vets bill

[jac47]

OMG I received my vets bill today for my horse. I had the vet out two weeks ago out of hours (around 8pm) as my horse had mild colic. I told the vet what was wrong with my horse and they gave him a buscopan injection,finadyne solution and left me with equipalazone paste. Itemised bill states that I was charged £71.66 for call out, £31.65 for exammine and Diiscuss 3, (what is this)so I am charged over £100 before horse is given any medication total bill is over £150 which I think is an absolute disgrace. I feel totally ripped off and annoyed that we are now being charged for an exammination and discussing the problem which use to be added into the call out charge. I also think the 71 for the call out is over the top. How is the every day working person going to be able to afford these high costs. The charges have doubled in less than 4 years and the charge for exam and discuss is a new one. Your views please

 

[cariadssogreat]

Now I had an identical situation but back in Oct.
However my bill came to £170 which included tubing? Costs :

Visit £48.39
Exam £82.49 (incl rectal ans s/t)
Mesofyl £10.53
Buscopan £6.94
Liquid Parafin £4.41
Lectade £5.55
Domosedan/Equimine £5.95
Torbogesic £6.01

To be honest, I was ok with this - do others think this is excessive? I was just greatful the horse was ok and didnt need surgery to be honest.
Admittedly it is a lot of money - but then it is out of hours.

What I was miffed off with once was taking a ferret to the vets on xmas day about 7 yrs ago adn it was £100 to walk through the door!

 

[Dubsie]

I would write to your vet and enclose a copy of a previous bill to compare (hoping you have one) , and politely explain what you are complaing about especially as you knew what the problem was and told the vet this, and ask them how they can justify this. Admittedly call out fees will have risen (you could state the cost of motoring rise over 4 years and suggest to them a more reasonable amount perhaps?)

 

[MurphysMinder]

Out of hours call outs are always more expensive, don't know what distance your vets travel but mine charge around £30 for a daytime visit, plus consultation on top. The drugs would also have pushed the charge up. Have to say I don't thing the bill is unreasonable, and at least your horse is okay now.

ETS. I know you say you told your vet what the problem was, but would you really have preferred he took your word for it and treated your horse without carrying out an examination?

 

[lauraandjack]

OK I am going to throw a spanner in the works! But before you bite my head off I do agree that that is pretty steep for a call out charge. Are you a long way from the practice?

Examine and discuss 3 is probably just the way the computer names the procedure. Every practice lists this differently, I think we have examine and inject, examine and advise. There are probably different levels according to how much time/effort went in to it. I don't think the examination fee is unreasonable but I agree the call out charge is a bit steep, especially as 8pm is hardly the middle of the night.

For everyone who thinks vets fees are too high, please consider what you are actually paying for. Every vet practice is a small business, and at the end of the day they have to make money or they will not exist. Whether you think that is right or wrong, that's the way it is.

So, you are not just paying the vets wages, there are nurses, receptionists, cleaners etc to be paid too. There will be a practice building of some description, which has to be maintained, probably has a large mortgage and is liable for business rates. Then there is equipment, fancy ultrasound and x ray machines don't fall out of the sky, they have to be bought or leased in order for us to provide you with a service. Plus fuel and wear and tear on the car, and the drugs have to be bought in the first place from the wholesaler. Never mind employer's liability insurance and all that jazz.

Yes, vet's fees are expensive, but running a vet practice is expensive too!

 

[GreedyGuts]

That's about what a plumber would charge for an out of hours emergency.

It's a fair bit of money, but not an unreasonable charge to my mind.

 

[jac47]

I too am grateful my horse is okay as he has had surgery but it's the amount the call out's have gone up by and the extra charge to examine there was no rectal. I actually told them what was wrong. I have the vet out quite frequatly and cant afford this every time am affraid.

 

[toomanyhorses26]

I get charged nearly £70 before he even touhes the horse and I am about 10 mins drive from the surgery = we also get charged an intravenous injection fee as well which always seems a bit of a cheek when you have already paid for an examination

 

[crabbymare]

I pay about £60 for a normal callout as the vet is a fair way away, so for me the visit is very reasoable and out of hours is usually half as much extra.
The vet needs to look at the horse before they give the drugs even though you said what was wrong, if they did not and the diagnosis was wrong the consequences would be very serious, so even though he may have just stood and looked for a while he did spend time there. I suspect the 3 bit was for a quick examination rather than a 1 or 2 which may cost more.

I would just be happy that the horse was ok and did not need any further treatment, I know its not easy to afford things but the horse was bad enough to need the vet so it was not something you could have left until the next day. It may be worth querying it, but unfortunately it does sound about right for out of hours.

 

[Ebenezer_Scrooge]

My fees for out of hours colic is around 200 pounds and my vets are 45 mins away. Yes it's alot but I really love the vets at my practice, they have known my horse since I've had him [4.5years] and are always very supportive and I know I can ring them for advice anytime.

 

[TheBlackMoth]

I had to pay £75 to take my dog to the emergency vet at 4pm on a Saturday -and that was just for the appointment. Medicines were extra!

