Veterinary Charges

paulofessex

kermitfrog wrote: »

Friends of mine have a dog which ate some raisins. Cost them £1000 in vet's bills to sort it.

You learn something everyday, this forum is great for info, you comment made me look deeper

The consumption of grapes and raisins presents a potential health threat to dogs. Their toxicity to dogs can cause the animal to develop acute renal failure (the sudden development of kidney failure) with anuria (a lack of urine production). The phenomenon was first identified by the Animal Poison Control Center (APCC), run by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). A trend was seen as far back as 1999.[1] Approximately 140 cases were seen by the APCC in the one year from April 2003 to April 2004, with 50 developing symptoms and seven dying.[2] Strangely many dogs can ingest large amounts of grapes with impunity so it is not sure that the observed cases of renal failure following ingestion are due to grapes only. Experimentally, the condition has not been reproduced.[3] Source

Mindless_Clone

Blimey CT scanners for obese patients/animals and raisins for dogs... MSE is really educational!

Patronus

paulofessex wrote: »

You learn something everyday, this forum is great for info, you comment made me look deeper

The consumption of grapes and raisins presents a potential health threat to dogs. Their toxicity to dogs can cause the animal to develop acute renal failure (the sudden development of kidney failure) with anuria (a lack of urine production).

:eek::eek::eek:

My dog stole a couple of white grapes the other day and wasn't himself for two days. He seemed better today. We only usually give him fruit that the vet has recommended but I had put the grape packet down on the floor for a second. I wonder if that was why he seemed unwell?

My vets is actually fairly reasonable and our vet never does anything unnecessary. We had a 30 pound vet bill the other day for follow up consultation, some epilepsy tablets and some steroids. Not too bad, I don't think.

Our dog once got a bone stuck in his throat, when they sent him to x-ray they could see it but then they took him to theater they found nothing! :eek:

Queries

It may be worth getting hold of the PDSA leaflets which informs owners of what is dangerous to dogs (and cats).

For example, beware of blue/green algae in still water (lakes, stagnant ponds/water, etc.), as the chances of a dog ingesting this and surviving is more-or-less nil. Grapes are definitely a no-no, as are onions (so please think before you give your dog the remains of a burger with onions).

As regards cats, many household, indoor plants are dangerous eg. Lily's (particularly the flowers), Cyclamen's (I think). Also, never give cats Aspirin nor Vitamin C (they manufacture their own Vitamin C).

Plus, if your Vet prescribes Metacam (a strong painkiller) for any of your pets, please read the enclosed leaflet carefully. For example, a friend of mine had a diabetic cat, Metacam was prescribed and her cat died shortly afterwards of a stroke (the leaflet states not recommended for animals with diabetes).

Some human drugs can be used on dogs (please check this out - don't take my word for it), eg. paracetamol - for pain and glucosamine.chondroitin - for arthritis - both at a reduced rate suitable for their size (again check with your Vet, first, before administering).

Another thought, if you are on a low-income - certain benefits are needed to meet the necessary criteria - and you have no PDSA (Peoples Dispensary for Sick Animals) or RSPCA (Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) Hospital nearby, the Blue Cross or/and the PDSA may be able to help with Vet, bill funding. - However, any funding which may be available would need checking-out first, prior to you borrowing from friends and relatives to pay for the cost of treatment - these charities won't reimburse, but may be able to help towards costs - dependant on what they can afford!!

nickcc

Some years ago one of our dogs eat my Daughters Easter egg, pinched it from out of her wardrobe, fortunately she was violently sick and got rid of the lot, at the time we weren't aware that chocolate should never be given to dogs.

~Chameleon~

nickcc wrote: »

Some years ago one of our dogs eat my Daughters Easter egg, pinched it from out of her wardrobe, fortunately she was violently sick and got rid of the lot, at the time we weren't aware that chocolate should never be given to dogs.

Yes, chocolate is extremely poisonous for dogs and the darker the chocolate the more toxic it is. It's the theobromine content which affects them and as little as a 100g bar of chocolate containing 70% cocoa solids can be fatal for a spaniel size dog. Easter & Christmas always sees an increased incidence of casualties in the surgery.

