Dizzykizzy
Well-Known Member
Quite horrifying really...they took a rabbit, a cat and a dog to different vets saying they were off their food (nothing wrong with any of them). The variation in diagnosis, treatment and cost was eye opening.
Anyone just see that programme about vets?
- Thread starter Dizzykizzy
- Start date
Lucy_Nottingham
Well-Known Member
no i didnt see that, but would be interesting, what channel was it on?
k9h
Well-Known Member
I saw it. (sorry forget which channel bbc I think?)
Not suprised at all though really.
Not suprised at all though really.
Lucy_Nottingham
Well-Known Member
I think the thing is different unis teach vets in different ways, then once graduated, vets get different experieences which push them in certain directions, and there is NO specification on cost of consults and treatments etc so in theory they can charge what they want.
If we had private doctors, it would be even more obvious that this is the case! (but id guess they would charge more)
If we had private doctors, it would be even more obvious that this is the case! (but id guess they would charge more)
MurphysMinder
Well-Known Member
Didn't see the programme, will have to try and catch up with it. I accept different unis may teach in a different way but I would hope that no matter how they were taught the vets would come up with the same diagnosis if not treatment. Also, although the animals were apparently healthy, who decided that, presumably another vet. It is true that vets can charge what they like, there is one practice locally who is more expensive than others, imo just because they are a famous name!
Skhosu
Well-Known Member
what was the programme called? would be interesting to watch?
MurphysMinder
Well-Known Member
It was called Pets Undercover: Tonight. I am hoping it will either be repeated or be up on the internet watch again thing.
merlinsquest
Well-Known Member
I recorded it.... will watch later
BBH
Well-Known Member
Yes I saw that, quite shocking tbh and the difference in price for that lady's rottie tablets was horrifying. ( she would have saved circa £5000 over the five years by buying them over the internet rather than carrying on through her vet )
Personally i could never rip anyone off , its such an emotive situation when owners are at their most vulnerable, and we would all do whatever we could for out pets and blow the cost. But to take advantage of that by people we should trust is inexcusable.
Personally i could never rip anyone off , its such an emotive situation when owners are at their most vulnerable, and we would all do whatever we could for out pets and blow the cost. But to take advantage of that by people we should trust is inexcusable.
jvoyce
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't defend a vet marking up drugs by excessive amounts, but they are running a business and make their living that way so they are entitled to make a profit.
Remember that a Rottweiler is a massive dog and therefore dosages are high as a result. Consequently it is more expensive to treat because of the amount of drug needed, and therefore the potential savings are higher when making a 50% saving buying elsewhere.
Anyone can buy any drug online with a prescription - I do it myself for my old dogs' Metacam. It's just common sense budgeting and I can choose to buy it from vet or not. I don't think my vet is trying to rip me off, I just have free will and can make my own choice about where to buy. Market forces always win.
Remember that a Rottweiler is a massive dog and therefore dosages are high as a result. Consequently it is more expensive to treat because of the amount of drug needed, and therefore the potential savings are higher when making a 50% saving buying elsewhere.
Anyone can buy any drug online with a prescription - I do it myself for my old dogs' Metacam. It's just common sense budgeting and I can choose to buy it from vet or not. I don't think my vet is trying to rip me off, I just have free will and can make my own choice about where to buy. Market forces always win.
Wishful
Well-Known Member
Hated it - classic trashy sensationalist journalism. Decide on the story, then go and find the evidence to support chosen point of view.
"It's not eating" covers a huge number of possibilities - pain on eating, general pain, boredom, stress etc - of course for a healthy animal it's going to be difficult to tell what the problem is. More suitable would have been an animal which DID have a problem i.e. dodgy teeth.
According to the vets I watched it with, the vet with the biggest charge was the most likely rabbit vet - rabbit's mouths are apparently a pain to see into and you will see very little with an auroscope (thing for looking in ears) which is what the tame vet used. Also rabbits which haven't eaten for 24 hours are annoyingly prone to dying...
Rottie should have been pts before all the money was spent, it clearly wasn't enjoying its life despite the 15k spent on various ops, glad to hear the right thing had finally been done at the end. Anaesthesia charges for the Rottie didn't sound too unusual either - big dog, big dose therefore big bill.
Lots of drugs can be bought on line for less than the vet practices can buy them for - unless the vets are part of one of the major buying groups. My OH generally recommends horse owners who are going to have a lot of dressings/dressing changes to buy the vetwrap etc themselves from a big chain - our local mole avon charges less than cost for the vet practice...
Love how they tried to blame the abandonment of a pregnant staffie on vets costs - why exactly was the bitch pregnant in the first place? That would not have been the vet's fault - the misalliance drug isn't expensive.
