Vet Bills…..Panorama….BBC 1

We are lucky that our practice if very much mixed, includes farm and equine and is still independent, and they certainly advertise that. I think the prices are reasonable and they seem to try to keep them that way. They do zone visits for routine visits where they won't charge call out, although you have to pay on the spot, which is OK. Farm animal prices are always the lowest compared to other animals.

I think it is a great shame that pet owners are being regarded as bottomless pits regarding prices, it will but some people off getting a pet if they are frightened of the costs.
 
Caski said:
I have just paid £526 for a cat euthanasia and basic cremation (c. 15 minutes at the vets), it was ooh, the vet was lovely but after the event I'm slightly wowed by the cost.
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Wow that is expensive. We had ours PTS last month and for the same it cost £245.

ETA they are now owned by CVS.
 
Caski said:
I have just paid £526 for a cat euthanasia and basic cremation (c. 15 minutes at the vets), it was ooh, the vet was lovely but after the event I'm slightly wowed by the cost.
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I had to have our lovely old cat (18) put to sleep in September last. That was £262 and I bought him home and buried him in the garden. Had the old companion pony put down in April 2024 £112 and the vet came out to her.
 
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I had my Whippet put to sleep at home by the new independent vet I use in November for £340 which I thought was very reasonable as it was a semi-emergency call (i.e. I rang that morning)
 
I smell emotional blackmail. PTS prices are ridiculous,way too much and as far the thousands for the operations that poor dog needed on the panorama,well I wouldn't have been paying. The vets have people over a barrel. Rather like human undertakers,thousands for funerals, just think of the lovely holidays the person could have had and enjoyed. Straight to cremation is cheaper.
 
Sanversera said:
I smell emotional blackmail. PTS prices are ridiculous,way too much and as far the thousands for the operations that poor dog needed on the panorama,well I wouldn't have been paying. The vets have people over a barrel. Rather like human undertakers,thousands for funerals, just think of the lovely holidays the person could have had and enjoyed. Straight to cremation is cheaper.
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Agree fully.
 
onemoretime said:
I had to have our lovely old cat (18) put to sleep in September last. That was £262 and I bought him home and buried him in the garden. Had the old companion pony put down in April 2024 £112 and the vet came out to her.
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Sadly our Ed cat was pts at vets in early Feb last year, £325 inc. No ashes back etc.

Then at the end of that month suddenly had to have B Fuzzy pts, £300 inc taking away by knacker man. I would have had vet but speed was of the essence and he was much more closeby, shitty month that was.
 
Sanversera said:
I smell emotional blackmail. PTS prices are ridiculous,way too much and as far the thousands for the operations that poor dog needed on the panorama,well I wouldn't have been paying. The vets have people over a barrel. Rather like human undertakers,thousands for funerals, just think of the lovely holidays the person could have had and enjoyed. Straight to cremation is cheaper.
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People are free to shop around, or not have the operation, or not have pets if they want lovely holidays instead.
 
PTS costs are very dependant on the medications used - for context the drugs I use for an average size Labrador cost the guts of 75 quid wholesale, I don't mark up Cremation but a basic individual cremation with casket/scatter tube and nothing extra like paw prints, jewellery etc is still 235. So you can easily be at 310 without the cost of me driving to your home, euthanising the pet, providing transport to the crematorium and hand delivering your pet's ashes back to you......and I have to make living, just like everyone else.
 
Mynstrel said:
I agree, our medivet practice is considerably cheaper than 2 local private practices (£45 vs £75 for a consultation) so I don't think all the blame lies in the corporate ones. I must admit I'm more suspicious of the pet food owned chains than the others, to me that's a conflict of interest.

It's the drug prices compared to online that really gets my goat though, I don't object (as much) to paying for people's time and expertise but when I can get £60 of vet drugs for £20 online then I'm not happy with that.
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Its not even going to the vets or nurses or support staff and thats what really annoys me!
 
sbloom said:
I caught a little of James O'Brien discussing this yesterday and he made a real point of saying it's like undertakers, that when his dad died he almost wanted to give them MORE money to prove how much he loved his dad. I'm so glad our new vets up here in Scotland are small, and independent!
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I love J O'B but this is the second time he's covered vets bills, and both times he's had me shouting at the radio. He actually has very little understanding of what is involved in procedures or charging("How can they charge hundreds of pounds just to clean a dog's teeth.....?" The item was slightly saved by a 30 year vet phoning in and telling him there's no NHS for pets and that people don't realise what medical costs - this had actually not occurred to him! But mostly, once again, it was owners calling in to say what mega amounts they'd paid, and him asking if it was a massive scam and if we were all being ripped off at the vets. At least nobody said we are all in only it for the money, but I'm disappointed in him over this.
 
