Money Grabbing Vet!!!

Montymoo_2

vikingaero wrote: »

Yes! My friend who is a vet came from overseas to study. He had to pay all the course fees and living expenses himself. He's about £60k in debt to his family and it'll take him quite a few years to pay this off even though he's earning well.

erm yes...my oh is a vet and isnt paid that fantastically...its the partners that make all the cash

with regards to leaving an animal at the practice meaning that the owner will return and pay the bill...doesnt happen in some cases and people dont come back for their poor animal

sounds awful but a pet is a luxury not a right and people should ensure that they can pay their bills....we have insurance for both our cats as there is no way we could afford to pay on the spot if they have an accident

Noz

smartsuit wrote: »

I have had enough of trying to defend myself to people who cannot be bothered to read the whole thread but instead jump to thier own conclusions and completely miss the point of this thread.

I didn't read the thread? News to me...

pink-bubblegum_2

i would recommend pet insurance, My dog is covered by lloyds tsb (12 per month) have claimed every year since we had him the most expensive being heart problems. I understand your situation we took our dog to our normal vets and he told me my dog had heart diease and could die at any time he was only 6 yrs old. I was due to have the dog put down as was told he could have a heart attack at any time but went for a second opion, he sent us to a heart specialist whom told me he only has a grade 1 heart murmur, the total cost for the investigations and heart specilist was in the region of £1200. lloyd paid immediatley no questions asked. The emergency vet we used when my dog was 6 months old just gave him an injection and told us to take him to our normal vets at 6pm the next day (cost £185), he was really ill and got him in at 9am. he was kept in for 2 days on a drip as he had eaten a poisionous plant (£365). I would recommend insurance to anyone. I had to have my last dog put down at 6yrs due to being unable to pay the bills i had already paid out £2000 and just could not afford anymore and I would never want to go through that again.

uktim29

Noz wrote: »

I didn't read the thread? News to me...

I think if you disagree you haven't read the thread, that happend to me as well!

Annabee

As the OP has pointed out SEVERAL times:

They were told on the phone that they could make an arrangement to pay when they saw the vet and that this would be fine.

The OP was able to make part of the payment straight away and the rest within a few days.

The Royal College of Vetinary Science guidelines say that emergency treatment must not be refused if payment cannot be made straight away.

The vet ignored these guidelines by demanding full payment in advance and refusing any treatment even though the dog was clearly in pain.

It is common practice for vets to submit a final bill at the end of the course of treatment.

A vet can't be compared to, say, a plumber, they are supposed to be professionals. Cpme to think of it, you normally pay a plumber, or anyone else who does work on your house AFTER you have it done. You pay for a meal AFTER you have eaten, etc. - most services are paid for AFTER you have received them. How do any of them know you will have the money?

Even if the OP had had insurance this vet would probably have still demanded payment up front and expected the OP to claim it back from the insurance company later, so there would still have been the same problem.

Some posters on here just don't seem to get it!


Smartsuit: how is Daisy doing now?

smartsuit

Thankyou Annabee,
At least a few people get it, I realise that this case is a little confusing but why some are missing the point is beyond me.
Daisy is doing fine apart from being very determined to get the dressing off her leg and showing off the metalwork to her freinds! It must be like having a body piercing! She manages to get the dressing off even with a lamshade type collar on, she gets the collar against a wall or something and forces it further down her neck so her nose just sticks out the end, thats enough for her to be able to bite off the dressing! Got to go and get her a bigger collar today.
BTW, The vet practice in question has seen this thread, I have had accusations from them on the phone that it is slander and now they are refusing to give me the name of the actual vet. I assume that is so I dont post it here? I wouldn't have done that anyway but it does seem a little odd that they refuse to give it to me.

odds-n-sods

I habve to say that although the vet should have given painkilers, they are still a business, and not knowing you from Adam, tehy would not have been able to know for sure you would have come back for the dog and paid for the treatment. I think everyone has overreacted.

And I am with everyone else who has said to get pet insurance. We have it for our 2 cats and it has already paid for itself for both for many years to come!

looby75

smartsuit, as I said before it can only be slander/libel if it's not true, so the vet practice is on dodgy ground phoning you up and threatening you. As for refusing to give you the name of the vet in question then that pretty much shows they know he was in the wrong. If he did everything by the book surely they would want to give him chance to defend himself.

SaraSeahorse

I think the op has made it quite clear it was an emergency service and not the actual vet practice in that building.

Not slander

it does however appear to be a case of professional misconduct by that specific vet if he is meant to operate to abide by that code of practice.

Honeydog

I used to have pet insurance for my 5 year old lab. After reading this thread I'm going to take it out again I think.

I don't agree with the emergency vet not giving pain relief but then he has that on his conscience now. I'm assuming Valley Vets will have told him and he will have read this thread for himself!

Then again vets train for a long time 7 years IIRC. So like doctors they deserve appropriate financial recompense of their time and expertise. But every profession has its bad apples and it looks like this guy is one of them.

Personally although I do try to save money where I can I reconciled myself a long time ago to paying through the nose for specialist stuff I can't do myself - car spannering, vet stuff etc.

The only thing I don't really understand is why the OP couldn't have paid by credit card????? That would've spread the cost a bit. Maybe I missed something because i read the thread a bit too fast?