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??

Vets are meant to give you all the options, that will include the all singing all dancing all in expensive options down to basic budget options. You take what’s appropriate for you. It’s very standard to also offer blood work and iv fluids for even routine neutering because you just don’t know if there’s something underlying. I’ve seen things flagged up on blood work done before starting the op that’s meant the op has been cancelled because it would be too risky to proceed without fixing the problem that’s been flagged.

Bottom line, vets have to give you options, they can’t assume what you will and won’t want and what you will and won’t pay for. So they’re meant to give you a range to pick from, explain benefits and risks of all and let you make an informed choice.

That's such a shame. Ours are still in the "former" category thankfully - the owner is the head vet and his wife is one of the vet nurses. There are seven vets (some full-time, some part-time), several nurses and receptionists across two practises.

They will also do house calls for very unwell or nervous animals and will see you on the same day if its' an emergency. I've even had emergency OOH appointments within half an hour before - and they don't charge extra for it either.

They're fantastic with all our animals {we've been using them for seven years now).

Agreed, except it may not be possible as most insurers have an upper age limit of 9-ish years.

My worry is that already overflowing rescues would be inundated with uninsurable pets.

@feelingalittlehorse I took my Lurcher in for a dental and mentioned in passing a tiny limp that hadn’t responded to rest and gentle walks.

Tests we’re done- Osteosarcoma ( bone cancer)
mercifully caught early, but due to age we opted for home euthanasia when time was right .)

I just ask when whoever I want is on , there have been times when they’ve had vets that I won’t see unless it’s an emergency because I’ve seen them and don’t like their manner . I think most people do it at the practices I’m at , the smaller practice which is about 7 miles away from the main one has an absolutely fantastic lead vet and lots of people have swapped to their just to see her ( we go to her with the cats ) and I try to see the lead vet at the main practice with the dog as he knows all his problems . I’m also on very good terms with most of the reception staff and I think that helps with getting short notice appts etc

We have something in common. I really don't understand posts like yours either.

The other vet (who we transfered to and are still with) told me there was absolutely no reason to even suspect bone cancer.
With regards to your last two paragraphs - please don't patronise me with your inane bullshit. The vet proposing the tests was wrong, and he'd also given the wrong advice regarding the length of time to use metacam (which is an anti-inflammatory drug not a mild pain relief by the way).

If you wish to pay £700 for pointless tests to a shit vet you go ahead. I'm sure you'll get a nice "pat on the head" when you pay the bill.

Clearly another reason vets are now so expensive are because some people are too stupid to question treatment and get a second opinion.

Nail on the head. It's all about screwing the insurance firms. Same happened with private dentistry, BUPA etc.

Same happens with motor body repairs - they ask you if it's private or insurance claim and give you a big discount if it's private because they're going to inflate the charges massively for insurance claims. It's partly why when your car has an accident, the insurance firms will write it off but you can buy it back and get it repaired a lot cheaper - the bodyshop will charge the insurance firm more than they'll charge you directly.

Of course, all that leads on to the ever increasing cost of insurance! So it's a vicious circle really and will only get worse, with ultimately, the consumer/patient paying ever increasing premiums!

This is not true ,the majority of practices would never rely on a clients insurance policy paying out to either the client or a direct payment to the practice, many would go out of business whilst waiting to be paid that way !
There is far too much of a grey area in insurance claims and so many claims are refused or less than expected paid out, the reason you would usually be asked to pay at the time of treatment then claim the insurance payback direct to yourself.
The clients insurance is not the responsibility of the practice it is the owners choice to use a company / make a claim.
Often a practice doesn't even know the client has insurance until the need to make a claim arises.
I speak as someone with many years experience in a practice , prices differ vastly,using hair salons as an example of vast price differences is a good comparison although people don't seem to mind forking out for that so much !
A vet will give you options inc the very best gold standard and a cheaper alternative that may just be good enough to fix the problem if that's what you prefer or can afford either way you are not committed and you can shop around and compare prices and choose another vets as you would for any other type of service you may need.
I'm not going to bother giving my opinion on vets fees , if you have the slightest experience of this field of work then you know how much the running of a practice costs.
Of course there are dodgy vets but not many , it's a small circle and we all get to know whats going on where, the vast majority of us are trying to do our very best and more for your beloved pets.

