Advice on dog costs at vets and insurance

Feral_Moon

UKTigerlily wrote: »

S/he did say it was worth it for those things alone, so it sounds like it covers more? The one my Vet does covers so many things & saved me quite a lot; I saved £60 the other night taking my cat for an OOH consultation that would be £120 usually, not to mention her half price blood test 3 days before that & half price regular consultation. I do think it depends what they offer though & whether you're likely to use it all or not x

And those prices are artificially inflated to make you think you're getting a good deal. My usual consultation fee is £25 and an OOH consultation would be £50. Not sure how much you paid for the blood test but anything more than £75 would be considered expensive.

GwylimT

We have a monthly thing set up at our vets, its £10 per month and covers
Flea treatment (monthly)
Worming (monthly)
Anal gland expressing (monthly)
Vaccines (once a year including kennel cough)
15% off any treatment (including medication)
No increase in consultation fee during OOH (normally £80 before 11pm and £120 after so now we pay £24, unless it is for an on going condition in which case we pay £0)

If we pay seperately
Flea treatment £5
Wormer £3
Anal gland expressing £12 for a nurse to do it, £26 for the vet to do it, we've used the vet recently as he has been having troubles, but we would normally use the nurse.
Vaccines £35 for his booster and £26 for his kennel cough.

The total for these is £301, buy paying monthly we pay £120.

Feral_Moon

GwylimT wrote: »

We have a monthly thing set up at our vets, its £10 per month and covers
Flea treatment (monthly)
Worming (monthly)
Anal gland expressing (monthly)
Vaccines (once a year including kennel cough)
15% off any treatment (including medication)
No increase in consultation fee during OOH (normally £80 before 11pm and £120 after so now we pay £24, unless it is for an on going condition in which case we pay £0)

If we pay seperately
Flea treatment £5
Wormer £3
Anal gland expressing £12 for a nurse to do it, £26 for the vet to do it, we've used the vet recently as he has been having troubles, but we would normally use the nurse.
Vaccines £35 for his booster and £26 for his kennel cough.

The total for these is £301, buy paying monthly we pay £120.

But you don't need to worm/flea monthly, that's far too excessive and potentially harmful to your dog. At most every three months, but twice a year is sufficient. Wormers are not preventative and only need to be given if you suspect your dog (or cat) actually has worms.

Again, the core vaccinations only need to be done every 3 years (as recommended by the drug manufacturers), not annually, and if your dog has sufficient immunity then they don't need them at all.

Many kennels these days will accept a certificate of immunity from titre testing and give you a sticker to put in the dogs vaccination card if the only reason you're vaccinating annually is because you use kennels.

As for anal glands, why do you need them expressing every month? I've never needed to express them on any dog I've owned. If there's an underlying health issue then perhaps speak to your vet about performing surgery to solve the problem. This would be covered by insurance.

How often do you expect to need an OOH consultation? Again it would be covered by insurance anyway.

i spend less than £30 a year on flea/tick prevention and wormers for my 45kg GSD. Add onto that £40 for a vaccination booster should it be necessary. He will be vaccichecked this year at a cost of £36. So all in, that's just £66 year for a large breed dog and he won't need another titre test next year, so just £30 from there on. Add on £50 a month for insurance and I'm still paying less than you.

jrtfan

Feral_Moon wrote: »

But you don't need to worm/flea monthly, that's far too excessive and potentially harmful to your dog. At most every three months, but twice a year is sufficient. Wormers are not preventative and only need to be given if you suspect your dog (or cat) actually has worms.

Again, the core vaccinations only need to be done every 3 years (as recommended by the drug manufacturers), not annually, and if your dog has sufficient immunity then they don't need them at all.

Many kennels these days will accept a certificate of immunity from titre testing and give you a sticker to put in the dogs vaccination card if the only reason you're vaccinating annually is because you use kennels.

As for anal glands, why do you need them expressing every month? I've never needed to express them on any dog I've owned. If there's an underlying health issue then perhaps speak to your vet about performing surgery to solve the problem. This would be covered by insurance.

How often do you expect to need an OOH consultation? Again it would be covered by insurance anyway.

i spend less than £30 a year on flea/tick prevention and wormers for my 45kg GSD. Add onto that £40 for a vaccination booster should it be necessary. He will be vaccichecked this year at a cost of £36. So all in, that's just £66 year for a large breed dog and he won't need another titre test next year, so just £30 from there on. Add on £50 a month for insurance and I'm still paying less than you.

