc...most likely 1.5 hours ish altogether....£350 would be a bargain!

And the cost of your blue tongue vaccine is probably around £3 per sheep? Plus then throw in your abortion vaccines, chlamydia vaccines, orf and foot rot treatments!! and the vet to come out when they prolapse - or when the sheep just want to live to die - they are good at that!! Being a farmer is so expensive. I’ve seen farmers owe their vets around 10k just for necessary vaccines let alone emergency treatment!

Our vet is an independent vet that mainly specialises in farm animals but also does pets. We don't pay anything like the prices mentioned above.

Youre right about the cost of vaccines but we administer them. We also deal with problems like prolapse ourselves. We put the prolapse back in and then put the sheep in a harness.

Ah that’s great- at least you manage to save some costs that way! I don’t think i know of any farm vets that have vaccinated with btv for the farmer to be honest. You’ve also chosen the right time to vaccinate - it has been out of stock for months (despite there being 3 different vaccines for it!)

I once bought Hibiscrub from my vet and then realised they were charging a 250% markup compared to Boots.

You hit the nail on the head. Quality health care is expensive.

And this is one of the reasons why vets leave the profession in droves. Vets want to look after animals. Practice owners want to make money. They are not the same people, but it is the clinicians who get the blame for it.
I would never go back to clinical work. You couldn't pay me enough.

Boots gets discounts for bulk buying. Independent vets don’t.

if you talk to your vet practice they tend to be very open about telling you you can buy elsewhere .

It’s not so much the vet though I do wonder if they’re scared of insurance companies…. It’s the hedge fund companies that own them.
IVC run vet £80 consultation
Independant vet £55

No they didn’t.
Partially yes- but some of it is greed.

The vet treating my cat for high blood pressure wrote me prescriptions for the chemist for human meds because they were cheaper. £6 for a months supply.
The vets version of the same medication was over £50 for two weeks supply.

Then he is committing a criminal offence.
I would be changing vet. If he is behaving sketchily on very clear, fundamental rules then I would worry what other corners he was cutting.