Vets demanding immediate payment

Stevie_Palimo

glentoran99 wrote: »

No but when the deliver it its normally a few days until it comes out

Only by debit card as cc and cash are added there and then, CC may not be paid for straight away but cash on the other hand is instant to.

On a serious note if you know the vet well enough then they will work with you, I get tablets for my dog and forgot my wallet but as he knows me he said pay in the week, Bill was only about 47- but I'd like to think if it was a more serious issue he'd be flexible about getting paid.

I do also understand why a lot of vets would insist on it quickly to as they probably get robbed quite often and have to then take legal action to recoup.

Lily-Rose_3

Faith177 wrote: »

Biggest i have had was £2500 for my cat Sophie when she was about 6 months old and somehow managed to swallow a piece of plastic the size of the top of my thumb. Lifesaving surgery and a week in the hospital soon pushed the bill up. Luckily the vets claimed straight from the insurer.

Second biggest was when she got a piece of thread caught round her tongue that went into her stomach and was choking her. Again she had lifesaving surgery and a week in the hospital came out at about £1500ish. Wasn't insured at the time (OH let it lapse :mad: ) we had to pay in full when we picked her up.

What annoyed me was my manager at work commenting that as she "was just a cat" she wasn't worth that amount of money and we should have had her put to sleep and saved the money for a holiday.

Bless her little fluffy heart I hope she is OK now.

And what a horrible thing that was for your manager to say 'just a cat!' :mad:

Glad your insurance paid out for the first time, how annoying the insurance lapsed for the second one though.

Someone I know never had insurance for their 2 dogs - ever - and spent no more than 3 or 4 hundred pounds in 10 years. (They had them in 2003.) Then in 2013, one died (after having to be PTS after being knocked over.) She then got another dog (a puppy,) for company for the other who was now 10.

Between Summer 2014 and Autumn 2015 she paid out £3K in vet fees; some for the older dog who has had to have some treatment, and some for the new dog, who, at a year old, was attacked by another dog, and had to have £2K worth of treatment.

She thought about insurance, (after all this,) but because of everything that's happened with the dogs (already having gone to the vets a few times recently, and also the older dog's age.) the monthly insurance would be into 3 figures.

Stevie_Palimo wrote: »

Only by debit card as cc and cash are added there and then, CC may not be paid for straight away but cash on the other hand is instant to.

On a serious note if you know the vet well enough then they will work with you, I get tablets for my dog and forgot my wallet but as he knows me he said pay in the week, Bill was only about 47- but I'd like to think if it was a more serious issue he'd be flexible about getting paid.

I do also understand why a lot of vets would insist on it quickly to as they probably get robbed quite often and have to then take legal action to recoup.

Our vet will let you pay by instalments too. Pretty nice of them.

Blackpool_Saver wrote: »

All this is why I don't get big pets, I couldn't afford the costs involved let alone vet fees

Same here.

Undervalued

Faith177 wrote: »

What annoyed me was my manager at work commenting that as she "was just a cat" she wasn't worth that amount of money and we should have had her put to sleep and saved the money for a holiday

Certainly a tactless comment but it does raise a valid question for pet owners...

With ever more sophisticated and costly treatments being possible where do you draw the line? I'm sure most (or certainly many) pet owners would forgo a holiday to pay for life saving treatment for their pet.

But what about when it goes well beyond that? Three month's salary? Or six month's? Some referral type treatments I hear about can cost well into five figures. Fine if you have plenty of savings and choose to spend it. But to what extent do you take on potentially damaging debt to finance treatment? A horrible position to be in but one that must increasingly be faced.

Money_saving_maniac

Undervalued wrote: »

Certainly a tactless comment but it does raise a valid question for pet owners...

With ever more sophisticated and costly treatments being possible where do you draw the line? I'm sure most (or certainly many) pet owners would forgo a holiday to pay for life saving treatment for their pet.

But what about when it goes well beyond that? Three month's salary? Or six month's? Some referral type treatments I hear about can cost well into five figures. Fine if you have plenty of savings and choose to spend it. But to what extent do you take on potentially damaging debt to finance treatment? A horrible position to be in but one that must increasingly be faced.

Yes it is quite possible, they can just do so much more now than they could years ago. At some point it becomes just not possible to pay the bill.
Another thing that needs to be taken into account is that sometimes it really isn't in the animal's best interests to be put through a load of treatment.

sheramber

Just because it can be dine doesn't mean it should be done.

It is okay to say no.

Lily-Rose_3

Leading on slightly from the posts above ^ from 'undervalued,' and 'money saving maniac' and 'sheramber ... ' We had dogs all the time I was a child/teen growing up (60s and 70s and 80s,) and my nana had one in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and also my great nan and grandad had dogs in the war era years - 1915-1940s... And I can honestly say that I can never remember anyone ever having a massive vet bill for anything - ever.

Pet insurance was unheard of (well no-one I knew had it anyway!) and many people had 3-8 pets (bunnies, cats, dogs - at least 2 of each!) And I don't recall anyone having huge vet bills. I knew a few people who took their pets to the vets, but can't ever recall any massive bills that people couldn't afford.

So how come it's like this now?

