Gobsmacked by my vet bill

It's 3 pages long so I can't list everything, but a rough breakdown is as follows:

Hospitalisation - £372.50

Call outs - £182.14 (3 home visits)

Drugs (mostly Danillon, ACP, Sedalin etc - £939.86 (of which £719.96 is for Gastrogard, 2 boxes (£387.56) are being disputed)

Examinations - £246.76

X-Rays - £278.51

Nerve Blocks - £125.63

Surgical shoeing - £117.36 (pair of front heartbars)
 
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applauds
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cant afford 'em, dont have 'em or dont stint on insurance. the worst payers were always the equine clients becuase they were somehow convinced that everyone else should subsidise their hobby, their luxury item.

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Its not a question of wanting people to subsidise a hobby or luxury item - having horse is a way of life and there are not many people to whom large vets bills are not a vast amount of money. No horse owner or lover would not use a vet because they couldn't afford it if their horse needed it - and only a twisted human being would advise an owner to do without a vet if their animal is sick. In the instance of lameness investigations which can be non-essential and expensive it is important equine customers are advised by vets realistically how much they could cost and how successful they are likely to be. My vets are very helpful with large bills, they are happy for them to be paid in installments.

A friend of mine recently had her horse referred to an equine hospital for extensive lameness investigations - her overall bill amounted to about twelve thousand pounds, five thousand before they even found out what was wrong with it! She, luckily was in a position to pay this amount of money and the horse was put right and is now back in work but nobody has twelve thousand pounds lying around, it is alot of money(by anyone except possibly a vet's standards!). I really don't like your attitude towards people who are doing their best to enjoy and afford not a hobby but a passion and a way of life.
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I cannot believe they won't take the gastroguard back... I have recently said I will drop off six syringes of the stuff, plus three syringes of anti-biotics to be knocked off my bill and they have said no problem!
 
Well i think vets can be people like in other trade, some vets can play on your ignorance and give unecessary treatments... in my opinion most leg problems just need time and rest, get a vet involved and they want regular scans etc etc but they are trying to make a living i suppose, thank goodness my vet calls a spade a spade, thats all i can say.
 
Hopefully soon we will get polish vets, who will charge less. If your husband is keeping the UK afloat with his seriously large tax bill it shows that he is earning some serious money to get a tax bill that big.

That is a very snobbish comment to make.
 
This topic I feel has upset a few nerve endings and really is a problem between the Vet & the Client, As I said earlier if you are unhappy with the service that the Practice has shown you, you really ought to speak to the Vet and go through the bill with them and if they feel they have over charged for a mis-diagnosis then there is no alternative but for you to speak with the Royal College about it. I am sure your Vet will reduce the bill should he find an error with their charges. We always estimate before we go through with treatment and one would hope other Vets do to, however, it is important that the client asks how much things are going to cost before going ahead with non emergency treatments. If one goes to Tesco for their week's shopping would you presume you can just walk out with it without paying! this is what a lot of our clients feel is acceptable and why Vets have a great deal of debts to write off. I hope you can sort out your bill with your Vet as I am sure it is adding extra worry with your horse's welfare. Good Luck
 
so if nearly £1000 is gastroguard, then the rest of the bill is only £1200 which i think is perfectly reasonable for what you've had done. if you didn't like them keeping her for 2wks doing nothing with her then you should have done something about it.

personally i get totally fed up of posts moaning about vet bills - yes, my boss makes a decent living but in return for that he has to deal with all the stress of running a business, especially a veterinary in this current day litigious society that we have, all the paperwork, the staffing problems etc etc etc - the over heads are huge on our fancy hospital that our clients require and personally, i dont even earn enough to afford to rent a one bedroom house and pay off my student loan! some days i wonder why i went into this profession when all people do is moan about us!
 
The Gastrogard is actually £719.

This post has gone in a totally different direction than the one intended. If people knew the full history of the case then they would understand that there is a lot more to it than just the cost.

I have never complained about they way my vets have treated my horses in the past and I always pay my bills on time. Lottie has had a very difficult few years, resulting in over £25k of vet bills, which have all been paid on time without any arguement.

Despite what you may believe, I am not a difficult client and do not make a habit of 'moaning' about my vets, however, in this unfortunate case, I am justified in doing so.
 
