A nice Christmas present from the vet..!

[lewis2015]

Well I must say I was delighted to receive an early Christmas present from the vet this evening... an 85 quid bill for a ten minute visit. As my lad is on prascend for Cushings, the vets specify that he must have his heart rate checked every 6 months in order for them to keep prescribing the meds. So I've been charged 35 quid 'call out', 35 quid 'consultation' and 15 quid for prescription. I don't remember it costing this much last time - can they really charge 35 quid for listening to my horse's chest for all of 2 minutes!? I know the answer is 'yes', but just needed to rant I appreciate all they do for my horse, don't get me wrong, but do think this is an excessive charge and lovely that it arrived on Xmas eve!

 

[asmp]

That's why I box up my horse to the vets if it's not an emergency - even though it's 20 miles away, I wouldn't use £35 of diesel!

 

[SusieT]

A fully trained professional drove out to your yard(using both his time and diesel), used his years of training to listen to your horses heart, was able to observe that the horse looked in good health to the eye, and then used his licence to prescribe to prescribe treatment.
Which bit should only cost a fiver? A solicitors letter costs £50 for a basic one....
Box up to the vets to make it cheaper?
How much do you think it 'should' cost?

 

[Cobbytype]

I feel your pain OP. I was charged £40 for a 'dip stick' urine test on my horse - it takes less than 1 minute and to add insult to injury the urine strips were mine which I bought to test my horse's urine with. The whole bill on that occasion came to £400 for a routine MOT and a tet. jab:-(

 

[poiuytrewq]

I had a rant a few years back about similar! I was soon shot down and yes do accept that I was paying for a professional opinion.
I boxed in our last energancy to save Sunday out of hours call out only to find you still pay it as the vet still got called out (as in she was at home and had to go to the surgery!!)
I'd love to retrain 😜

 

[lewis2015]

A fully trained professional drove out to your yard(using both his time and diesel), used his years of training to listen to your horses heart, was able to observe that the horse looked in good health to the eye, and then used his licence to prescribe to prescribe treatment.
Which bit should only cost a fiver? A solicitors letter costs £50 for a basic one....
Box up to the vets to make it cheaper?
How much do you think it 'should' cost?

Thanks for your reply; whilst I appreciate (as I said in my OP) all they do and that they are 'fully trained professionals' I did state that I think it's an excessive charge. I am also a 'fully trained professional' but don't cost 85 quid every ten minutes so I don't think their years of training justify charging excessively. I think it 'should' have been about 40/50 quid for call out and consultation - especially as they were supposed to come the day before but after waiting 2 hours at the yard I rang to find they weren't able to come. I also understand that emergencies happen, before I get shot down for that too.

 

[lewis2015]

Ha, yes me too! I'm sure I'll get shot down but I'm not going to change my mind and agree that this is a reasonable charge for 10 minutes work. I don't buy the 'paying for petrol' rubbish either as I've never paid 35 quid petrol for a 15 minute journey...

 

[lewis2015]

That's why I box up my horse to the vets if it's not an emergency - even though it's 20 miles away, I wouldn't use £35 of diesel!

Yes good idea! I'd definitely do this but don't have my own transport unfortunately.

 

[EllenJay]

My boy is on Prascend for Cushings, but my vets only want to check him once a year. Maybe have a word with your vet about increasing the timescale for testing or change your vet.

Personally, I don't think that they are overcharging for a visit and that is the sort of price I would expect to pay.

 

[lewis2015]

My boy is on Prascend for Cushings, but my vets only want to check him once a year. Maybe have a word with your vet about increasing the timescale for testing or change your vet.

Personally, I don't think that they are overcharging for a visit and that is the sort of price I would expect to pay.

Thanks - I was wondering if it was standard to check every 6 months! Will ask

 

[SpringArising]

was able to observe that the horse looked in good health to the eye

I'd like to think that most people with any common sense could observe that.