Faith177

When my little cat Sophie ate a bit of string 4 days in the hospital & 1 op late £2500 that was the second time she had done it the first time was £2100 At least first time she was insured

My brother had to take his 10 week old kitten to the vet yesterday as she was stung by a wasp and her face swelled up it was only £35 for the visit & the jab (might be because he's in Scotland)

krlyr

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

Assuming you're telling the truth, I can assure that is the exception rather than the rule amongst vets! My GP on the other hand... :rotfl:

mattyprice4004 wrote: »

Our local vet has a lovely Nissan GT-R and a massive house... and now I know why

If, after 6 years of Uni, countless years building up a business and many long, unsociable hours, they've managed to afford nice cars and houses - good on them! My bosses (non-veterinary, infact non-animal related career) have nice cars and nice houses too, doesn't mean we overcharge for our services or that they're overpaid, simply means that their hardwork resulted in a profitable business that has allowed them to, eventually, afford luxuries in life.

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

People always seem shocked at the cost of veterinary services because they're so used to getting personal medical treatment free on the NHS. If you were to compare the cost to private medical services you'd see that veterinary medicine is quite cheap in comparison. It's your choice to have a pet after all

Exactly. Pets are luxuries - a bit like those nice cars. You may look down on someone for having an unnecessarily flash car, someone may look down on you for owning an 'unnecessary' pet. But if you can afford it, why not?

hotcookie101 wrote: »

I like this article which compares costs of human vs animal. It is an american article, but even so it is comparable in UK as we have no real idea of costs of human health care because of the NHS...

Great article, I've seen lots of people moan about the cost of emergency callouts for their vet and tend to point them in the direction of a private GP's pricelist page. Rarely does a GP work out cheaper - and they tend to charge by the 10/15 minute block too, my vets have never charged me more dependant on length of the appointment, they see me for as long as needed. Not to mention that a vet isn't normally the equivelant of just a GP either - they're also a consultant, a surgeon, and many often have a personal interest in certain areas that they may have studied further in too, yet you don't pay more for all that on top.


OP, really hope your dog doesn't need further treatment. Soft tissue injuries can look quite severe and take a while to heal so it may not necessarily be something major. Might be worth getting a second opinion on whether the CT scan is necessary at this moment in time - have they said what they're looking for? I can see them wanting to hurry up if they feel it could be something like a tear of the cruciate ligament but if they're not too concerned them it may be possible to wait and see what medication and rest does. I'm no vet though, so getting another professional to give their view may be your best bet.
Personally, I would never go under £7k of cover for my dogs as they're large breeds so treatment tends to cost more, they're more likely to need something like a hip replacement because of their breeds and so on. Sometimes I even wonder if £7k a year is enough, but there's only a few companies that offer more I believe, and Petplan won't cover one of my dogs so that rules them out for him. Bit too late now but may be a tough lesson learned in getting the absolute highest cover you can.

Mindless_Clone

Faith177 wrote: »

My brother had to take his 10 week old kitten to the vet yesterday as she was stung by a wasp and her face swelled up it was only £35 for the visit & the jab (might be because he's in Scotland)

My cat had a bee sting a couple of years ago and it cost about the same so probably right. On the whole, it only starts getting expensive when you're looking at operations.

My cat had to have dental work when she was 7 (not covered by insurance, conveniently for the insurance company) and that cost me about £250 That was about 8 years ago. Last year she cost me £105 for cystitis but £50 of that cost was because I'd managed to collect a sample of her wee and the vet wanted to analyse it. Otherwise it would have been a consult, pain killer, some antibiotics and some cheap cystitis relief capsules. Really fairly cheap all things considered.

I actually cancelled my pet insurance when my youngest one turned 8. By that point my £50 a year premium had rocketed to £300 a year which, at the time was more than we were paying for car insurance! Cats seem to be a lot less expensive than dogs anyway (barring operations) and as they get older the risk of injury through fighting/cars etc. is much reduced (i.e. the sleep 23 hours out of 24 and pretty much only go out to sunbathe and poo ) I figured it was worth the gamble that I would not have a big payout.
They are getting older now so ailments are showing up but, looking at the insurance policies, a lot of them aren't covered anyway - like the dental work one needed - so I think I will still be better off. I've saved £1200 on insurance and paid out less than £250 in the last 4 years. I'm in a position where I have some money I can call on to pay out if it comes to something expensive so prepared to take the risk.

Soapy955

Our vet drives a mini, but he does have personalised number plates!