druid said:
PTS costs are very dependant on the medications used - for context the drugs I use for an average size Labrador cost the guts of 75 quid wholesale, I don't mark up Cremation but a basic individual cremation with casket/scatter tube and nothing extra like paw prints, jewellery etc is still 235. So you can easily be at 310 without the cost of me driving to your home, euthanising the pet, providing transport to the crematorium and hand delivering your pet's ashes back to you......and I have to make living, just like everyone else.
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You should see the wholesale cost of somulose these days!! :oops:
 
Landcruiser said:
I love J O'B but this is the second time he's covered vets bills, and both times he's had me shouting at the radio. He actually has very little understanding of what is involved in procedures or charging("How can they charge hundreds of pounds just to clean a dog's teeth.....?" The item was slightly saved by a 30 year vet phoning in and telling him there's no NHS for pets and that people don't realise what medical costs - this had actually not occurred to him! But mostly, once again, it was owners calling in to say what mega amounts they'd paid, and him asking if it was a massive scam and if we were all being ripped off at the vets. At least nobody said we are all in only it for the money, but I'm disappointed in him over this.
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I only heard the intro and thought his point was very valid. Absolutely agree that this is not about vets themselves and it's unfortunate if that was show it was couched. It's about corporate ownership in the industry, the level of profit extraction and how they get away with it.
 
sbloom said:
. It's about corporate ownership in the industry, the level of profit extraction and how they get away with it.
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vets were profitable businesses even before corporate ownership. Corporates are there to make money. They saw the profit in vet practices and the potential to increase that. Whilst the actual vets may have an interest in animals and their owners the accountants don't. Targets and pulling in money is more important. No different to any business. They are there to make a profit.

Not all independents are the opposite. I know of one whose charges are horrendous for small animals, no different than for corporates. A local small independent practice has just set up in their area and people are moving over to that due to the charges. Insurance doesn't help it pushes up the costs. Those who are insured have no problem, practices do nicely on it but it then pushes up the costs for the uninsured. I very sadly found vets happy to put insurance before welfare.

After getting new dogs I moved to a different independent. I was amazed after my visit to find the costs were approx. half what I would have expected to pay with the old independent. It was just a basic practice and that was reflected in the price. (it also came with a very good reputation)

Just about all the problems seem to be with small animal practices. For the most part people seem pretty happy with equines practices and farmers and those running a business certainly aren't going to pay the over inflated charges of small animal practices.
I would guess that many small pet owners have little idea about animal health so are an easy target. They don't know the questions to ask. Experienced horse owner and farmers probably have a lot more idea of the problem and advice being given and the questions to ask .

My earlier independent(several years ago) was taken over by a corporate. They happily took the small animals. We all then got a letter saying no horses or farm animals. Clearly they were not profitable enough.

Many of these small animal practices are not what owners (especially some of the less well off owners) want but it is what they are being given and they have little choice. For some of these owners, especially elderly and lonely ones their pet is their lifeline. For horse owners it is different, a horse is far more of a choice.
 
Landcruiser said:
I love J O'B but this is the second time he's covered vets bills, and both times he's had me shouting at the radio. He actually has very little understanding of what is involved in procedures or charging("How can they charge hundreds of pounds just to clean a dog's teeth.....?" The item was slightly saved by a 30 year vet phoning in and telling him there's no NHS for pets and that people don't realise what medical costs - this had actually not occurred to him! But mostly, once again, it was owners calling in to say what mega amounts they'd paid, and him asking if it was a massive scam and if we were all being ripped off at the vets. At least nobody said we are all in only it for the money, but I'm disappointed in him over this.
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But you’re totally confident he has full understanding of other issues?
 
I flagged up the panorama programme on Monday, took my dog to my extremely good independent vet yesterday as I was a little concerned about an issue….suffice to say I could now be facing an issue that never crossed my mind..
He (my dog) is back in on Monday for a biopsy and my vet who I have known and used for over 30 years, said because I know you, I will be honest and say it’s not looking good….
I am glad he has been honest, but so hope he’s wrong….
 
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