Fuming with vet this can't be right

[madcatladyforever]

I had to take my elderly cat Buns in for another routine blood test as she has kidney disease 2.
So went in and I was not allowed in the surgery, new vet as I've moved.
Nurse came out to get her and took her in in the carrier. Vet came out and said the cat will have to be admitted and sedated as she is too "lively" to get blood out of.
She's 19 ff's, she rarely moves unless she has to.
Anyway he said go home and I'll call you when she's ready to be collected, I was expecting an hour or two but after an entire day in there they eventually allowed me to take her home.
Got home with the cat and she couldn't even stand, she kept falling over onto her side, couldn't do the stairs and would have fallen down them if she'd tried, couldn't eat, drink or use the litter tray, had to be carried everywhere.
Did not recover for two days so I had to take 2 unpaid days off work costing me £500 in order to take care of her much to the annoyance of my boss as I work in the NHS.
Then got a bill for £500 for her "admission", sedation and the blood test.
So all in all £1000 lost with the days off work.
I asked why did you give her so much anaesthesia, she can't even stand up and they said because she was being aggressive.
FFs she's a 19 year old cat not a bloody rottweiller, I was livid.
The previous vet did all her bloods without sedation for years and she was fine.
I also asked them why they sent the cat home in this condition when she clearly wasn't fit to be sent home. They had given her a massive amount of sedative for an elderly cat. They didn't know what to say to me.
I've changed vets and I've told them in no uncertain terms I will be coming in with my cat and I do not expect her to be admitted for blood tests in future. I am thinking of putting in a formal complaint to the previous vet, I think all they can hear is kerching whenever an animal is taken in. Unbelievable.

You are entitled to see the notes from the previous vets to know what happened. First step would be to write a letter of complaint to the practice manager detailing your concerns.
In future always ask for an estimate, we produce them as standard whenever we admit so everyone understands what the costs are likely to be.
With regards to going many practices are still operating kerbside ( as we are) as it is impossible to socially distance when examining a pet.

£1000 for a standard blood test though! That includes my unpaid days off work. She's had loads of blood tests in the past at various different vets and hasn't needed to be sedated once.
The new vet says I can accompany her to the vet as she's so old and I have emailed a complaint in to the previous vet.
I don't expect to have to pay this kind of money every few months for a simple blood test I think its outrageous. My last vet used to charge me £60 and the cat would come home unharmed.

That’s outrageous! If you hadn’t said you have moved vets - that’s exactly what I’d have said. 19 year old cat is only going to move for fuss, food and toilet. (Not necessarily in that order or even the latter).

It's hard to know because cats can cause a lot of harm to humans if they get aggressive and the vet staff as a right to not take that risk... My previous cat was like this all through her senior years and had to be sedated for blood tests (also had CKD and hyperthyroidism so blood tests were needed at least twice a year). I did see what she was like at appointments and I don't doubt the sedation was 100% needed. We also briefly had a vet who was willing to take the risk and do it without sedation but equally I respected our next vet's right to protect the staff and not get bitten/scratched.

It does sound like they didn't give her the other injection to reverse the sedation so I would query that. (We actually tried with and without reversing it for my cat as she sometimes reacted badly to the reversal, but we did find the right balance after a few blood test experiences.)

She isn't aggressive and none of the previous vets have ever had a problem taking blood from her. She gets very anxious if I am not there and makes a terrible row because she is deaf and can't hear herself. But that's not the same as aggressive.
They didn't even bother to tell me it was going to be IV, I thought they were just going to give her a tablet like valium, they certainly didn't tell me it was going to be £500 which is an extortionate amount and I think they darned well should have discussed that with me.
She came out looking absolutely miserable and with so much fur shaved off.
She has it all over her notes that she can't have IV sedation and in a letter from the vet hospital that she had radioactive iodine at last year and the vet clearly hadn't bothered to even look.
As a result she was very ill indeed and I'm lucky she didn't die.
I thought that was extremely negligent.

I'd be livid too. yabu

Goodness me you should definitely put in a formal complaint that price is ridiculous and he state they sent the cat home in is unacceptable, vet's are legally bound to not allow an animal to leave their premises in an unfit state. I wouldn't let it go, I would fight it on the grounds of negligence regarding the state of the cat and also the outrageous fee.

Vet's think they can charge what they like and they do because no one ever complains. It needs to stop.

Our last cat needed sedation for anything beyond a standard check up and vaccinations. Think Toy Tiger! She never came back in that state, and they only charged a bit more for the sedation!

It does sound excessive to me. We paid £140 last year to have a procedure done under sedation last year on the current furry overlord!

What exactly is the £500 bill for?? My diabetic cat was frequently admitted for 24 hours for a glucose curve - several glucose checks over the space of the day. The cost was about £150 . I appreciate it doesn't include a sedation but even so!

Standard full profile at my work is about 100,plus sedation about 70 on top. We would tend to give an elderly cat a quick wiff of gas rather than a full on sedation as it can really knock them out. As much as I hate complaints at my work I would certainly advise you to write or email in and ask for an explanation

From a consumer rights perspective. If no price was agreed before hand and you believe it is too high for what was done you could argue for a reduction in price under the consumer rights act of 2015. The onus would be on you to prove it was an unreasonable price so estimates from other vets etc. You should send in a formal letter of complaint via recorded delivery and give them 14 days to respond. Maybe also ask if they are a member of a mediation scheme- such as an Alternative Dispute Resolution scheme.