Vet bill £151 for a wee cat !!

lleck

when you take your pet on you have to consider all the costs associated with it and if you can't afford them or do not want to pay, don't get the pet.

We were lucky with our first two cats, they lived long and healthy lives but when they died and we got our present two, i decided to insure them (just in case). Our big beautiful soft tom cat has been diagnosed with epilepsy at a cost of £2300. There is no way we could have had him scanned if we didn't have insurance.

The vets are there to give a service and yes they are expensive but so are lawyers and other professionals. I pay more for my kids dentist subscription than the insurance for the cats.

Poppycat

Thats easily said and done, but you arent always aware of how much things costs when you get a pet.

What if you were in the position of having a good income then not, and your pet then gets ill, should we then put the pet down mealy because you cant afford it any longer? I am not saying I was in that position, mealy giving an example, a vet is in a position where they can take advantage of people, I am not saying all of them do and there are other trades that are in a similar position. I am glad you mention lawyers, legal parasites, the less said about them the better.

Kangol_Rat

my dog fell ill on the thursday before easter, he was in thursday/friday/saturday night, then put to sleep on sunday.

He had 2 xrays, and bloods tests.

they charged my mum over £700!!!!!!! Thank god for credit card

when my rat was ill, I was charged £10to see the vet, and £6.90 for the medicine....twice!!! all for a rat!

ka7e

Our vets used to be quite reasonable until they moved from their town centre premises to swanky out-of-town surgery. Now every trip entails a car journey to the far side of town and £'s added to the bill to help pay for the surgery and it's large car park on an industrial estate!
In the old premises, there were often 5 or 6 people waiting to see the vets, now you go in and the (huge!) waiting room is usually empty.

Fleago

Eels100 wrote:

Not forgetting that fact that a huge proportion of veterinary clients don't pay their bills ...

Our vets used to be able to allow people to pay things up and would gladly do so if your circumstances warranted it but because of so many people taking the proverbial and not paying at all they have had to stop this facility and you have to pay at time of treatment unless you are insured or if it is a dire emergency.

So once upon a time they were able to provide a service for those finding it difficult to come up with the money for whatever reason such as the people poppycat describes, but now they can't because of selfish individuals spoiling it for others :mad: Years ago I actually overheard our vet on the phone begging a client to at least make nominal, regular payments but from his side of it I could hear he was having no luck!

I have a relative who is a vet and it has taken him donkey's years of hard work to achieve partnership. I certainly don't grudge him his nice lifestyle now; he's earned it, often by being out in the middle of the night with his arm up to the shoulder up some cow's nether regions :eek:

blossom30

heatherw_01 wrote:

I think vets bills are high, but I have insurance so that I don't pay for them.

I must say, I think the worst fee is the consultation fee.

Hi heatherYou are so lucky to have insurance my wee cat is 16 and insurance companies will not insure over 8 years old.

wigginsmum

DirectLine insures my oldest two who are 12 and 10 - I think they have a 'lifetime' policy ie. if you start the pet with them below 8, they don't suddenly stop cover once they're older.

blossom30

Fleago wrote:

Hi shrewdal,

I'm sorry your puss is poorly, poor thing, hope she recovers soon. We're very fortunate in that our vets are very reasonable and if any of our pets need treatment they are more than willing to give an estimate of costs prior to carrying out the procedures. But as saraht says, vets have to cover absolutely everything - staff costs, premises, utilities, equipment etc - out of their fees so we are never going to have very cheap fees, just as going privately for human healthcare would not be a cheap option.

One thing I noted is you said animal hospital in your post - it's my understanding that if your vet's is a veterinary hospital it will be more expensive than a bog standard practice as the hospitals have far more equipment and expertise than average, hence normal practices sometimes having to refer on to a hospital for special cases. 've never felt that my vets have held me to ransom; quite the contrary, I've had bills where I've thought "is that all?" and wondered if they are underselling themselves. Plus, I have two pets insured and two not and have never felt that this has made any difference in the way they have been treated nor the procedures suggested.

All that being said, I have friends down in the south of England and am utterly gobsmacked at some of the bills they have! Maybe I'm just lucky, but I really cannot fault nor complain at all about our practice

Fleago

Hi Fleago is your vet in Glasgow? I need to find a cheaper one if my cat is going to have ongoing problems thanks shrewdal

blossom30

Montymoo wrote:

get insurance saves us a fortune

Hi Montymoo animals over 8 years will not be insured for obvious reasons. My cat is 16

Fleago

shrewdal wrote:

Hi Fleago is your vet in Glasgow? I need to find a cheaper one if my cat is going to have ongoing problems thanks shrewdal

Sorry Shrewdal, unfortunately not Glasgow, nor even within a short distance of it. What about putting a post on the Scotland board asking for vet recommendations in Glasgow?

Fleago