Why are vets so expensive?

[WatermelonLou]

Like it says. Had my small domestic dog at the vets and they quoted me 800 for an iv drip, blood tests and 'in house care' whilst they run tests. I opted for the alternative antibiotic jab and plenty tlc. She recovered well and went back into her dry food after chicken and rice for a couple of days. Got me wondering why are they so expensive for triage??

Because they are the equivalent of private doctors. Because they are businesses. Because they know people will pay.

They have very high overheads, staff, insurance, premises, equipment.
Their degrees cost a fortune.
The concept of mostly a one stop shop - from vaccinations, to dentistry, pathology, x-ray, simple and complex surgery.

Consider how expensive a doctor would be if they offered all that under one roof.

Businesses with premises and staff are expensive to run
Medicines are expensive to buy
We pay for their knowledge, expertise and years of training & experience, not just the 15 min consultation
We are spoilt by the NHS

The above both make sense

Because private medical care costs an absolute fortune.

Literally this.

Always amazes me when people moan about prices of vets, having a pet is a privilege not a right, it's not compulsory. If you have one you need to be fully aware of the cost. We are fortunate that there is insurance offered which covers a variety of ailments (and yes, I am aware it doesn't cover everything)

I'm sitting with my grandson as my daughter has gone to work as a veterinary nurse.. (for just over minimum wage) She actually thought the same as you before she trained for 3 years to qualify...
She orders and unpacks all the supplies and medication (that pet owners expect during the visit..and she's been shouted at because an owner 'couldn't believe you don't stock that', and they had to come back the next day) so she knows how much everything costs...
The operating room is fully equipped and used daily for booked operations and emergencies...
The owner , the vet, is definitely not wealthy..her overheads and mortgage on the building are huge...

Because it's a reflection of the true cost of healthcare.

They're not expensive. Thats how much healthcare costs.

We're totally spoilt having a free NHS, whether we realise it or not.

One of the reasons is that large numbers of veterinary practices have been taken over by American private equity.

It means vets are under pressure to offer unnecessary extras to maximise income.

I believe this happened to my previously very sensible small vet practice. Where previously they would sensibly discuss expense and the value of particular procedures, I hadn't been there for a while as there was a break between our last dog dying and when we got a new puppy.

When I took the puppy to be castrated the vet checked him in and asked if I wanted blood tests doing while he was under anaesthetic. I asked why? He's a young dog in excellent health, what would need testing? The vet just said oh well some people just like reassurance. Then asked if I wanted him to have an IV. I said "is that routine? They don't do that on Yorkshire vet. It's a quick procedure surely?" The vet shrugged and said some people want it. 🤷‍♀️ I said I wanted whatever was clinically necessary.

In the event they rang an hour later to say he was kennel guarding and they wouldn't do it but referred to a behaviouralist.

I changed vets to a bigger practice which I know is definitely not corporate owned. No problems of this sort since. Common sense is restored. And no blood tests or IVs for castration.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9642305/Calls-inquiry-equity-vultures-snap-vets-amid-rising-bills-welfare-fears.html

The above post about large corporate practices - they’re being pressured to maximise income from their customers. The days of smaller practices are rapidly going. The worse news is that your healthcare will be like this soon too.

Isn't that exactly what the FCA are investigating right now - why vets are so expensive? And potentially inflating their prices to screw insurance companies.

My vets have 2 qualified vets, 4 trainee vets, 2 receptionists, and 1 person dealing with insurance, so I think 10 staff in all, they have a converted large house with a few vehicles. They also do on-site scans, X-rays, blood tests etc., all those cost a lot of money, but yes vet costs are staggering. My dog is 5 years old, we have got back all our insurance premiums for our dog being in vets one day for a skin infection where he had a skin scrape, blood tests, anesthetic and being looked after on a one to one basis, along with medication it all came to £1600, which was repaid virtually all by the insurance. The other problem is that most are chains now, whilst that helps with staffing, it all costs more to run.

I also agree that private healthcare is expensive and thanks to the NHS most of us have no idea how much.

But OP I'd lay money your vet practice is part of one of these big corporations. I'd look for a small privately run one.

In fact this is what happened to Yorkshire vets - they kept it fairly quiet and the two key vets, Peter and Julian parted ways after it was taken over by Medivet.

I suspect that as senior partner, nearing retirement age, the lure of selling out took over but Julian did not want to do the corporate stuff and left to set up on his own.
Later Peter also left as he obviously didn't like not being the boss but having his decisions overseen by corporate profiteering.

www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/1491144/The-Yorkshire-Vet-Peter-Wright-leave-Skeldale

Sorry, it's not a good article, I think they sensibly tried to not have a public spat or moan. Or possibly there was a NDA.
So there isn't that much information about what happened.

