Vet bill £151 for a wee cat !!

blossom30

Eels100 wrote:

If she wants to earn decent money tell her not to bother. She'd be better off in dentistry.

Vets when they graduate earn between £18-£22k. They have spent YEARS studying towards this goal, and they have to study hard - I mean really hard. Then they have to convince a university to let them in - at one point one institution had 14 students applying for each place available. Then they have a further 5 years of very intense study, while devoting all their holiday time to unpaid work placements (therefore they cannot earn anything to supplement what was in my time less than £4000 a year student loan to cover living expenses). Then they qualify and go into jobs where they work long hours (most days probably between 8 and 10 hours) and then have no free time because often they are still on call all night! They then have to get woken up in the middle of the night because clients think it's ok to phone asking about their cat being in season, or the fact that their dog's been off colour for several weeks but they've decided that at 3am it's suddenly an urgent case. Then they have to get up in the morning and go back to work to face people moaning about the fact that it cost X amount to make their pet better, and threatening to sue them! Not forgetting that fact that a huge proportion of veterinary clients don't pay their bills ...

I love my job, don't get me wrong, it's my life - but when I see how much of my monthly income disappears paying off the massive student loan I had no choice but to rely on, I lose the rag. Profiteering? Phone BUPA and ask them what overnight hospitalisation, drugs, haematology, biochemistry, urinalysis, radiography and a consultation would cost. I think you'll find, shrewdal, your cat got a good deal.

Incidentally, had the vet NOT taken an xray of your cat, and subsequently she became sicker because the large bladder stone she may have had was never surgically removed, I wonder if you'd have been knocking on the vet's door with a negligence claim?

Thankyou for your comments Eels, I have to say I disagree with them however, My posting was complaining of the fact the costs are not discussed upfront prior to treatment as is done with BUPA i.e If I wanted tests carried out with BUPA they tell me the costs prior to carrying them out, the vet did not. As for removing the kidney stone, this wasn't done as only x rays were done according to the vet, she cannot remove the stones or even dissolve them so I can't see the relevance of putting the wee cat through all these tests at a cost of £151 to me and she is no better off. The vet did mention that she can take Synolux for the rest of her life,which incidentally I have been charged different amounts for at the same surgery. i.e 16 tablets @ £7.90 and then 12 tablets @ £12 .I wish they would decide on the right price and stick to it!! Incidentally the tablets are £0.39p online from petcare but I need a prescription from the vet!!!

BargainJunky

I do agree that vets bills are expensive but the vet I used to use for my dog always used to give me some idea of cost but at the end of the day I would have paid whatever he wanted.

Sadly we lost our dog in October last year but I would have willingly paid anything to make her better but it was not to be. To this day my mom jokes that perhaps she should go to the vet instead of the GP as you get a much better service.

Eels100

shrewdal wrote:

Thankyou for your comments Eels, I have to say I disagree with them however, My posting was complaining of the fact the costs are not discussed upfront prior to treatment as is done with BUPA i.e If I wanted tests carried out with BUPA they tell me the costs prior to carrying them out, the vet did not. As for removing the kidney stone, this wasn't done as only x rays were done according to the vet, she cannot remove the stones or even dissolve them so I can't see the relevance of putting the wee cat through all these tests at a cost of £151 to me and she is no better off. The vet did mention that she can take Synolux for the rest of her life,which incidentally I have been charged different amounts for at the same surgery. i.e 16 tablets @ £7.90 and then 12 tablets @ £12 .I wish they would decide on the right price and stick to it!! Incidentally the tablets are £0.39p online from petcare but I need a prescription from the vet!!!

If you ask for an estimate at any vet, you will get one. They will not give a quote, because without doing tests or having crystal balls they cannot know what work will be necessary.

The stone will not be a kidney stone, it will probably be multiple small crystals in her bladder. If she had had a very large one which was causing problems, the xray would have found it and she then would have needed surgery.

Prescrptions are free, just ask.

Contains_Mild_Peril

Fees can vary hugely depending on where you are.
I recently decided to take advantage of the Cats Protection's free neutering scheme for cats whose owners are on low incomes (like myself). Since they invite owners using the scheme to make a donation, I decided to ask my sister, who lives in a different area, how much it had cost her to get her tom cat done. She said it was about £30, so I decided £15 would be a suitable amount to donate. I took my cat to the vet's and wrote a cheque for £15, but the Cats Protection lady said they couldn't accept that much, because we could have got him done ourselves for less!

ukchriss

Took my cat to the vet on Monday morning with a swollen face which turned out to be an abscess!

I Had to leave him there for 5 hours while he had an op to remove this, cost £150,:eek:
even with insurance i still have to pay the first £60

deanos

shrewdal wrote:

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

You can get cover for a 16yr old cat ,just checked and did a random quote for 16 year old moggie and its £74 for basic insurance and £124 for the top wack cover

https://www.halifaxpetinsurance.co.uk

catkins

It's interesting to note the comments about how long vets train for (can't disagree with that) and the costs of their premises, nurses, equipment etc BUT vets in other countries have the same training, also have to pay for nurses, equipment etc so why are they so much cheaper.

I dread to think what a vet in this country would have charged for my dog's broken toe

singlehouseholder

shrewdal wrote:

I wish they would decide on the right price and stick to it!! Incidentally the tablets are £0.39p online from petcare but I need a prescription from the vet!!!

I know exactly what you mean, my little old lady is on tablets for the rest of her life- she's either got a tumor or had a stroke, vet said it'd cost thousands for tests, distress the animal and won't prove conclusive. The vet charged DOUBLE the price that I could get them online. Upon the advice of this site I get scripts signed by my vet, for free, then buy drugs from animal medicines.co.ok they're reliable and prompt, i can reccomend them highly.
The receptionist at the verts was a bit of a moo, she tried to imply that the drugs I was buying on-line could be substandard( with a packed waiting room I might add.) I was really angry that she was suggesting i'd give my dog dud med's!!

Kangol_Rat

singlehouseholder wrote:

I know exactly what you mean, my little old lady is on tablets for the rest of her life- she's either got a tumor or had a stroke, vet said it'd cost thousands for tests, distress the animal and won't prove conclusive. The vet charged DOUBLE the price that I could get them online. Upon the advice of this site I get scripts signed by my vet, for free, then buy drugs from animal medicines.co.ok they're reliable and prompt, i can reccomend them highly.
The receptionist at the verts was a bit of a moo, she tried to imply that the drugs I was buying on-line could be substandard( with a packed waiting room I might add.) I was really angry that she was suggesting i'd give my dog dud med's!!

What a horrible thing to imply to someone!!!! I hope you told her what for!!

cheekychappy

We use Spinney Lodge in Northampton and they are a great vets, the staff team don't often change, so you can have continuity without having to explain things time and time again to a new vet for recuuring issues....

...but ask for Flea and worm treatment and it costs an arm and a leg and you get looked at like you don't care for your animal if you say that you are ok thanks.

Can you buy it online?