Why are vet bills sooooo expensive???

spartacusthe1st

My cat has an ear infection and a perforated ear drum poor thing,
Went to the vet and he had an injection,got given some tablets and some liquid to mix with his food......and was given the pleasure of paying £60!
Why do pet medicines cost sooooo much?
He has to go back next week for a check up and some ear drops and I expect to pay around £30-£40.

dragonette

Medicines, and the wages of the vet, vet nurses and reception staff. And the lighting/heating, sterilising equipment etc. £60 isn't actually a lot for that. Many vet surgeries do not make a large profit nor are vets massively well paid (outside of the SE anyway). Esp when you consider its a 5 year uni course with no permitted resits and is now at least AAAAB to get in (scottish highers). How many other jobs require knowledge of many illnesses, conditions and for 15 species not including exotics?

This may sound harsh, but £60 fot the above is fairly reasonable.

FatVonD

There's always pet insurance? (Says she who doesn't have any!)

One of mine had an ear infection a while ago that only became apparent on the Saturday night (my cats generally prefer to be ill out of hours :rotfl: ) and it cost me £120 for the emergency vet so you got off lightly!

Acc72

As Dragonette said, when you go to a garage and are charged £60/hour labour charge - the mechanic does not get paid £60/hour.

This incorporates all overheads - rent, rates, insurance, tax, employee costs and a bit of profit for the vet !

I do understand what you are saying though, the actual medicine itself possibly only costs a couple of quid but the above charges need to be incorporated.

krlyr

Compare it to the costs of a private doctor and £60 will seem pennies! Bupa, for example, charge £67.49 for a 15 minute consultation with a private GP - and that's not including any medication!
I think it's a fairly reasonable cost for a consultation, injection, tablets and liquid medication to be honest, though costs will vary by area.

Millie2008_2

Echo Dragonette, but if it is the ongoing cost of meds you are ever worried about, the vet will issue a prescription (after a consultation and for a small fee) and you can get the drugs from a reputable vet med supplier and this can work out lots cheaper

duchy

I think we think vets are expensive because we have no idea of the real cost of treatment for ourselves as the NHS picks up the bill. Drugs are expensive and vets spend years qualifying. Next time you pick up a prescription for yourself ask the pharmacist what it would have cost on a private prescription -you'll be shocked !

That said vets vary considerably in what they charge (although I think what the OP paid is average). Mine is one of the cheapest -and is excellent but there's another vet a few hundred yards from his office that is considerably more expensive. It does pay to ask around.

For example my vet is open twice a day including Saturday evenings for walk ins (doesn't charge anymore for Sat eve-the others locally do) and is open on Sundays by appointment -eg he wanted to see my cat daily for checks after he operated and Sunday was a normal visit -and cost. He's a nice old codger (the vet -tho I suppose my cat is too ) with a weird sense of humour but a fab vet -and one of those vets who puts animals first (I've heard him tear a strip off "bad owners" before now) and does a lot of free and reduced price work for animal rescue organizations locally.

I'm in the SouthEast btw.

FatVonD

duchy wrote: »

That said vets vary considerably in what they charge (although I think what the OP paid is average). Mine is one of the cheapest -and is excellent but there's another vet a few hundred yards from his office that is considerably more expensive. It does pay to ask around.

That's very true, I changed vets when my last one wanted to charge me for a follow-up visit that didn't involve any treatment (after I'd paid a hefty bill for the initial treatment.) My previous vets wouldn't have charged for that so I rang another to ask whether they would have charged for a 2 minute follow up appointment and when they said 'no' I moved to there. The building isn't as posh as the other one and they don't send me newsletters (!!!!!!?) and pretty postcards as reminders but someone (ie the customer!) has to pay for that stuff!

nikkilou1984

I've recently had to fork out £1000 for my cat who had bladder crystals - luckily i have pet insurance - unlucky that its with Argos and it took over 6weeks for me to receive it back....

LandyAndy

duchy wrote: »

I think we think vets are expensive because we have no idea of the real cost of treatment for ourselves as the NHS picks up the bill. .

Absolutely right.:T

dragonette

nikkilou1984 wrote: »

I've recently had to fork out £1000 for my cat who had bladder crystals - luckily i have pet insurance - unlucky that its with Argos and it took over 6weeks for me to receive it back....

Ouch!! That is a lot of money, as well as the painfulness of the condition. Hope the vet talked about poss changing food etc to prevent recurrence (tho the specialist food can be expensive too). Glad you got the insurance money back