Page 2 | I knew the increase in vet fees had to be a scam

allthemiddlechildrenoftheworld · 15/04/2025 19:17

many vets are now part of big conglomerates. you would be cheaper at an independent vet. find one here. www.independentvets.co.uk

jasflowers · 15/04/2025 19:23

bookworm8500 · 15/04/2025 18:39

Like everything in the UK, we are ripped off

Is the veterinary model much different from dentistry?

The UK has some of the most expensive fees in Europe, its even cheaper in Germany!

The previous Govt just seemed to think that high fees for anything at all was a good thing.

@allthemiddlechildrenoftheworld That bought up just one practice for me, it stopped taking new clients years ago.

Original poster

Crazyworldmum · 15/04/2025 19:30

3smallpups · 15/04/2025 17:40

It’s not the whole story though. I’m a vet, had my own practice for 20 years plus. We kept prices low by short appointment times, using cheap generic drugs and providing a safe but no frills service. We absolutely had high standards but not referral level. I know work part time in another independent practice. Prices have risen massively but my boss is by no means well off, she has a second hand car and a small three bed new build. This is just to contextualise the profit level.
costs have increased massively
we are no longer allowed to use generic or human drugs if there is a licensed vet alternative
clients expect longer appointments
there are massive increases in red tape type legislation, health and safety etc that require more staff office time.
clients expect a more gold standard level of vet care
which is fine but we are now at a level where medical care for pets is way ahead of your average medical care on the NHS.
there was an interesting article in a vet paper recently , comparing the treatment of the authors daughter with a medical condition to that of a dog. The dogs care was way faster and superior .
i myself presented to a and e recently with a pneumothorax. I sat in the waiting room with not even pain relief for three hours , even after they suspected a pneumothorax, I was just sent to sit on a plastic chair by the nurses station “ so they would notice if I deteriorated “
had a cat come in to the surgery with the same condition, it would have been immediately triaged and given pain relief , put on oxygen, had someone monitoring it constantly , plus an X-ray and probably a chest drain within an hour . This is what people expect , but it doesn’t come cheap.

My issue is not with vets is as you say the burocracy . My mums cat just had surgery to remove a large cyst ( send to be analysed) and lots of teeth extracted plaid blood work , 2 nights in the vet on a drip ( very old cat so needed extra care ) paid 390 euros . Let’s be bowbst I couldn’t even get a dog spayed here for that amount . Vets earn as much as here too .

OP posts:

mrsrobin · 15/04/2025 20:19

Last year, I had to take my dog to vets in Germany and Norway - everyone said, oh I bet that was expensive. No - it was cheap. I mean really cheap - even in Norway, where the consultation and drugs came to less than a consultation would have been in the UK. It is worrying how expensive vet care is now in the UK - I am sure pets will suffer because of it.

Beamur · 15/04/2025 23:17

Cat rescues are inundated with cats being surrendered because owners can't afford to keep them anymore.
No doubt animals are suffering because their owners are reluctant to take them to the vets.

Original poster

Crazyworldmum · 15/04/2025 23:28

mrsrobin · 15/04/2025 20:19

Last year, I had to take my dog to vets in Germany and Norway - everyone said, oh I bet that was expensive. No - it was cheap. I mean really cheap - even in Norway, where the consultation and drugs came to less than a consultation would have been in the UK. It is worrying how expensive vet care is now in the UK - I am sure pets will suffer because of it.

It’s like that all over Europe . The uk is the most expensive

OP posts:

MadisonAvenue · 16/04/2025 00:01

An anonymous member of staff at my vets, told me a couple of years back what was going on with the practice refusing to supply prescription medicines unless you took your pet back to have a 'check up' every 3 months. For pets on lifelong medication - eg skin medication, Apoquel, this is an outrageous bump up to an extortionately expensive medication to start with.

Wasn’t that due to a new prescribing law which the RCVS introduced a couple of years ago?

The vet also charges £15 admin fee to process the claim - they didn't used to do that until fairly recently.

We lost our almost 13 year old dog last year (he was diabetic and vet bills were ridiculous) and our vet had always charged an admin fee for processing claims, even though there were just a few boxes for them to tick once I’d filled in the majority of the form.

