Endoscope

[RachelB]

My horse has to go to the vets somewhen soon for an endoscope examination, she has been occasionally bleeding a little from her left nostril, usually after hard work, but never very much (it is so little that it very rarely drips off her nose). Vet thinks it may just be a small problem, a small growth or something that keeps bursting open when she does hard work.
Anyway, does anyone have any idea what an endoscope exam would cost? Assuming all she needs is the scope? The excess on my insurance is £250, would it be over or under this?
Any price suggestions appreciated!
Also... I'm assuming it is a fairly straightforward thing to do? No complications or anything as they don't have to cut her open or anything...?

 

[Dougie]

i would definatly claim, as you can claim for all costs incurred related to condition, from first vet visit onwards. it is fairly straight forward to scope, a little dope and down it goes. thjere is rarely any ciomplications, the worst that can happen is a nosebleed if she moves about. let us know how she gets on.

 

[RachelB]

Definately going to inform insurance, so they know in case anything big comes of it. I was just hoping that it wouldn't be over the excess, I have double that in free student overdraft so I do have enough to cover!
I remember what a state I got in over my last pony having to have the skin on her front leg stitched back together after she skinned herself walking through a fallen gate, I was just hoping that I won't be in floods of tears in the vets because something goes wrong!

Cheers!

 

[Dougie]

you are aswel to claim because they wont cover the next time, as they have acess to your records and if they see he has had it before,een if you didnt claim they wont cover.

she will scope is really simple, ask the vet if you can have it look, its really quite cool

 

[GTs]

I would be horrified if your scoping costs more than £250 - last time I paid £40, but that is in the states.

 

[seabiscuit]

I have had F scoped several times and it cost me in the region of £200.... but dont worry nothing will go wrong it is very straightforward!

 

[RachelB]

That's ok then, I'm hoping no more than £200... at a wild guess anyway! Considering it's pretty simple and only needs some sedation.
Thanks!

 

[GTs]

They will try and do it without sedation - sedation can mask some problems.

 

[seabiscuit]

Hope they dont find anything too serious!

Gts, here they sedate them every time.....

 

[vicijp]

It costs me £50 a time to get one scoped. Ive seen 100's of horses scoped and have yet to see one be sedated.
IMO it wouldnt be worth claiming off your insurance yet. It could just be an infection or a sinus problem, which would be sorted out with a course of antibiotics.

 

[RachelB]

Re: sedation, she can be a little fussy about her head, but is such a sweetheart that she may be ok without, but if she gets worried about anything she stamps her feet about so I imagine they would sedate her if she gets worried! I have always been told that if they can get away without, they will, and they definately won't sedate when looking at a performance issue such as the larynx/ soft palate etc. (when scoping on a treadmill), but it will be a standing scope I imagine, so no need to sedate unless she fusses...?
Re: insurance, I wouldn't want them to be able to say they won't pay out if it does turn into something nasty, just because I didn't tell them she was going to be scoped in the first place. From what everyone has said, I imagine I can inform my insurance without having to claim any money off them as it looks like (thank god) the price will be under the excess amount.
Vici - my instructor did say something about having had a horse who bled a bit, and it turned out to just be an infection which cleared itself up. Fingers crossed it's only that!
Thanks again for everyone's comments!

 

[dizzydolly]

Nope, never known of one to be sedated when scoping

Straightforward procedure normally, and will only be about £50/60 (that is without sedation obviously)

 

[GTs]

Out here I would say 98% of horses do not need sedation, which is good as if we had to sedate everything that had something put up its nose, we would be sedating some horses as much as 11 times a day.

 

[Beanyowner]

I wouldn't inform the insurance company yet...no point really. They will check your horses medical records if anything more serious happens anyway. Then whack on a load of exclusions probably...don't we just love insurance companies!
Wouldn't cost a lot to get a scope done...depends where you go. Usually very straight forward in terms of carrying out the proceedure.

Hope all goes well and nothing too serious is found.

Claire x

 

[brighteyes]

A North West vet hospital charges £149 for an endocopic exam. My pony was not sedated to begin with, but needed to remain still for a procedure, so was lightly sedated. The scoping went without a hitch. Good luck.

 

[RG1801]

Costs do depend on region to region.

However there are other costs to consider and its always worth advising the insurance company of the situation, you never know where this simple scope may lead and its better to be safe than sorry.

I'm not aware of many horses that aren't sedated for scopes, if nothing else the average vet likes to remain in control of the situation and for speed and less distress for ALL parties then its normally better to do it.

If you are doing the test at home, then you'll have your normal call out fee to contend with too.

I'd seriously be surprised to see much change from £150, having had numerous scopes this year (currently have a bill around £7k at present for something that started as a nasal investigation)

Dependant on what is then diagnosed and prescribed, thats the next area of costs..

Good luck, hope its resolved and your horse is able to carry on as normal - let us all know how it went?

 

[Tia]

I had one of my horses scoped about 5 years ago (price may have gone up now). I paid £250 for 2 scopes, one was a follow-up scope; neither times was the horse sedated. This price also included the medication etc. For 1 scope and without any medication I wouldn't think it would be more than £100......but things may have changed and prices may have increased dramatically.

 

[RachelB]

Maiden's booked in at the vet's for the 22nd at 2.30pm... luckily we have one of the best vets there to do it (it's a bit of a pick 'n' mix place, you could get a horrible/ rubbish one or one of the nicest, most knowledgable people!). We're boxing her over to have it done at the vet's. We will be informing our insurance and asking their advice on what they want done with regards to claiming/ not claiming. Hopefully it should be under the excess and insurance won't be bothered, unless the vet finds something drastic!
She hasn't bled since I called the vet the other week, the vet that I spoke to today didn't seem overly concerned as I said it is really a very small amount of blood, and it hasn't happened since (although we've not been doing as much recently to minimise risk).
Anyway, fingers crossed and I'm sure I'll be posting next week and telling you all how it went! And hopefully that there's nothing wrong!