Same here, I always insist on knowing which vet I'm booked in with. There is one that is hopeless and I'm not willing to pay close on £100 for a initial consultation fee to see her when I've seen her a few times in the past and she's talked a load of twaddle! I make it clear I want to see a different vet, preferably the one I prefer, but there's another who is also OK. If they want my money, they can book me in with a vet that I think is worth seeing.

I think we, as people, have got too accustomed to the "take it or leave it" approach of the NHS where you're expected to put up with crap service "because it's free" (What a joke that is!). When I'm paying for a service, I'm damned well going to ensure I get the best quality of service possible, and that means not accepting having to deal with people I have no confidence in!

Funny that when I'm clear with the vet receptionist that I want a specific person, they manage to "squeeze me in" with them after all, after initially claiming there were no appointments. I think they know who is popular and who isn't and try to fob you off with the unpopular ones.

Totally disagree with this. None of my animals are insured for vet care - including my horse. I find with animal insurance, I have paid far more than I have ever claimed, and once you make a claim that part of the animal is no longer insurable.

i just make sure I have a credit card that can be used for if necessary.

When I'm paying for a service, I'm damned well going to ensure I get the best quality of service possible, and that means not accepting having to deal with people I have no confidence in!

All the vets at our practise deliver high quality service, so I guess I've just never had a need to request a certain person.

We have seven vets spread across two practises and I've dealt with all them in one way or another over the years (we've had four cats and a dog registered there) and have never had a single problem with the care we've received.

I guess it would be different if I'd had a bad experience but I genuinely never have.

There’d be more noise because humans have the NHS, pets do not.
Ultimately if people don’t adequately insure pets and can’t afford treatment then they shouldn’t have pets - it’s a predictable situation they’ve failed to account for.

I dont know about horses, but with cats and dogs "that part of the animal" doesn't stop being insurable after you make a claim. You've been very lucky to not have needed to make a large claim. I've found as mine have gotten older I have more than saved what I've paid. My current group policy is £1400 a year, so far since October, my total vet bills for all my animals is nearly £9k. Some new claims, some have been ongoing for years. My pets would be screwed without insurance.

I have responded to a client complaint just this week that they never see the same vet twice, but they didn't realise they could ask.

Of course if it's an emergency or you call and say you need an appointment today after 3pm you're going to get whoever is on duty. If it's something that can wait a few days and would benefit from the continuity of care you just request X's next available appointment.

Wow expensive. I have 2 dogs. In the last year I have spent around £150 between the two. Insurance would cost me approximately £300 with an excess for each claim of £159. So I might as well put that £300 away each year. Between the two I would have approximately £4000 in savings.

edited to add the dogs are 14 years old

We have just been quoted £750 for an x-ray - they certainly are expensive. Also £45 for a 6 day supply of Metacam and will not give more than 2 lots without needing another consultation which costs £65!

I mean, I'm sure if I rang up and requested that my follow-up appointment was with X, I'd get it, it's just not something I'd ever really thought about as I get great care from all the vets at the practise.

But what they don't do is ask which vet you'd like to see when you ring (even if it is for something that can wait) - they just offer you days/times and you pick the most suitable.

I always ask which vet to see and never have a problem with getting an appointment with the named vet.

Also I have never heard of insurance companies not insuring older dogs. They do but the cost may be more.

A post said £18.00 for a consultant I would love to know where that is. We pay £52.00!

@IngGenius we pay £18 and we're in (very) rural Cumbria. It's the same price whether it's a planned appointment, a same-day emergency or OOH.

