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 .

How long has it been illegal?
My little cat lived happy and well until she was 19 thanks to the vet, they did say it was exceptional circumstances as they couldn’t get the animal meds she needed quickly, she was bleeding behind her eyes due to high blood pressure and went blind I thought she was dying.
The vet examined her and told me what it was. Luckily there was a pharmacy three doors up and we got the meds and my cat got her sight back. They wrote me a prescription for further doses rather than change to the vets meds as I couldn’t afford £100 a month on top of the weekly vet visits, blood pressure tests and heart scan she needed so they did me and my cat a huge service. There was nothing shady about the vet they just let me carry on giving the same meds as she was stable on them and so I could afford to treat her.

Several posters on the thread have said that people need to educate themselves about the cost of medical care for their animals and not get pets if they can’t afford it. How are people supposed to educate themselves before they decide to take on a pet about how much it’s going to potentially cost them, if practiced don’t all display pricing for procedures, they can’t find this information out because practices say “well it entirely depends”, and apparently you need to shadow a vet to be able to understand why it’s not possible for vets to give consumers an estimate prior to treatment being carried out or even tell them upfront what the initial examination will cost?

I’m not quibbling over the fact that vet care costs money, but if my private GP and dentist can manage to be transparent about procedure costs then it’s reasonable to expect the same of vets.

You need these to get a dog out of the country anyway.
Also, you can get your dog vaccinated in EU and spare yourself the UK bill bcs it lasts three years ;)

Obviously I am not saying that it is more affordable to fly to another country for 350£ dental cleaning all bills included...
But
If you already visit France,Croatia or probably most other EU countries for a holiday it is worth exploring getting your pets yearly checkups, general health procedures that are known and can be scheduled etc. abroad.

Btw, I lnow a person who paid for 2kg yorkie well above 1500 for scheduled operation. In that case, yes, you can just take yourself and a pup on a holliday.

I have a relative with a vet friend who advises what to get from chemist rather than paying vet prices. One example; my dog had a sticky eye, Goldeneyes from the pharmacy cost £5, cleared it up in no time. Vet would have charged £30 consultation & who knows how much for ointment!

Yup, same advice but from third person with large old dog breen.
Calpol is ok bcs dogs are fine with paracetamol.
Anything ibuprofen based is toxic.

Basically like pregnancy.

Genuine question. Why are there so few British large animal vets? For the last 10 years ours have consistently been Spanish.

It’s not the amounts charged by vets that surprise me but the fact people agree to pay. I love animals but I wouldn’t pay out loads for treatment. Paying thousands to keep an animal alive when you are skint seems crazy to me. It’s irresponsible to have pets if you can’t afford insurance or to pay for treatment.

Classic.

The fact you think this isn’t feasible speaks volumes. All of these can be costed within a range. You seem to be confusing people expecting vets to have x-Ray vision (that’s not what’s being asked) with being transparent about the cost of an X-ray for diagnostic purposes (that is being asked).

Are you interested in an internship to
shadow what this looks like in human health?

Had to take my Ragdoll cat in to have her claws trimmed , she was like a wild tiger so ended up having them cut under sedation , the cost £182.00.

Affordability vs value is not the same.

This isn’t really about the cost, but I’d be really curious to hear from those who practice veterinary medicine about how small pet care has changed over say the last 30 to 40 years.

My guess is that clinics offer far more diagnostic tests such as MRIs, bloodwork, etc. and perhaps perform more operations than they did in the past. It seems as if it’s getting close to human healthcare now! Of course some of this is due to medical advances, but I think that pet ownership has really changed from when I was growing up and perhaps vet services have too. Anyone?

Gosh and I thought vets in Dublin were expensive. Our cat needs to have her teeth checked under anaesthetic €300, if she needs some teeth pulled €500. Was in a fight with another cat, emergency on call vet in a university €220, IV antibiotics and painkillers: this was on a Sunday morning. Her annual vaccinations and checkup €82. Her nail came off, €105 for collar, clean up of wound and IV antibiotic and tablets plus anti inflammatories €105.

Our vet in Dublin gave us a prescription for the pharmacy when our cat scratched her cornea. They didn’t have it in stock but the pharmacy did. It’s an eye drop I used myself in the past.

Wow!

