Raiding the saving for medication!

[Chatterdog]

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Hello everyone I just thought I would share a little about my experience lately with the cost of medication and vet bills, as I have read other post here.

My dog is a Labrador 15 years old. She has been fed high quality food and is with me all day even at work so plenty of exercise (both benefits of working for a dog food company!) and good health for her age. Unfortunately last year she was diagnosed with a form of heart failure and so she has limited time left with us, due to her age we weren’t surprised but as she had been in good health nearly all her life we were positive she was in a better position to deal with it.

She has been on medication ever since with regular check-ups. Recently we made the decision to have her teeth cleaned and some rotten ones removed, she coped surprisingly well with the GA and we were pleased with the outcome (not so much the cost :/ - not covered by insurance).

Luckily we have lifetime insurance at £20 (includes other pets) The tables cost £95.00 for a month’s supply; we then claim for the tablets on insurance and receive some back. Recently on further investigation there is a cheaper version which are capsules rather than flavoured tablets, why have we been paying so much and why didn’t the vet suggest this?! Also we found both the tablets and capsules online significantly cheaper. So rather annoyed we asked the vet, they gave a sappy excuse that they cannot reduce the cost (even though I knew the cost to them was around £25) and that they overlooked the different kind.

So the next step was to get a prescription from the vet at £10 and buy online. I have just paid £75.00 for 3 months’ supply! The saving is unreal, just a shame the vets wouldn’t lower the price even a little as I would have preferred to support a local business, I’m all for making a profit but that is taking the *. Especially as it would be a garunteed income for the practive for as long as she is still with us. Maybe they are not business minded.

Moral of this story is always do research or at least ask questions.

 

[Raven oaktree]

Yep we do exactly the same..my old boy Grommie is 16 now and has cardisure and a fruisimde type drug that is a third of the price on line. My vet rips me off though still and charges me £15 per script!! so even with paying £30 for the scripts we still pay less for his drugs on line that we would from the vet

 

[Chatterdog]

It doesn't make sense, if they lowered the price people would more than likely stay with them and so almost a garunteed income for the practice. Crazy.

 

[6th Sense]

Interesting, my dogs are 12 now so I'm sure some meds will be required in the near future. Why do you need a prescription for online ordering? Is it a special place you have to buy them from, rather than Ebay or Amazon?

 

[Chatterdog]

Medication is regulated and only a certified vat can prescribe, only certified business can supply is my understanding which makes sense.

Can only get the medication she needs with a prescription or from the vet, did some research and found VetUk and I have to say I am impressed so far. Order placed Monday (emailed prescripton) recieved Wednesday am.

We were lucky that she had no other problems until 14 years but had insurace just in case. That is another thing to watch for - not all policies covers everything or past a certain age. The only reason we are allowed to claim back some cost is because it is a life policy and we have paid since she was a pup.

 

[Raven oaktree]

We have just cancelled our old boys insurance..it had gone up from £16 per month to a whopping £32 !! we cant go anywhere else as he is too old (16)..on top of the £32 per month we have the excess of £80 and 20% of the cost of the bill..so we cancelled..Willows insurance is fab..but she is much younger and we were able to look around for a good deal..once Grommit reached 9 we had to stay where we were because of his age . We use vet uk and have found them to be fab..my irk is that my vet will only put one drug on each script ...so we need 2 perscriptions which cost £30...but its a 3 month one so we still save tons of money

 

[gypsysmum]

Vets, like all businesses, have to make a profit! When did you ever see a vet on the rich list? They work incredibly long hours and their overheads are enormous. They put a mark up on all drugs and services so that when a pet needs x-rays, tests, operations etc they can modify those costs to save the pet from further suffering.

A practice I used to work for had to sell out to a large concern as they could not make a profit! The bad debts they incurred ran into five figure sums each year. People seem to think that because they are a caring profession that they should work for nothing

If you want your vet to remain small and independent (and, therefore, cheaper) you should support them all you can.

 

[Chatterdog]

I have friends who are vets (I wish they lived closer) who run fantastic services. They charge a reasonable mark up on medication and offer their own form of insurance. You can provide a great service and make money at the same time, this particular practice is one of 6 in a chain and is not struggling at all. As I said before, I am all for making a profit but the amount they are charging for this medication is ridiculous, especially when I know the cost to them is £20 for a months supply.

I would have liked to support them but I cannot afford to pay around £105 a month though the vets when I can pay £35 a month online. If they could have reduced the cost even a little they would be guaranteed an income from my family for the foreseeable future and I would be glad to support them. That being said, they still make £10-15 for a signature on a prescription and £35 for a 5 min check up every few months. This same vet who charged me £600 to have teeth removed (another vet confirmed the op should have been no more than £300). So no I don't feel I owe them anything. I went to them first to discuss, I have been fair.

I understand your practice was suffering but many are certainly not and some even take advantage of our love for our pets. This post was simply to share my experience, not every situation is the same but for those who would struggle to pay what the vets charge or feel taken advantage of there are other options.

 

[Raven oaktree]

I understand any business needs to make a profit..of course they do but when huge profits are made on the suffering of another its not morally right in my opinion. If you have a beloved pet and your vet says they are sick and its going to cost £100 a month to keep them alive..you pay it ..obviously you do..but when you find out that actually it only cost £35 per month to keep them alive it makes me cross..the online drug companies are making profits too..but £65 less profit than vets. I just feel sometimes they take advantage of the love that we have for our pets...incidentally...we called a farm vet out to a ewe that had a prolapse..he came to the house..gave the ewe a painkiller and antibiotic and sewed the prolapse back into place and it cost £51 !!!!..a few months ago my dog cut his pad swimming. I took him to the vet..he had antibiotics a pain killer and his pad was glued..it cost £106 ..why ???. I swear if they need emergency treatment in gonna stick them in a barn and fob them off as rare breed goats ha ha ha

 

[Chatterdog]

Raven haha! Add a wooly jumper see if they notice