Asking vet for a prescription

LusciousLuce

Actually leelah, we do get some payment from eg the RSPCA for work done, but they set a standard amound which cannot be exceeded & in no way covers the OOH treatment, hospitalisation (often for several days before they collect an animal from us) nursing and, in the cases of older cats, blood tests. And then there's the administrative hoops we have to jump through to claim this small amount back from them.....so yes, we do end up out of pocket, and we have to fight to get any small payment from them. And that's not even to mention the OOH calls they send us to, assuring us that the owner will pay us.....months later and no response from the owner we end up having to write off a £100+ bill for a vet and a nurse to visit a dog out of hours (practice policy for clients that aren't known to us is that at least 2 members of staff attend) plus medication or, more usually, euthanasia and cremation. We make less than it costs us, fact.

gravitytolls

I saw your avvy LL, and thought you were me!

keys_2

I SAW THE TITLE OF THIS THREAD AND SKIMMED THROUGH ..

I have not read ALL comments but just a few and felt the need to respond ....

I have owned dogs since practically the day I was born .. The first dog I remember was when I was of 2 years of age { obviously I did not own the dog or any others till I was old enough to walk the dog with an adult responsibly }
I have heard so many conversations throughout family and friends of costs etc of vet treatment all my life - Mainly how they are on the expensive side !!

Since then I have had the opportunity to work with animals in domestic pet environments like kennels / vets etc !! - but I currently do NOT work in any of these !!

Vets bills may be higher than you imagine : for example an X ray - You probably expect a bill of £25 at a push

You all forget to remember IT IS NOT GOVERNMENT RUN for starters : US whom live in the UK gain NHS free treatment if an accident or emergency happens to ourselfs or children - and most still complain about it .

ANIMALS : BEING YOUR DOG OR OTHERWISE DOMESTICATED PET - DO NOT GET FREE TREATMENT OFF ANYONE - So how is exactly the vet supposed to FUND this treatment {reasonable pet owners do get pet insurance - just like life insurance to humans }

The vets do charge a substantiation amount for treatment but they have to cover business overheads , medications / staffing etc etc .
And at the end of the day if you choose to have a pet { just like you choose to have a child } you should be financially stable to support them !!!!??????!!!!

I agree you can get products cheaper on the Internet and that is ok for some - If you have the knowledge { off a qualified person } then treat your pet on the cheaper side .
However if your child had cancer or such alike - would you get the same medication off the Internet because it was cheaper ???????


All you have to do like many other businesses is shop about for a better price - { like you would do for household products- or other services } Because there is plenty about xx

munchkette

Pretty miffed at the vet today, charged me £54.80 for some antibiotic tablets which would have cost me £26.46 online :mad:

How is this a reasonable mark up? I enquired about a prescription they charge £7 which is reasonable but they said as there were two items on the prescription (different strength tablets of same antibiotics for adults and kittens) they would need to write two prescriptions so £14.

This is on top of the consultation fee. I can understand charging a fee if someone didn't have a consultation but if you have paid a consultation fee I really don't see why you should have to pay extra for a prescription on top of that. And certainly not paying a prescription fee twice for two items. Even with the double prescription fee I would have saved £13 buying online but as the vet had already charged me and ordered the drugs I decided to leave it as I really need the tablets asap. Not happy though. The vet quite smugly said when I asked about getting prescription that I wouldn't be able to get it cheaper than them with the prescription fees.

I think it is so wrong that vets are still commanding a monopoly over vet med sales. Patients pay for the consultation and diagnosis, where they get the meds from is up to them. It would be like going to the doctor and the doctor insisting you buy the meds from them at a much higher price than elsewhere. Vets are running a business in an open market they should make their prices competitive with online retailers not try to levy charges to prevent customers going elsewhere. Selling meds is not the vets primary business - caring for pets is.

snowman2_2

Sorry Munchkette, I know you are a newbie and I should be especially nice but you are wanting your cake and eating it. Either your vet charges a mark-up for drugs and makes some profit from their sale or your vet charges for their time (and that of their staff). Writing a prescription takes time - maybe 3 - 5 minutes each. If your vet charges £25 for a 10 minute consultation, then £7 - 12.50 is fair for the time taken to write a prescription. You cannot expect a vet to not make a profit and personally the best way to charge is to charge for the time taken (including the time taken to write a prescription).

