Why are vets so expensive

[bevelino]

My precious dog has been treated by our local vet but is now an in-patient at a veterinary hospital. The cost so far is way more than the cost of treating a human for the same condition privately,

Probably because vets are private and not subsidized unlike the NHS.
Private medical treatment is very expensive which is why so many people have private health insurance

To some extent, too, private health care for humans is underwritten by the NHS - when there’s a serious medical issue, you’ll nearly always end up using at least some aspects of the NHS.

The cost so far is way more than the cost of treating a human for the same condition privately
It won't even be close. Medical care is expensive. Do you have pet insurance?

I have found it the other way. Have private health care means that even though I don't pay the bill it means I see the cost and it's a lot of money for humans when I compare the care I get from my vets.

My vet has a surgical team, dentistry, complimentary treatments and specialist diagnostic equipment, an ITU and specialist vets in different areas as well as overnight care. Would you really get all of them from your equivalent GP because it's like having a full hospital team and equipment that I can book into at the drop of a hat, often being seen same day with getting referred to a specialist and diagnostic tests.

We lived in Spain for a long time and our vet there was less than half the price of the UK. No charge for a consultation and all medicines much cheaper. He was a fabulous vet and made a good living but was not greedy.

My mum had a big bill for her small dog a couple of years ago. Circa £2500. I don’t think vat should be charged as it is hardly a luxury service, this would make it a bit more affordable. This is one of the reasons we don’t have a dog, I always had a dog as a kid and would love one for our son who has asd and would benefit hugely from the calming effect.
When we had a hamster we had to have it put to sleep and that was close to £100.

How much do people think human healthcare costs?!

I agree vet's bills are high but I don't agree they are higher than private medical care.

Vets are expensive because it requires a lot of investment to set up a vet's practice - premises, specialist equipment, higly-trained staff, expensive insurance etc.

@Buddywoo

We lived in Spain for a long time and our vet there was less than half the price of the UK. No charge for a consultation and all medicines much cheaper. He was a fabulous vet and made a good living but was not greedy.

But people go abroad for human private surgery and dentistry because it's cheaper than in the UK.

As vet care is private here you either need insurance like you would for human private medical care or deep pockets to pay yourself. Just as you can with human private medical care you can shop around for cheaper vets.

@Buddywoo

We lived in Spain for a long time and our vet there was less than half the price of the UK. No charge for a consultation and all medicines much cheaper. He was a fabulous vet and made a good living but was not greedy.

He also wasn't legislated by the veterinary medicines directorate

I disagree about VAT, owning a pet is a personal choice - businesses who pay vets bills can register for VAT to avoid.

Owning a pet is not in the same essential category as school shoes or bread.

Vet care costs aren't even close to human healthcare costs.

@bevelino please do tell me which private hospital offers an ovariohysterectomy for £250? Or where you can get a private GP consultation for £35?

Vets are legally bound to use certain drugs and have enormous overheads. They make very little profit. I had a client phone up the other week to complain that they could but their feliway £5 cheaper on Amazon. That's because Amazon have significantly more purchasing power that a small vet practice. For what it's worth we make £1.50 mark up on feliway, we're hardly raking it in

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/12466127#Comment_12466127

Vet salaries are nowhere close to similar professions.

But yeah I guess if you can't be arsed to engage your brain, 'greedy' is a much easier label to apply.

If you're genuinely interested in learning why private vet care is expensive see links below

https://vethelpdirect.com/vetblog/2018/11/30/veterinary-medicines-really-rip-off/

https://vethelpdirect.com/vetblog/2014/08/26/debunking-myths-about-rip-off-veterinary-fees/

https://www.bva.co.uk/media/2639/clientleaflet1-thecostsofvetcare.pdf

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/pets/news-features/pet-costs-do-vets-charge-much/

I'm a vet. My pets are insured because I know how expensive treatment is. Pets aren't a necessity. Insurance for private medical and third party expenses is essential

Think you've got this wrong. It cost me £500 to have private medical blood tests when pregnant. They would've been free on the NHS. I was paying the cost you would be charged if you had no medical insurance which sounds equivalent to your scenario. You are talking about private vet care. Have you ever seen a bill for private human surgery broken down ? Everything is charged for. I don't get why people complain about the cost of pet care. I know it's expensive which is why I don't have a pet. It's also one of the reasons why I am thankful for the NHS for human medical care.

