vet charges

andymish

Hi we have just been talking to our nieghbour and we was astonished to find out about her vets charges for prescriptions. She found out there was a chemist locally who goes on the internet and buys the drugs cheaper off there, now get ready for this one the vet charged £75.00 for the tablets and the chemist only wanted £4.50 now i believe that is nothing short of scandalous. Our neighbour promptly phoned the vet who then said is was a mistake by the receptionist which I do not believe for one second because we had eye drops for our dog which cost us around £25.00.
So I think in future we wiil get a prescription from the vet and go to this chemist in town might be worth others doing this as well !

mjburton

I was quite taken aback at the cost of my dogs heart tablets which were recently prescribed so had a look on the internet myself. I can get a months supply (14 tablets) for £19 in comparison to the £40 the vet charged.
The written prescription can not be charged for and nearly all the companies I viewed on the internet had free P&P.
It might be worth looking at whats available to you as I bet the chemist is adding a small fee ontop for supplying them.
My do is on other tablets also so will get them elsewhere when the current supply I have is finished.

I think buying on the internet and posting them the prescription should save me about £40-50 a month. That will cover the cost of his hydrotherapy and physio and leave me extra!! It only took about an hour of looking at every company I could find. I'm just waiting for my first lot to come and am hoping it will all work smoothly.

pboae

As mjburton says, you can get a prescription off the vet and buy them from an internet vet pharmacy yourself. The savings depend on which meds you need, but often they are significantly cheaper.

However, if your local chemist sells them for a lot less than you can find them for on the internet pharmacies he may be buying generic drugs that are only licensed for humans not animals. It is illegal, but that doesn't stop everyone. Personally I'd rather pay the extra than put my dog at risk by doing that.

snowman2_2

As pboae says, the pharmacist must dispense the veterinary version of the drug and not a human one. That would be a criminal offence and the pharmacist could be struck off. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate - part of DEFRA - are keen to spot pharmacies acting in this way. Your vet will have to use licensed veterinary products and unfortunately these can be more expensive than the direct human equivalent.

RichTeaBiscuit

Why is there no regulation regarding vet prescription prices, it infuriates me that they have you over a barrel and know it.
When our dog was taken ill, oddly the day after after his annual booster, we had to see the vet urgently for treatment. Now with diagnosed heart failure and a few touch and go months our poor old 'Mongy' has pulled through and seems to be having a content and relatively happy retirement.
However I'm currently paying over £100 a month now for my dogs meds through my vet - Frusemide, Fortekor and Vetmedin.. I know this is short term but it's daylight robbery, if we were struggling with our finances like a lot of young couples our age we'd have no option but end our old pals life which is scandolous.
I'm going to hit the internet and seek out a cheaper supplier, only thing is that I know my vet is going to want to do a check up before offering a take away prescription, so I'll be £20 out of pocket anyway.

pboae

Of course your vet will want to do a check up first. Would you prefer for people to just be able to buy vet meds without the animal having been seen by a vet? How could that possibly work safely?

Your vet is running a buisness, he's entitled to make a living from it.
If you don't want to pay their prices, get the prescription and buy the meds online yourself. That option has been around for a long time now.

As for having to get a pet put down because people can't (or won't) pay for medication, that's what pet insurance is for. Getting meds cheaper online is one thing, but people who don't want to pay out for their pet when it is ill, have no business owning one in the first place.

RichTeaBiscuit

pboae wrote: »

Of course your vet will want to do a check up first. Would you prefer for people to just be able to buy vet meds without the animal having been seen by a vet? How could that possibly work safely?

Your vet is running a buisness, he's entitled to make a living from it.
If you don't want to pay their prices, get the prescription and buy the meds online yourself. That option has been around for a long time now.

As for having to get a pet put down because people can't (or won't) pay for medication, that's what pet insurance is for. Getting meds cheaper online is one thing, but people who don't want to pay out for their pet when it is ill, have no business owning one in the first place.

Sorry, I was in rant mode when posting. Of course, your right on all points. I'm glad my vet has a profitable business and I'd never deny any animal medical help.
And as I can't be bothered to go into detail about our situation i'll end this here.

Cheers

andymish

pboae wrote: »

Of course your vet will want to do a check up first. Would you prefer for people to just be able to buy vet meds without the animal having been seen by a vet? How could that possibly work safely?

Your vet is running a buisness, he's entitled to make a living from it.
If you don't want to pay their prices, get the prescription and buy the meds online yourself. That option has been around for a long time now.

As for having to get a pet put down because people can't (or won't) pay for medication, that's what pet insurance is for. Getting meds cheaper online is one thing, but people who don't want to pay out for their pet when it is ill, have no business owning one in the first place.

Of course vets are entitled to make a living but what % profit is needed for them, the consultation is surely enough ten minute appointment £25 thats £150 per hour not a bad living so to put so much profit on meds is outrageous. I am not disputing they do a great job but when did becoming a vet entitle you to print money.

asea

andymish wrote: »

Of course vets are entitled to make a living but what % profit is needed for them, the consultation is surely enough ten minute appointment £25 thats £150 per hour not a bad living so to put so much profit on meds is outrageous. I am not disputing they do a great job but when did becoming a vet entitle you to print money.

It doesn't but they don't - what do you think pays the rent, training, reception/vetinerary nurse & other staff's wages, equipment, fees, indemnity insurance & other charges? How much do you think those cost & how do you then suggest that vets afford all of these costs?

snowman2_2

Don't forget VAT accounts for 17.5% of your bill. I have 3 members of staff for each vet and staff costs are the highest proportion of my outgoings, then my drugs bill. Running a vet's is expensive and I didn't realise how expensive it was until I did it for myself. The NHS budget for last tax year was over £100 billion, thats about £1700 for every person in the country, whether they were ill or not. The average annula vet bill is about £150 according to surverys by insurance companies.

How much do you think the average vet earns per year? I would actually be interested in peoples perceptions, then I will give you the average (as worked out by the BBC on "How much do you earn" with John Snow)

orlao

snowman2 wrote: »

Don't forget VAT accounts for 17.5% of your bill. I have 3 members of staff for each vet and staff costs are the highest proportion of my outgoings, then my drugs bill. Running a vet's is expensive and I didn't realise how expensive it was until I did it for myself. The NHS budget for last tax year was over £100 billion, thats about £1700 for every person in the country, whether they were ill or not. The average annula vet bill is about £150 according to surverys by insurance companies.

How much do you think the average vet earns per year? I would actually be interested in peoples perceptions, then I will give you the average (as worked out by the BBC on "How much do you earn" with John Snow)

I'm going to go with £35-40k for the practice owner as I know a vet who started on £28k straight from college:D

And while I don't begrudge anyone a living I do find it hurts to pay £38+vat for tablets that cost me £23 online inc vat & pp;) Also drontal costs £2.60 each at the vets and £1.42 online.....at 7 tabs a time that's quite a difference, no consultation or prescription required. Sometimes I think vets price themselves out of the market...