The tame vet looks like a blatent self-publicist - www.marcthevet.com ... His comments on Metacam (anti-inflammatory) interesting as it's the only anti-inflammatory drug licensed in cats, and quite why x-rays rather than a short course of anti-inflammatories would be better/cheaper I don't know?
"It's not eating" covers a huge number of possibilities - pain on eating, general pain, boredom, stress etc - of course for a healthy animal it's going to be difficult to tell what the problem is. More suitable would have been an animal which DID have a problem i.e. dodgy teeth.
According to the vets I watched it with, the vet with the biggest charge was the most likely rabbit vet - rabbit's mouths are apparently a pain to see into and you will see very little with an auroscope (thing for looking in ears) which is what the tame vet used. Also rabbits which haven't eaten for 24 hours are annoyingly prone to dying...
Rottie should have been pts before all the money was spent, it clearly wasn't enjoying its life despite the 15k spent on various ops, glad to hear the right thing had finally been done at the end. Anaesthesia charges for the Rottie didn't sound too unusual either - big dog, big dose therefore big bill.
Lots of drugs can be bought on line for less than the vet practices can buy them for - unless the vets are part of one of the major buying groups. My OH generally recommends horse owners who are going to have a lot of dressings/dressing changes to buy the vetwrap etc themselves from a big chain - our local mole avon charges less than cost for the vet practice...
Love how they tried to blame the abandonment of a pregnant staffie on vets costs - why exactly was the bitch pregnant in the first place? That would not have been the vet's fault - the misalliance drug isn't expensive.
The tame vet looks like a blatent self-publicist - www.marcthevet.com ... His comments on Metacam (anti-inflammatory) interesting as it's the only anti-inflammatory drug licensed in cats, and quite why x-rays rather than a short course of anti-inflammatories would be better/cheaper I don't know?
jvoyce
Well-Known Member
Here here. Forgot to say in my earlier post that anorexia in rabbits is a clinical emergency so quite right to want to admit it.
lizzieuk1
Well-Known Member
i have to say the most recent experiences i've had have started me thinking that there is a tendency to just treat the most likely cause of the problem but not make a full definitive diagnosis before treating. its just not good practise and this is 3 different practises i've experienced it in.
being an osteopath and having previously spent almost 4 years on a vetmed course i can see both sides but am starting to get frustrated with this approach. things tend to get treated on a 'cover all bases' approach and animal gets better without anyone knowing exactly what the problem was in the first place.
so far as drug mark ups etc go i think there has been a fair bit of expolitation there, at one stage owners could only buy form the vet and thus had to pay a premium really hiking prices because of that, things are more competitive now online so thats helping prices, mums vet said she had to buy renal science diet from them which was rubbish and he was out for a quick profit from them- v bad practise i'd say.
being an osteopath and having previously spent almost 4 years on a vetmed course i can see both sides but am starting to get frustrated with this approach. things tend to get treated on a 'cover all bases' approach and animal gets better without anyone knowing exactly what the problem was in the first place.
so far as drug mark ups etc go i think there has been a fair bit of expolitation there, at one stage owners could only buy form the vet and thus had to pay a premium really hiking prices because of that, things are more competitive now online so thats helping prices, mums vet said she had to buy renal science diet from them which was rubbish and he was out for a quick profit from them- v bad practise i'd say.
Skhosu
Well-Known Member
agree with Wishful...bet that vet's popular in the vet community, for all he tried to claim that it wasn't a programme to make people paranoid about vets fees :S
I am more than happy to pay my vets fees, they look after our animals superbly, the horse vets are excellent to us, really sensible and know what they're talking about, the small animal vets may know that we will spend anything on ours but I am content that they know as much as possibel to save my animal in an emergency.
I am more than happy to pay my vets fees, they look after our animals superbly, the horse vets are excellent to us, really sensible and know what they're talking about, the small animal vets may know that we will spend anything on ours but I am content that they know as much as possibel to save my animal in an emergency.
Wishful
Well-Known Member
Treating most likely cause rather than doing a full work up is mostly about cost - work ups cost money. People have been known to complain about vets doing work ups - claiming that they are only in it for the money!
Amusingly the cheapest place to get Royal Canin for our dog was the vets, even without the staff discount! N thought that he'd be able to get it cheaper on line - was about £10 cheaper at their public price than any of the online places he could find. Vet wrap on the other had - you can get it from Mole Avon or wherever cheaper than the vet practice can buy it from their supplier!
Amusingly the cheapest place to get Royal Canin for our dog was the vets, even without the staff discount! N thought that he'd be able to get it cheaper on line - was about £10 cheaper at their public price than any of the online places he could find. Vet wrap on the other had - you can get it from Mole Avon or wherever cheaper than the vet practice can buy it from their supplier!