Robbery without the violence...

Hi there,

I am new to this forum but I would like to get peoples opinion on what might be a very controversial subject - Profiteering by Vets.

I recently had my best pal of seventeen years put to sleep as a kindness due to old age. As his health had failed to the point where, I honestly felt he was telling me he’d had enough. It was heart breaking and I am absolutely lost without him.

The vet used a small injection of ketamine to relax my dog and to ease any discomfort which allowed me ten minutes to sit with him, while he was still aware before falling asleep and giving him the main injection. It was all very humane and peaceful and we got to say our goodbyes.

The vet was very understanding and I am totally satisfied with their quality of service but then came the bill - £165.00 for two injections and the cremation of the body.

I have got to say, when I started to think about things, I couldn’t for the life of me see how they can justify this kind of money for ten minutes of their time, the drugs used and a cremation. This has left me with a somewhat bitter taste in my mouth which brings me to my question.

Is this just robbery without the violence and blatant profiteering at the expense of someone’s grief at losing a friend?

Your thoughts…

First of all I'm so sorry that you have lost your best friend. Something that none of us dog owners get over. But I'm sure you feel very blessed that you got 17 years from your boy, some people don't even get 10

The cost you have mentioned sounds about right in my opinion.

Each vets charges do vary depending on the size of the establishment. My vet is through Pets at Home and the consultation fee is £25. However the vet I used to take my previous dog to was £40.

Personally I would I would reflect on this time and say it was worth every penny to see your best friend happy and pain free in his final moments, despite how heartbroken you are.

Sending kind thoughts your way.

Sophie x

goldenbear2013 said:

First of all I'm so sorry that you have lost your best friend. Something that none of us dog owners get over. But I'm sure you feel very blessed that you got 17 years from your boy, some people don't even get 10

The cost you have mentioned sounds about right in my opinion.

Each vets charges do vary depending on the size of the establishment. My vet is through Pets at Home and the consultation fee is £25. However the vet I used to take my previous dog to was £40.

Personally I would I would reflect on this time and say it was worth every penny to see your best friend happy and pain free in his final moments, despite how heartbroken you are.

Sending kind thoughts your way.

Sophie x

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Thanks for that Sophie… You do feel a little raw after suffering such a loss and especially if you think that someone has taken advantage of your situation. I still feel their fees were more than a little on the high side but they did send me a card expressing their sincere sympathy, so it’s not all bad.

Oh and if there is a next life I am definitely coming back as a vet.

Sorry for your loss, but I do not think £165.00 is excessive for Euthanasia and Cremation and you cannot blame the vet for the costs set by the crematorium. I paid £150 for cremation alone of my beagle. And a separate vet bill of £52 for her Euthanasia and I was perfectly happy with that.

Hi Dugless- I'm sorry to hear about your loss. I'm dreading the day that I have to say goodbye to Molly, as I know that my health is not up to having another dog and my heart and my home will have huge furry spaces with no furry in them.

I think that since you were paying for cremation as part of that bill the costs were probably pretty standard. The last time I had a cat cremated (standard group cremation, no return of ashes or casket) that was £45, so if your dog was any bigger than a cat (it works on weight) or you wanted his ashes returned to you after a solo cremation then that could take the cost up past the overall figure that you paid.

If your vet charged you a standard consultation fee of (for instance) £25 and the ketamine (which is not cheap) was £15-20 and the euthenasia drugs could be another £40 or £50 on top of that, depending on the size of your dog. That would only leave a cremation charge of £60-80, which is about standard these days.

Hi, first of all I would like to say how sorry I am that you have had to say goodbye to your best friend..i know how heartbreaking that is. We had to say goodbye to our big boy 7months ago and we still miss him everyday and from time to time the tears still flow. We had our big boy pts at home. The home visit was £75 plus £80 for his cremation and over £100 for the drugs needed. He weighed a massive 127lb so needed alot of sedation, then 5 vials of the stuff needed to stop his heart. In my opinion it was worth every penny. He was at home with his whole family around him, the vet was amazing and took her time and gave us time with him too. He was taken away and looked after properly and we recived a lovely handwritten card from the vet who was with us..money well spent to make his final hours as good and comftable as they could have been.

so sorry for your loss .Years ago vets used to treat wild animal s and injured pets for free if you found them suffering ..... if they needed to be euthanized they d do it and the liability was not passed on to us kids back then .Nowdays if you take an injured cat to the vets and you don't own it and you ask them to teat it ....the law is that you pay not the vet....It's a sad greedy world now ...and these injections cost pennies not pounds .....The costs are in the overheads for running the business obviously and keeping up with all the modern medical scientifical equipment

Dugless, sorry for your loss. Unfortunately that sounds about the correct price and I agree it is an awful lot of money.

Last year we had say goodbye our almost 17 year golden retriever, joints stopped her from getting up and it was to the point of no quality of life. She had the injection and was individually cremated and returned to us. We paid roughly the same if not a little more.

If it makes you feel even a little better, our 15 year old lab just went under GA to have teeth out and the rest cleaned plus a general check over while under. So far we have spent £520 for this not including the medication for post op. She also has heart tablets which cost £94 per month. I have recently found out that the cost of the tablets to the vet is £20, I dread to think how much I have over paid for the op. Needless to say we are changing vets.

Not all vets are like this I have several vet friends who go above and beyond – I wish they lived closer! But I think this is sadly the way of the world at the minute

Again I am sorry for your loss. Greatest sympathy to you xx