Has anyone had high bills from vets?

[tonywiltshire]

I have had some very high veterinary bills, which were not insured, and trying to return unused in-date medication for a credit has proved impossible, I get the feeling I am not getting value for money but for the sake of my animals I say nothing at the surgery, and I have some knowledge of civil law. Has anyone else suffered from high bills from vets?

[paddywak]

That's the sort of thing I'm dreading shaney, this last week has been awful worrying about it and it was made worse when I looked it up and found how serious they could be, but we've had him since he was eight weeks, my avatar is him when he was about ten weeks, and we got to give him every chance.

[bednobs]

don't tell anyone, but so am i!
i just worked out that we pay about £130 Pm for our pets

[naomi24]

Vestuste, oh my goodness! That's terrible! And I thought I was ripped off when one of my dogs needed to see a specialist. Five minute consultation - £80.

Wolf, he's a cross border collie/standard poodle (a Coloodle) who looks just like Boot from the old cartoon strip, the Perishers. Just as potty too! :o)

[shaneystar2]

I hope he'll be Ok paddywak. Fingers crossed for you and Max xx
I know when I last took Shaney I would have paid absolutely anything to be able bring him home :(

[paddywak]

I don't want to think of that option shaney, it's too awful to contemplate, though I've not told Trish I've almost made my mind up that if the prognosis is really bad he'll go to sleep because I know if I bring him home it will make it all that much harder. I think in the back of her mind Trish knows but we're both hoping that it will be treatable.

[tonywiltshire]

From your avatar looks like a German shepherd dog I have had several, how old is Max? We get too attached to them I get some satisfaction from believing they have no concept of mortality but unfortunately we do. I do hope all will be well on Monday

[paddywak]

He was ten in November Tony and we didn't think there was any thing wrong with him apart from old age creeping up him. We took him for a check up and this bombshell was dropped on us. People who have never had pets really annoy me when they come out with the "It's only a Dog/Cat" thing, only an other pet owner can understand how attached you become to them.

[RATTER15]

We just paid out £570 for a few stitches in a pad, a big dog though, I understand that panorama is doing a programme about the huge cost of vets bills in the uk, far higher than other European countries apparently.

[tiggerblue10]

Tigger was recently diagnosed with diabetes and I have to inject her with insulin twice a day. I've got insurance which covers most of the cost but I have to pay 20% myself on top of the £50 excess for this condition. So far I've paid approx. £500.

[boxtops]

It's expensive, but it IS worth shopping around. I was getting dissatisfied with service at our long-term vet - it was part of a chain and you never saw the same vet twice. I changed vets - it's still not cheap, but the bills are less - I pay about 20% less for medication than I was at the old place.

Insurance is the answer. I pay £200 each a year for each of my cats (needless to say it gets more expensive as they get older) but Rover's treatment alone would have cost me £500 last year if I hadn't been able to claim. I'm with PetPlan which offers lifelong treatment for diagnosed conditions, unlike some other insurers which will only pay out for 12 months.

[JonnyBoy12]

Yes, bednobs and the others are all right. There is no such thing as a cheap vet's bill. When we took our cat Honey to have a cataract done the bill was £238!

I think that some do discounts for farm animals and there can be a blanket policy. I can only suggest pet insurance for normal non-farming people.

[RATTER15]

I cant help wondering how many pets are left to suffer or die when people just cant afford to pay these extortionate fees.

[tonywiltshire]

paddyak
Our thoughts are with you. if you feel able let us know the outcome later today, Monday.

[lankeela]

My vet is worth every penny. He doesn't make unnecessary charges for things like blood tests unless I request them, and he even let me buy wormers online to take in for him to administer when I had dogs going abroad. Yes he does make a fair bit out of me, but if an animal needs treatment they get it. It costs them a lot to set up and run a surgery these days, and I find the smaller 'one man band' type vets are much better than the large chains that have taken over a lot of surgeries in recent years.
I could not afford to take our insurance on all my dogs, and in any case I would not have been able to claim a penny on my vets bills as they have been either under the excess or for routine treatment such as neutering or vaccinations. Find a good vet and stay with them is my advice. One thing that always makes me smile is that people moan about the cost of vets bills yet there are so many overweight dogs! If people cut down on the amount of food they give them unnecessarily they will save money!

[Ankou]

my previous cat aged 2 got a really bad kidney infeciton and was laid up in a vets for a week on drips, and had various bits of surgery/medication.

our bill: £2,300

he wasn't insured, he died at the vets.

[nannybooby]

I do wonder sometimes if you are not insured they charge you more. I know for a fct that if you go privately yourself and have no health cover they charge you more..Have seen the bills so know its true.
If your pet has an ongoing condition that needs medication why not explain to vet that the costs are getting difficult and see what he can do. Or try a pdsa I think that these might be a cheaper alternative.