@bevelino

My precious dog has been treated by our local vet but is now an in-patient at a veterinary hospital. The cost so far is way more than the cost of treating a human for the same condition privately,

The nuffield publishes a guide list of prices at www.nuffieldhealth.com/hospitals/pricing if you wish to compare with human costs.

Suffice to say, as someone who works in healthcare, and who knows how much basics like swabs and syringes cost, let alone how expensive drugs can be, I have literally no idea how vets keep their prices so low.

I have pet insurance, however that aside the vet fees are astronomical and over £3000 for a 4 day stay at the veterinary hospital for iv fluids, ultrasound scan and painkillers.

@Veterinari please don’t comment if you are unable to be polite.

@Veterinari I have absolutely no idea why you are being so offensive and it makes me think you are a troll and definitely not a vet

What exactly is 'offensive' about pointing out factual inaccuracies or providing the answer to your question?

@bevelino

I have pet insurance, however that aside the vet fees are astronomical and over £3000 for a 4 day stay at the veterinary hospital for iv fluids, ultrasound scan and painkillers.

@Veterinari please don’t comment if you are unable to be polite.

That's cheap! Please show me which human hospital would provide the same for less money?

But it seems you're not actually interested in a sensible answer to your question

Just in being goady and troll hunting.

@bevelino

I have pet insurance, however that aside the vet fees are astronomical and over £3000 for a 4 day stay at the veterinary hospital for iv fluids, ultrasound scan and painkillers.

@Veterinari please don’t comment if you are unable to be polite.

Honestly, as someone who is involved in budgeting for her NHS service, this is absolutely cheap as chips.

Presumably your dog is also getting skilled nursing care and regular specialist review?

If you think it poor value for money you are, of course, entitled to take them home and care for them yourself.

@bevelino

My precious dog has been treated by our local vet but is now an in-patient at a veterinary hospital. The cost so far is way more than the cost of treating a human for the same condition privately,

Er no it’s not. The cost is actually lower for a vet than a human hospital. The problem is that you are comparing the price you pay of £0 to NHS against the price you pay to the vet of up to £1000s.

Just because you aren’t directly charged the costs, doesn’t mean that vets are expensive. There is just no pet NHS.

If you lived in US, you’d see this first hand. Americans pay much much more for their own treatments than for same treatment for their pets. And their vet costs are fairly similar to UK.

I’ve just paid £4000 for a 2 day stay with one operation for my cat to repair a diaphragm hernia. She is insured but I still saw the breakdown. I thought that sounded reasonable to be honest considering all the overheads the business has.

We don’t have private healthcare here, but when I compare that to the same operation in the USA for a human it comes out at $150,000 on average.

Is pointing out why vet care is costly no polite?

I think vet care is reasonable.

When you have a consultation you aren’t just paying for the vets time you have to also include insurance, utilities, rent, nurses, reception staff, on going training costs, equipment and associated maintenance etc.

As someone who has used private medical care quite a bit in the UK it is far far more expensive than vet care in the UK. Find me a private hospital that only charges £250 per night of inpatient care in the UK.

Just out of interest why isn't @Veterinari allowed to provide some evidence based facts to refute your post about costs? Surely someone in the "know" providing information behind why costs are so "expensive" is a good thing????

OP, you're the one being offensive here. @Veterinari (probably tired at the bashing vets seem to get on here in a similar way to me being tired at the dentist bashing) has provided you with comprehensive explanations for something that's pretty obvious to anyone who's not a complete air head.

Take your pet to a rescue if you begrudge looking after it.