The price is excessive for the service you needed, OP - I agree with you.

 

[Tiddlypom]

My Cushings mare is tested every six months. I believe that it's good practice to check ACTH levels during the seasonal rise in Autumn as well as in the Spring.

Your vet bill is in line with what I would expect to pay, except for the prescription fee. I buy my Prascend direct from my vets, so I don't have to pay for the prescription, I presume you source your prascend elsewhere?

 

[{97702}]

I was charged £50 on Tuesday for my horse to have a 'brief examination' - the vet looked at his teeth for all of 30 seconds prior to sedating him, x-raying him (£125 for one plate) and removing the offending tooth (£300) Total bill £645, pity you can't take horses to an NHS dentist But worth every single penny for the peace of mind, reassurance and excellent service I got from the vets - and I was given the tooth to take home too

 

[Murphy88]

I'd love to retrain ��

Unless the vet who came out to you was a partner (usual buy in cost to become a partner is somewhere in the 6 figures - something I doubt I'll ever be able to afford), they won't have seen any of that money. My first job, my total package (wages, car, flat) came to around £24,000. For that I worked 5 days a week plus 1/4 nights and 1/4 weekends on call. A colleague worked out that for the hours we actually worked, our hourly wage was less than £3. I have been qualified nearly 5 years and the position I just applied for has a salary of £27,00.

Levrier sums it up really by wishing for an NHS for horses. People seem to forget that you are basically paying for private healthcare - the NHS means us Brits have no concept of how much it actually costs to run a medical facility with so many overheads. When I worked in the US, people pay for their own healthcare so have more respect and understanding of the service they are paying for.

 

[popsdosh]

A fully trained professional drove out to your yard(using both his time and diesel), used his years of training to listen to your horses heart, was able to observe that the horse looked in good health to the eye, and then used his licence to prescribe to prescribe treatment.
Which bit should only cost a fiver? A solicitors letter costs £50 for a basic one....
Box up to the vets to make it cheaper?
How much do you think it 'should' cost?

How come my cattle vets who are equally well qualified and experienced ! Travel 50 miles to get to me
Charge £35 travelling ,A transparent £120 /hr charged in 5 min blocks that includes all procedures with any materials and drugs charged at cost plus a small margin ,free script !There is no out of hours hike in prices . I am fortunate in that some of my horses drugs are kept in stock as they are used in cattle also
Unlike one of my eventing mares who had a colic on a bank holiday oh joy they charge 50% extra which some of you may say is ok until you realise its on the total bill including drugs which they have already hiked the price up on in the first place.

 

[zaminda]

My vet does zone day visits, which are great for this sort of thing and no call out fee. I think I would find out if they offer similar. I also wouldn't be happy with them just not turning up and not bothering to tell you, surely the receptionist who rerouted your vet could have rung?!

 

[Pebble101]

.......

 

[Pedantic]

I am a Registered Gas installer, I don't go anywhere for less than £65.00, vet visit sounds a fair price to me including meds, too many running cost's with business, then you actually want to make some money for your expertise, or we may as well all stack shelves at Tesco for minimum wage.

 

[Pebble101]

That will include VAT which the vet doesn't get. Probably an hour of the vets time by the time they travel there and back, plus the cost of fuel and the car. Someone has the pay for the office staff who don't 'earn' anything for the practice. I do think people should be made to run their own business for a while and employ staff because there are so many costs that have to be covered by fees the vets charge. I'm not a vet.

 

[Orca]

My vet does zone day visits, which are great for this sort of thing and no call out fee. I think I would find out if they offer similar. I also wouldn't be happy with them just not turning up and not bothering to tell you, surely the receptionist who rerouted your vet could have rung?!

My vet does 'area days', which are a £17.50 call out rather than the usual £35. I had her out for first vacs the other day. Vac was £25.93, so the visit cost £44.43 in total and included about half an hour - forty minutes of consultation regarding feather mite and weight management, plus discussion about an exercise regime.

