Was this expensive?

akitabow

Took my dog (a 40KG Akita) to medivet on Monday as he had been suffering with blood in his urine over the weekend. It wasn't causing any visible distress to him and my instinct and knowledge (with being a midwife) told me it was a UTI however I thought best to go get it checked out.

I went to Medivet and the vet seemed to know what she was doing so i felt comfortable. She gave me a pot to collect a urine sample which I did and said she would call me that night to give results.

At 7:30 that evening she called prompt and told me what I already suspected that indeed it was Cystitus (a common UTI in both animals and Humans) and my dog would be placed on antibiotics and i would have to go again in ten days for retest etc. I was to collect the medicine the next morning.

I went on Tuesday morning to collect and the total cost for the consultation and 10 day course was £193.00
£63.50 was for a consultation and the rest was for the baytril tablets, (1 and half for 10 days).

Was this cost right or was it extortionate?, I do not know as I have never had to take dog to vets for anything other than vaccines and nail clipping. Usually a full booster and nails including sedation costs less than £50 so any help here would be appreciated. (before people start -yes my dog is insured and the insurance are paying for treatment however I have to pay first and claim from insurers and want to make sure I am not being ripped off.)

chris_n_tj

Blimey ours is way cheaper than that with blood tests. I would ask them to check for errors in your bill, or even a break down of the costs.

narabanekeater

Baytril can be got from vets.uk for less than £2 a tablet for the max dose available but only with prescription. Are you sure the £130 ish pounds didnt include urine tests etc

Greyhorse

A standard consult fee is usually around £30-£40 and baytril is not expensive in itself. I would ask for a breakdown.

I expect the extra you are paying is for urine tests

Chains of vets do usually charge a little more too.

akitabow

Thanks for the info, When I asked the vet I thought she said that the urine test was included in the consultation fee but I may have been wrong, I will ring them later and ask for a breakdown of the costs. Either way my pooch is worth the money just want to be ready if the insurance company try and fob me off telling me that I paid too much

Thanks again

donnap83

:eek:Jesus!!!

I took my poodle for an ear op at the start of the year, they had to open up her ear canal to remove a growth, and that only cost £130 including the consult and medication afterwards!! :eek::eek:

snowman2_2

Baytril 150mg tablets are expensive - I certainly can't get them at £2 each, way below cost. £63 for a consult is expensive for Lancashire but presumably normal for London? The baytril is also probably a bit expensive with a higher mark up than up North but not ridiculous. Would have been £125 with me.

tankgirl1

Consult - anything from £25-40 is 'normal'
Urinalysis - perhaps £15

Baytril - expensive! Especially for a 40kg dog! I'm at home so can't look up how much we would charge for them, but I would say £100-150 in total incl consult etc is to be expected 'Up North' - As you are close to London it is bound to be more expensive

akitabow

I have to give him 1 and half 150mg tablets every day - It seems that the bleeding has stopped now so the tablets must be doing something good for him, still got another weeks worth to do so hopefully there will be no need to keep him on them after he has taken this course. I've heard cranberry tablets are meant to be good to keep UTI's at bay: anybody know of this?

Fire_Fox

Was this an out of hours/ emergency consultation? Are you registered with that vets or not? Have you checked if your insurance will cover this bill?

In response to your cranberry query, there are some pet foods which contain cranberry extract but supplements should always be checked with a veterinarian, just as in humans they should be run past the GP or nurse. While you are asking you may wish to also ask about probiotics, unless these have already been mentioned. As Glad's sticky says "please be aware that asking for or posting specific vet/medical/treatment advice will be against the rules and therefore removed."

NickyBat

Can't give you any help i'm afraid, was just pleased to see somebody else had an akita like me, hope it goes well (amount does seem a bit dear though)