Poorer But Wiser

[Swift]

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Last week my 10 month old Lurcher pup managed to stand on the only piece of glass on a 3 mile beach :blink: So my husband, who had the dogs out, dashed off to the vet, "blood all over" he said! A knock out job (can't spell anaesthetic) and stitches complete, we picked her up later. We then paid THE BILL. £230.76. Gobsmacked, nearly had to call the paramedics to attend me! £90 was for the knock out, £75 for the stitching in her foot, and best of all was the £14 for the vet wrap bandage that I could have bought at the pet store for £3.20. The rest was made up of Metacam jabs and pills and Synulox jab and pills. :rant: I have been with that practice for nearly 20 years, though it was sold 18 months ago to a corporate practice, CVS. I do not have any problem with the care she got but I sure do have a big problem with the cost, rip off, unjustified daylight robbery etc! You live and learn and I surely have

 

[littleman]

Know what you mean. My youngster cut just above the pad on a sliced up drinks can that had gone through a grass cutter. My bill was similar, first they tried stapling which was a sedation, staples and 3 changes of those special bandages costing £130 and then 3 days later when I took him back to have bandaged change , the wee bast.... managed to get his bandage off and spit the staples out so it was complete knock out and 5 stitches, costing £140.

All because people will not put their rubbish in the bin. I had insurance but it still cost me £75 excess and I dread the renewal premium

 

[IreneJ]

What you're paying for is expertise, overheads, salaries for the assisting staff, cost and maintenance of equipment plus drugs and consumables etc. It is a shock, I know (I've just paid over £300 to have a toe off plus follow-up dressings), but the truth is that the cost of maintaining a vet practice is astronomical. People expect to see clean, state-of-the-art premises, and the nurses and unqualified staff expect to be paid a living wage these days - unlike when I was in the business and started out at £6.06p a week, officially below the poverty line even back then.

Seriously, the cost of the equipment and consumables these guys use is frightening. Back in the 1970's I was stunned by the cost of oxygen, for example, and it's something that is used in most general anaesthetics. Can't have got any cheaper!

 

[bertha]

Count yourself lucky. Dylan cost £285 for a dental!!!!!!!

 

[Jan Doherty]

Just cost me near on £5000 for a whippets broken leg, I think they had a tea machine for those suffering with shock

 

[whippetsrus]

What you're paying for is expertise, overheads, salaries for the assisting staff, cost and maintenance of equipment plus drugs and consumables etc. It is a shock, I know (I've just paid over £300 to have a toe off plus follow-up dressings), but the truth is that the cost of maintaining a vet practice is astronomical. People expect to see clean, state-of-the-art premises, and the nurses and unqualified staff expect to be paid a living wage these days - unlike when I was in the business and started out at £6.06p a week, officially below the poverty line even back then.

Seriously, the cost of the equipment and consumables these guys use is frightening. Back in the 1970's I was stunned by the cost of oxygen, for example, and it's something that is used in most general anaesthetics. Can't have got any cheaper!

I think it is easy to forget exactly what is being paid for.

 

[Sapphire]

I have read that Vets bills went up when more people started insuring their dogs. As the insurers were paying the Vets charged more but have to charge everybody the same. Don't know if this is true or not, but it seems as if it might be.

 

[Strix]

Vets bills probably have increased, but in my experience (with our vet, and therefore can't vouch for others), if you're insured they may as well take the quickest path and test for everything at once, whereas if you're not insured they will run tests to eliminate the obvious before progressing to more costly and more drastic tests/treatments

Don't forget that we are all paying a whacking great 20% VAT on our vet bills too :rant:

 

[chelynnah]

I look at it like this, I could probably pay less elsewhere, but would I be as happy with the care and service I am getting? Next to my OH my dogs are the most important thing in my life. I'm not about to put their lives in the hands of anyone I don't trust 100000000%. My vets are amazing. There are definitely less expensive ones out there, but not one I would trust any more than I do these people. i trust every single member of staff equally. They have cared for my dogs through some really horrific times. I don't begrudge them a penny I pay to them (whether or not insured, and Chelsea wasn't insured for the last 5 years of her life as it was more to insure her than I could potentially get back). I know £230 seems a lot for a few stitches (or in my case pulling out a damaged toenail 18 months ago), but you're paying for so much more than that. I want to know that when my dog goes under that I have a damn good chance she's coming back out. Anaesthetics always carry risks, and if it costs me a bit more to have someone I trust to do it, then so be it. So while that price may be a shock to the system, it's completely in line with what I would expect to pay. I'd 'like' to pay about half of that, but I 'expect' to pay about what the OP did.

In addition to the care we get when we take the dogs in, off and on over the years - and in particular this year when Chelsea was diagnosed with bone cancer - our vets have spent a large amount of time on the phone with me going over results and questions and options. I have offered time and again to pay them for that time spent and they have refused. I wouldn't trade them for the world. Just recently they increased their consult times from 10 minutes to 15 minutes with no increase to the consult fees because they felt they couldn't always fit in what they wanted to in their 10 minute slots and were often running behind later in the day. So while we do pay a bit more for them I can see in so many ways why I pay what i do. Trust, confidence, reliability, patient and owner care, up to date equipment and more in-house options available.

I always say to people if you are a dog owner (or pet-owner) then one of the most important relationships you will ever have is with your vet. And if you're not happy with them then move, and move now. You don't want to be finding a new vet when you're dealing with an emergency or a life-threatening situation - you want to be dealing with someone you trust at those times. So find someone you trust and respect and who respects you as well in the times when things are going fine.

And one final thought... If the NHS didn't pay for our health care the cost of the same procedures for us would be far more - how scary is that!!

Wendy

 

[vetshome]

Thanks for share this info.