It's often quite difficult to argue one's case, as a lay-person though. For example, I adopted a 12yo JRT last year and, as far as the previous keepers knew, he'd had only 1 lot of inoculations before in his life. Therefore I had him vaccinated immediately and it required 2 lots of vacc given 4 weeks apart, like with a puppy.

I am now at least a couple of months late with taking him for his booster and I know full well that when I do take him in, I'll be told that he has to start over again with his vaccinations - because more than a year has elapsed meanwhile. I don't begrudge paying for this, but I'd get short schrift from the Vet if I tried to argue that the pharmaceuticals themselves recommended a booster every 3 years. Do you see what I mean?

Feral_Moon

jrtfan wrote: »

It's often quite difficult to argue one's case, as a lay-person though. For example, I adopted a 12yo JRT last year and, as far as the previous keepers knew, he'd had only 1 lot of inoculations before in his life. Therefore I had him vaccinated immediately and it required 2 lots of vacc given 4 weeks apart, like with a puppy.

I am now at least a couple of months late with taking him for his booster and I know full well that when I do take him in, I'll be told that he has to start over again with his vaccinations - because more than a year has elapsed meanwhile. I don't begrudge paying for this, but I'd get short schrift from the Vet if I tried to argue that the pharmaceuticals themselves recommended a booster every 3 years. Do you see what I mean?

Yes, I fully understand and appreciate what you say. There are some (many) vets for whom the annual vaccinations and intensive worming/flea protocol are their bread and butter work which then subsidises other costs such as consultation fees and surgical procedures.

But, if you're unhappy with the advice your vet offers, or feel that you are not being listened to, you are free to find a different one. You are also free to register at more than practice simultaneously. More vets are now coming around to accept that vaccinations are being overused and it is absolutely unnecessary to "restart" vaccinations if one is missed or has exceeded the "annual protocol" they adhere to.

It's worth asking around vets in your area to find one which will offer the titre test to check antibody levels. Some will send off to a lab which can be more costly but many vets are now opting to do the tests inhouse using Vaccicheck which usually costs around £35.


You can read more about it here:

http://www.cvcgroup.co.uk/products/diagnostic-products.html


And if you use Facebook, there's an uptodate list of vets around the UK offering this service:

https://www.facebook.com/vaccicheckuk/posts/920031958068353

GwylimT

Feral_Moon wrote: »

But you don't need to worm/flea monthly, that's far too excessive and potentially harmful to your dog. At most every three months, but twice a year is sufficient. Wormers are not preventative and only need to be given if you suspect your dog (or cat) actually has worms.

Again, the core vaccinations only need to be done every 3 years (as recommended by the drug manufacturers), not annually, and if your dog has sufficient immunity then they don't need them at all.

Many kennels these days will accept a certificate of immunity from titre testing and give you a sticker to put in the dogs vaccination card if the only reason you're vaccinating annually is because you use kennels.

As for anal glands, why do you need them expressing every month? I've never needed to express them on any dog I've owned. If there's an underlying health issue then perhaps speak to your vet about performing surgery to solve the problem. This would be covered by insurance.

How often do you expect to need an OOH consultation? Again it would be covered by insurance anyway.

i spend less than £30 a year on flea/tick prevention and wormers for my 45kg GSD. Add onto that £40 for a vaccination booster should it be necessary. He will be vaccichecked this year at a cost of £36. So all in, that's just £66 year for a large breed dog and he won't need another titre test next year, so just £30 from there on. Add on £50 a month for insurance and I'm still paying less than you.

The flea and wormers we need to use for him are monthly, so no, it isn't a problem. I'm not willing to vaccinate every three years, not only does it invalidate our insurance, it would also prevenr us using our regular dog sitter and boarding service. Our kennel recently stopped accepting test records when a dog came in and became ill, it was suffering from parvo and eventually passed away. Our dog was there at the time, we were very thankful he didn't take ill.

Our dog also needs his anal glands emptying when full, just because your pooch doesn't need this, it doesn't mean your experience applies to everything. Do you know what anal gland surgery is (which he doesn't need anyway), its the extremely painful removal of glands and stripping of the entire colon, which in a high percentage of cases leads to megacolon and incontinence for life.

