That is really good.

Sounds like your vet is in it more for the animals which is excellent and (IMO) the way it should be

Well you would think so, but he is part of a bigger consortium, can't remember the name now, so they all must charge the same. I know they have a bigger surgery in Warrington, so maybe Rach (fudgely) will have heard of them.
Elaine xx

ps. maybe he feels sorry for me

Just found this link for those who are interested in how the practice started and expanded

http://www.willowsvetgroup.co.uk/cnt...terinary-Group

Yes, I have! I had taken my dog on 4 different occasions to the same vet coz he was lame on a front leg. Each time I had come out with a different diagnosis, different potions, and paid around £75! I then took him back for the 5th time and saw yet another vet (a locom) and came out of there armed with a bottle of Malaseb shampoo (yes, apparently it was his itchy feet this time )plus lots of other things to bathe his feet in and the cost that time was £175!!!!! I was in shock until I got home, thought about it, marched back, plonked all the medications on the receptionists desk and demanded my money back except of course the consultation, which I got, thankfully! Then I took my dog to another practice, asked for him to be blood tested and scanned, turned out he had an enlarged liver (the internet had told me that about front leg lameness too!!!) and I was MORE than willing to cough up for his treatment, because I felt I had finally got somewhere! Needless to say, I stuck with this other vet!

When I was in South Africa I had to see a doctor. I was examined thoroughly and was treated with respect and politeness and the whole thing, including 4 different types of medicine, cost me less than 30 quid! I'd pay that here if I got that kind of service.
I think we are ripped off a lot here in the UK for many many things, medicines, cars, houses etc etc. However, if people will pay then what do you expect!
I buy all my flea and worm stuff off the internet now. I paid the same for 3 tubes of panacur paste wormer for my pups as my vet charged for 1!
It's about time we took a stand on prices here. If it's too expensive go somewhere else unless you are totally satisified with the product/service etc!
Becky

Alfie was not him self last year so I took him 2 the vet as I was worried (nothing serious he was just moping around when he usually running around full of life).
She checked him over, stuck a thermometer up his u know what, gave him a antibiotic injection and told me she would give me a 5 day course of antibiotics and said come back tommorrow.
Back I went. She checked him said he was fine stuck another thermometer up his you know what (He was deff not happy) and said "I cant see anything wrong with him but just keep an eye on him."
I came out £76 lighter and to this day wondered if he really needed all that or is it just there way of getting the money in.
The fees are way to high xx

I think the charges are way too high as well, we've spent a fortune over the past few years , but then we do have 6 cats and 2 dogs, we don't have insurance because it would cost too much for all of them, but we do put money aside instead each month in case of emergency but we had one cat attacked by a n'bours dog and she had to be taken to the emergency vets and have an op so that cost a fortune, we had another cat knocked over and she had to be operated on, the same cat has had another 2 mishaps and needed treatment since and one of our dogs had an infection in his nail and ended up having a toe amputated, so that cost a fortune, he also has problems with his shoulder and is on Metacam, as is another of our cats,We are taking 2 of our cats to the vets tomorrow for their boosters, so with routine visits like that plus emergency treatment our vets do very nicely out of us, evertime I see their big flash car parked up outside the surgery I think I wonder how much of that I've paid for!

I just remembered the other week my vet nursing teacher (who is a vet nurse when she's not teaching) said that one practice she worked in got taken over by a big business, and a few months down the line they all got told off because they hadn't performed enough x-rays!! she left soon after that, she said she thought putting animals through general anaesthetic only to make money was terrible and rightly so! she said it's not that uncommon either, so undoubtedly some of us here will have paid out for unnecessary treatment, possibly putting our pets at risk

Think I must be very lucky We have a really good Vet. I think the charges we are charged are reasonable and just I have heard of some really high charges from other people, recommended our vet and they have been happy to change!!
I do believe there are some unscupulous vets like in any profession The thing is we need the vet as we cant treat our animals ourselves and I think some take advantage of that The only thing is to shop around and be prepared to travel a way if necessary to find a good one.

I think like everything in life, you get some bad and some good, some in it for the money some for dedication.

BUT ..you have to remember they need to make a living, they have overheads..staff to pay and so on... even the most dedicated cant do it for charity.

My own vets charge around £ 15 /20 for a consolation.. have a bill here, it is 16.99

Then what ever the medication costs.. on top of that

We seem to forget that if we had to pay for private medicine the costs would be far higher.

A consultation with a specialist /private doctor will cost you up to £100 compared to a vets £20 /25 and dont forget a vet is far more qualified than a doctor.....many many doctors are failed vets, either through not being able to hack the training 6/7 yrs... or not getting the qualifications to go to vet school.

Personally if I was unhappy and felt I was being ripped off, I would find another vet.

Animals are expensive.. to keep and to treat illness... thats why it is always best to have them insured

we are lucky as we can access the pdsa in portsmouth and they have been fab with blackie. they even do his boosters there at cost price - and worming and flea treatment can be brought a month at a time. the vets and nurses there really care about the animals they treat and they always take time to explain everything. they dont treat things that will get better on their own but are always willing to help. by the way we always donate as much as we can afford to the pdsa and when we see one of their charity shops go and have a look to see what we can buy.

sue