Vet Fees ????

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Biglets Mummy

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Is it just me or has the cost of taking your beloved pet to the vets gone through the roof?? I have just paid £24.95 for a consultation with a vet for my dog that lasted 3 mins. I needed a bit of advice He said if it was his dog he would leave it. that was it. he didn't pet her,look at her teeth,ask about her weight ( shes a bit over at the mo)..nothing...Maybe I expect too much but the least is to say hello to my dog and give her a quick once over for that amount of money. I am not rich by any stretch of the imagination and I go without if the animals need care but it does worry me that this will affect animal welfare if the prices are as high as this. just seems an awful lot for very little.
 
While I agree that from what you say, your vet does seem to have done a very poor examination, that sounds like quite a cheap consultation fee to me. It's less than we charge at the vets I work at and we're considered cheap in our area. Personally, I think vets are just about the cheapest professionals out there. How much would you get for your £25 at a solicitors, private doctors or even dentist? Might be worth finding a vet who will actually have a proper look at your dog though!
 
I've just paid £600 for a healthy OAP dog to have 4 teeth out. A simple op became an over night stay on a drip because a pre-op blood test showed the possibility of kidney disease.
Common sense and having had small animals with kidney disease indicated to me anyway, that this dog is absolutely fine.

Drips, different painkillers, more blood tests etc etc.. and I now know :rolleyes: that the dog is, surprise, surprise,- fine.

I blame the current trend for pet insurance which enables vets to use tests instead of old fashioned knowledge and skill.

Ooops, sorry OP, just went off on a ranty tirade there, but it was a 6th of the price for a horse to have wolf teeth out.
 
Small animal fees make horse bills look really cheap. I think it is the rise of insurance to TBH. The same as garages doing car body work - my sister had her car driven into in a car park - was quoted well over £1500 for the work so she took it back to France where she was living at the time and had it done for the equivalent of £700.
 
We live 9 miles from our vets and they charge £25 as a call out and £22 to talk to you once in the yard then the cost of drugs on top and that they have to administer them to the horse which costs to.
So normal vet visit with one injection can cost nearly £60/£70. Vets said all drugs have increased and fuel costs have so they pass it on to client. Little wonder many people are giving up owning horses.












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I agree, also the bl**dy government has caused a few more bills for everyone. A friend of mine has a very old arthritic horse that needs bute every day which she just rings the vet up for. She has now been told that due to “bute in burgers” episode they now have to come out and see the horse every 4 months to repeat her prescription
 
lindsayH said:
Personally, I think vets are just about the cheapest professionals out there. How much would you get for your £25 at a solicitors, private doctors or even dentist?
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Exactly! It's no different from paying for private healthcare (which is why fewer people in the USA complain about the cost of vets). Out of interest I had a quick google at the cost of private healthcare in the UK. Just going off one site, but... a 15 minute consult with a GP is £70 to £90 (£25 to see a nurse), £29 just have have blood drawn (not including tests), the cheapest vaccination fee is £30 (not including the consult fee), a steroid injection is £75, and a simple jab of vitamin B12 is £40.

So perhaps that puts vets fees in perspective.
 
alesea said:
Exactly! It's no different from paying for private healthcare (which is why fewer people in the USA complain about the cost of vets). Out of interest I had a quick google at the cost of private healthcare in the UK. Just going off one site, but... a 15 minute consult with a GP is £70 to £90 (£25 to see a nurse), £29 just have have blood drawn (not including tests), the cheapest vaccination fee is £30 (not including the consult fee), a steroid injection is £75, and a simple jab of vitamin B12 is £40.

So perhaps that puts vets fees in perspective.
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I don't think it does, it just shows what a greedy, money obsessed country we are becoming. No one can justify a fee of over £20 to look at any animal taking less than 3 minutes, that is crazy!! As to private health care, my husband was recommended by his NHS dentist to see a private one for some specialist treatment that he said he couldn't do. When he arrived to see the private dentist it turned out to be the same man!!!! Dentist was very embarrassed as he hadn't planned on doing private work that day but had been called in to cover. I think vets are charging way over the top and the fact that they are cheap compared to human private health just goes to show that we are being way over charged for that as well. You never see a poor vet or a poor private doctor/dentist!!!:mad:
 
Crugeran Celt said:
I don't think it does, it just shows what a greedy, money obsessed country we are becoming. No one can justify a fee of over £20 to look at any animal taking less than 3 minutes, that is crazy!! As to private health care, my husband was recommended by his NHS dentist to see a private one for some specialist treatment that he said he couldn't do. When he arrived to see the private dentist it turned out to be the same man!!!! Dentist was very embarrassed as he hadn't planned on doing private work that day but had been called in to cover. I think vets are charging way over the top and the fact that they are cheap compared to human private health just goes to show that we are being way over charged for that as well. You never see a poor vet or a poor private doctor/dentist!!!:mad:
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Well said. How can you justify £25 for going 9 miles, like everything in UK rip off Britain.
 
