Vets !

We all wonder why are pet insurance premiums are on the up even when we dont claim

Well Imo, its down to the vets charging an absolute fortune and its all a big scam as they know your insured so charge what they like...

10-15 years ago you never had vet bills of £3000-£5000,thats because very few people had insurance so they wouldnt get away with it....!!!

Somthing needs to be done as there are some very rich vets out there and they are taking all of us for a ride....


Oh ,new on here so hi everyone.....

Hi there.

I think it depends on the individual vet; I have no complaints about mine whatsoever. They are a small rural practice and (possibly because they do a lot of livestock work) are always very conscious of the cost of treatment.

They will often recommend treatments that they don't gain anything from. For instance, one of my dogs recently suffered from a food allergy which really affected her coat. He told us to try hypo allergenic food (but did not try and sell us any), suggested we give her evening primrose oil to help her coat and if necessary, to try piriton to help with any itchiness.

When my other dog needed a cruciate ligament op, the vet game me two options: if I was insured, the op could be done by a specialist, which would cost between £2,000-£3,000. If we weren't insured, he would do the op himself for £400.

The specialist had a success rate of about 99%, doing them day in and day out. My vet had a success rate of around 95%, doing about 5 a month. If the success rate had been drastically different, I would've found the money to go to the specialist, but as it was, I went with our vet, who did a cracking job.

But from some of the posts I have read on here about vets bills, I would agree that some vets do seem to be taking the mick.

Just having a rant.....

Foxpod i really do think you have a point - the difference in charges since insurance has been the norm is vast. But as with most jobs/people as Hali said it is also highly dependant on the individual. It took me a while to find them but my vets are worth their weight in gold to me and the dogs. Nothing is too much trouble for them, and they don't push me any products or courses of action that aren't vital. Have you had a bad experience recently or is it a general rant?
BTW welcome to Dogsey - and we all have a good rant on here from time to time

I saw this and had to post. I've got a Rottie who's epileptic and needs drugs for knees/hips. The price of insurance in the past has prevented me from taking it. But now I do regret not doing so.

The medication is pricey - but my vet is certainly profiting equally from non-insured patients too. They charge double what you can buy the drugs for online - but then charge ridiculous fees for prescriptions.

My full rant is here [link removed]

Warlord0,

had a quick shufti at your blogspot - can hardly believe you were charged 25p+ per tab of Epiphen! My (late) Snorri-dog took it: we were paying 8p a tab to our vet!

Mind you, they did charge us £40 a pack for Kali's Vivitonin, and then I got it online from Tahiti at £58.15 for three packs! When I spoke to the vet, he looked shamefaced, but showed me the wholesaler's invoice (almost £33 per pack).


Snorri

I left one vet because they were so expensive. Yes I was insured, but I could see me reaching the limit and being left without cover. I, like most of my friends now go the a reasonably-priced vet who is very thorough but doesn`t extract the urine (except maybe to test it).
There was a big ad. in the paper last week saying that the first mentioned vet was now offering spaying, vaccinations etc. at rock-bottom prices, so they`re obviously struggling.

My journey this week has been finding out from many vets in the area just what they charge for the medication, prescription and treatment I need. It's an eye opener for sure.

I definitely advise shopping around.

8p is a great price for Epiphen! Were they 60mg? Cheapest I have found is 12p for 60mg and 6p for 30mg.

Thankfully the vet I have recently found states they're not interested in making money from prescriptions. I guess they make enough from insurance companies

Snorri-dog's Epiphen was 8p per 30mg tab, which we used to cut in half, because he needed only 2x15mg daily to keep him free, which it did, for 7 years before he died {stroke???).

Of course, we could have done without the expense, but he needed it, so he got it; end of.

Snorri

I have been ripped off by a vet before. It was just a check over, i was there for 5 mins max and got gharged 60 quid for it
I changed vets after that!!

As Hali says there are some decent ones out there, its just finding them!