It might be cheaper for me to drive up to the beautiful Cumbria to have an appointment than pay our prices. Make a day of it and a quick walk in the fells as well

Haha, we are very lucky. It's a very old school practise in a lot of ways, but they've always been fantastic with all our lot and we've never had cause for complaint.

Your sounds misinformed. I’m sorry your vets didn’t explain things properly. It’s their job to offer all options that are clinically relevant.

Blood tests before a surgery can pick up pre-existing conditions. Some of these might be ones you haven’t noticed. General anaesthesia has risks and might be complicated with any diseases.

All animals have “IV’s” placed because this is how vets and nurses have access to their veins to give drugs.
It sounds like you are referring to IV fluids or a drip. While your pet is under general anaesthia for their surgery their blood pressure drops due to affects of the anaesthetic agents. Fluids helps support their blood pressure, which is vital for organs. It also speeds up the body processing these drugs out of the system and they have a smoother recovery.

With regards to referring your dog to a behaviourist. Castration can often worsen anxiety related behaviour and it is recommended to address any behaviour issues before castration or you might be left with lots of trouble!

Blood tests and IV fluids are standard in human medicine, it is always a good idea to do these for your pets too. If it is not affordable for you, well that is another issue. Your vets were not trying to “maximise income”, they were trying to offer what’s best for your dog.

I’ve worked in numerous practices both privately owned by veterinarians and also corporations (including some of the huge American overhead companies people have stated on here). I can assure you never, in any of the practices have I or another member of staff ever overcharged or falsified the amount of care a pet required due to an owner having insurance. We ask if people are as typically speaking owners who have insurance are more likely to want “gold standard care” meaning they opt in for additional resources to be used such as pre-operative blood tests which incur an additional charge due to the expertise, the equipment and the manual labour it takes for a vet or nurse to hold, take the bloods and run them etc. It is recommended so that we can pick up any existing issues or defects that aren’t visible to the naked eye alike to humans, but it is an opt in/opt out therefore it makes an impact if someone is insured/not insured if financially it isn’t viable for them.

You will find that most practices unless OOH only accept direct claims with specific insurance companies, and clients pick who they take out insurance with and to what extent of a policy they’d like (lifetime/annual etc) we don’t know these details nor do we know how much of an excess they pay/their yearly limit per condition unless we’re told by the policyholder. So, in no way would it benefit us to uprise the costs as majority of claims are not direct, the owner pays the practice and the insurance refunds the owner directly. You will also find that every animal insurance company has a team of vets who will almost “pick apart” the claim and the clinical history forwarded to the insurance to ensure that their company is not being “scammed out of money” unnecessarily, so to say.
We also, do not receive the money that owners pay to the practice, our salaries are the same whether we see 100 patients a week or 20 and this goes hand in hand with the actual element of picking the price points of things.

Similarly, any veterinary practice, whether you want to believe it is dodgy or not will have a breakdown of costs in which you can always request and speak to the clinical director, or practice manager to query at any point in which someone will run through the breakdown with you. I can appreciate if you have had bad experiences with veterinary practices but please look into NOMV as behind the closed doors where everyone likes to portray we’re rolling in money, you’ll find all veterinary staff from reception to veterinary surgeons who are in it for the love and the welfare of the animals and we are just as frustrated as everybody else that unfortunately healthcare can be expensive.

I agree with you I’ve never taken out pet insurance.
Unfortunately all the private vets in my area have been taken over by the private equity firms so still trying to find one. First thing they ever ask is if I have insurance!

Pretty much as others have said, we have the NHS.

Medications/ medical equipment/ training/ licences/ upkeep all very expensive.

Also people's attitudes to pets have changed, they seek treatment whereas my grandparents would likely knock them over the head/ put to sleep at the first sign or illness. Pets were easy to come by - cats/dogs sold in pet shops for a pittance/ animals never being fixed etc.