It's not greedy or money obsessed. Vets overheads are huge and without charging what it actually costs for them to run their practice buy their drugs and pay their staff for a day they cannot provide a service. Inflation in the veterinary world is in general below that of other service providers and has been for years. The Healthcare also costs money and hospitals are heavily staffed (and often not heavily enough!) to care got patients. On top of this they have drug, equipment and rental fees to pay. For what it's worth I know plenty of vets who are not well off - it certainly is not a highly paid career. Still very much a vocation rather than a profitable career option whatever you may think.
 
glenruby said:
It's not greedy or money obsessed. Vets overheads are huge and without charging what it actually costs for them to run their practice buy their drugs and pay their staff for a day they cannot provide a service. Inflation in the veterinary world is in general below that of other service providers and has been for years. The Healthcare also costs money and hospitals are heavily staffed (and often not heavily enough!) to care got patients. On top of this they have drug, equipment and rental fees to pay. For what it's worth I know plenty of vets who are not well off - it certainly is not a highly paid career. Still very much a vocation rather than a profitable career option whatever you may think.
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£20 PLUS TO LOOK AT A DOG!!! No drugs administered that surely cannot be justified? I agree that a vet may not be highly paid but vets who own their practices are definitely not poor. As for the NHS and hospitals in general I know very little about the way they are run but I do know that there is a lot of waste and too may prescriptions given out. I say that living in wales where they are not paid for and I know people who have a stock of prescribed tablets that they have no intention of taking. MAD
 
Crugeran Celt said:
£20 PLUS TO LOOK AT A DOG!!! No drugs administered that surely cannot be justified? I agree that a vet may not be highly paid but vets who own their practices are definitely not poor. As for the NHS and hospitals in general I know very little about the way they are run but I do know that there is a lot of waste and too may prescriptions given out. I say that living in wales where they are not paid for and I know people who have a stock of prescribed tablets that they have no intention of taking. MAD[/QUOTE

It can be easily justified. Can't honestly think why anyone would be a vet if they didn't earn a decent salary which they may eventually earn after a fair few years of practice.

Vet training for at least 7 years
Ongoing CPD in new techniques
More training to specialise
Membership of professional bodies
Cost of running a car to get to animals - price of car, insurance, tax, mot, repairs, fuel
Cost of renting or buying a building to put a surgery in
Cost of equipment for that surgery, Scanners, xray, anasthetics, examining tables
Disposable items continually stocked
Drugs continually stocked
Electricity, gas., water rates, business rates, telephine bills for landline and mobile
Cost of secretary to take phone calls and chase up unpaid bills
Computer equipment, Computer programmes, ongoing technical support
Cost of nurse(s)
Third party Liability Insurance

And a lot more..
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Petethehunt said:
We live 9 miles from our vets and they charge £25 as a call out and £22 to talk to you once in the yard then the cost of drugs on top and that they have to administer them to the horse which costs to.
So normal vet visit with one injection can cost nearly £60/£70. Vets said all drugs have increased and fuel costs have so they pass it on to client. Little wonder many people are giving up owning horses.
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And that is bad value how? At an average of 60mph each way (impossible on most roads) the journey time is 20mins. Then the vet is at your premises for (on a bad day) a minimum of 10 minutes. So time spent on call, at an absolute minimum is 30mins. Add to that drugs and take off VAT and you are getting an absolute bargain. In return the vet gets £50 (after the government take their share) to pay for their time, fuel, vehicle maintenance, equipment, consumables (needles, syringes etc.), the drugs they gave your horse, training, reception and nursing staff etc. etc. They they have to pay themselves a wage out of whatever's left.

Like the other posters have said, vets are one of the lowest earning professional occupations around. Most farriers earn more. Let's have a go at them next... :mad:
 
ponydi said:
First question I was asked when I went to the vet with a slightly battered cat? Is he insured!! :D
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I am afraid this is because, there are people who agree to treatment and in the cold light of day when presented with an invoice are unable/unwilling to pay.

At the end of the day a practice is a business and is NOT the NHS.
 
I happen to think £20 to look at a dog is good value. An expert opinion was sought and provided. To be perfectly honest, certain problems require a full clinical exam, certain problems don't. That's not to say its not best practice to give a quick basic clinical exam even if the problem is skin related/external etc etc etc. Observation is a skill that is regularly used in veterinary. I can think of many cases where this provides the basis for diagnosis and treatment and the rest of the examination (or in the above case lack of it) is just for client satisfaction.
Who is being treated? I have to say, far too much of veterinary is about treating the owner. Id have far more respect for a vet who assessed what a dog needs in terms of treatment or lack of it and was confident in his work than one who sought to please a client by prescribing x/y/z just because they expected it.