My vets are great... we can take our horses to them to save the call out fee and last month they organised a first aid course at 7pm for free
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They all gave their evening up to teach 20 of us how to deal with major injuries while we wait for the vet... but they also showed us how to fit a proper poultice, how to take a temperature, essential first aid equipment etc etc.
 
As I said in a previous post, there are good and bad in all professions, as well as the competant and incompetant, some who are ethical and some who are not. Vets are not exempt from this any more than any other professional.
 
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The Gastrogard is actually £719.

This post has gone in a totally different direction than the one intended. If people knew the full history of the case then they would understand that there is a lot more to it than just the cost.

I have never complained about they way my vets have treated my horses in the past and I always pay my bills on time. Lottie has had a very difficult few years, resulting in over £25k of vet bills, which have all been paid on time without any arguement.

Despite what you may believe, I am not a difficult client and do not make a habit of 'moaning' about my vets, however, in this unfortunate case, I am justified in doing so.

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£25k in a few years?!
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It was more of a preventative measure really, she was diagnosed with severe ulcers a few years ago which were treated successfully, but when she is on box rest she gets very stressed and colicky so it was decided better to play it on the safe side and give her the Gastrogard.
 
Well I'm not sure how we are all supposed to comment if we don't know the facts
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But like Star says, removing the cost of gastroguard would leave you with a 1.5 K bill for lameness investigation and hospitalisation for over 2 weeks - now that really does not sound that much to me, it cost me £380 just for a basic workup at home and then a second visit to scan.

I still don't understand why the horse needed to be in for 2 weeks, but there must be a reason you are not divulging so for me to go slating the vets would hardly be fair?!

I suggest you discuss your concerns with the practice manager and take it from there.
 
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It was more of a preventative measure really, she was diagnosed with severe ulcers a few years ago which were treated successfully, but when she is on box rest she gets very stressed and colicky so it was decided better to play it on the safe side and give her the Gastrogard.

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Ah that makes things a bit clearer on the gastroguard side!
 
I'm not hiding any of the facts, I have been posting regularly on the situation in the Vet room.

I don't want anyone to slate my vets either, again, that was not the intention of the post.

Of course I'll be discussing the matter with them and hopefully my issues will be amicably resolved.
 
HAving read all the posts I think your original post is pointless and misleading as you say later we don't know all the facts. If you want a balanced opinion then you need to give the facts or not ask the question.

The simple answer having worked in a large equine vets for several years is that no what you have been charged does not sound excessive for what you have described. If you weren't happy leaving her there for two weeks then you should have taken her home and taken her back when they were going to do more tests. The overheads of running a veterinary hospital are enormous and the cost of keeping a horse on livery at one will be far higher than at a normal yard.

If you have concerns you should discuss them with the practice manager (with all the facts) rather than posting on a forum.
 
That's the problem in that you rarely (or cant) get a "quote" before accepting treatment. But then again, most owners just go along with it because obviously if an animal needs the treatment then I guess the cost doesnt come into it until afterwards!
 
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I really don't like your attitude towards people who are doing their best to enjoy and afford not a hobby but a passion and a way of life.
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its only a way of life if its your living. otherwise its a choice not a right! I have no problems with people paying in installments as long as the payments are met but why should a professional be treated like a bank-worse actually considering the lack of interest.

we dont know the facts in this case or why the horse was kept at the surgery when 'nothing was being done'. up to them to ask-if she's had to spend so much money with the vets in the last few years she should realise how it all works by now!
 
Not a snobbish comment at all, his seriously large tax bill is charged on the over all takings which then goes back into the practice to buy the up to date seriously expensive equipment, so unless you have any clue about Veterinary life I suggest you keep your unfounded comments to yourself!! I too hope that Polish Vets come over here then you will appreciate how good our English Vets really are!!!! majority of Veterinary students try to train over here due to our superior training and whats more, some of the qualified Vets from other countries have to re- train to practice Veterinary medicine in our country!
 
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Not a snobbish comment at all, his seriously large tax bill is charged on the over all takings which then goes back into the practice to buy the up to date seriously expensive equipment,

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Eek - then he needs a new Accountant! Tax should be charged on the NETT income - not the gross income - and expensive equipment can either be leased (with the lease payments being tax deductible) or purchased outright and depreciated (written off against taxable income) over 4-5 years.
 
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