Cost of inducing vomit

[SwimmingIntoSpring]

Just been charged £430 to make my dog sick after she ate something she shouldn’t have. We got her to vets within 20mins of her doing it. I swear we paid less than this on a Sunday night ooo?! Is this how much it is now feels high so need a sense check as DH normally deals with ddog. It used to be a lovely vets but taken over last year by company sadly.

Just discussing this very thing with DH

My vet charged me about £40 to induce vomiting and charcoal to take home.

The cost of apomorphine is about £100 per vial. A big dog will need 3 or 4 vials. It's a very expensive drug. I advise owners of scavengers to muzzle train and wear them on walks to avoid repeated visits!

My spaniel has had to have this twice, first time I paid about £300 as it was OOH, second was £150. Now we don't allow raisins or grapes in the house, just not worth it with a messy toddler and two scrounging dogs.

I paid less than 400 to have 2 dogs induced vomit injection at an out of hours vets.

I had to pay over £500 on xmas eve after another family member left out a mince pie for santa. I was shocked but did get most of it back. I do have a lovely independent vet but we were not at home and obviously it was OOH anyway. I would be curious to know what my vet would charge normally, the cost discrepancy on this thread is huge.

I can’t believe any qualified UK vet would recommend this.

We’ve removed thousands of sharp objects with surgery or endoscopy. You do not make them vomit as there’s a high risk of perforation.

OP, the cost is apomorphine. It’s very expensive. I agree it does sound high though. Can you request an itemised bill?

Lab owner here too so can sympathise. I've paid £180 each time for mine to be made sick at the vets. It was always during the week but I can imagine it would be about £50ish more at weekends.

That doesn't make it any less dangerous.

How long was your dog at the vets? Have you asked for a breakdown of costs? Isn’t it covered by insurance?

I had a good chat with the young vet and she was equally shocked I think at the price she’d been told to charge plus the charcoal was £100… which DH said the energency vet last time didn’t think was needed. It was 1/2 of a hot cross bun with raisins - we sadly don’t have any independent vets left within 15m radius. Good to see my shocked reaction wasn’t out of step!!

She was at the vets for 90mins and yes the invoice lists the injection and meds itemised.

They tend to be extra careful with raisins and grapes in comparison to a lot of other things - what did she eat last time she was made to be sick?

The same thing so it wasn’t any different just DH last time. It’s not like you can rock up and go arrh ok I’ll go elsewhere as that’s too expensive you are literally being held to ransom in that moment it’s criminal even the vet was embarrassed. I felt sorry for them it’s not their thought at all and they were lovely but how can these commercial companies get away with this. We have little choice where we are and the same company I think has taken over 2 of the 3 choices and the other one is a different big chain now hiding behind the “local” facade. No independent vets within quite a large range anymore left.

Since the activated charcoal has been licensed, we have to prescribe that if we want to prescribe any charcoal. So for a large dog, you’re looking at probably 2 syringes or bottles. On top of the apomorphine it will be expensive.

Realised my post didn’t make sense - the new activated charcoal preparations is far more expensive than the past unlicensed preparations were.

Crikey how small is your lab? Half a hot cross bun would have very few raisins in it. It may be enough to be toxic to a small dog but not a lab of 50 lbs+

That's not how raisin toxicity works.

Whether your dog has a reaction to raisins and grapes is completely random - some dogs will be absolutely fine but it could kill others. That's why vets recommend you always take your dog in to be sick if they've eaten either, just in case. Many now recommend your dog stays in on fluids for 24 hours as well.

Of course, you can "watch and wait" at home but the risk with that if your dog does end up showing signs of toxicity, by then it's too late and they're already in kidney failure.

It's not the same as chocolate where there is generally a "safe" amount depending on the type eaten and your dogs' size/weight.

That’s not how raisin/grape toxicity works. It’s not dose dependent.

the mechanism of kidney failure is unknown. Case data shows that as few as 5 grapes have caused renal failure in a large dogs, and small dogs have eaten significantly more and been fine.

therefore there is no way to predict whether a dog will develop renal failure after a small amount. They might, they might not. If you don’t treat, and their kidneys fail, it’s fatal.

so guidance is you always treat, for any amount.

Great minds @Yogatoga1

She’s not big at all as has working lab genes so actually quite small and fit. But yes I’m aware of the toxicity issue so couldn’t risk it sadly. Funny you mentioned the drip as that was mentioned overnight and I just said no as I’m guessing that would have added £sss to the bill. We can watch her closely and she’s drinking and weeing ok so far. I’m guessing there’s been some new guidelines in last six months then? That would explain the difference in approach.

The guidelines for iv fluids post raisin exposure have been around for years. The gold standard is also to check renal function before stopping to ensure kidneys aren’t compromised.

however as I said many vets aren’t toxicologists, don’t have much specific education beyond “make them vomit and give charcoal”.

i don’t know whether treatment has changed to make fluids less essential, but IME many vets either don’t know or don’t think it’s necessary if they deem emesis to have brought everything back.

No, it's been recommended for years that any cases where dogs have eaten raisins/grapes are treated with fluids overnight.

But it is an additional expense so many vets will give you the choice - unfortunately by the time your dog shows symptoms of toxicity it's generally too late and their kidneys are already damaged.

However as you say you got there within 20 minutes I'm sure yours will be okay.

I paid £85. This was 10 years ago mind. I drove ddog 20miles to the Vets (Tues morning). No tests but Dog got an injection. Was then copiously sick (a whole big bag of rabbit pellet-food so mostly compressed grass but a lot of it) & the Vet handed me a wad of blue wipes & a mop & told me to clean up as he was off for Lunch! I was not impressed. The dog was fine & probs would have been anyway (form for eating all sorts over the years) I remember asking on the phone if she needed in & the the Vet dryly asked if my dog or my wallet was more important! The dog was certainly 'worth it' but I had expected the mop up to be included in the price. £400+ is :0

I had this with my dog on a saturday afternoon and it was 190

This is a absolutely scandalous. Vets bills have been song my blood boil for a while now. 5 companies now own all (non independent) practices in the UK. Of course they are profit making businesses and have shareholders to pay.
It's the same scenario in the NHS with health/drug companies. The powers that be are happy to outsource as it makes money. I feel this should absolutely outlawed when it's to do with the health of any sentient being, as it's morally corrupt at best, cruel and negligent and causing suffering, at worst.
It's been a topical debate on the news today-perhaps try catch up if you are interested.