Did the vet over react?

[defender]

One of our dogs was sick over the new year, she kept vomiting, went off her food and was compulsively eating grass. She was ok in herself, happy to have long walks but was obviously losing weight so my wife decided to take her to the vet, On the morning of the vet's appointment she managed to eat some food and keep it down which my wife told the vet. The vet said she needs an X-ray to ensure that there are no problems so kept the dog, the vet phoned my wife later and said they had seen a lump in her stomach so needed to operate so my wife agreed. When we collected the dog that evening the vet told us that the lump was just food and gave us pain killers, antibiotics and anti-inflamitories plus a bill for £1,400! To say I was not amused would be an understatement.

This comes after a £2,000 bill for our other dog who had nothing wrong with her, she was occasionaly limping a bit and the vet said she needed an x-ray, after the x-ray the vet said she had a cracked bone and needed a scan - after the scan they said the 'crack' was an anomaly on the x-ray and there was nothing wrong other than a bit of mild arthritis, hardly surprising given her age.

This pi55es me off because I hate subjecting the dogs to general anesthetics and surgery, as well as spending the money, but is the vet doing it in the best interest of the dog or are they doing it to reassure us that we are doing the best for the dog? If it was me suffering these ailments my doctor would give me a prescription and tell me to come back in a few weeks so why do vets have to operate immediately?

 

[arron]

That doesn't sound right to me , make an official complaint and swap your vets over , I would be furious!!

 

[Nickg]

That doesn't sound right to me , make an official complaint and swap your vets over , I would be furious!!

Agree

 

[Uncle Norm]

Must be careful not to compare apples with pears, however Ruby my six years old Labrador bitch went very poorly quite suddenly last week. Examined by my vet, then ultrasound scan.
Pyometra diagnosed with the uterus full of pus etc. Immediate surgery followed by medications and aftercare. Total bill £539. She is recovering well and enjoying all the tlc.

 

[NorthDorset]

Our Springer is 11 and we recently cancelled her insurance. We figure if it’s a grand we will pay but more than that probably means surgery and she is too old for that.

A lot of these big vet groups really just seem to be in the animal sickness business these days. My dads dog had the most extraordinary intervention that left it with a tracheotomy hole at 13! Cant help but think that wouldn’t have happened if there wasn’t a policy in place.

Change your vet for sure. You shouldn’t be paying for their mistakes. However between the insurance companies and our litigious society I imagine being a Vet is not what it once was.

 

[nun_hunter]

Pet insurance has opened up avenues in pet healthcare that just weren't affordable before. If you want the best care then it's going to be expensive. If you're happy with more basic care without MRI scans etc then you will pay less but the practice has to cover their costs in order to be able to offer these enhanced services. It is expensive and makes me realise how cheap the NHS really is.

 

[roryh]

Sounds like they saw you coming mate. Preying on folks wish to do the best for their animals is callous profiteering at best.

 

[Shootist]

My cat needed an operation to remove her teeth due to problems caused by overbreeding (she was a breeder rescue although I didn't know it at the time I got her)

The vet's bill was significant but when I looked through it the cost of the anaesthetic seemed excessive. I checked up online and found I had paid for the whole bottle, enough to dose up several elephants (OK, maybe not several). I queried this with the vet who assured me that this was because once the bottle had been opened it could not be used again and had to be disposed of. This sounded doubtful so I checked with the manufacturers who confirmed it was not true. The bill was adjusted but I still feel annoyed with myself for not reporting this deliberate fraud. This was a vets surgery located in a major pet supplies retailer.

 

[hcm1]

Hind sight is always 20:20. Vomiting dogs are one of the most difficult cases to approach because it is very often nothing but when it is something then it is really something. It is galling to end up with a large bill for seemingly "nothing" however I would ask how you might feel if the vet had said that there was nothing wrong, sent you away with some conservative treatment and it transpires your dog has a penetrating gastric foreign body and then dies due to complications from a septic peritonitis. 2 wildly different clinical outcomes can start looking pretty much exactly the same. If there had been something damaging in the stomach, that same vet would have been judged very differently. A hard situation to be sure.
One point to remember is that your average assistant vet is not paid commission, the vast majority of assistant vets are salaried, and as a result really don't care what is charged. Sure some are under pressure to hit targets (increasingly so with the rise of corporate investment) but most just do what they think is best for the animal under their care. I guarantee most vets care less about the opinion of their boss than the opinion of the royal college!
Am I saying there are no bad apples? no, of course not, you look in any situation/job/profession there are people and you will find wrong 'uns, usually however they are out numbered greatly by those who genuinely want to do the best they can.