My cat had to have a leg amputated last year. I was given a total price for the procedure. After complications and weeks of further treatments, I asked my veterinary practice for a breakdown of the charges, the most shocking thing for me was that I was paying 20% extra in VAT, for all the services, drugs etc. Overall, the vet/vet nurse/vet hospital/drugs/dressings etc was about £4500, and I paid about £900 in tax. The vet bill was fine by me, I can see how expensive it could be to provide the care level I would like for my pet, the government charging me an extra 20% really boiled my piss!

Ours for a large lab cross was £60 per month.
He was poorly, admitted to out of hours vet and subsequently diagnosed with IBD, and allergy to chicken. That cost, in total, about £1800 , no issue with insurance.
Last year I missed the email with the massive increase . Went to £133 per month. Difference was basically how much we had 'used' .
This year i was ready. No treatments needed for 18mths, so no costs incurred. The renewal was £600 more taking it to over £2000 a yr. At That rate it would be £4000 by the time he's 8. I
I've had to take a policy out without his preexisting and it's £35 per month and we are adding £100 to our savings.
They prey on people worried about pre existing conditions so people feel they have no choice but to keep paying it!

We have a colony, if that's the word, of feral cats.
Not my choice but they're here and I keep them neutered, fed and housed in feral shelters.When a vacuum is created by one dying or just disappearing as they sometimes do then another will appear. I'm in a very rural area where the concept of cat neutering doesn't seem to get through to everyone but thankfully I'm seeing less kittens year on year and it's my hope that as the cats die from old age the numbers should reduce.
One of them needed veterinary attention yesterday for what turned out to be a soft tissue injury, x ray, consultation, injections and anti inflammatory medications cost £170.Its a small independent vet and that's probably quite well priced but still about 20% of my salary for this week.
People's ability to access veterinary services really impacts on animal welfare, particularly for feral and semi feral cats. All the local charities are struggling, off loading an injured cat to them is not the answer.

I mean yeah. This is literally why we don’t have a dog 🤷🏻‍♀️

We got a rescue, which, because of their age when we got her, could only be insured up to £3000.
So we put aside £3000, and added the cost of the insurance premiums to it each month (£65)
6 years on, we’ve put aside £4680 in “premiums”, and paid out around £3000 in vets bills, so we are still, without the initial £3000, up by over £1500…
That £3000 paid for a bitch spay, colitis treatment, kennel cough treatment, teeth removal and a couple of wounds being treated…
Makes us wonder exactly what benefit the insurance actually has, tbh!

@worralorra insurance premiums are based on actuarial risk. Some owners will not need much treatment for their pets, others will. The insurance companies principle aim is to make a profit not vice versa.

It's for the owners' peace of mind that in the event of a serious illness or accident, the cost if care will be met. A good analogy is your car insurance- I have claimed on mine three times: 1988, 1997 and 2011, probably amounting to about £8k (reclaimed from the other party each time) compared to the equivalent of £20k in premiums.

Our old boy cat was insured through one of the better providers and I once worked out that over 15 years his premiums amounted to £7.50pcm when I deducted the cost of the claims: about £5k (accident prone) then meds for arthritis when he was a senior. Not bad for peace of mind. My girls presently cost about £50. When it ramps up when they are 8, I'll stop it, because I can afford care without worrying and that's the point where a risk analysis is worthwhile.

150k + FT with on calls, a package to include car/phone laptop/allowance. given marginal tax rate, loss of personal allowance/benefits student loan / graduate tax, stress, indemnity, risk and dealing with general public in this day and age - I think that is fair remuneration.

You forgot the hedge fund owners profit as there are fewer and fewer independent practices these days and even those who look independent are often owned by financiers in the background. Same is happening with lots of smaller professional practices that are still marketed as if they were locally owned and managed.

Absolutely they do over charge. I’ve had two different vets at the same practice give two completely different quotes. One was £700 cheaper than the other. That’s almost a thousand pounds mark up between two vets at the same place. Guess which one got the work? The one who charged £700 less. Obviously.

Like dentists, many vet groups are backed by private equity and they are rinsing us for all its worth.

Actually been thinking about this a lot recently as we have two elderly dogs and no insurance. We did have but despite no new ongoing conditions apart from arthritis in one the premium had gone up to an extortionate amount. So we put some savings aside instead. But our vets are great.They are now a larger practice as they have several surgeries in the area.But considering the overheads they must have I don't know what people expect. I've always found them compassionate and on the odd occasion they have offered something else ie.extra blood test before sedation if I've said no after a discussion there's been no pressure. I've recently had to call out pest control and a plumber at home and honestly was shocked at their charges but on reflection I'm paying for their expertise and they have costs to running a business too.