Are vets charges fair?

[Rosella moggy]

Yes I agree Susanne.  Unfortunately utopia is not where we live    I think our vet is great.  Does a lot of work for Birmingham Dogs Home but even he has to live and support a family including his dog 

I have had a number of freebie appointments but we do have 7 cats and I'm a fusspot so a very good customer.  There is however another vet practice up the road that is part of a chain and my mate goes there.  Quite stunning charges 

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Nothing to add really, except to say my vet is absolutely wonderful and matches online prices for me and like Gills vet ,when I have had big bills I have been able to pay them off when I can. Obviously I get it paid off as quick as possible as never know when another will be ill.


Fifi had to go to the vets a couple of weeks ago with cystitis. First time she had 2 injections and the consultation £39. No better 2 days later went back 2 more injections - told me to pay when she was better and to come back in 2 days . Then as she had to have daily injections for another 5 days. On the last day ,he said this one is on us !
Total for I think it was 9 injections after the first payment was just another £47 .
Best vet around here for miles, well worth the 30 mile round trip.

Brilliant, I wish they were all like that. I pay £30 for the consultation before any treatment.

But would you expect to consult a private doctor, dentist, lawyer etc for free?  I think if you didn't pay for the consultation wouldn't you worry that the vet would prescribe unnecessary treatments just to get money out of you?  £30 sounds very reasonable for a consultation.  It's lovely when we hear of vets doing stuff for free and saying pay later etc. but nobody can run a business if they deal with all customers like that.  It's nice, but we can't really expect them to give us their time for free.

[Peardrop]

Nothing to add really, except to say my vet is absolutely wonderful and matches online prices for me and like Gills vet ,when I have had big bills I have been able to pay them off when I can. Obviously I get it paid off as quick as possible as never know when another will be ill.


Fifi had to go to the vets a couple of weeks ago with cystitis. First time she had 2 injections and the consultation £39. No better 2 days later went back 2 more injections - told me to pay when she was better and to come back in 2 days . Then as she had to have daily injections for another 5 days. On the last day ,he said this one is on us !
Total for I think it was 9 injections after the first payment was just another £47 .
Best vet around here for miles, well worth the 30 mile round trip.

Brilliant, I wish they were all like that. I pay £30 for the consultation before any treatment.

[bunglycat]

Nothing to add really, except to say my vet is absolutely wonderful and matches online prices for me and like Gills vet ,when I have had big bills I have been able to pay them off when I can. Obviously I get it paid off as quick as possible as never know when another will be ill.


Fifi had to go to the vets a couple of weeks ago with cystitis. First time she had 2 injections and the consultation £39. No better 2 days later went back 2 more injections - told me to pay when she was better and to come back in 2 days . Then as she had to have daily injections for another 5 days. On the last day ,he said this one is on us !
Total for I think it was 9 injections after the first payment was just another £47 .
Best vet around here for miles, well worth the 30 mile round trip.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

It's very hard to compare vets as they all have different overheads etc.  It's hard to say whether they over charge because most of us dont know the actual cost of the medication + overheads, equipment etc. and of course the cost of the consultation.  It's easy to criticise but if I was a vet I'd want to make a decent profit after all that study, long hours and stress.  So I dont know.  We are so used to free medical treatment for ourselves that we have little idea of what is a reasonable cost for most medical treatment.  When you think of dental treatment - that can easily cost £100's even with nhs prices.  I've always found my vets very reasonable when it comes to things like vaccinations, neutering and consultation fee.  It seems to be more expensive for ops and anything more complicated but they are a referral centre and graduate training centre so I benefit from the expertise and the all mod cons equipment they have.  When Magpie was there for about 5 hours (6 years ago) it cost over £2000 but that was due to the intensive nursing he received and all the different drips and drugs etc.

[Peardrop]

I have a great vets and they are a group with a number of surgeries and run a 24/7 emergency so have loads of staff.

As many of you know they treated Napoleon all the time he was ill and gave him great care in the last month of his life where I clocked up a bill of nearly £3000.

He was uninsured as had stopped the insurance 6 months before and my vet asked me if I would like to pay by instalments which I gratefully accepted and it was too my astonishment when I was told that the vet had reduced the bill by as much as possible for me, to £2000.

Obviously I am not complaining about this but it does make me wonder why the prices are so high in the first place, because surely even after reducing my bill they must still have made a profit.

I am so grateful to my vet who is one of the partners but but but.........................

I think people don't like to complain about the prices because if you do so it is as if you don't think your pet is worth spending out on. I think many vets play on this hence the charges.

