Vetinary Fees

sheeraa

Hi,
I wonder if a discussion could be developed to help people with pets achieve more affordable petbills. As someone who doesnt qualify for any benefits i struggle to pay for even basic maintenance treatment - a descale and polish for my cat has been quoted £200+ - it doesnt cost even half of that for my own teeth!
How about some regulating authority to be brought in so vets do not sting pet owners and subsequently effecting the quality of health for pets due to petowners being priced out of the market for treatment!
C'mon all vets - act in the interest of animal welfare not your wallet!

s1lv3rdal5

Sheeraa.
Your own dentist does not have to sedate you, a lot of the cost is anesthetic, plus the cost of a veterinary nurse.
You could try brushing your pets teeth, there are specialist toothpastes on sale in most pet shops.

Takeaway_Addict

sheeraa wrote: »

Hi,
I wonder if a discussion could be developed to help people with pets achieve more affordable petbills. As someone who doesnt qualify for any benefits i struggle to pay for even basic maintenance treatment - a descale and polish for my cat has been quoted £200+ - it doesnt cost even half of that for my own teeth!
How about some regulating authority to be brought in so vets do not sting pet owners and subsequently effecting the quality of health for pets due to petowners being priced out of the market for treatment!
C'mon all vets - act in the interest of animal welfare not your wallet!

If you have an animal then you need to be aware of the costs involved. A vet goes through alot of training and is highly specialised. If you lower the costs then you'll get a lower standard of vet

s1lv3rdal5

OP.
Remember that it takes longer to train as a vet, than it takes to become a doctor.

Toothsmith

sheeraa wrote: »

C'mon all vets - act in the interest of animal welfare not your wallet!

Phrases like this really irritate me.


The vet is running a business.

The electricity companys do not supply the power for free. The nurses do not work for free, and the taxman still wants his cut.

If the Vet did not provide employment, it would mean more people would be jobless. The vet has a DUTY to make sure his practice is profitable and financially healthy.

It is not THE LAW that you have a pet. You have chosen to have one.

If you can't afford vet fees - then THINK OF THE WELFARE OF THE ANIMAL and don't have a pet.

Just give a bit of money to animal charities instead.

Sosdon

We have two vets surgery's in our town , one i would trust and use quite often , and one i wouldn't go near , more expensive and a shoddy service.
All i would say is shop around , ask for feedback from other pet owners.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

I agree with you Sheeraa..however, your posting in the wrong place.

You will find a great deal of disagreement and harsh bitterness towards your opinion.

sharloid

Takeaway_Addict wrote: »

If you have an animal then you need to be aware of the costs involved. A vet goes through alot of training and is highly specialised. If you lower the costs then you'll get a lower standard of vet

I agree with this. Whilst I'm not happy about the cost of veterinary treatment, I do understand that it's not subsidised by the government or anything.

If you can afford to pay a hefty vet bill then do so, if you can't then get insurance and if you can't afford insurance then don't get a pet.

analyst_2

I agree with you too Sheeraa and I think you are posting in the right place. I don't see why your opinion warrants any harsh bitterness - is this thread only populated by money-grabbing vets?

Just because a person is a vet doesn't give them the right to rip off animal owners with extortionate fees and charges.

But as Sosdon said, shop around. A high price vet is a sure sign they are only in it for the money. In my experience the lower cost vets are the ones who show more care and give better service.I ended up switching to the practice used by our nearest animal rescue centre and never looked back, much lower costs and really excellent service.

My only contention has been that they charged over £58 for prescription drugs I could buy online for £22. So I asked them to issue me a prescription to use for online purchases - for which they charged £12, but this is a long term condition.

GlynD

I also agree witrh you Sheeraa. Vet bills on the GB mainland are shocking and are driven up by chains of companies who need to answert to investors. Since we moved to Northern Ireland our vet bills have plummetted to a quarter of what they were in GB. I've even discussed this with the pet insurance company and they are aware of it because these new style vets are ripping them off for massive costs on every claim but there's nothing can be done about it as long as people support the vets. Meanwhile traditional vets struggle along - that's the kind of vet you need to find.

krlyr

analyst wrote: »

A high price vet is a sure sign they are only in it for the money

I have to disagree. My vets are one of the pricier ones in the area but they have the facilities to justify it. Manned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (and open for regular appointments every day, albeit reduced hours on a Sunday), an in-house emergency service (many vets 'farm' this service out and what you may not realise is that these emergency vets will often turf the pet out come 7am - regardless of it being on a drip or having just had a major operation, they only function as emergency services so require your pet to be transferred back to your normal vet for the day then returned at night again if needed), a huge range of medical equipment (x-ray machines, operating theatres, in-house blood testing equipment, etc.) meaning I know I can go there and get quick diagnostics or treatment which could be a matter of life and death in some cases (and they have, indeed, saved the life of a few of my pets with their advanced facilities), and I don't have to cart my dogs back and forth to different surgeries for operations or x-rays like the other vet in town requires (smaller practice in our town, larger one a couple of towns away).
All these services and advanced bits of equipment (plus the staff with the expertise to provide/use them all) cost money - I've used cheaper places occasionally, e.g. a vaccination clinic run by another vet in the general area which is a lot lower cost as they buy the vaccinations in bulk and have lower overheads because they only provide the basic treatments (vaccinations, nail trimming, neutering/spaying but that's about it generally) but only as a supplement to having a fantastic vet practice for everything else.