Vet bills

[Becs]

Rubbish !!!!!!!!!!

Sadly not. I've worked with several Spanish vets and each one has said that they can't believe the kind of equipment and expertise we have here. According to them, in general the Spanish people have a very different attitude towards their animals and therefore don't expect the level of diagnostics and surgery the British public do. A lot of vets from continental Europe work as abbatoir meat inspectors in this country while they retrain to take the British professional exams before they are allowed to practice.

Also a lot of people from my year went out to various bits of Spain to work in neutering clinics to get some practice after graduating and they were appalled by the operating conditions and the lack of knowledge of the local vets.

 

[slowmotion]

Exactly!
You never HAVE to pay "big" vets bills - euthanasia is always a treatment option if you're that way inclined

Excellent point!

Our Lucas terrier had a back crisis about four years ago. The vet told us the deal. £3000 all up for the operation, physio, and two months at the vets, but the insurance policy would pay 65%. We actually had to put a value on Bertie's life. It took a nanosecond. The NHS does it differently.

 

[darkstar]

He shouldn't have a pet then, plain and simple.

As much as I love our pets, and would pay the price for caring for them. It does seem somewhat sad that us, in the western world are spending thousands of pounds on treating our dogs and cats, individually. When there are humans on the planet without food, water and medical care. It's a strange world.

 

[Becs]

Excellent point!

Our Lucas terrier had a back crisis about four years ago. The vet told us the deal. £3000 all up for the operation, physio, and two months at the vets, but the insurance policy would pay 65%. We actually had to put a value on Bertie's life. It took a nanosecond. The NHS does it differently.

Absolutely the right thing to do. My mother is currently suffering the indignity and pain of dying at the hands of the NHS and I am certain that if some of her doctors were vets they would have been struck off by now for malpractice.

We (or most of us at least) try to do our job as honestly and compassionately as possible but we have a right to earn a living. We charge less per hour than plumbers, electricians etc so I think it's time some people get a little perspective, or if nothing else, some insurance.

 

[slowmotion]

As much as I love our pets, and would pay the price for caring for them. It does seem somewhat sad that us, in the western world are spending thousands of pounds on treating our dogs and cats, individually. When there are humans on the planet without food, water and medical care. It's a strange world.

Yes, it is bonkers spending money on pets in the grand scheme of things, and morally repulsive some would say.

It isn't any different from spending another £300 on a new bike rather than sending the dosh to Oxfam though. The pet is probably a far better moral investment.

Edit: Sorry. I did not explain that well! Money to Oxfam is far better than either Bertie or Secteurs.

 

[snapper_37]

They are also not as well trained

I'd agree with that. FME, the British OV (one of a dying breed) here knocks spots off the Spanish (and other EU nationalities) who fill in.

 

[slugonabike]

17 years ago my cat, Chivers, was hit by a car. The cost of amputating his leg, putting a plate in his jaw and keeping him in until he was better was more than £400 even then. Mr Slugsta was very reluctant to spend that sort of money but eventually realised that he didn't have much say in the matter! The vets were very good at trying to keep costs down for us - they didn't charge us extra when he needed some more dental work done in the immediate post-op period.

Chivvy gave us a further 17 years after that and cost very little, right up to the end. I was expecting more than £25 for euthanisia!

Mind you, next time we have a cat we will either get insurance or, at the very least, 'self insure'.

 

[Crackle]

As much as I love our pets, and would pay the price for caring for them. It does seem somewhat sad that us, in the western world are spending thousands of pounds on treating our dogs and cats, individually. When there are humans on the planet without food, water and medical care. It's a strange world.

You could apply that kind of logic to anything, your bike, your tele, your food, your education etc.... Unless you live like a hermit then you can always argue that money you spend on yourself is best spent on others.

 

[yello]

We live in a rural area. I'm always a little embarrassed to take either of our dogs in because, well, they're not real animals. Our vets spend their days with the arms up cows arses, and it's nothing to see a local farmer bring his (potential) prize bullock in in the back of his van, or for there to be a young cow on a drip. It's business for the farmers, not pets.

But I oughtn't be embarrassed. What is absolutely clear (when either of the vets sees to our dogs) is how much they both love animals - be they cattle or domestic cuddles. The sheer range of their knowledge must be incredible too. Can you imagine birthing a cow one minute, then treating a kitten with a cough the next?

Yes, there's less from my pocket to treat me (courtesy of a health service and insurance) but I don't begrudge the 'extra' for a vet, not one bit. I reckon they earn it.

 

[Wigsie]

Nah, it's Wigsie.

Dry is fine by me!

 

[Paulus]

The owner of the Veterinary practice where my wife used to work in North London used to say that it cost her a £1000 a day just to open the front door in the morning. This took into account the rent/lease, staff costs, equipment, electricity/gas. There are ways of bringing some vets bills down, ie prescriptions for instance, some, not all can be taken away and purchased from a local pharmacy, if they stock the drug, but not all stock veterinary medicines.

The issue of vet's bills keeps cropping up, think of it in terms of going to see a private Doctor. You have to pay he bill the Doctor presents to you. The national insurance we pay for the NHS is only a fraction of the cost of the treatment we get from a hospital or GP.

 

[beanzontoast]

For people like us who neither qualify for free treatment nor are so well off that vet bills are insignificant, the cost of treatments for a cat or dog can be a disincentive to having a pet. Our cat - adopted - is on long-term medication and though we love it to bits, we won't be having another pet after he's gone, part of which is due to the vet's bills.

 

[Wigsie]

The issue of vet's bills keeps cropping up, think of it in terms of going to see a private Doctor. You have to pay he bill the Doctor presents to you. The national insurance we pay for the NHS is only a fraction of the cost of the treatment we get from a hospital or GP.

Agreed, those that moan need to think of the costs to the vets too, the company I work for make medical devices and we have a vetinary division, the supplies/devices are no cheaper to vets than anyone else, if anything they are pricier as vets centres don't tend to have the purchasing power of large medical centres/hospitals or the NHS.

 

[Gromit]

Our cat was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism two weeks ago. It cost £84 for a blood test and got the results the same day. She is now on tablets to try and control it. We are thinking of opting for the op to remove the glands if the vet offers it, as paying £20 a month will be more expensive. Our vets are fantastic!

We are really hoping that she will get back to normal, at the moment we are putting up with a cat that constantly yowls all the time, we are even loosing sleep because of it as she demands to be fed at 4am.

She's costing us a fortune in food, she used to be on two pouches a day and had a full bowl of biscuits so she could help her self. Now she wont eat anything but wet food which she demands all the time.

Its getting to the stage that its no longer a pleasure to have her around. If something could be done about the yowling that would be fantastic.


We go back to the vets for another blood test in a few weeks time to see if there is any change. We just hope something can be done.

 

[Paulus]

It would of been 7k a week running costs as they were a 7 day a week, 24 hour operation, scuse the pun. Like any other business it was not run at a loss, but surely the owner is allowed to make living/profit, she was not running the business as a charity.