Where do vet practices get their prices from?!

TigerTail

TigerTail

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I recently ordered 2 wormers online for £14.44 each, pramox. Due to migraine at time of ordering I forgot that I didnt have a half left over so actually needed 3 as one is part dinosaur!

Never mind thinks me il pop to the vets and pick one up so I can get on and get them done - £32 :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

I nearly passed out on the spot, yanked my card out of the machine and said er I don't think so even with postage to order another one saves me over a tenner!

That is on top of a recent call out, costing me £35 for the call out plus £25 for an 'examination' fee - the vet didnt lay a blinking finger on the horse as he couldnt get near her as we discussed her ulcer symptoms for 5 mins - really grinds my gears tbh !
 
Having done my business studies project on setting up a veterinary practice I decided that it wasn't financially viable. Perhaps that is why - the overheads are terrible...
 
They charge more because they don't order in such large amounts as the online pet medicine companies do as it wont get used in time. Also they have to go on what the supplier charges, that then has vat on top. I work in a vets and even i don't order wormers through work as even at cost from dunlops with vat on top is more than what i can get them on line. Although i get a discount from work it still has a markup on it. The practice has to earn a profit else it would be unviable and we would all be out of a job, its bad enough the people who expect free vet treatment because they sit on their lazy backsides and don't work but think its their right to have umpteen animals!!
 
Try keeping goats! We HAVE to order from a vets legally because nothing is liscenced as a wormer for goats so we end up paying through the nose for something the local cattle farmer picks up at a proper price in the store.On top of that the vets have to look up what the dosage is and insist on giving us sheep dosage which is completely wrong...but then they did do an afternoon coarse on goats at vet school,oh no,they were away that day ;)
 
Its called human capital. You are paying for the years of costly education, knowledge, training, expertise of the vet as well as the overheads of the business.

I read last year as part of my business degree that it can cost up to £130,000 to qualify as a vet. That is what you are paying for.

I know it is annoying, as I too have paid out cost examination fees for things that are obvious, but if you don't like the cost, you are better off not keeping animals.
 
Same with anything though isn't it? Online stores don't have as many overheads - they don't have premises/pay as many staff etc, which is usually why you can pick everything up cheaper online.
 
I once ordered wormer online. There was more than I needed, so I thought I could keep the unused and use it later in the year...until I checked the use-by date. I had been sent wormer that only had about a month to go before its date ran out. I had often wondered how online could be so much cheaper than the shop I usually use, and now I know why!
 
I've noticed huge discrepancies on what vets charge for things and what is and isn't included in a call out and that is just in my local area.

My call out fee is £40 + VAT (based on how far away I am from the practice) and that includes half an hour of the vets time and the 'examination' drugs and additional time are then charged on top.

Another vet (which is far nearer to me but who I would never let anywhere near my horses) charges a £50 call out fee which doesn't include time or examination. Go figure!
 
I was recently charged £82 for teeth rasping and sedation and that was with free call out. I've now changed to another local practice that only charge £48.50.

Never bought wormers from the vet so don't know how much they would charge.
 
Small animal vets seem to give less value for money than equine vets. My dog's anti inflammatories cost £50 from the vet and £17 on line. They order them from a website that sells to the public apparently. Next time, I'll pay the £6 for a prescription and go elsewhere.
My equine vet's mark up on anti inflammatories is only a few pounds extra. I'm happy to pay a premium that is fair as the service and expertise I get from them is excellent. Just don't want to pay the two and a half times extra charged by the dog's vet.
 
Registered vets will have the same overheads as most other professionals - a hell of a lot of different insurance covers, professional registration fees on top of all the overheads that any business premises have got.

I presume when the vet came out he looked at your horse in some capacity which would have qualified for the examination fee - professional time is not free.

I think it has been mentioned on other threads that a lot of people don't live in the real world when it comes to vets fees and medication because they are so used to getting drugs from the NHS for the token charge of £7.40 which does not reflect what most drugs cost.
 
HaffiesRock said:
Its called human capital. You are paying for the years of costly education, knowledge, training, expertise of the vet as well as the overheads of the business.

I read last year as part of my business degree that it can cost up to £130,000 to qualify as a vet. That is what you are paying for.
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As a taxpayer, I believe my taxes subsidised my vet's costly education...

I have no problem at all with paying for my vet's expertise but I do have an issue with being charged almost 3x the price I can buy wormers for online. And am furious that the BVA is trying to have wormers reclassified so that they can only be prescribed by a vet. Rather than address increasing wormer resistance issues, all that will do is lead to fewer horses and ponies being wormed!!
 
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Lol my sister is a vet so I have a good idea how she payed for her education cheers for the condescension!

My point was that unless practises get on board with price comparisons and get more competitive they don't stand a hope in hell of the next generation funding their overheads as we are all internet users….
 
Reduce the price, means more customers buying from the practice, which means more turnover, which means more cash in the till, thats my way of thinking.
 
