Outrageous Vet charges

Penguin_

saajan_12 said:

I don't think there's anything wrong with the hourly rate - its a well educated profession with significant training thereafter. Plus they don't necessarily get that rate 8 hours a day, as there's admin, follow ups and downtime between appointments to be ready for you. 

The price of selling items is just supply & demand, they have it there to pick up conveniently whereas Amazon might take a day but you're free to go shop elsewhere. If more people did, then they might lower prices. Hair dressers will also sell you overpriced products to take home, but you're free to shop around. 

The bit I don't agree with is the prescription charge - if you're already paying for the person's time and expertise in recommending a treatment plan, that should include writing it down, in the form of a prescription if relevant. If not, what have you gotten out of the appointment? 

Thats the cost to provide the prescription so the OP can buy the medicine online. 

truthseeker25

For my part I think I will wrap this up here.
I have already said, I was from the outset accepting of the consultation charge even though in relation to the time we spent it seemed expensive. 
The medicine prescribed by the vet was nothing special, a freely available product - I would expect him to have a reasonable mark up 10% perhaps 15% no problem - 300-400% totally unreasonable
To use an example given by someone above - if at Tesco I could buy a pint of milk for £1 it's possible I might pay £1.20 at the corner shop NOT £4 
It amazes me that anyone can accept this sort of exploitation  - we all love our pets so we willingly excuse this blatant extreme overcharging? 
It's just plain wrong.  

elsien

Today’s discussion with an independent Vet.
- We can do blood tests, they will cost X amount but they probably won’t tell us very much. I’m not sure if they’re worth doing.
- we can do an ultrasound scan, which will cost x amount. It might rule things out, but if it does find something we won’t be operating because your dog is too old.
- We could go for the conservative treatment try some medication and then review after that. The side effects are XYZ. The costs why amount.

Then up to me to decide. It seemed like a pretty balanced discussion to me,

sheramber

I have just finished reading a book written by a vet.
 In it he talks about complaints about the cost of medication.
 He points  out that  in vet practices that are part of corporate businesses the vets are employed, on a salary. That salary does not change  according to his daily sales figures.

He has no power over the charges , which are dictated to the practice by the  corporate owners. 

That is why independent vets can allow discounts  etc . Many years ago my independent vet gave me a discount as a long standing client. 

Vets are required  to tell you what can be done  but remember just because it can be done that doesn’t  mean it should be done.  

Quality before quantity. 

My vet agreed with me that an MRI for my dog with a possible brain tumour was pointless as I would not be considering any  surgery to remove it.
 

That dog lived happily for another 4 years until , at  12 years of age , secondary tumours in his lungs became apparent.  I do not regret that decision. 

Murphybear

A lot of interesting comments on here.  

Having had cats for most of my 72 years I have known a lot of vets professionally.  It takes as long to train to be a vet as it does to train to be a Dr.  As others have said they have no control over some of the costs.  Running a business is not cheap, some things like public liability insurance are compulsory.  Businesses have to pay commercial rates for utilities, they are higher than domestic rates.  We used to run a small business with access to the public, I did the accounts and was horrified how high general expenses were.  

Pet insurance is a good thing.  I had it for years and never claimed on it for which I was thankful as it meant my cats never had a problem.  The only vets bills I had were for their annual vaccinations and check ups.  Please don’t think of skipping these as a way to save money. 

Have you come across Blue Cross?  They used to offer treatment for free but appreciated a donation.  These days it is only free if you are on benefits.  

If your dog needs meds he/she can give you a prescription so you may be able to buy them online.  You will need to find a reputable source but I have no idea if this is still available.

Finally, if your vet recommends drugs or treatment you have the final say not the vet.  I know this is difficult but if you can find a good vet they will explain everything and tell you the pros and cons of having/not having the treatment.  

Lavendyr

Really interesting discussion here. As someone who adopted a cat with pre-existing conditions (therefore not covered by insurance) I do have some sympathy - vets are expensive. I have also benefited hugely from having lifetime pet insurance on both my cats, though. The same cat with pre-existing conditions was hospitalised in a specialist vet hospital for several weeks and subject to several very expensive tests (serious liver infection followed by steroid-induced diabetes). I burned through my £7k a year pet insurance in days and ended up having to sell my car to pay for the vet bills I incurred (on a 0% purchase credit card initially). I don't regret a bit of it as this cat is incredibly special to all of us and he has been happy and healthy for the last 2 years since. 

I do think vet practice varies significantly but it should not come as a surprise that prescriptions are more expensive from a vet surgery than from a national brand. For example, my cat is on Apoquel off-label under dermatologist oversight, and it costs me around £2.10 a day to buy from an online veterinary prescriber plus £28.50 for a written prescription that covers around 4 months. It would cost me probably around 3x that to buy directly from the vet because they do not get the economies of scale. 

I also have a monthly subscription with my vet which, for £28 a month, gives me unlimited free consultations, free vaccinations, free worming and flea treatment and discounts off a number of other things. For me this is perfect because my cats both need to be seen regularly - one because of his allergies, the other because he's a little scrapper and frequently comes home with cat fight wounds - and at the cost of £60 per consultation, four months in I have already recouped the cost. I had previously been on the £17 a month option which didn't include free consultations. 

My vets have always been very open with me in discussing options for care. If they weren't, I would move vets. 

patricia50

My dog has been diagnosed with congestive heart failure. She is on 3 different tablets and is doing well after the vets initially gave her 3 weeks. It’s now almost six months later. When I request all her meds it costs over £600 The insurance covers most of it with about £90 left to pay. my worry now is that her insurance will only cover her condition for 12 months After that if she lives that long I don’t know what I’m going to do. My daughter pays her insurance and any excess at the moment but she can’t afford to pay the full cost. I’m very happy she is doing well but am worried about the future. Vets bills are crazy expensive

elsien

Although it’s only when you have to pay for human medicine privately that you realise how much some pharmaceuticals can cost. 

We really are shielded from the true cost of medicine by the Nhs.