vet costs

~Beanie~

I agree smudge.

My cat had an emergency last year (blocked bladder) which is life threatening if not treated immediately. Unfortunately this happened on boxing day.

The emergency vets wanted £400 upfront before they would even examine him. The total bill came to just shy of £1000.

He IS insured however as this happened before, he isn't covered for this particular ailment. Last time it happened (thankfully during normal vets opening hours) it cost £250. A bit of a difference!! I basically paid an extra £750 just because it was boxing day.

Dogger69

~Beanie~ wrote: »

I agree smudge.

My cat had an emergency last year (blocked bladder) which is life threatening if not treated immediately. Unfortunately this happened on boxing day.

The emergency vets wanted £400 upfront before they would even examine him. The total bill came to just shy of £1000.

He IS insured however as this happened before, he isn't covered for this particular ailment. Last time it happened (thankfully during normal vets opening hours) it cost £250. A bit of a difference!! I basically paid an extra £750 just because it was boxing day.

How much would you pay a private consultant to do an emergency procedure on boxing day? I can tell you it would be far more than £1000.

Faith177

Last time my little Sophie had to be rushed to the animal hospital she ended up costing me £2500 and do you know what I was happy to pay every penny to get my little girl back

When we had to have my boxer Boo pts again it was the night hospital and it cost me £100 it was worth it to get her out of the pain she was in.

I agree with what others have said it is out of hours you expect to pay over the top. A gas fitter once wanted £60 per hour on a Sunday to confirm I had a leak at my property.

CCP

I'm sorry to hear about your cat, Smudge - mine, who was a similar age, was PTS at Easter, so you really have my sympathy.

Re fees, though, I have to say I sort of agree with both sides of the debate - I don't think it's unreasonable to charge extra for emergency treatment outside working hours, but some vets' fees are simply extortionate - Dogger's charge of £400 simply for an examination is ridiculous, imo.

To be fair, not all vets seem to go down the route of charging as much as they can get away with, though: at the end of his life my cat had three appointments over about ten days, including emergency treatment and a stay at the vet's surgery over the Easter weekend, and the vet charged me much less than he could - and probably should - have done, simply not adding various charges to my bill, including the eventual charge for euthanasia when it became clear my cat wasn't going to get better. I still paid out around £700 in vet's bills, but it probably should have been closer to £1000.

There are good and generous vets out there, is my point, although I appreciate I've waffled a bit in getting to it!

Dogger69

CCP wrote: »

Dogger's charge of £400 simply for an examination is ridiculous, imo.

£400 was for an emergency appt on boxing day. Again, how much would you pay for an emergency appt with a private consultant on boxing day?

CCP

Dogger69 wrote: »

£400 was for an emergency appt on boxing day. Again, how much would you pay for an emergency appt with a private consultant on boxing day?

I honestly can't answer that, as I've never had private medical treatment. I know that the emergency vet I used charged around £90 for an emergency appointment - admittedly at Easter not Christmas, but still a marked difference.

I did get the wrong person when quoting that amount - it was Beanie, not you, that quoted the £400 fee - but if you're happy to pay it and the animal ends up well, that's all that really matters.

Takeaway_Addict

Its a business Smudger at the end of the day. If you don't like it then train up yourself for X years, pay for all the equipment etc etc and then charge half the price yourself

Dogger69

CCP wrote: »

I honestly can't answer that, as I've never had private medical treatment. I know that the emergency vet I used charged around £90 for an emergency appointment - admittedly at Easter not Christmas, but still a marked difference.

I did get the wrong person when quoting that amount - it was Beanie, not you, that quoted the £400 fee - but if you're happy to pay it and the animal ends up well, that's all that really matters.

That is my point - people talk about the amount being 'extortionate', but don't really know what they are talking about. This is the equivalent of private healthcare, and to get to see a consultant on boxing day it would cost thousands, if indeed you could find one at all.

I find the OP's stance quite shocking - their cat was clearly in discomfort or pain, or they would not have made the call in the first place. To tell the vet to 'FO' shows a complete disregard for the well being of the cat. Even if I did think the charge was excessive, I would get them treated and worry about the cost afterwards

CCP

Dogger69 wrote: »

That is my point - people talk about the amount being 'extortionate', but don't really know what they are talking about. This is the equivalent of private healthcare, and to get to see a consultant on boxing day it would cost thousands, if indeed you could find one at all.

I find the OP's stance quite shocking - their cat was clearly in discomfort or pain, or they would not have made the call in the first place. To tell the vet to 'FO' shows a complete disregard for the well being of the cat. Even if I did think the charge was excessive, I would get them treated and worry about the cost afterwards

Is healthcare for animals and people directly comparable, though? If you had a genuine medical emergency on Boxing Day you'd probably go to A&E, and not try to get in contact with a consultant; with animals you don't get that choice. (Although of course having an animal at all is a choice - I'm not helping my own argument here, I know! )

I would tend to agree with you about getting the animal treated whatever the cost - I know there's no way I would have left my cat without veterinary treatment when he started showing signs of pain over Easter, even if they'd quoted me considerably more than the £90 examination charge I had to pay in the event. Of course, I didn't see Smudge's cat, though - if mine had shown signs of passing away peacefully, I may well have made the same call and just left him to do so in the comfort of his own home.

paddyrg

Also, shop around! Three vets near us charging staggeringly different out of hours fees for killing cats - one wanted £400, one £120 for a 'comfort/say goodbye' injection with a follow up finishing the job one thrown in.