Do vets vary considerably in price?

S

Starbucks

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 May 2007
Messages
15,799
Visit site
The old vets we used to go to seemed to be extremely expensive for every tiny little thing. It was in quite a posh area of Sheffield (if that is possible!).

Were we've took her this time for her stitches (small town) seemed really reasonable and I went down today and they gave me a load of dressings and a lamp shade thing for free! They charged us 10 pounds for a lamp shade at the old place!

Guess I always thought they'd all be similar but maybe not?
 
I think the will vary an awful lot from area to area. And be especially expensive for small animals.
We are farmers, so use the vets a lot. We do get some whopping bills each month, but we get good value for our money I think.
 
Vet practices are small businesses (mostly) so they try and charge enough to pay all their costs and earn the partners some profit in return for their substantial investments... A practice in an expensive part of the country will necessarily charge more than a practice in a cheap area, as the practice in the expensive area has higher overheads (salaries, staff accommodation, premises) than the practice in the cheaper area.

Some practices will charge less for drugs and more for procedures, others will loss lead on some procedures (spay/castrate especially) to get clients and charge more for drugs/other non-standard procedures.
 
Yes definitely. When our pony fractured her leg the vets who treated her originally were ridiculously expensive, my own vets couldn't believe the charges. Yet strangely my vets are in a more affluent area. Daughter is currently on placement with a local small animal practice and their charges seem to be higher than our vets although within a few miles of each other.
 
From experience I can say massively! just had our dog referred for surgery, the referral vet then decided to do the same surgery our local vet was going to do but didn't think was suitable.... and it cost £2000 MORE!!! He came back from the referral vets with a bottle of metacam £25 - our vets charge £17 for the same thing. Vets are a business and need to cover their costs and make money to invest but get a vet you trust so that you know you are getting a fair deal and an honest opinion. We were lied to by the referral vets, I've been really upset at the way we have been treated and I would nnever ever go back there or let that vet near one of my animals again. A good vet is the best thing you can find though so look after them!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top