Lower the cost of vets bills......

PawsPup

After reading previous posts on this website and various other pet forums I thought I should say that there is no reason for people to pay the veterinary prices when it comes to veterinary medications. On a program I saw the other night, vets put a very large mark up on all their medications and the costs involved can push pet owners to get rid of their animals or even opt out of lifesaving treatment purely because they cannot afford to pay for the medications.

I know Vets can charge more but is it really ethically correct when they are supposed to be helping animal lovers? How they are unable to charge cheaper prices is beyond me. Surely they make enough money through operations and such. Anyway rant over.....

Shopping around I have found many online retailers like Pet-supermarket to be quite reasonably cheap when it comes to veterinary food. Most of them even have discount codes which can be found by joining retailers newsletters.

We can even save money on consultations by researching the web. If your pet has a well known condition then you can save on £50 by not going to the vets!

Paws

DKLS

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They are running a business not a charity for animal lovers, take the emotion out of the process.
Its simple, If you cant afford the vet fees or appropriate insurance you shouldn't keep a pet.

PawsPup

Thats fair enough, but it seems a little unfair when they raise their price so much. They basically know they can con people out of their money because of who they are.


Paws

johnwayne

If there is a cheaper alternative then my vet will reccommend it.

He said that he could prescribe vitamins which my dog is deficient in but that they would cost a lot of money, he then went on to say that the vitamins are exactly the same as you can get for people in a supermarket at less than a 3rd of the price.

Hintza

Move to a different vet. Doctors are paid over £100k in many cases and surgeons on a lot more.

Vets have to be a jack of all trades and in many instances I'm surprised they are as cheap as they are.

elsien

PawsPup wrote: »

Thats fair enough, but it seems a little unfair when they raise their price so much. They basically know they can con people out of their money because of who they are.


Paws

It's not conning people out of their money - vets train long and hard to be able to practice, and the bottom line is they are running a business. You're not just paying for medicines, you're paying for their time and experience. I think because we are so used to free treatment for ourselves we forget how much things really cost.
My vet will suggest cheaper alternatives if he can, and checks if I'm insured so I can weigh up costs/benefits before I decide which treatment to go for.

PawsPup

But what I'm trying to stress here is the price of Veterinary food. They charge alot more then what the pay.

They can go ahead and charge what they like for their specialist abilities which they have taken time to learn, but its not like they made the cat/dog food themselves. What im saying is why charge so much for Veterinary specialist foods?

Hintza

PawsPup wrote: »

What im saying is why charge so much for Veterinary specialist foods?

Because they will not be able to negotiate the discounts available to big retail outlets.

lowis

their prices are higher because they have larger overheads and less buying power than websites such as Pet Planet etc. i agree that some vets do take the pi55, but the majority don't and are just running their business (not charity) as best they can within the freemarket in which they operate.

i do inform my vet of some of the prices i purchase at on the internet, for example i can buy a Feliway refill for £12 (plus postage) on the internet, but my vet charges £25 - he won't put his price down, so I won't but it from him. that is the joys of the freemarket.

evilsheep

I didn't see this particular programme, but I can only assume that it's typical of these inflammatory types of 'pro-consumer' television.

My local vet recently suggested that we buy worming & flea treatment online to save money, and he pointed out to us that vaccinating our cat might not be necessary as she doesn't yet go outdoors.

It was our first visit there for treatment, and I started off by telling him that we were ignorant of feline medical needs, and therefore would like a 'full service' on our pet. My point is, he could've taken advantage of us, big-cat style! But he didn't. So, maybe all vets aren't bad.

GPs however ... don't get me started ...

snowman2_2

Always nice to be accused of being a con artist and unethical. Most of us aren't, if we were ethical I would put my prices up 50% so I could pay my staff a decent wage and earn closer to what a GP earns. If I was unethical I would double it. The average vet earns 1/3 of a GP - hardly fair. If we try to charge properly we get accused of being unethical and we should be animal lovers. I am an animal lover, I have 8 assorted pets of my own but it doesn't mean I want to pay to look after everyone else's pets because "I should be an animal lover".
The price of pet food and the basic raw materials has gone up a lot recently because of global food prices - out of my hands.
I never suggest my clients buy their wormers on-line as I sell them cheaper than any on-line pharmacy I have found. I have a good relationship with my wormer manufacturer and we are able to offer a cracking deal. For flea treatments, the more you buy the bigger the discount. I can't buy as much as some of the pharmacies and they can sell it cheaper than I can buy it. Not exactly fair on me.
Out of interest, what mark-up do you think we actually put on food and drugs and what mark-up do you think is fair?