Vet bills...

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NinjaPony

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Is it just me, or have vet bills got even more expensive lately?! One visit consisting of a 10 min examination/chat where the pony didn't leave the stable, and a prescription for some respiratory drugs, and it's come to over £150! I feel sure this is now the standard rate, and I'm out of the loop, but it does make me a bit nervous as I have a bad feeling that I'm going to end up having to investigate his breathing difficulties further....If it goes any further I will have to claim on my insurance, assuming that they will deign to pay out, but it did get me thinking about vets and horses in general. Are all veterinary costs much of a muchness, or would you pay more for a specific practice that you trusted, even for a relatively minor issue?
 
Our vet doesn’t charge a call out fee if the appointment is made in advance. Perhaps they just make up their money on the cost of meds?
 
tankgirl1 said:
Everything else is getting more expensive, so you can only assume vets bills will too unfortunatly
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^^^This.

Road fee for my farm vet has tripled in 15 years.
Omega-3 Horshine has more than doubled in 15 years.
The price of supplements I buy online have all increased since the first of the year - 10% - 15%.

Hay from the same grower I have used several years has increased by about 30% due to his rising cost for fertilizer, weed killers, baling twine, diesel fuel, etc.

It stands to reason anything Rx the vet prescribes will cost more.
Plus the younger ones all have tremendous university bills they are trying to pay off.

I'm glad I'm old -- I would not want to start anew in the horse world today. At last I have accumulated enough horse savvy to be able to save money and cut corners where doing that still allows my horses to live a clean and healthy life:):)
 
I'm (well the horse is) running up a nice bill at the moment. As he's no longer insured I'm trying to save myself a bit of money by taking him to the vets instead of the £40+ call out fee. I do pipe up quite often "he's no longer insured" and with some vets it makes a difference on what they'll do or prescribe.
 
Summit said:
Our vet doesn’t charge a call out fee if the appointment is made in advance. Perhaps they just make up their money on the cost of meds?
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possibly... the costs of running a practice and having staff have to be made up somewhere. Might be worth exploring if they will give a prescription and you buy it online if using any long term or pricey drugs.

I have no idea whether my vets are expensive compared to others, I don't use anyone else. I do know I 100% trust them and as an equine specialist practice they are continually adding to their facilities and training and that's worth a lot to me. Yeah having a mega MRI scanner etc on site probably means they have to charge more but if I needed to use it, then I am super pleased that they have it and I don't have to get a referral, so there's potentially a saving there. Swings and roundabouts.

My working horses are insured but to keep costs down I've always been given the option to do some of the work myself, told what dressings to buy etc and I do take them in to the clinic for some things where it's more efficient to use their facilities than have repeat visits.
 
What amazes me is people squabbling about the price of vet bills yet spending money on every bit of matchy matchy or “luxury” extras they can (not insinuating that’s you op!).

Vet care is a basic requirement for our horses and anyone whose ever received a bill for their own medical treatment in other countries etc will have an idea of just how expensive it is. I don’t begrudge what I spend on my horses vet care, ever. But then he doesn’t have a million numnahs, brow bands, etc either!
 
We recently paid 750 for our Cat to have an operation on her jaw.... 😳😳😳

My mare had colic recently and that bill is around £650. In fairness we had an emergency call out and two other normal business hour call outs on top, buscopan, pain relief, sedation, and a tubing. Also a FWEG. Was about what I expected to be honest.
 
scats said:
To be honest, whenever I take our dogs or cats to the vet for something, the prices are extortionate. In comparison, I actually think horse vet bills are pretty good value!
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I agree. My horse and small animals are with the same practice. I got a whole day at the vets with sedation, scans and (many) X-rays for less than the cost of taking a couple of the dogs teeth out!
 
Our vet charges £45 (roughly) for call out but it’s free if there are five or more horses. I have noticed slight price increases over the years but because I’ve got to pay it anyway I just tend not to look anymore hahaha
Some stuff is cheap some is more expensive although interestingly enough I’m going through an insurance claim with my horse at the moment and I clocked that the blood test he had before the insurance claim started was half the price of the same test after the insurance claim.......
I get the vet every three months ish so I just have a direct debit with them where I pay them “x” amount each month onto my account.
On the whole I’d say our practice is quite cheap but I think that’s because it’s massive so they can do everything in bulk.
 
It varies so much which is what gets my back up. One vet quoted me £400 to geld my colt, telling me he had to be fully knocked out and done on the floor.

I managed to get him into a gelding day with a old school vet who did him stood up and charged me £85 including tet.
 
I knew some people at my last yard changed vets from a big teaching hospital even though it was only a couple of miles away.The callout fees were getting too high and students were ending up diagnosing and treating most of the time. One vet came out to attend to my lame horse. I thought he was wary about going near him never mind examining him.A large bill came in even though he had never touched the horse.I discovered later that the vet had broken his shoulder a year previous due to a horse kick and had lost his nerve.!
 
I think I’ve been quite lucky but I do have a sole equine vet. Previously I had a standard vet who charged short of £100 for a call out and vaccinations. With equine vet it’s half that if that. If we get 4 horses seen to it’s a free call out!

I think I’m doing quite well at the moment, 5months of on going treatment and just at £1650...
 
I'd never not have it done & not even complaining about it, more an observation, but my youngsters booster last month inc call out (vet was at the yard no more than 5 minutes) was £92! :oops: Previous year for the same thing with my other horse was more around the £70 I'm sure. Everything is increasing though as we know so just something else to factor in & stash a bit more cash for :)
 
awelshandawarmblood said:
I'd never not have it done & not even complaining about it, more an observation, but my youngsters booster last month inc call out (vet was at the yard no more than 5 minutes) was £92! :oops: Previous year for the same thing with my other horse was more around the £70 I'm sure. Everything is increasing though as we know so just something else to factor in & stash a bit more cash for :)
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How much?? 😳😳
My last booster was £25!
I use a major equine vet hospital, thier vets were in the area and because 5 horses on the yard were being done there was no call out fee.
The previous injection (had to restart a course) was only £50 including call out!
 
NinjaPony said:
If it goes any further I will have to claim on my insurance, assuming that they will deign to pay out, but it did get me thinking about vets and horses in general.
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Not sure if you're aware but you will have to notify your insurance company of this episode anyway at renewal, even if you don't make a claim. The ins co will ask for a full vet history before assessing any claim.

ETA I now self insure, and my vet is super helpful at working out the most cost effective way of dealing with any issues. I think she enjoys the challenge of thinking it through rather than chucking everything at it when the ins co picks up the tab.
 
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