thats when we as owners are most vulnerable.

I do agree that medications from vets are expensive.

One of the main reasons being is that a lot of clients are not prepared to pay for the vets time in consultation fees etc, so the vets up the price of meds to keep profits going otherwise they would never make any money. We get a lot of clients complain about paying for the consultation, and a lot of them come in without their money because they don't expect to pay - you wouldn't go into Tescos, get to the till and say "I've forgotten my money - I'll pay another time". The thing with that being if you went privately for your health, you could expect to pay at least £100 for a consultion - unfortunately we have no such thing as NHS for our pets so in a sense, veterinary treatment is private.

We never discourage our clients from buying on the internet though, if they find the product cheaper elsewhere then that is fine with us - as long as they come to us for a prescription which we do not charge for.

My dogs have never been 'ill' only injuries and I use my main vets for that as they have the facilities.
Becky

I was pleased that my chemist could get human precribed medication from vet generally the same day, but what about pet precribed medications and can't wait 24 hours.

I still don't understand. If my chemist can make a good living and people selling on the internet ect can so can vets.

Private veterinary treatment. They get paid very well for treating our pets and most of the time its only things like flee treatments or ongoing medicatios that owners won't always pay vets time in consultation fees.

NHS for our pets. Thankfully as least there is the PDSA for animals in need.

I'm not going to get into a debate about it, just explaining why some vets up the prices on their meds. I'm not disputing that veterinary medications are expensive because 9 times out of 10 they are.

Since I have been working as a VN, I have seen all too often, people come for a consultation because there is something wrong with their animals eyes or ears, and when they are given a print out of their bill, they debate the fact that they have been charged for a consultation. For things such a flea treatments and worming, we do these in free nurse clinics - the nurses will weigh the animals and administer the wormers or flea treatments, and all the owner is charged for is the medications themselves. Don't know if all clinics do things this way though.

As I said our clients are free to buy their medications over the internet if they wish, as long as they get a prescription from us.

Well I don't mind paying a little more for a good vet. My vets ate expensive, but they are excellent at diagnosing & treating my dogs & I'm prepared to pay for this & for state of the art equipment, & actually I get a good deal on some tests as I pay a lot less than the people who come on referralls & have the same tests.When I read on here of the problems some people have had with their vets Iam so happy I'm where I am.

I honestly feel that is a justified reason why vets up the prices on medications.

If they have the animals welfare to heart, they would make treatment affordable.

I feel not having a guideline for what vets can charge helps, eg consultation.

In my experience it is the veterinary groups that tend to inflate prices - espec when it comes to insurance claims.

In fairness, it has to be said that not all vets rip off their clients (as demonstrated by mummy2max). My own vets, who dont often see me and mine and know I use alternative therapies where poss, have never ripped me off for anything.
I was once in a consultation room, and overheard the vet in another room advising a client to get XXX from the local health food shop, as it would be so much cheaper for her.
On another occasion I had to put one of my girls on rimadyl in the short term...I joked that law of s*d dictated I had missed the athritis/rimadyl promotion month (where the drug was free) by two days...I was only charged the consultation fee.

Last week I had to have one of my girls scanned - I was only charged the consultation fee.

The best advice I can give, is that if you are not happy with a vet, vote with your feet and your wallet...there are some gooduns out there.

Who is your vet SUE?