Does anyone use Medivet?

cpheonix

Hi I'm looking for a local vet just for a cat checkup and the nearest one to me is a Medivet. I can't seem to find any reviews except for a documentary on Panaroma in 2010 about some dodgy behavior from its staff.

Since that was a while ago, I'm wondering if anyone uses them and can advise if it's worth going to them? They're a mile from me with the local independent one being 5 miles, so convenience-wise Medivet would be better. However, I'm willing to let that go if they're really bad.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

orlao

They're a franchised vet company so I suspect that standards can vary wildly between practices.

I've only used them a couple of times because they were the out of hours cover for my old vets - while they seemed like nice people and were good with the very poorly pets (as you only go to OOH when things are serious!) my god, could they charge! I fully expect late night visits to be expensive and don't have a problem with the £125ish consultation fee but to get a bill of nearly £700 for 12 hours on a drip and a few minor (kidney and liver function) blood tests was a bit of a shock especially when the estimate was £500... They charged £35+ every couple of hours to check the cat - when queried that was for a vet tech, not vet or even reg nurse as they don't have any registered nurses on duty overnight they said - just to look at the cat.

Because of that I wouldn't consider using them as a regular practice as I'm concerned that they would push treatments more for revenue rather than the benefit of the pet IYSWIM.

In saying that, they did come out to PTS a dog of mine that I wanted to go at home - she hated the vets - when my old vets refused to even with a weeks notice. It was extortionate, nearly £400 for a small dog but they were very kind. At my regular vets it would have cost about £150 even with a home visit...just as a price comparison.

Finally, just to say that I've no complaints about the standard of care or the people, they were great. Just the costs and billing.

Lioness_Twinkletoes

I left Medivet because of their constant hard sell - they weren't doing what was right for the animal but what made the most money. For example, my b1tch had an ear infection. They wanted to carry out a sedated ear wash - cost of £1000 and an anesthetic for my dog.

I got a second opinion from a much smaller, more local vet. They gave her steroids, antibiotic ear drops and clear instructions on how to clean her ears. Cost £80 and no anesthetic. I've never been back to Medivet. They lure you in with cheap vaccinations etc but are very expensive for everything else.

cpheonix

Ok thanks for the advice - I will go to my local independent one then. Being in SW London I can imagine they'll be plenty of hard selling!