Yes it is an open market and vets can charge what they like. If you don't like the charges, move vets. You seem to be advocating a closed market with lots of restrictions on trade which is never good for anyone. On-line pharmacies can also get drugs cheaper than I can so vet's are at a disadvantage to start with - no way I can compete on price alone and that is before we consider the costs of the better service and bricks-and-mortar.

I do agree that selling drugs is not my primary business - I don't make that much money from drugs, certainly not as much as most people think. Selling my time and making money to pay the mortgage for 18 families (my employees) is my primary business.

suki1964

munchkette wrote: »

I think it is so wrong that vets are still commanding a monopoly over vet med sales. Patients pay for the consultation and diagnosis, where they get the meds from is up to them. It would be like going to the doctor and the doctor insisting you buy the meds from them at a much higher price than elsewhere. Vets are running a business in an open market they should make their prices competitive with online retailers not try to levy charges to prevent customers going elsewhere. Selling meds is not the vets primary business - caring for pets is.

Actually thats not quite right

If a human patient decides to pay for private medicine then not only do then then pay for the private prescription to be issued , they also pay the private fee for that medicine and the chemists dispensing fee

Fire_Fox

munchkette wrote: »

How is this a reasonable mark up? I enquired about a prescription they charge £7 which is reasonable but they said as there were two items on the prescription (different strength tablets of same antibiotics for adults and kittens) they would need to write two prescriptions so £14.

This is on top of the consultation fee. I can understand charging a fee if someone didn't have a consultation but if you have paid a consultation fee I really don't see why you should have to pay extra for a prescription on top of that. And certainly not paying a prescription fee twice for two items. Even with the double prescription fee I would have saved £13 buying online but as the vet had already charged me and ordered the drugs I decided to leave it as I really need the tablets asap. Not happy though. The vet quite smugly said when I asked about getting prescription that I wouldn't be able to get it cheaper than them with the prescription fees.

Selling meds is not the vets primary business - caring for pets is.

Welcome!

Writing prescriptions and dispensing medications is an integral part of caring for patients, regardless if they are animal or human so it is an integral part of a veterinary practice's business model. In human healthcare two prescription charges would be still recoverable for two different strengths of antibiotics because they are for two different patients. In fact since you say kittens in the plural, if these were human children they would each have to have a separate prescription. In human healthcare we pay for the doctor's consultation via taxation and for the pharmacist's time via the prescription charge and/ or taxation.

The child-free already subsidise other people's childrens prescriptions through taxation, I don't want to also have to subsidise other people's kittens prescription within the vet's consultation fee thank you.

Tall_Tone

OK, maths is not my strongest point, but
I have just been charged £27 for 3 tubes of stronghold Flea treatment.
At £9 per tube of 0.75ml that equates to £12 per ml or £12,000 per litre.
:mad:

Worse than that the active ingredient (Selamectin) is only 45mg within the 0.75ml
Multiply 45mg by 22.22 to get 1 gram.
So £9 x 22.22 = £200 per gram
or
£200,000 per Kg roughly 1 litre if the specific gravity is 1:1

How much is gold?

rita-rabbit

Tall_Tone wrote: »

OK, maths is not my strongest point, but
I have just been charged £27 for 3 tubes of stronghold Flea treatment.
At £9 per tube of 0.75ml that equates to £12 per ml or £12,000 per litre.
:mad:

Worse than that the active ingredient (Selamectin) is only 45mg within the 0.75ml
Multiply 45mg by 22.22 to get 1 gram.
So £9 x 22.22 = £200 per gram
or
£200,000 per Kg roughly 1 litre if the specific gravity is 1:1

How much is gold?

We have the choice to have a pet or not. Economies can be made around food: internet, raw etc (remember supermarket stuff & the like Whiskas etc) as well as litter but meds are essential.

Hoping the vets - esp receptionists actually (some can be not v nice) are reading the thread & taking note.

snowman2_2

rita-rabbit wrote: »

Hoping the vets - esp receptionists actually (some can be not v nice) are reading the thread & taking note.

I have no idea what you mean. What should we be taking note of?