OOH, preferably none but we've used it three times this year already! Insurance (petplan) only covers OOH fees if the appointment is deemed life saving, when he had a severe allergic reaction and swelled up they didn't consider if life saving.

sheramber

You can check online the data sheet for the make of vaccine your vet uses

e g. Nobivac says

A single injection should establish active immunity to canine distemper, infectious canine hepatitis and disease caused by canine parvovirus infection in dogs of 10 weeks of age or older. Where earlier protection is required a first dose may be given to puppies from 6 weeks of age, but because maternally derived passive antibody can interfere with the response to vaccination a final dose at 10 weeks of age or older is generally recommended. For an optimal response to the parainfluenza component, animals should be vaccinated twice, 2-4 weeks apart with the final vaccination at 10 weeks of age or more.



Booster vaccination

It is recommended that dogs be revaccinated with canine distemper virus, canine adenovirus and canine parvovirus every 3 years and against canine parainfluenza virus every year.

My vet uses Nobivac and boosters as above. The vet certificate shows as vaccinated every year but the full vax is only done every three years. The other two years as parainfuenza and Lepto only.

You may find that your vet does indeed follow this protocol. The vaccine record should show you what was given.

My last vet used to charge a different amount each year depending on what was given but changed to averaging the cost and charging the same each year to be less confusing for owners. My current vet charges the same each year regardless of whether it is the full vaccination or the reduced one.

As this is what the vaccine maker sates it is accepted by pet insurance and kennels. Your pet sitter should also accept it.

Despite CIEH recently issuing recommendations about accepting titre testing here is no requirement for kennels etc to do so.

jrtfan

GwylimT wrote: »

Our dog also needs his anal glands emptying when full,just because your pooch doesn't need this, it doesn't mean your experience applies to everything. Do you know what anal gland surgery is (which he doesn't need anyway), its the extremely painful removal of glands and stripping of the entire colon, which in a high percentage of cases leads to megacolon and incontinence for life.

OOH, preferably none but we've used it three times this year already! Insurance (petplan) only covers OOH fees if the appointment is deemed life saving, when he had a severe allergic reaction and swelled up they didn't consider if life saving.

My last dog needed his doing roughly every six weeks once he'd reached 10 years of age. It coincided with a diagnosis of hepatitis and a switch to a strictly hepatic diet from then on. I assumed the new diet must have changed the consistency of his 'business', so that it no longer helped to evacuate the glands as it was passed.

In 17 years of buying pet insurance, I've claimed just twice - each claim for roughly £300. Most of the time, treatment either hasn't been covered under the insurance (dentals, castration) or it has come in at just under the excess. In fact, I had a huge argument with one insurer because they refused to pay out when one dog developed a swollen face due to a dental abscess. It turned out to be a cracked tooth but because he was given a scale and polish at the same time, the insurers decided it was a routine dental and there was no moving them.

tw81

I have 3 dogs, all of whom are insured under different companies.
My first dog whom I have had since she was a pup (she is now 5) has thankfully never needed any major treatment, but I still like the reassurance of being covered should anything happen.

My 2nd dog was a rescue... she followed me home in February 2012, she was starving, tatty and shaky. I took her to the vet to get checked over and notified the council that I had found her and to contact me if anyone came looking for her. I knew it was very unlikely that anyone would come to find her as she had no microchip, cowered when i tried to pet her, and the vet estimated her to be 5 months old at the most. I think she was bought for an Xmas present and abandoned a few months later when the novelty wore off.
I immediately took out an insurance policy for her so that if anything were to happen when she was with me the bill would be covered, and if no one had come to the council looking for her after 7 days then she was staying with me. Due to the fact that many policies will not cover the pet for certain injuries and/or illnesses until the 11th day after the policy begins I wanted to get her insured immediately, and I AM SO GLAD i made that decision at the time. I had been giving her a wash in the bath as she had got scared when I lifted a brush to sweep the floor, and had messed on the floor and then tried to hide behind the fridge and was shaking uncontrollably (and i was in tears as it was obvious that she had been badly treated and she was- and still is the most lovable dog).. I brought her and my other dog into the bathroom and put a small amount of hot water into the bottom of the bath and put them both in. After letting them get used to the water I began washing my other dog to show the frightened little one that it was ok, and then I began washing her. I had just finished washing the 2 of them and was wrapping the little one in a towel and she panicked and was frantically trying to get out of the bath. So i calmed her down and petted both dogs and went to lift the towel again and the wee one panicked and managed to get on the edge of the bath and fall onto the bathroom floor, and let out a yelp that will haunt me forever! I wrapped her in a towel and wrapped and lifted the other one out with my other hand. Brought them both into the living room and sat and cuddled them (with tears streaming down my face!), I couldn't get the little one to stop shaking and my other dog was trying to comfort her with kisses.
I don't drive and knew no one in the area that did so I rang the taxi company i used frequently and begged them to let me take the pup in the car on my knee to the vets, which they did.
I ran into the vets with her in a blanket in my arms and was taken straight into the consultation room.... the vet examined her and said she needed an x-ray as he thought she may have a fracture but she needed to be sedated for the x-ray and advised me to go home and he would ring when she had come round and he had the x-ray results.
So 3 hours later the phone rang and the vet asked if i could come and meet with him ASAP. When i got there he said that she needed surgery as the fracture was worse than he had initially thought and she needed pins put into her leg to hold the bones together to allow them to heal. The cost of the whole treatment was going to be around £2000,but insurance or no insurance I would have paid the money somehow, as long as she was ok and not in pain.
Luckily the insurance agreed to pay it, though if it had happened a day earlier they would not have paid anything due to the 11th day rule!
My little pup had the operation..and some physio in the hydrotherapy pool (it had been included in the plan as part of an introductory offer!) and was running around in no time. I am so glad that I took out the insurance as without it i would have been in a desperate situation financially and there would have been no way i could have afforded hydrotherapy sessions!