I think gamebird's breakdown of costs involved gives a much better picture of reality. I also know of many practices where the boss or partner makes little more than a newly graduated vet trying to keep clients happy with prices, treatments etc - it makes for a very stressful life.
 
I don’t mind paying for good service, but service can vary with the cost remaining the same. The horse vets at our practice are all top class, but at our small animal practice they are not. I had one experience quite recently when our young cat dramatically lost weight. At the initial visit, a new vet did nothing except prescribe me expensive food. I asked if she was taking blood, and she said there was no need, which I found surprising. I wasn’t happy, and took him back to them two days later, after which I received a call at work, from the same vet, saying he had kidney failure and needed immediate treatment. She caught me on the back foot and I told her to go ahead, but really he had no hope and I put him down within days after painful and hopeless treatment. It was expensive, but I can’t remember the exact amount. I did politely explain what had happened, and pointed out that at least the cost of the initial visit was a total waste and might they take that into account? They closed ranks completely. Prior to that I had found them excellent, but here there had been an error, and it rankled that they refused to admit that. I am a long term good customer of theirs, and had never once queried anything (I fully understand that there are some people who will argue over every bill). I just felt that if I had met one of the other vets that first day then the outcome would have been swifter and a lot cheaper, although unfortunately the same.
 
Sounds like my vets are quite reasonable! Pony vet charges £27.50 call out plus £15 consultation fee.

My lizard vet charged me £82 for a consultation, anesthetic, draining of cyst, antibiotics and 3 follow ups (5 visits in total).

I agree £25 is a lot to not even touch your dog, but at the same time we all know and have to appreciate that vets costs money. Simple as that. If you don't want to pay the prices, don't have the animals. x
 
oh god dont get me started.....

a blood test/gait analysis and consultation was almost £400. (dog)!

pony call out is £30 + consult + treatment... most recently was bloods./skin swab was £250



BOTH my dog's are currently under the vet's and thank god insured but the whole"are you insured" really does raise my blood pressure too........... as i generally as "why - what additional stuff are you going to offer me now?????"

i dont know why vet's assume because your not insured you dont want to do expensive invasive stuff????? imo you must be better off NOT to insured... as not insuring it money suicide with animals!!!
 
I think I was just looking for value for money. If the fee had been for the brief 3 minute 'chat' and not,say,30 I wouldn't have a problem at all. I cant see how they can charge the same as for a examination?. I really respect vets and especially my horsey vets who are amazing and cant do enough for you at a reasonable cost. I always feel value for money with them and they don't charge you for a quick chat over the phone about an animal. i think what it boils down to is that I need to change my small animal vet !!!:p
 
i have the luck of having a good old fashioned vet at the end of my street, he looks at he animal and treats what is needed but will never over treat, he allows old pets the dignity of old age and not to be push through expensive procedures, my last cat had an old age heart mummer, we lost him at 19yr, took him to the vet the year before who gave the option of drug treatment but pointed out that forcing a pill a day down him might extend his life a bit but at his age everything is relevant and to let him have a stress free old age, i think with the increase in diagnosis and technology the vets sometimes have lost what is actually best for the animal. yes if i gave him a pill a day he might have made a year and half, but he would have hated me for this and 18 19 for a cat is a grand age.

i have problems when they operate or over treat to cure an older animal it is different if the animal is younger, but this is my personal point of view.

even if i move away i will continual to use him. although he has no people skills.
 
I'm a VN & I frequently ask people if they're insured merely so if they've not gone through the insurance process before then I can advise them on how to obtain a form,which bits to fill out & to make sure they sign it before dropping it in. I didn't realise it caused such offence & I perhaps won't bother asking people anymore if it gives the wrong impression.
 
Animals are a luxury not a right!!! Unfortunately everything costs money, since bartering stopped being so in vogue anyway!
;-)
 
I keep all my vet bills just to depress myself when re-reading them!
I have a couple that raise eyebrows . . . . . one from Jan 2011 when vet came out to LOOK at foreleg with a patch of mud fever that would not heal. When I say LOOK, I mean LOOK, she never actually touched the horse. [I eventually sorted the mud fever myself with Manuka honey]:
Visit fee : £36.96 (vet is about 8 miles away)
Examination : £37.25
Betnovate cream : £4.76

Total : £78.97

and another from May 2012 (same vet)
Visit fee : £42.60
Vaccinate annual : £11.33 (just to actually stick the needle in!)
Vaccine : £21.74

Total : £75.67

Bargain, eh?
 