Katalax £9+ the vets £20 say no more.

[Liz]

Have to say that we have wonderful vets who go above and beyond the call of duty, they laugh with us, cry with us at our losses, ensure all my cats wether domestic, feral or pedigree are treated with the best of care and dignity and are not phased by some of the ferals

They are great with our 3 dogs to and have always fitted us in whatever the reason at anytime night or day and at the end of the day peace of mind and a well animal in my mind has no cost

We are lucky that we can afford to do what we do with allthe ferals and the others here but I spent a lot of time and effort looking for a vet I liked and who would listen to me regarding my ferals as so many think that they know better sadly with our ferals we do know best and can take the knowledge we have and make the vets visits less stressful all round for animal and vet

[Peardrop]

I accept paying circa £30 for annual cat boosters which involve a consult health check as consults normally £30 in any event. 

I always assume higher charges for dogs so maybe £40 is not that steep I don't really know.  What I do know is you generally get what you pay for in this life and I would rely more on the health check provided with £40 booster rather than the £20 one.

Years ago when my hubbie was alive (and we had a car) we use to go to said vet and he would say things like "Oh gives us £5 or no charge" He did this to most people and we couldn't understand why he could afford to do it until someone told me that he made his money on farm animals and that was why he could afford to give pet owners a break.

His son has followed on that tradition. You don't get less but you don't get stung either.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I have a great vets and they are a group with a number of surgeries and run a 24/7 emergency so have loads of staff.

As many of you know they treated Napoleon all the time he was ill and gave him great care in the last month of his life where I clocked up a bill of nearly £3000.

He was uninsured as had stopped the insurance 6 months before and my vet asked me if I would like to pay by installments which I gratefully accepted and it was too my astonishment when I was told that the vet had reduced the bill by as much as possible for me, to £2000.

Obviously I am not complaining about this but it does make me wonder why the prices are so high in the first place, because surely even after reducing my bill they must still have made a profit.

I am so grateful to my vet who is one of the partners but but but.........................

[Michelle (furbabystar)]

Difficult one this -

On one hand I do think a lot of vet charges are way too high
but on the other hand they have trained for years to become vets and insurance is available for owners.

I do wish though that all vets would bring down the charge on neutering which would help stop a lot of breeding
My vet charges over £80 now for a female cat 

[JenGeorgieBob]

not cat related but took the tortoise to a vet with the right qualifications to treat him as Bob has a runny nose, one consultation (not especially long) swab the snot to test it for 2 possible causes=£166 edited to add this does not include any medication for him...

my mums vets have a good deal where you get the consultation free if you buy flea/worm treatment and as she always needs flea/worm treatment it means she gets the consultation free...

[Rosella moggy]

I accept paying circa £30 for annual cat boosters which involve a consult health check as consults normally £30 in any event. 

I always assume higher charges for dogs so maybe £40 is not that steep I don't really know.  What I do know is you generally get what you pay for in this life and I would rely more on the health check provided with £40 booster rather than the £20 one.

[Peardrop]

As someone who trawls though vet bills regularly, I have to say it is pretty difficult to compare charging structures.
One vet will charge more for vacs, but less for neutering. Another will charge less for meds, more for consultations and some will have a lower cost for subsequent consultations.
Some vets cost more but then have larger premises to maintain or more staff or longer hours or more hitech equipment. .... and so on.

Unfortunately the other vets are in other towns miles away and without a car......................

I know many people have jumped ship because of the charges.

[Angiew]

As someone who trawls though vet bills regularly, I have to say it is pretty difficult to compare charging structures.
One vet will charge more for vacs, but less for neutering. Another will charge less for meds, more for consultations and some will have a lower cost for subsequent consultations.
Some vets cost more but then have larger premises to maintain or more staff or longer hours or more hitech equipment. .... and so on.

[Peardrop]

I think it is so wrong that people are basically being held to ransom...."pay our charges or you pet stays ill".

I was once charged over £400 when my oldest cat was severely constipated (I could see the faeces protruding through his anus).

They gave him enemas, a manual evacuation, kept him in over night etc.

This went on for over a week, first one of the vets said it could be his spine then they said it could be a colon problem by the end of the week I was going out of my mind with worry as he just couldn't pass any faeces.

 To cut a long story short it turned out to be a anal gland problem. They were both impacted but one was infected as well.

Now wouldn't you think they would have checked these first.They didn't refund my money.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Very probably !

[Peardrop]

£40 for booster in one place £20 at another (for a dog). Are we being ripped off?