Marmiteontoastgirlie · 16/04/2025 00:08

Whitetruck · 15/04/2025 18:27

The only thing that shocked me in the article was the naivety of people expecting it would be anything else. They're private businesses. Their only reason to exist is to make money.

The issue isn’t trying to make money, it’s the lack of competition which means that they can charge what they like. Government needs to intervene and break up these monopolies.

MadisonAvenue · 16/04/2025 00:09

There’s a discussion about this article on my local Facebook group tonight and one man has said his cat has had a scale and polish and a few teeth extracted today at a cost of £1150. He said he was quoted £350 last year, and today’s bill was recalculated to £875 when he argued about it.

IDontHateRainbows · 16/04/2025 00:10

3smallpups · 15/04/2025 17:40

It’s not the whole story though. I’m a vet, had my own practice for 20 years plus. We kept prices low by short appointment times, using cheap generic drugs and providing a safe but no frills service. We absolutely had high standards but not referral level. I know work part time in another independent practice. Prices have risen massively but my boss is by no means well off, she has a second hand car and a small three bed new build. This is just to contextualise the profit level.
costs have increased massively
we are no longer allowed to use generic or human drugs if there is a licensed vet alternative
clients expect longer appointments
there are massive increases in red tape type legislation, health and safety etc that require more staff office time.
clients expect a more gold standard level of vet care
which is fine but we are now at a level where medical care for pets is way ahead of your average medical care on the NHS.
there was an interesting article in a vet paper recently , comparing the treatment of the authors daughter with a medical condition to that of a dog. The dogs care was way faster and superior .
i myself presented to a and e recently with a pneumothorax. I sat in the waiting room with not even pain relief for three hours , even after they suspected a pneumothorax, I was just sent to sit on a plastic chair by the nurses station “ so they would notice if I deteriorated “
had a cat come in to the surgery with the same condition, it would have been immediately triaged and given pain relief , put on oxygen, had someone monitoring it constantly , plus an X-ray and probably a chest drain within an hour . This is what people expect , but it doesn’t come cheap.

You are comparing nhs and private treatment though. Not private and private. If you'd gone to a private hospital for humans surely you'd have had better treatment?

InTheWindow · 16/04/2025 08:08

redboxer321 · 15/04/2025 18:30

I think the way the veterinary industry has gone is yet another reason why people should not keep pets.

So because vets have largely been taken over by greedy corporations who couldn’t care less about people or animals (while veterinary staff are lovely and do their best to work around the awful conditions imposed on them), I should not have my dog and cat? Why?

IDontHateRainbows · 16/04/2025 08:16

We've decided that should our cat bill go over a certain limit, they'll have to go to 'the great cattery in the sky'. We are insured, but that only takes you so far.

My brother just spent all his savings, 15k, trying to save his dog who died anyway. He has nothing left. He was talking about early draw down of his pension before fate intervened

I love out pets but truth be told, I love my money more

PartyGoose · 16/04/2025 08:21

Ariela · 15/04/2025 17:47

Always baffled me as to why horse vet (who comes to you with portable xray machine = less than 1/3 cost of taking dog to vet for xray. Ditto vaccinations, horse vet comes to you dog vet you take to them and it costs 3 or 4 x as much

Yes! We've got sheep, who we use a farm vet for because the pet vet in town doesn't do farm work. The last time one had to be euthanised it cost £72 for a home visit and the euthanasia.

The pet vet in town charges about £300 for euthanising a fucking dog half the size of a sheep, and you have to take the dog to them for it.

How does that work then?

Wheech · 16/04/2025 08:58

Whitetruck · 15/04/2025 18:27

The only thing that shocked me in the article was the naivety of people expecting it would be anything else. They're private businesses. Their only reason to exist is to make money.

They are, but private equity is not the same thing as other business models, eg shareholder owner. If a business is answerable to shareholders or privately owned there will be focus on sustainable growth. PE is about wringing out as much money as possible without regard for the long term future of the business or the welfare of the employees or customers. I know because I work in a PE owned business (not a vet).