Our vets are still very small and locally owned - prices (compared to what I read on here) are still incredibly cheap.

I pay £24 a month for daily Metacam for one of my cats. An emergency OOH appointment for another cost £96 and included three medications and the appointment time.

A practice near me is still vet owned and is flourishing and prices more in line with a few years ago, but most have been bought up by private equity firms and are charging clients a fortune. Don’t be shy about asking the practice manager who owns the practice.

More info https://www.ft.com/content/9a825fe8-8ea5-4ef3-84b7-2529bfe5ffed

Also practices that rely on insurance paying for treatment can charge far more in the knowledge that the insurance will pick up the tab, and quibble far less than someone paying out of pocket.

Why have you put in house care in quotations?
I am vet nurse, in house care covers quite a lot. Everything from cuddles and comfort to monitoring vitals throughout the day, making sure iv is Insitu, replacing if necessary, calculating fluid rates, administering medications, recording all this, hand feeding, cleaning up diarrhoea, exercising patients, updating the veterinary surgeon on patient status, I mean I could go on and on, that's just a small example of what in house care entails.
Whilst doing that we'll also be running all the lab tests, ensuring they're all attached to patient records, we may have multiple patients and be the only nurse on site (huge industry shortages), we often don't get lunch (or have it sat in a kennel!), we're invisible to the public mostly and we're underpaid but we are there, through the back, caring for your pet all day long.

Having owned cats for 40 odd years, I have observed a change in the way I perceive that many vet operate. Prices have increased massively and disproportionately in the last 10 or 15 years which I suspect has a couple of causes.
Insurance - means that vets can charge what they like and sometimes (frequently now in my experience) recommend treatments that really aren't necessary.
Ownership - many (most?) independent vets have been pulled into corporate ownership so fees now also have to cover head office costs and shareholder profits.
Plus twats like Noel Fitzpatrick suggest that every possible intervention for a pet is a great idea (tortoise wheels anyone,) where actually putting an animal to sleep would be better for the animal. These (frequently inappropriate) treatments require extensive kit and added overhead expenses.

Six years training at £25k a year minimum, plus interest.

Plus the need for premises, veterinary nurses and equipment.

You are effectively paying for a private doctor and all the supporting hospital equipment & diagnostics.

I agree that vets have massive overheads and our vet practice is fabulous. The vets and staff are great. This is not vet bashing in anyway at all. I support all the hard work that they do.

No criticism on the practice but vet care has got really expensive and the increase in prices is huge. We paid £480 for an in house blood test for an elderly dog. I looked back at our records and the same test 3 years ago cost £120

Our emergency vet care price 3 years ago was £250 for initial appointment understandable as emergency now it is £420.

It does seem that vet care has had a major hike in prices in the last couple of years I guess like everything else.

I would never be without insurance as the initial cost of diagnosing the dog can cost many hundreds, more if you need a scan, before you even start paying for the treatment.

Private equity as Pps have mentioned. It's a scandal and no good for vet staff, pet owners or the animals.

All the money goes to shareholders depriving individual vets from a proper, independent livelihood and making responsible pet ownership more and more difficult.

Makes me feel sick to think how people who can't afford the fees are having to euthanize or not provide proper treatment. If this were an issue facing human patients there would be more noise about it.

But pet owners end up paying in the long run when insurers have to put premiums up.

Vets are not expensive.

Try private human medicine, then compare the costs. It will be a multiple of what vets charge.

Veterinary treatment is part of pet ownership. If you can’t afford it, or can’t afford proper insurance, you can’t afford to own the animal. This is not a difficult concept to grasp.

I do agree that the type of practice makes a huge difference.

My boy was attacked by another dog on a Friday evening. We had to attend a chain emergency vet. They offered loads of options but pushed the exploratory surgery option heavily because the wound was near to the kidney area. Ddog is a whippet so we refused the general anaesthetic, give how extremely stressed he already was. They then tried to foist stitching the wound on us with accompanying stay, IV, Antibiotics. For a slightly lower cost. By this point my boy was extremely distressed so I asked what the risk would be to take him home on oral antibiotics and take him to our usual vet. The answer = none.

We took our dog in to see our usual vet, first thing the next morning. No exploratory surgery required- certainly no stitches - not best course of action after a dog bite. She just taught little old me how to irrigate the wound and put ointment on it (pretty full-on). Gave him pain relief and antibiotics orally and visited once every five days for a quick check (not charged for). On the fifteenth day she gave him a light anaesthetic and stitched the wound.

Her bill was a full 2500 less than the cheapest option offered by the emergency vet. More importantly her course of treatment was the most appropriate for my low body weight sighthound.

Moral of this long story is choose your vet carefully and stick with a good one. They are worth their weight in gold and it is very much worth your while to shop around and check out reviews