And as for the poster who tried to justify/explain why the vets charge multiple 1000s for treatment, there are lots of other professions where people have worked very hard to get where they are, but don't charge exorbitant rates for their services! Dress it up how you like, vets do not need to charge as much as they do, many add stuff on that is not needed, and some vets do fleece their customers. (Not all, but some...)

Here are a couple of stories...

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/vets-caught-ripping-pet-owners-6050310

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1232217/Why-Im-ashamed-vet-shocking-expose-profession-puts-pets-painful-unnecessary-treatments-fleece-trusting-owners.html

Plenty of vets are very good of course, but there are some unscrupulous ones, and overall, they don't always need to charge what they do, and they don't always have to do as much as they do.

gettingready

So how come it's like this now?

Veterinary medicine has advanced a lot since then. Things that could not be done then are possible now - and they are expensive.
And it is up to the owner to consider what is appropriate for their pet at any given time.

The articles you have linked above - sorry but... never mind

GwylimT

Lily-Rose wrote: »

Leading on slightly from the posts above ^ from 'undervalued,' and 'money saving maniac' and 'sheramber ... ' We had dogs all the time I was a child/teen growing up (60s and 70s and 80s,) and my nana had one in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and also my great nan and grandad had dogs in the war era years - 1915-1940s... And I can honestly say that I can never remember anyone ever having a massive vet bill for anything - ever.

Pet insurance was unheard of (well no-one I knew had it anyway!) and many people had 3-8 pets (bunnies, cats, dogs - at least 2 of each!) And I don't recall anyone having huge vet bills. I knew a few people who took their pets to the vets, but can't ever recall any massive bills that people couldn't afford.

So how come it's like this now?

And as for the poster who tried to justify/explain why the vets charge multiple 1000s for treatment, there are lots of other professions where people have worked very hard to get where they are, but don't charge exorbitant rates for their services! Dress it up how you like, vets do not need to charge as much as they do, many add stuff on that is not needed, and some vets do fleece their customers. (Not all, but some...)

Here are a couple of stories...

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/vets-caught-ripping-pet-owners-6050310

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1232217/Why-Im-ashamed-vet-shocking-expose-profession-puts-pets-painful-unnecessary-treatments-fleece-trusting-owners.html

Plenty of vets are very good of course, but there are some unscrupulous ones, and overall, they don't always need to charge what they do, and they don't always have to do as much as they do.

Back then people put their animals down or simply abandoned them and people still do because they can't be bothered to provide for their pet.

I've said on here a few times that I have a cousin who is a vet, they make very little profit on procedures and drugs, their main income comes from consultation costs. When my dog had his knee replaced his MRI was done there and then and we received the results within the hour, this cost £1000. When he had his knee done a custom joint was made for him, when my mum had hers she had to settle for the nearest match. When my wife had one we had to wait three weeks, the results took seven days and it cost £3200.

When I was teaching I was earning much more than he was as a vet with his own surgery, despite being a vet for 17 years he still has to spend thousands per year on training.

Faith177

Lily-Rose wrote: »

Bless her little fluffy heart I hope she is OK now.

And what a horrible thing that was for your manager to say 'just a cat!' :mad:

Glad your insurance paid out for the first time, how annoying the insurance lapsed for the second one though.

Someone I know never had insurance for their 2 dogs - ever - and spent no more than 3 or 4 hundred pounds in 10 years. (They had them in 2003.) Then in 2013, one died (after having to be PTS after being knocked over.) She then got another dog (a puppy,) for company for the other who was now 10.

Between Summer 2014 and Autumn 2015 she paid out £3K in vet fees; some for the older dog who has had to have some treatment, and some for the new dog, who, at a year old, was attacked by another dog, and had to have £2K worth of treatment.

She thought about insurance, (after all this,) but because of everything that's happened with the dogs (already having gone to the vets a few times recently, and also the older dog's age.) the monthly insurance would be into 3 figures.



Our vet will let you pay by instalments too. Pretty nice of them.



Same here.

Yeah she is doing brilliantly she is now 6 years old

Money wasn't going to be an issue with Sophie she had, had such a bad start to life she was abandoned on my vet's doorstep in a box as a kitten during a storm she was found in an inch of freezing cold water she developed pneumonia and it was touch and go if she would make it.

We had gone in to adopt another kitten and OH spotted her and fell in love with her but they delicately told him not to hold out hope but they would give us first refusal should she make it We went back the next week and she came home with us

She is very tiny compared to most cats her age and she's a polydactyly so keeps us on our toes as she has learnt how to use her thumbs to get into things and looks permanently worried poor thing but I think it's because out of her 9 lives she only has one or two left

Undervalued

Lily-Rose wrote: »

And as for the poster who tried to justify/explain why the vets charge multiple 1000s for treatment, there are lots of other professions where people have worked very hard to get where they are, but don't charge exorbitant rates for their services! Dress it up how you like, vets do not need to charge as much as they do, many add stuff on that is not needed, and some vets do fleece their customers. (Not all, but some...)

I'm sorry but with all due respect this paragraph demonstrates that you simply have not got a clue about the costs of running any sort of professional practice, let alone one that needs large amounts of specialised and highly expensive equipment.

As I said earlier, compare it with private dentistry for one example. Most vets, despite having spent at least as much time training, earn substantially less than dentists.