Vets - are their bills too large?

[billh]

One of my Cockers went to vets with difficulty in moving rear legs and not wanting to walk up or down steps. Dog had milk and was fat. Vet scanned animal and diagnosed a closed infected uterus and calcification of a small spinal injury near tail. Wife inquired as to possibility of cancer, vet said its not likely. Dog was weak so put on drip and antibiotics overnight. Different vet looked at her next day and identified same spinal problem and x-ray was carried out. Second vet said he did not want to do anything until he had spoken to first vet. Another night on drip and AB. We were called by vet next day and told dog had a tumor the size of a tennis ball on underside of spine between rear legs. We said for her to be put down and collected dog in afternoon. Bill was then presented for £667.

Sorry apache

 

[Taff]

Small animal vets, play on the fact you may have insurance, and that it's a pet, bills for large farm animals seem to be a lot less.

 

[redlab]

Small animal vets, play on the fact you may have insurance, and that it's a pet, bills for large farm animals seem to be a lot less.

You obviously have never had a horse treated by a vet....

 

[VSS]

Depends where you are in the country. Our vets are very cheap - ceasarian £50, post mortem £16, callout £17, etc etc. But this isn't an affluent area. My sister is a vet in the south west of England, and she laughs at what ours charge. She'd add a naught to all the prices I've quoted above.

 

[Apache]

Sorry apache

Oh, I don't mind discussing these things one bit. I'll let the thread run a bit an interject later.

 

[Taff]

I have just finished having a shire treated for a ulcer in the foot, bone scrapes, x rays the works. still not as expensive as having your dog treated hour for hour.

 

[Taff]

vss I want your vet.

 

[cookingfat]

Apache you made the mistake of telling you are a vet again, and with that comes the need by others to question your need to justify what you charge and why.
you have overheads and people to pay, also the cost of drugs which you can not control, so I have no problem when I have to go to the vet, I have nine dogs and have to visit the vet from time to time.
you pay for what you get and if your vet has tried his/her best and the outcome is death then you still have to pay.
very sad but but a fact....

 

[hcm1]

I love these threads!

 

[patterdale]

Depends where you are in the country. Our vets are very cheap - ceasarian £50, post mortem £16, callout £17, etc etc. But this isn't an affluent area. My sister is a vet in the south west of England, and she laughs at what ours charge. She'd add a naught to all the prices I've quoted above.

I wish we had the same vet ,We have only one vet you can guess the rest

 

[Rake Aboot]

Hmmmm difficult one really

I have had great service from vets, but then some cowboy tried to charge me £70 for a booster for each dog,!! it`s a £4 injection ffs.

I suppose some manage to destroy the image of many

 

[patterdale]

Hmmmm difficult one really

I have had great service from vets, but then some cowboy tried to charge me £70 for a booster for each dog,!! it`s a £4 injection ffs.

I suppose some manage to destroy the image of many

We are close to these prices here

 

[BRYAN]

Oh, I don't mind discussing these things one bit. I'll let the thread run a bit an interject later.

How much do you charge for interjections then?

 

[SimpleSimon]

At the risk of derailing the thread, does anyone have any experience of dealing with large chain type vets? I noticed the other day in Pets at Home they have their own vet. Their prices for vaccinations/chipping etc seemed fairly cheap, although to be honest I'm not sure how much one should be paying.

 

[Scots_stalker]

I took my golden eagle to the vets on Wednesday. He has a hack on one toe (not bumblefoot). She prescribed some antibiotics and charged me £60 , you have got to realise your not just paying for drugs but also her training and business overheads.

 

[andyf]

Foreleg lameness diagnosed as an inter-condylar fissure - consultations, X rays, MRI scan, surgery and meds... 3 grand and counting (more x rays to come). Thank god for insurance!!!

 

[Apache]

How much do you charge for interjections then?

Interjections are free. It's the injections we charge for.

No one has even mentioned the cars we drive, the holidays we go on, my villa in the Algarve............

I'm sort of disappointed in you guys.

 

[Alistair]

I tend to agree with Scots_stalker. Vet's are not cheap, and I will concede that a premium is charged for pets as opposed to stock but I don't think they are unreasonable. After all, they do need to meet their costs and the amount of knowledge and experience you get for your money is truly impressive. Also, charging a premium for pets is just good business. After all, the local commercial farmer is much more inclined to say "That's not economically viable, put the animal down" than a pet owner is for say, a horse which they have cared for on a 1 to 1 basis for 15 years. Simple supply and demand. People are willing to pay it so therefore it's a fair price. However, i think that £60 is a bit much for a simple booster injection which doesn't require much in the way of technical knowledge etc. I would be happy to pay a premium for a vet that I know and trust and who has full knowledge of the situation as opposed to a relative stranger caring for my animal, but perhaps this is slightly less of a concern if you need to turn a profit? It's not for me to say. I am not a vet myself, but I did do my work experience with an equine unit at the local practice and it is amazing some of the stuff that they have to know to deal with even the simplest of cases. Besides, compare the cost of a vet to servicing your car and it seems much more reasonable. Highly qualified vet with 7 years of uni followed by 10 in the field as it were, compared to a fellow who did a 2 year apprenticeship and got a pretty BMW 'approved mechanic' badge after a weeks course. Price for 2 hours work for both (including parts/ drugs on both parts), not much difference. Where's the logic in that?

 

[RED-DOT]

Dick Turpin had the decency to wear a mask while he was robbing you..

 

[AN DU RU FOX]

at least they smile while they shaft you,