vet expenses.

[Gettingbysomehow]

Has anyone noticed the vet always tries to get your cat sedated for a blood test now and have them in the whole day "because it will be better for your cat". It costs hundreds of pounds.
i don't care about the cost because she's insured and I have savings for this kind of thing.
But I think my nervous cat would be better off just having it done quickly and then coming home. She's elderly and doesn't bite or scratch, I know she will hate being away from home in the vets all day and would be much better just going in and out.
The vet looked at me as if I was the worst cat mum in the world for saying that and a penny pinching miser but I know whats best for my cat. I'm not happy about unecessary sedation either as she's an old girl.
My old vet used to have them in and out in 5 minutes without even mentioning sedation.
Doing this all the time means my insurance premiums go sky high and I'd rather save the insurance for a serious illness.
What do you think?

No, not my experience at all. Our vets have always been very practical though and have never once tried to charge for any unnecessary add ons.

Generally speaking there's no way I would agree to an elderly, anxious cat being sedated for bloods but it could be that there's something about the way your cat is presenting that means they may feel she needs it.

I've never had that. My bengal had to have a GA to have a blood test to check his kidneys were up to having a GA but that vet was prejudiced against bengals.

The chief nurse could get him to have a blood test with patience.

I did ask why she thought this was necessary and she said because she is such a nervous cat, but she was just fine having her vaccinations and check up today and didn't struggle at all. I'm absolutely not convinced she needs this sedation at all.
I could understand it had it been my last cat who seemed determined to murder everyone in the building but my old girl is very sweet and wouldn't harm a fly.
I'm going to say no.

I worked at a vets for over 10 years and I honestly can't remember a vet sedating any cat to do a blood test.

I know this is a cat thread and I am a dog person but totally agree with you, the amount of stupid tests and une esa art sedations (or putting under anaesthetics) is ridiculous.

I say no these days, obviously, I wouldn’t expect my dog to go without if he was needing an operation or something that requires a lot of precision, but the vet has even asked to suggest putting him under anaesthetic to get a biopsy of a pimple! (

With a very old pet, it is not worth the risk, much less so if the procedure can be easily done if the vets are experienced in getting the pet’s trust to help them relax.

My new vet is german and doesn’t go for that nonsense, but I suppose that may be because she is not yet that experienced on how commercially oriented vet groups or even commercial chains offering vets services have become.

I'm afraid I think you are right. Where I live my last vet did this to one of my other cats for stupid little things. One took ages to come round and wasn't well for two days afterwards, very subdued and not eating. I paid £500 for the sedation, the blood test and the day of care and I was pissed off.
I changed vets after that and now this one has suggested it. I think if you have insurance they think they can charge anything. But it makes things bad for everyone, bad for the cat and bad for insurance premiums which get more expensive each year.

I've had lots of cats and never once have they suggested sedation for just a blood test - sometimes gabapentin the night before, is all.

Change vets! This isn't normal.

Any blood tests our dogs and cats have had done are done during a normal appt ,they just take them to a different room with a nurse , never had one sedated . When our sons Siamese had a renal scan they didn’t sedate for that either but he is very amenable

No, my cats have had bloods, ECG's Echos and and various other investigations done without sedation. The only one that did require sedation was a CT scan.

Thanks everyone. I'm definitely going to say no to the sedation.

Our old bruiser who bit the vet once, always went in for "sedation". I usually got a call within 20 minutes of dropping him to say he'd been a good boy and everything was done. Super vets, super businessmen, under promised, over delivered. Every. Single. Time.

I think you are right . Every time I've taken a dog to the vet in the last year every ailment has necessitated an ex ray or ultrasound to ' see what's going on ' at £900.
I caught them out once though , vet added blood tests before putting my dog to sleep for castration yet when I checked him in another vet said ' oh blood tests you don't need those he's only 9mths. Another one is a ' better grade of antiseptic' as he's a frenchie , more expensive of course . I haven't taken my dogs to the vet once without a bill of several hundreds . One time one of them was feeling miserable so to the vet we went . Virus . £360 please .
Prices have gone up we know that but I really do now think my vets know I can afford it and are adding in everything they can .

Mine hates blood tests and I asked for sedation. The vet refused.