Zara at the vets - Cruciate Ligament - surgery 01/05/15

Froglet

They are being very short sighted here.For the sake of screwing more money out of the insurance company(and you) they are risking losing not only years more of income from you regarding all your animals,but other people who you will no doubt inform about their dubious practice of overcharging.


Are you on good terms with the practice manager? Good luck tomorrow,and glad to hear Zara is doing ok.

gettingready

Never spoke to Practice Manager but will do tomorrow....


Change of bodyguards - now Romeo (a boarder with Ewa) guarding sleeping Zara..

rising_from_the_ashes

Awwwww great she's got lots of doggy company - it's amazing how they know when one of them is unwell / needs comfort

paddypaws101

Aww GR, I know how much you must be missing her, but she does look content in the pictures and I know you trust Ewa.
As for the vet, bleurgh, that is awful that they have bumped the charges up so high. I think they DO charge extra for Out of Hours though, even though they are indeed 24/7

Johnny_Dangerously

Ahhh, she looks quite content in those pictures. Glad to see it went well. I'm sure she'll be recovered in no time at all. Really pleased to see that she has plenty of dog company as well, that'll be a massive help in keeping her happy.

Good luck questioning the bill. Hold them to task and ask them to cover every additional cost in detail. Also, if you do manage to talk it down a decent amount, be sure to let your insurer know that you have mitigated on their behalf. May be useful in future conversations with them.

gettingready

Well 2 updates...


1) From Ewa - Zara is desperate to get out of the crate whenever she sees Ewa taking other dogs for a walk, Ewa is worried Zara will break the crate ......

2) Email from the vets - they are investigating the bill so far and put claim on hold so it won't be sent to my insurance for payment till this is sorted

They also send me copies of all 4 invoices relating to this issue, they are very detailed sure but in my head if there is one item "operation" at certain price and then every bandage/tablet/apron listed as additional items - that is crazy. It should be inclusive of those or before surgery is should have been made clear that "operation is so and so but every little bit of plaster/cotton but will be charged extra". And it was most definitely not. I was quoted 3k and that was supposed to be that.

Well, will see what comes out of this.

gettingready

Just something I remembered now which was odd at the time but I let it rest.

One of my cats has eaten Zara's tablet and I rushed him to the same vets few years back.

He had lots of blood tests before being released from the hospital and a massive bill sent to my insurance.

When I looked at the invoice, among all other blood tests there was one for FIV. (negative)

I never requested to have him FIV tested and having eaten a tablet meant for a dog who would not put a cat at risk of FIV so the test was a pointless money extracting exercise.

Waterfalls

What method of surgery did she have? To give you another idez of cost, We do TTO and its cost £2950 as a fixed price if the patient weight less than 50kg. And £325 for follow up xrays 4-6 weeks later. We are in south east kent

Froglet

gettingready wrote: »

Just something I remembered now which was odd at the time but I let it rest.

One of my cats has eaten Zara's tablet and I rushed him to the same vets few years back.

He had lots of blood tests before being released from the hospital and a massive bill sent to my insurance.

When I looked at the invoice, among all other blood tests there was one for FIV. (negative)

I never requested to have him FIV tested and having eaten a tablet meant for a dog who would not put a cat at risk of FIV so the test was a pointless money extracting exercise.

It certainly sounds as if they have made plenty of money out of you and your insurers over the years.


I have heard of prices being inflated when there is insurance cover, and not just in the veterinary world.But ultimately it affects you as you say,when your insurance is up for renewal.


Did you tell them what FR were going to charge and that is why they quoted lower initially ? I wonder if other vets have the same dubious way of listing everything on top of the actual operation? (FR don't as you stated.) I am sure the last time my dog had an op(several years ago now ),it was just the one price .

meritaten

I am so pleased that Zara is doing so well.
as for the vet bill - if they 'quoted' you 'inclusive' at the time a reasonable person would assume that bandages etc would be 'included'. if they specifically told you that check-ups and further Xrays was included - then hold them to that. Did you have a witness with you when this was discussed? If so, remind them of that. it sounds to me like they are bumping up the bill.