Hyperion100 · 16/04/2025 09:00

Same model as the US healthcare system.

That's why it costs 10 grand to have a baby and 80 grand to fix a few broken bones.

3smallpups · 16/04/2025 09:04

@IDontHateRainbows yes but I probably phrased it wrong, what I meant was that vet services have advanced to the point of private medicine service levels, but that is what is expensive, and maybe there’s nothing wrong with giving pets NHS levels of service at a cheaper price . It’s a bit ludicrous that pets now get better care than humans so maybe the balance has swung too far and maybe there needs to be a more low cost option available.

Showerflowers · 16/04/2025 09:14

Beamur · 15/04/2025 23:17

Cat rescues are inundated with cats being surrendered because owners can't afford to keep them anymore.
No doubt animals are suffering because their owners are reluctant to take them to the vets.

They definitely are suffering. Last year we took a stray to the vet who had a horrendous skin issue and a very bad eye infection. The vet found that the cat was actually chipped and so rang the owner. Owner said they couldn’t come fetch the cat as they wouldn’t be able to afford the vets fees to treat it.

he came home with us.

Ariela · 16/04/2025 10:16

@PartyGoose I'd be ringing the sheep vet and saying any chance you can come and PTS the dog because it's too stressed/unwell to put in the car and the other vet won't come out - our horse vet will do dogs of horse customers.

TheMoonAndTheStarss · 16/04/2025 12:53

Crazyworldmum · 15/04/2025 14:06

https://apple.news/ADt8WFAeZQ3a6Xpqd3Xz13g

I’ve been saying all along the increase in vet fees in the last decade has been out of this world .
I used to be a small hobby breeder ( pedigree cats ) and spaying , vaccinations and microchipping was all around £80 per kitten . Now all of it will easily cost £400 or more .
Vet fees in other countries maintained a normal increase , France , Portugal , Cyprus Spain had affordable vet care ( 50 to 80% less than the U.K. ) and vets are paid the same as here wage wise .
The uk is having the cost controlled by these companies that are purposely inflating prices .

It’s not just the BBC news article. They’ve done a documentary on it:

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0029yx0

Summerhillsquare · 16/04/2025 12:55

HappyHolidai · 15/04/2025 16:44

It's not really a scam, it's the private equity business model. Load up the business with massive piles of debt, see only money and not value, take several pounds of flesh from the staff, drain all the profits, then sell it on to someone to do the same thing on steroids.
Evil.

Edited

This. Conveyancing, dentistry, accounting going the same way, very few genuine small businesses will survive, everything is being sucked into the rapacious maw of capital.

Original poster

Crazyworldmum · 16/04/2025 13:09

TheMoonAndTheStarss · 16/04/2025 12:53

It’s not just the BBC news article. They’ve done a documentary on it:

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0029yx0

Show quote history

My sister was telling me this . I need to watch it . It’s shameful

OP posts:

drivinmecrazy · 16/04/2025 13:16

It’s completely nonsensical to me.
we took our dog to Spain for a few months last year.
unfortunately he was attacked by two Rottweilers on a Sunday morning.
took him to the vet immediately, he had multiple injuries which needed stitching and obviously antibiotics.
’luckily’ we’d extended our insurance to give us coverage abroad so would only be looking at a £200 excess.

his whole treatment, including follow up was €209 !!!

so we are definitely at a disadvantage in UK sadly.

we pay £90 just to see a vet here 😡

Almostwelsh · 16/04/2025 13:42

IDontHateRainbows · 16/04/2025 00:10

You are comparing nhs and private treatment though. Not private and private. If you'd gone to a private hospital for humans surely you'd have had better treatment?

Show quote history

As far as I'm aware there is no private emergency treatment for humans outside of London and a couple of other big cities. So animals might have the advantage there.

CousinBob · 23/04/2025 09:02

People aren’t going to be taking on the older animals from rescue because of the risk of extra expense. I was planning to get a mature dog, but not now.

alsohappenedoverhere · 23/04/2025 09:33

Interested in what people think the answer is. My dc wants to be a vet - I am v concerned that it is years of training without suffice financial reward.