On friday I paid out £128 for my pooch to have a puncture wound stitched up. She had to be sedated as was a wimp and would of the howled the whole practice down lol Anyhoo the only thing that irritated my on my bill was the fact I got charged £2.06 for disposable gloves, I would rather these cost were just added in somewhere as I know exactly how much these cost per box (we have them at work) and that did just grate me some what.

What I don't get is how sometimes they seem reasonable then for what shouldn't be expensive turns out to cost loads :eek:
 
I'm training to be a vet nurse, whilst sometimes working on reception in a vets and I used to think that vets fees were rediculous. However, since working with them and seeing the effort put into each case I have realised why they are paid well. There is so much responsibility involved, even in a routine examination, they have to make sure that they don't miss anything, make the right decisions involving the treatment, and ensure the owners understand everything. There are sometimes some tough calls regarding what route to take, balancing the welfare of the animal and what it will cost the owner. It must be difficult constantly thinking about whether they have done/are doing the right thing, I know this because they often share their thought processes with you.

However, I do think if you are paying for a consult, you should have a quick health check as you would do during a booster vaccination.

With regard to the 'are you insured question?' I think they ask it often because it must be so frustrating when you know there are things you can do to help patients, but are unable to as the owner has no/ limited funds. This obviously applies to younger animals, often injuries, things like diabetes, where the alternative is to put the animal to sleep. I know there are some vets that can make money from this, but this is the reason the question is asked by the ones I work with. I think most vets are in the job to help the animals (there are exceptions!) and it makes it easier for them to do this if they are insured. I have often felt like contributing my own money for cases where the owner cannot afford treatment (obviously I have not done)but it is so sad when there are things that could be done.

I don't want to offend anyone, as all vets are different, but I have changed my opinion since working in close proximity to lovely vets.
 
lottiepony said:
On friday I paid out £128 for my pooch to have a puncture wound stitched up. She had to be sedated as was a wimp and would of the howled the whole practice down lol Anyhoo the only thing that irritated my on my bill was the fact I got charged £2.06 for disposable gloves, I would rather these cost were just added in somewhere as I know exactly how much these cost per box (we have them at work) and that did just grate me some what.

What I don't get is how sometimes they seem reasonable then for what shouldn't be expensive turns out to cost loads :eek:
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i once gave the vets a box of gloves and also the left details on how to purchase them more cost effectively!
 
our vet charges £30 call out.
I took time off from my business and arranged to see the vet while he was visiting another client. They then stung me £17.50 for the call out.
I fought my corner over the £2.50 and refused to pay it.
Whichever way you put it the petrol , depreciation , insurance, new tyres or whatever costs exactly the same for the duration of that journey wether he sees one or twenty clients at the same location.
 
Actually there are quite a few poor vets. Not the practice owners, usually, but the employees - the ones you see quite often generally won't be loaded, well those who were crazy enough to get into the profession without family money behind them...

I know some rich vets and they are all either 40+ so joined the profession before salaries stagnated or if our age, they have family money. They still work hard though.

Most of the rest get by, more or less, but are pretty well stuck renting (need to be close enough to work for OOH).

From the perspective of being married to a large animal vet...

The car is (a) what makes people think you are rich. Yes it is new and large. It does 20-30k miles per year carrying several 100kgs of stuff. It must start first time and not break down. Old banger isn't going to work. 4x4 may or may not be necessary - crucial for point to point type work, useful for accessing many of the places horses are kept probably necessary if you get much snow in your area and (b) the biggest cost. If by some miracle you have a company car (largely being phased out by practices now) you are taxed to the hilt on it. You get 45p/mile. Most car magazines suggest than running a car costs £1.00 + per mile once you count depreciation. Remember that new big car your vet has - it will probably last 4-5 years before dying if bought new. Assuming bought 2nd had for about 10k, it will probably last 3 years before being uneconomic to repair and largely valueless. Say 3k/year just to buy the thing - more if finance required. Leasing is uneconomic due to mileage charges.

Pay - has decreased in real terms (and particularly taking into account inflation) over the last 10 years. New grads used to get around 30k including benefits, now more like 25k. Most professions salary goes up over time - for vets it stagnates until you make partner, for which you have to find 100k plus to put in (loans available but remains to be seen if they will be available when you have still got 50k student loan outstanding and no house as collateral). Accountancy/law firms often provide the loans.

Financially it sucks as a professional choice - various vets have made the error of dividing pay by hours worked and discovered that they make far less than the minimum wage - I think £2.92 is the record among my acquaintances... remember, salaried job with no paid overtime!
 
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