Why are vet bills sooooo expensive???

bap98189

My brother's a vet, we've had this conversation many times.

1. Insurance - when pet insurance became popular vets stopped worrying about people’s ability to pay. No treatment or drug is out of the question. As he says, he has two types of drug in his car, the expensive ones for insurance cases and the more generic ones for people who are struggling for money.

2. People are wealthier and so are willing to pay a lot more to treat their pet than they used to. It used to be the case that many people simply couldn’t afford expensive operations so a lot more animals were put to sleep. Nowadays it’s gone the other way, people are more likely to pay a fortune to get their £20 guinea pig’s cancer treated, as opposed to having it put down and another bought form the pet shop.

3. Qualifications - vets have always been highly qualified, but they were often the only qualified staff in the surgery. Not so long ago he had assistants who did everything from answering the phone to helping out during operations. They had no qualifications, just common sense. Nowadays everyone is qualified to some level and as a result earns more money.

4. 10 years ago the sort of surgery he was working in had 3 rooms. A waiting room, a treatment room and a third room where the animals cages were. Nowadays people expect veterinary practices to have facilities comparable to a hospital.

Igottawii!!

Yes it is all purely subjective I have children who still cost me a fortune even though of them are adults
I have cats, dogs and 2 newly acquired kittens
I don't drink, don't smoke, don't have expensive shopping tastes or handbag/make up/shoes etc fettishes
My vet has been my vet for approx 12 years and knows all my animals well and he will do what he can to make things as easy as poss regarding costs, he's not the cheapest but for example when he does the annual boosters he gives the animals a full MOT - when my friend took her dog to a diiferent vet for a booster he didn't even touch the dog aside from to give the injection!
My eldest cat has been getting fatter recently I took her to my vet on Tues he found a mass pretty quickly xrays showed it was on her spleen one quick op(!) her spleen is gone along with the growth. Cost altogether just over £900!
Vet was wonderful 'just tell me how much you want to pay and when, if you can't afford a payment let me know and we'll leave it for that month' so I am paying him over the next few months.
I have never had my cats insured because I have never found them to be costly, this is the first treament she has needed so still a way to go before we get to what I would have paid out for insurance. My dogs I have always had insured as they are far more likely to be off to the vets!
My animals make me happy and are very affectionate so I would pay anything, within reason, if they needed treatment, I would hate to think of them in pain or suffering when it was my responsibility to provide for them

thatlemming

martinsurrey wrote: »

I had some medical tests done privately recently after I realised I was covered by my work insurance (saves the NHS and I get it done faster).

For 3 none invasive tests (about 3 hours) and a 15 min consultation it came to over £1,300

People are right that we don’t appreciate the cost of medical work as the NHS is so good!

Agreed, it's crazy. My dads just realised we're all covered on his work insurance for private treatment and some of the costs have been shocking. So lucky to have the NHS.

Mayflower10cat

The other factor is veterinary medicines/drugs are subject to VAT, drugs for humans aren't. Annoyingly, even if it's a 'human' drug but used for an animal, it's vatable.

Jinx

I once got chatting to a woman at the bus stop, she thought she could get her cats prescription free on the NHS! I almost didnt have the heart to tell her otherwise....:rotfl:

kittykat100

I don't have any kids but have a little dog. She is my world ... I pay to have a good insurance which will pay the vet direct for any bills incurred.
My dog is a lot cheaper than any kid and a lot more sociable lol!

Kittyx

RosaBernicia

dragonette wrote: »

Well, it depends on the owner. If the animal isn't worth enough tp you that you would put money over saving a sentient creature from pain, don't have pets. Personally I would move heaven and earth to stop any sentient creature being in pain if it was within my power to do so. I don't draw much of a distinction between humans and animals - leaving any creature in signigicant pain is unacceptable.

That said, £1000 for bladder crystals sounds mighty expensive

I agree - it's not really an acceptable option to just not treat the animal, leaving it in pain would be cruelty. That's a moral issue not only a spending decision, and in some circumstances has some legal basis too.

If you can't afford the treatment, and can't get help from a pets charity, then I guess it becomes a question of giving up the pet either to a shelter or by having it PTS.

I have insurance for mine, precisely because I don't want to be in the position of ever having to decide exactly what he's worth in £.


Rosa xx

RosaBernicia

thatlemming wrote: »

Agreed, it's crazy. My dads just realised we're all covered on his work insurance for private treatment and some of the costs have been shocking. So lucky to have the NHS.

It's been suggested several times that the price of the prescription to the NHS should be included for people to see and I really can't understand why it hasn't happened. People would moan less at a £7 charge if they saw that the inhaler in question cost £35. And might stop stockpiling drugs/ not finishing their antibiotics/ etc.

Medical bills are the leading cause of bankruptcy in the US, just Google it any time you want to scare yourself silly.


Rosa xx

Arg

londonsurrey wrote: »

It is expensive, but that thing about the NHS making us forget how much real medical costs is true.

One thing is that my vet doesn't always charge for follow up appointments if it's just a quick checkup.

Maybe real medical costs are jacked up medical costs too.

londonsurrey wrote: »

Think about what kind of person would be able to go through the trouble of obtaining another living creature to include in their home, and then just watch it suffer, or write it off. Then think about how these people are likely to treat "useless" old relatives.

They probably know the difference between a pet and a person.

carrton

A lot of vets nowadays offer a service where they recommend a specific pet insurance company that pays your vet directly. I’m with Vets4pets for my two cats and their insurance company is pretty cheap compared to having a savings of a 1000+ in case of emergencies. Plus it puts your mind at ease knowing if anything does go wrong, your covered