Vet's fees

[e-rider]

I took my daughters guinea pig to the vets and it was diagnosed with ringworm (fungal skin infection) - the pig was given some cream, oral medicine and body wash.
Total bill £105

That sounds way too expensive but they insisted that it was correct.
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[Drago]

You could buy a new guinea pig for a tenner.

 

[Lee_M]

consulting fee and 3 lots of drug/treatment.

Sadly sounds about right.

My dog costs about £100 a month, but he's family and I knew what i was taking on when I rescued him

 

[slowmotion]

I took my daughters guinea pig to the vets and it was diagnosed with ringworm (fungal skin infection) - the pig was given some cream, oral medicine and body wash.
Total bill £105

That sounds way too expensive but they insisted that it was correct.
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You could always get a legal opinion....

 

[midlife]

Yup, that's about right. We have had five over the years on and off......Now down to our last one .

Shaun

 

[Piemaster]

You could buy a new guinea pig for a tenner.

And cook the old one, thus saving money on tomorrows food bill. The new one would almost pay for itself.

Guinea pigs and vets fees have cost me a lot more than £105 in the past. And the thing still died a couple of months later. For that animal euthanasia would have been a kinder choice, but I was overruled by my wife when she saw the kids reaction to that idea.

 

[e-rider]

THANKS - let's hope they don't need the vet again for a while.
I just looked at pet insurance for guinea pigs and it's about £27 / month with £65 excess so that's even worse!

 

[Andy_R]

And don't forget the additional hidden things, such as the actual cost of qualifying as a vet....

 

[NorthernDave]

It sounds about right - I don't know how much your vet charges, but a consultation alone up here is knocking on for £30

Experience with our late dog showed us just how quickly vets bills mount up, and made us appreciate getting him insured as soon as we took him on.
One of the problems is that thanks to the NHS being free at point of use or heavily subsidised you simply don't realise how expensive drugs can be.
For example: The dog was on the same tablets as the father-in-law.
The F-I-L paid £8.50 (or whatever it was) for a prescription every few months. The same tablets for the dog were nearly £300.

And if you think drugs are expensive, you should see how much other stuff costs. We blew well over £1000 in a couple of days on scan and tests...

The thing is he was worth every penny and if we hadn't insured him we'd have found the money somewhere.

 

[e-rider]

It sounds about right - I don't know how much your vet charges, but a consultation alone up here is knocking on for £30

Experience with our late dog showed us just how quickly vets bills mount up, and made us appreciate getting him insured as soon as we took him on.
One of the problems is that thanks to the NHS being free at point of use or heavily subsidised you simply don't realise how expensive drugs can be.
For example: The dog was on the same tablets as the father-in-law.
The F-I-L paid £8.50 (or whatever it was) for a prescription every few months. The same tablets for the dog were nearly £300.

And if you think drugs are expensive, you should see how much other stuff costs. We blew well over £1000 in a couple of days on scan and tests...

The thing is he was worth every penny and if we hadn't insured him we'd have found the money somewhere.

perhaps the insurance at £27/month might not be so bad after all - I'll give it some thought

 

[sight-pin]

Took my dog to the vets around 1999-2000 as he'd developed a slight limp with his rear leg. 1 x ray later, told it should be ok. .... £240.
The woman standing behind me said "Blimey! is that just for 1 dog" lol

 

[arch684]

Had the dog at the vet last week,£51 for antibiotic and she goes back tomorrow that will be more money

 

[SpokeyDokey]

perhaps the insurance at £27/month might not be so bad after all - I'll give it some thought

£27 pm is cheap. As dogs get older you easily get to £70-100 pm.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

I am surprised that anyone is shocked at the cost of vet treatments, I thought everyone knew how extorionate it is, thats why you have to have the pet insured really.
Also with prescribed drugs you can get them much cheaper online northerndave all you have to do is get the vet to write the prescription which will cost about £7.00 and can cover a six month period.

Why do you say it's extortionate?

Vets are highly qualified, many have state-of-the-art equipment, drugs are mind-bogglingly expensive, they have staff and premises to fund, indemnity insurance, ongoing training etc etc.

 

[NorthernDave]

Also with prescribed drugs you can get them much cheaper online northerndave all you have to do is get the vet to write the prescription which will cost about £7.00 and can cover a six month period.

We had insurance so it was never really a consideration as they settled direct with the vets once we'd paid the excess. Other stuff he was on (like aspirin) we just bought at the supermarket.
One thing about insurance, always go for lifetime cover or you've had it after a year as ongoing illnesses become "pre-existing" and are no longer covered...