Curious about heart scan fees

joeypesci

The local vet recommend our cat have a heart scan at her last visit due to a heart murmur. Fine, I can book it in but then heard the fee £400! I love the cat but that is an insane amount. She's old so not insured.

I don't want to hear "If you love the cat pay it". The question is not that, the question is, does that sound like a lot of just a heart scan? Lets say they've already paid of the equiptment costs, lets say the consultanting fee for that maybe £100, £120. That's then a clear £300 or £280 profit. I assume they do an ultrasound? If so, have seen vets up north that only charge £48-150 for a ultrasound scan.

Of course, I'm not a vet and could be totally wrong and they don't do ultrasound scans for heart checks. So maybe the price is accurate for whatever they do. I'm just curious if anyone has had the same type of scan and how much it cost.

KxMx

Contact another local Vet and see what they would charge for a proper comparison. 

Vets have to buy the equipment, pay staff wages, building costs etc. 

It also won't be as simple as just doing the scan, the cat will have to be sedated, possibly pre op bloods due to her age, monitored during the procedure by a dedicated nurse and have recovery time at the practice.

All adds up, as we humans don't see the pounds and pence our health care actually costs, animal costs can seem expensive. 

Carrot007

Depends on what you might do with what the scan reveals.

If you are unlikely to do anything to act on the scan rthen there is no point having it done. Also define old, cats can reach 30. Mine are 15 and 12 (and the food companies try to tell you they are old at 7!).

I recently paid £1200 for dental work (I am oop north). Though that certainly is required for comfort. And usually expected in older cats (they don't exactly let you brush their teeth!). (and cost there is like KxMx said, it's not easy like with people!)

For yours however the questions could be. What is likely to happen after? If she is old then can they not just give some meds the help without a scan, Just to help things? Some vets love to suggest expensive tests when the resulty may be that they do the same thing anyway.

FWIW I think £400 for a test is cheap, and like I said I am in the north. But whether there is a good reason to do it might be a different matter.

joeypesci

Went to another vet, they charge half the price.

JamoLew

Call me hard hearted (working in the NHS for 25+ years does that to people) but I wouldn't spend that amount of money on a cat.
So what if it does have a heart murmur
And yes - i do have pets, currently cats and previously dogs

Torry_Quine

I recently paid £400 plus for my 17 year old cat to have teeth out. When you think what is involved it's a fair price. 
You got the scan for a very good price, I hope it has helped with deciding treatment.

onwards&upwards

JamoLew said:

Call me hard hearted (working in the NHS for 25+ years does that to people) 

No it doesn't, not if they weren't hard to start with. 

Don't get any more animals after you've let your current ones die please. 

ace33

Carrot007 said:

Depends on what you might do with what the scan reveals.

If you are unlikely to do anything to act on the scan rthen there is no point having it done. Also define old, cats can reach 30. Mine are 15 and 12 (and the food companies try to tell you they are old at 7!).

I recently paid £1200 for dental work (I am oop north). Though that certainly is required for comfort. And usually expected in older cats (they don't exactly let you brush their teeth!). (and cost there is like KxMx said, it's not easy like with people!)

For yours however the questions could be. What is likely to happen after? If she is old then can they not just give some meds the help without a scan, Just to help things? Some vets love to suggest expensive tests when the resulty may be that they do the same thing anyway.

FWIW I think £400 for a test is cheap, and like I said I am in the north. But whether there is a good reason to do it might be a different matter.

This would be my response. Sometimes vets will do tests for the sake of it.
What do they expect the treatment for a murmur to be? Will the scan influence the result?
We don't have insurance and have to remind the vets not to run unecessary tests on a whim, it seems to be getting worse.

elsien

A few years back when my dog had a heart scan the extra cost was for a specialist to look at the results. Which was the right call as the scan showed something unexpected which needed a change of medication after which the dog stopped keeling over on walks. Worth it in that instance. 

If you think your vet is doing tests for the sake of it then find another vet. Mine discussed the pros and cons then I decide. 

alixiar

Vets get the old x-ray and scanners from hospitals