Feral_Moon

tw81 wrote: »

I have 3 dogs, all of whom are insured under different companies.
My first dog whom I have had since she was a pup (she is now 5) has thankfully never needed any major treatment, but I still like the reassurance of being covered should anything happen.

My 2nd dog was a rescue... she followed me home in February 2012, she was starving, tatty and shaky. I took her to the vet to get checked over and notified the council that I had found her and to contact me if anyone came looking for her. I knew it was very unlikely that anyone would come to find her as she had no microchip, cowered when i tried to pet her, and the vet estimated her to be 5 months old at the most. I think she was bought for an Xmas present and abandoned a few months later when the novelty wore off.
I immediately took out an insurance policy for her so that if anything were to happen when she was with me the bill would be covered, and if no one had come to the council looking for her after 7 days then she was staying with me. Due to the fact that many policies will not cover the pet for certain injuries and/or illnesses until the 11th day after the policy begins I wanted to get her insured immediately, and I AM SO GLAD i made that decision at the time. I had been giving her a wash in the bath as she had got scared when I lifted a brush to sweep the floor, and had messed on the floor and then tried to hide behind the fridge and was shaking uncontrollably (and i was in tears as it was obvious that she had been badly treated and she was- and still is the most lovable dog).. I brought her and my other dog into the bathroom and put a small amount of hot water into the bottom of the bath and put them both in. After letting them get used to the water I began washing my other dog to show the frightened little one that it was ok, and then I began washing her. I had just finished washing the 2 of them and was wrapping the little one in a towel and she panicked and was frantically trying to get out of the bath. So i calmed her down and petted both dogs and went to lift the towel again and the wee one panicked and managed to get on the edge of the bath and fall onto the bathroom floor, and let out a yelp that will haunt me forever! I wrapped her in a towel and wrapped and lifted the other one out with my other hand. Brought them both into the living room and sat and cuddled them (with tears streaming down my face!), I couldn't get the little one to stop shaking and my other dog was trying to comfort her with kisses.
I don't drive and knew no one in the area that did so I rang the taxi company i used frequently and begged them to let me take the pup in the car on my knee to the vets, which they did.
I ran into the vets with her in a blanket in my arms and was taken straight into the consultation room.... the vet examined her and said she needed an x-ray as he thought she may have a fracture but she needed to be sedated for the x-ray and advised me to go home and he would ring when she had come round and he had the x-ray results.
So 3 hours later the phone rang and the vet asked if i could come and meet with him ASAP. When i got there he said that she needed surgery as the fracture was worse than he had initially thought and she needed pins put into her leg to hold the bones together to allow them to heal. The cost of the whole treatment was going to be around £2000,but insurance or no insurance I would have paid the money somehow, as long as she was ok and not in pain.
Luckily the insurance agreed to pay it, though if it had happened a day earlier they would not have paid anything due to the 11th day rule!
My little pup had the operation..and some physio in the hydrotherapy pool (it had been included in the plan as part of an introductory offer!) and was running around in no time. I am so glad that I took out the insurance as without it i would have been in a desperate situation financially and there would have been no way i could have afforded hydrotherapy sessions!

I have tears in my eyes reading your story. Thank you so much for taking her in and giving her loving new home :A