zoeshiloh
Well-Known Member
I am posting this on behalf of our YO - she has asked me to pick the brains of people on here as to what they would do.
OK, so the situation is this (will be a long one, sorry)
YO bought a horse just before christmas - he belonged to one of her former liveries, and had been on loan for a couple of years to someone else (kept at their home). She didn't pay much for him at all as he is 16 and the owner needed to sell him (has one young child and pregnant with another, hence reason for loaning him out in first place - loaner off to uni, so wanted to give him back).
Anyway, YO buys him, gets him home and dentist is out a couple of weeks later, so she decides to have his teeth checked. Vet does teeth and says that he needs surgery as he has two cracked molars and they need to be removed. He says it should be fairly simple procedure, but worse case scenario (if sinus infected etc) it would be £1500. YO has insurance, and they agree to pay out, so he is booked in. In mean time another dentist comes to the yard, has a look and says "yes, they are cracked but might never cause a problem, it isn't totally necessary to have them out". Because insurers have already agreed to treatment, YO decides to go ahead anyway.
So, off the horse goes to the vets (at this point I would say that I did not think much of this vet as I've heard bad things about him, not that he is a bad vet, but that he will rack up the bill immensley if he knows the horse is insured. Also he works alone and never asks other vets/professionals opinions on things - I pointed this out to YO but she was happy to go with him). The vet then calls and says he could only remove one tooth, and horse would need to go back in a week later for second tooth to be removed under another sedation. OK, so he goes back the following week, and second tooth is removed. Xrays done, and antibiotics given. Then a couple of weeks after, vet comes out, removes 'plugs' and says one side is infected - gives another course of antibiotics. Another couple of weeks and there is a bad smell coming from the horse's nostril (no puss or discharge). Vet comes back, takes another xray and give more antibiotics. Now, the YO has just received a letter from the insurers to say that they have paid the vet directly for nearly £3000 (he had told her would be half this!). The vet then called YO and said horse will need another operation, sinuses flushed out etc, and even then it might not cure it. This will cost another £2000, which takes her to her limit.
Now, neither of us can see why the bill has already climbed to £3k - he has had two hospital visits, but YO has paid transport and livery whilst there. He has had half a dozen xrays, two sedations and two teeth removed. No dressings, etc - just some antibiotics. She really is not happy, as she was told it would cost £1500 at the most - she understands that things go wrong, but the vet is very funny about what he will actually tell her, and she has not seen an itemised bill at all. I have told her to ask for the itemised bill, but the vet seems reluctant to provide it, as he is dealing with the insurers??
So, I have advised her to get a second opinion. She is worried that the new vets will want more xrays etc, and that the insurers will refuse to pay if she changes. I have said that she should call the insurers and ask them first, technically the xrays belong to her as they have paid for them, so the vet should forward on his notes and xrays to the new vets. We have Rossdales just up the road, and I have tried to explain that they have a huge team of vets, and would be able to tell her whether it is worth continuing or not, and what would be the best course. The current vet seems reluctant to tell her future prognosis etc, which I think is wrong when he is charging her so much money.
The thing is, once the insurance is maxed out, she has decided that the horse will be PTS. He is 16, she paid nearly nothing for him, and doesn't want to pay out of her own pocket, thousands and thousands of pounds for something that might never be put right. I personally feel that with the correct vets this problem could have been sorted out, but she is worried about changing vets, because of the insurance and cost.
So, if you were in this position, what would you do? Has anyone have these problems before, where the teeth have been damaged and then gotten infected etc? She is worried that his jawbone might be infected, and that even if they sort this out, a few months down the line the problem could return.
Please no nasty comments about her thinking of having the horse PTS - I am hoping it wont come to that, I am trying everything to convince her otherwise.
OK, so the situation is this (will be a long one, sorry)
YO bought a horse just before christmas - he belonged to one of her former liveries, and had been on loan for a couple of years to someone else (kept at their home). She didn't pay much for him at all as he is 16 and the owner needed to sell him (has one young child and pregnant with another, hence reason for loaning him out in first place - loaner off to uni, so wanted to give him back).
Anyway, YO buys him, gets him home and dentist is out a couple of weeks later, so she decides to have his teeth checked. Vet does teeth and says that he needs surgery as he has two cracked molars and they need to be removed. He says it should be fairly simple procedure, but worse case scenario (if sinus infected etc) it would be £1500. YO has insurance, and they agree to pay out, so he is booked in. In mean time another dentist comes to the yard, has a look and says "yes, they are cracked but might never cause a problem, it isn't totally necessary to have them out". Because insurers have already agreed to treatment, YO decides to go ahead anyway.
So, off the horse goes to the vets (at this point I would say that I did not think much of this vet as I've heard bad things about him, not that he is a bad vet, but that he will rack up the bill immensley if he knows the horse is insured. Also he works alone and never asks other vets/professionals opinions on things - I pointed this out to YO but she was happy to go with him). The vet then calls and says he could only remove one tooth, and horse would need to go back in a week later for second tooth to be removed under another sedation. OK, so he goes back the following week, and second tooth is removed. Xrays done, and antibiotics given. Then a couple of weeks after, vet comes out, removes 'plugs' and says one side is infected - gives another course of antibiotics. Another couple of weeks and there is a bad smell coming from the horse's nostril (no puss or discharge). Vet comes back, takes another xray and give more antibiotics. Now, the YO has just received a letter from the insurers to say that they have paid the vet directly for nearly £3000 (he had told her would be half this!). The vet then called YO and said horse will need another operation, sinuses flushed out etc, and even then it might not cure it. This will cost another £2000, which takes her to her limit.
Now, neither of us can see why the bill has already climbed to £3k - he has had two hospital visits, but YO has paid transport and livery whilst there. He has had half a dozen xrays, two sedations and two teeth removed. No dressings, etc - just some antibiotics. She really is not happy, as she was told it would cost £1500 at the most - she understands that things go wrong, but the vet is very funny about what he will actually tell her, and she has not seen an itemised bill at all. I have told her to ask for the itemised bill, but the vet seems reluctant to provide it, as he is dealing with the insurers??
So, I have advised her to get a second opinion. She is worried that the new vets will want more xrays etc, and that the insurers will refuse to pay if she changes. I have said that she should call the insurers and ask them first, technically the xrays belong to her as they have paid for them, so the vet should forward on his notes and xrays to the new vets. We have Rossdales just up the road, and I have tried to explain that they have a huge team of vets, and would be able to tell her whether it is worth continuing or not, and what would be the best course. The current vet seems reluctant to tell her future prognosis etc, which I think is wrong when he is charging her so much money.
The thing is, once the insurance is maxed out, she has decided that the horse will be PTS. He is 16, she paid nearly nothing for him, and doesn't want to pay out of her own pocket, thousands and thousands of pounds for something that might never be put right. I personally feel that with the correct vets this problem could have been sorted out, but she is worried about changing vets, because of the insurance and cost.
So, if you were in this position, what would you do? Has anyone have these problems before, where the teeth have been damaged and then gotten infected etc? She is worried that his jawbone might be infected, and that even if they sort this out, a few months down the line the problem could return.
Please no nasty comments about her thinking of having the horse PTS - I am hoping it wont come to that, I am trying everything to convince her otherwise.