 

[PeterNatt]

Considering it was out of hours and I assume they responded immediately I would say it was very reasonable.

 

[happyhaffie]

i think i love my vets even more now, i had the vet out on easter sunday, i cant remember the exact item prices but the call out was on £33, she was examined, given a ntibiotic injection a weeks worth of noradine and 2 weeks worth of bute for the total cost of £82 including vat, i must admit i thought i was looking at a much steeper bill

 

[Gamebird]

I'm sorry?

You have a horse with an out-of-hours medical emergency (and it must have been, or you wouldn't have called a vet, right?) and you want a trained professional to attend, examine, diagnose and treat your horse for a pittance? Please see VictoriaEDT's post on how much it actually costs to work as an EDT, let alone a vet.

Apart from the fuel, time involved, costs of running a practice as outlined in lauraandjack's reply there is the fact that you are asking for the assisstance of someone who has to spend 5 days a year at a cost of up to £500 a day just to keep their training up to date and be allowed to continue to practice.

The common reply is to compare it to the cost of having a plumber out in the evening - but private healthcare or dentistry would be a fairer comparison - can you imagine how much it would cost you to have emergency dentistry at 8pm (and they wouldn't even come to you!) or if you had to pay the true cost of a trip to A&E? Out-of-hours work is just that - usually carried out by vets who will have worked a 12 hour day, followed by a night on call and then another full day. It is not fair to expect them to attend for the same rate as they would charge in the daytime.

Please don't begrudge paying a professional for their hard-earned skills - even the 'diiscuss 3' part of the bill (and if it's spelt like that on your bill I would most certainly complain as it's distinctly sloppy and unprofessional) involves the use of clinical skills in trying to get an accurate history from the owner and form a judgement to aid in the findings on the clinical exam. The vet will appreciate that you have told them that your horse has colic but his choice of treatment and drugs or further tests will depend on many factors such as the horse's gut sounds, heart rate, general demeanour. There is no 'one size fits all' treatment for colic and to have treated the horse based on your diagnosis not theirs would most certainly have been negligent on the vet's part.

If you feel like your horse has received inadequate treatment or you have a legititimate issue with the conduct or behaviour of the vet please raise this with the practice, initially over the phone followed by a formal complaint in writing. If your only grievance is the cost charged please consider all the aspects of the service that you have received from both points of view before you complain.

 

[Ludi-doodi]

I don't think you can put a price on the comfort and health of your horse - most of all for colic where ultimately it could led to death.

Unfortunately that's life with horses - it's expensive. If you can't afford it, you need to seriously think about owning an horse.

I had the vet out on Saturday 9 May at 7.30pm to remove a broken tooth which was still very firmly attached to the gum! The bill came to £155 - the out of hours call was £69 plus a further £30 for the examination. The remainder was for drugs and VAT.

My only cause for complaint? That the bill arrived the following Wednesday morning "blimey" I thought "that was quick"! I'm still awaiting the bill for the overnight stay at the surgery, the removal of the rest of the tooth, the check-up visit yesterday and the other one due this Friday. It ain't gonna be cheap but that's what insurance is for but even if it's not covered by insurance, I'll just have to stump up.

Sorry, but I think you just have to suck this one I'm afraid.

 

[tasel]

Vet bills in the UK are a lot more expensive, I think. I took my dogs to a vet in Germany once who did point out to me that the UK vets are a lot more expensive. Don't know why that is - maybe vets in Germany get state aid or something as the state charges incredibly high taxes to dog owners anyway (like €250pa for first dog and even more for any dogs on top).

My last vet bill which included "Call Out" and "Examine & Advise" was £44.85. This is paid by the insurance but wouldn't have been too bad if I had to pay for it myself. However, this was during the day. In fact, I have paid a few of those type of bills myself previously, although I already had a claim in place for the same issue, simply because I couldn't be bothered sending the invoice to the insurers with a letter.

However, my tiny dog (the size of a handbag) had an emergency once, incl. operation and that bill was a total of nearly £2,000. Thank God for insurance - the insurance didn't even have an excess!

 

[AmyMay]

Your bill is exactly the ball park amount I would expect it to be.

Stop moaning - horses are expensive. Horses with an emergency out of hours even more so

 

[Donkeymad]

QR

Sorry, but I too think the fees were perfectly acceptable and within normal range.

 

[jac47]

Well that’s me told- but I don’t remember saying I wanted the vet out for a pittance. My horse has reoccurring bouts of colic and I am frequently calling the vet out. I know when it is bad enough and when to call the vet. I said in my post it was mild colic and we can usually walk him through it and my vets know that. I wanted them to come and give him an injection which always does the trick and I can leave him and know that he will be fine. I am very lucky to have such good vets and I know I can rely on them but I CANT AFFORD to pay such a high call out every time 8pm is not the middle of the night if it had been then I wouldn’t have questioned the cost. I also love my horse and would not part with him for anything. O and the spelling mistake was mine. Not everyone is perfect what a pity. You need to check your spelling as it's not all correct I will let you find mistakes.