 

[Dalua]

Pet insurance has opened up avenues in pet healthcare that just weren't affordable before.

Expressed differently: those avenues are perhaps still just as affordable, or not, as they ever were. They're just paid for differently, and probably cost more because the insurers have to make a living as well as the vets.

 

[Buchan]

I queried this with the vet who assured me that this was because once the bottle had been opened it could not be used again and had to be disposed of. This sounded doubtful so I checked with the manufacturers who confirmed it was not true.

Commenting generally - One of the problems we have in running a practice is "broach dates". Most companies have on the bottle a "Discard after 28 days" instruction. There is very little scientific justification for this, but we have to comply. Some manufacturers are creating new products with longer broach dates, but not many. Add that to the cost of disposing of out of date drugs and some injections of very small amounts work out relatively expensive. There are some products that have to be disposed of at the end of the day as they have no preservative.

 

[foxdropper]

Over the Xmas period ,as we do every year ,we had a walk out with terriers and daughters lurcher .Didnt get far when the terriers put up a munty buck out of a patch of brambles you wouldn’t think would hold a rabbit .Short story ,the lurcher ended up with a 3 inch gash to her side .Phoned my vet and was through to out of hours .Took her to the appointed vets and son in law took her in .Returned shortly after with nothing done .Vet wanted £240 to look at her and a further £1,300 to stitch her up .Preying on emotions .
You do have to watch vets I’m afraid as some have a definite callous streak .

 

[John Gryphon]

£1,300 to stitch her up

1300 to stitch YOU up..the dirty rip off barrrsted..you can stitch her up yourself mate and do a good job.Its like darning a sock

 

[foxdropper]

We have to be very careful here on that subject mate .

 

[John Gryphon]

Many choose to do their own work here fd. You may be 1000 miles from a vet so the next best thing for your boar dog is diy.

Ridgeline Emergency Pig Dog Stitching Kit

 

[VSS]

Biggest vet's bill I've ever had for a dog was about £60 for a cesarean, out of hours.
Our vet practice knows full well that if their fees were high they simply wouldn't see any animals. We're in an economically deprived area. If people couldn't afford the bills it would be DIY or KOTH.

 

[landkeeper]

I think if your vet had been told the dog had recently eaten then yes they did over react , if the dog had been left for a couple of hours then the 'lump' would have shown itself for what it was
I find some vets these days are set up to fleece owners with pet insurance rather than actually treat the dog in the most logical way

 

[potshotpat]

This is a true tale, this week a foreign Vet from the EU working over here in an approved Abattoir had to have it explained to them the difference between Ovine, Bovine. ( ie C Ovis ==C Bovis ). I'm glad i'm not involved anymore, I really despair.

 

[willowbank]

Must be careful not to compare apples with pears, however Ruby my six years old Labrador bitch went very poorly quite suddenly last week. Examined by my vet, then ultrasound scan.
Pyometra diagnosed with the uterus full of pus etc. Immediate surgery followed by medications and aftercare. Total bill £539. She is recovering well and enjoying all the tlc.

My friend you got off lightly, two years ago BOTH my labs, sisters, went down with Pyometra within a month of each other, aged just 5. I thought the vet ripped me off with a £1000+ bill, wasn’t happy so changed vets and the second vet
(about a month later) charged me again £1000+ but in their defence these were emergencey procedures to save my dogs.

Willowbank

 

[potshotpat]

Here's another Vets tale, Ten Years ago took my Cocker Spaniel to the Vets with a serious condition, operation required I asked approximately how much for the operation ( the dog was eleven years old). The quote was about Two hundred pounds, so I said ok crack on. Operation done picked up the Dog, the bill was four hundred pounds and odd ( 21 pence?) I paid the bill but also questioned the difference from the quote. The Vet called and said to call in and he would go through the bill and explain the break down, which I did. I told the vet I didn't have a problem with what he had done for my dog but the quote and final bill seemed miles apart. I paid the bill (part of the bill was for 3 plastic gloves. I kid you not.) I went to reception to book out and the young lady on the desk said that's £30.00 for another consultation.

 

[User00009]

Next to estate agents they appear to be getting greedier and greedier, a not with the animals welfare!
RS