I always buy wormers from our local village vets. They sell non branded ones at certain times of the year based on ingredients needed. 2 weeks ago I was charged £6.50 (ish) per wormer. They also only charge £29 for flu/tet incl call out as long as its on their 'zone' day.

last month I had to take my TB to have a full diagnosis and xrays of neck/back - this was a different vet with a specialist equine area - seen by one of he partners who is very well respected. The bill has just arrived for that and its £220.

Sorry - have to disagree.
 
The bit I find sad is that vets are allowed to do bits of cash work on the side (although often in working hours) and charge next to nothing for it, maybe the cost of the drugs used.
Then there are people who are not lucky enough to have the right contacts and end up unable to treat or struggling to treat their horses.
I know this is totally up to individuals but if the costs were evened out it might be more fair?
 
poiuytrewq said:
The bit I find sad is that vets are allowed to do bits of cash work on the side (although often in working hours) and charge next to nothing for it, maybe the cost of the drugs used.
Then there are people who are not lucky enough to have the right contacts and end up unable to treat or struggling to treat their horses.
I know this is totally up to individuals but if the costs were evened out it might be more fair?
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well I look after friends horses for free but charge 'clients' surely that is at my discretion and nothing to do with anyone else-same for the vets?

I too work at a vets and the practice cannot buy some drugs for the same price that you pay for them direct from the internet, that is fact.
 
Buddy'sMum said:
As a taxpayer, I believe my taxes subsidised my vet's costly education...
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You are kidding aren't you? There is no such thing as a free education any more. I couldn't do veterinary medicine due to the cost of the course... It's not like other degrees where you can work in the holidays even - vet school holidays involve unpaid work placements :( works out about £25-30k a year for a 5 year course
 
I am a retailer and an SQP, I can sell certain licensed products. Not sure on what the vets pay, but it costs me considerably more to buy flea and worm products to sell on than they are for sale for online. I did query this with the manufacturers, who said the online retailers literally make pence, but they get bonuses for selling massive quantities. It also costs me £90 a year to licence myself and my premises and I have to pay to continuously do training to stay licensed. Thats without the usual overheads. I can imagine vets overheads are astronomical.
 
RunToEarth said:
As a taxpayer, I subsidise a lot of shyte, some of which I don't agree with, it's life and I've got over it.
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RunToEarth - my point was that plenty of us have had very expensive university educations largely subsidised by the taxpayer but to suggest that that justifies excessive charging, especially for things like wormers that can be bought from other sources, is ridiculous. And the BVA trying to change the law to force owners to buy things like wormers from vets, at massively inflated prices, is disgusting.
 
Fides said:
You are kidding aren't you? There is no such thing as a free education any more. I couldn't do veterinary medicine due to the cost of the course... It's not like other degrees where you can work in the holidays even - vet school holidays involve unpaid work placements :( works out about £25-30k a year for a 5 year course
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No, I'm not. Vet science courses, like all other uni courses, are subsidised by the govt. You don't really think it only costs £30k to train a vet do you? Where do you think the rest of the money comes from?
 
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I am more than happy to pay for medical diagnosis however after my last visit I will not buy sundry items from them.

I have learnt my lesson having been charged £39.99 for a packet of antiseptic wipes which were added to my bulldogs skin complaint appointment .
 
Buddy'sMum said:
No, I'm not. Vet science courses, like all other uni courses, are subsidised by the govt. You don't really think it only costs £30k to train a vet do you? Where do you think the rest of the money comes from?
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No it costs £30k per year - 5 years would total £150k! Which is why I couldn't afford it
 
Be aware that some products bought online may not be what they seem! I work at a Vets and we had a client bring in some Frontline they had bought online. Turned out it was a fake product, had some suspicious ingredients, hence her animal needed to see a Vet due to a big skin irritation problem, having used the product. The instructions were also written in Hebrew!!
 
Sorry Fides, misread your last post. In that case - wow! I take it all back, I'll be buying all my wormers from my vet from now on, clearly they need all the help they can get to pay off those student loans! ;-)
 
One of my vets gives free prescriptions, the other charges £4.70 for the privileged, charge £20+ for something that costs under £10 online, and rabbit vacc £30+ per vacc when it is £11 per vile, I understand overheads, but surely they are shooting themselves in the foot.
 
I have to say, where I live the equine vet charges are similar prices to what I see posted online from you living in the UK. I have no qualms whatsoever paying my equine vets and am happy with costs and services. However equine vets here cover huge areas so are often many hours away when you think you need them. To live here you do very quickly become fairly self sufficient and hold a good stock of veterinary medication/supplies. You learn to do almost everything yourself, or at least as much as you can do to keep horse ticking over until vet arrives. In doing this, you also learn just how capable you are at handling almost all situations and in time you find you don't automatically call the vet because you have most of the drugs on hand in order to treat said horse. If in doubt our vets are all contactable by cellphone and they will talk you through what needs to be done if it's a tricky situation.

Our small animal vets on the other hand, are expensive; much more expensive comparatively speaking. Hence I use my equine vets for my dogs and cats vaccinations.
 
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