I do understand that we are effectively paying for private healthcare and I have lived in a country without an NHS equivalent - but I do appreciate it when vets make an effort to make things more manageable. Area days are a good way of doing this, I think.

 

[FfionWinnie]

I would hack there if no transport 😂

 

[MDB]

Holey moley! Never realised how pricey it is in the UK. Over here in Spain I paid £65 for a call out fee, examination, X-ray and advice which took about an hour.

 

[hairycob]

In a previous job (15 years ago) my time was charged d out at £200 per hour. Sadly I saw only a small fraction of that. I'm sure it cost a lot less to run me in that job than a vet.

 

[MrsMozart]

Cheaper than if you'd had that amount of my time, and I wouldn't have been half as much use (in that situation)

 

[Rapidash]

I'm still having palpitations from when the call out fee for a vet to drive ONE mile to see my cat was SEVENTY POUNDS alone. I didn't mind the consultation fee etc as that's what pays for all the overheads. I get that- I'm happy to pay whatever. But 70 quid extra to drive 5 minutes was really taking the p and they promptly lost any follow up business so great economic sense there...

 

[twiggy2]

I'm still having palpitations from when the call out fee for a vet to drive ONE mile to see my cat was SEVENTY POUNDS alone. I didn't mind the consultation fee etc as that's what pays for all the overheads. I get that- I'm happy to pay whatever. But 70 quid extra to drive 5 minutes was really taking the p and they promptly lost any follow up business so great economic sense there...

a home visit for a small animal is something that is rarely needed but wanted instead and it takes a vet out of the practice from surgery or consults for a reasonable period of time, a nurse also has to spend the time making sure the visit box is adequately stocked.
Op how many miles are you from the vets surgery?

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

I am a Registered Gas installer, I don't go anywhere for less than £65.00, vet visit sounds a fair price to me including meds, too many running cost's with business, then you actually want to make some money for your expertise, or we may as well all stack shelves at Tesco for minimum wage.

We also charge £65, plus vat which covers the first half hour on site, out of hours or same day its £75 plus vat
Some clients still get hump about paying. The lads are all Gas Safe qualified. .... trained to rectify faults.
OP, as already mentioned, get a shared visit, take to vets, find out about possible zone visits, or swallow it x

 

[Umbongo]

I'm still having palpitations from when the call out fee for a vet to drive ONE mile to see my cat was SEVENTY POUNDS alone. I didn't mind the consultation fee etc as that's what pays for all the overheads. I get that- I'm happy to pay whatever. But 70 quid extra to drive 5 minutes was really taking the p and they promptly lost any follow up business so great economic sense there...

I work in a small animal practice that charges £70 for a visit fee. It covers the cost of taking the vet and nurse out of the practice, loss of revenue for routine operations that we can't book in because a house visit has been booked in. Depending on the size of the practice they may also have to shut up and divert the phonelines etc.

OP, the costs sounds fair to me. I would in future book on a cheap zone day, travel horse to vets or arrange when vet is coming out for other horses.

 

[Fools Motto]

Holey moley! Never realised how pricey it is in the UK. Over here in Spain I paid £65 for a call out fee, examination, X-ray and advice which took about an hour.

Which kind of puts a mockery on 'our' vets, who surely given this, just like to hike up the prices because we are a 'rich' nation? Surely a vet is a vet, qualified the same way whatever country you are in!

And, just to add, my vets also do zone days, which are free call outs to different areas within the larger area on a given day (mines a thursday!!). Last year I just paid for a flu/tet jab and couldn't believe the price was so low! Awaiting this years bill, as vet was out last week.

 

[JustKickOn]

Our vet has a standard call out fee is £45 (more if OOO) and a consultation/examination fee is about £35 regardless of how long it takes but goes up if more in depth things need doing. Prescription is £24 for us too. They're costs we accept when having horses.

If you are not happy with the costs, ask other vets for what they charge and move.