You seem to be missing a point here.

They work for a living you have the choice to either 1) dont have animals 2) shop around.

They are not a charity.. just like any other private profession.

If you visit a private doctor /specialist/ hospital you will also pay dearly.


I dont really care what car my vet drives, as long as I have faith in their ability .

And to be honest, dont know many vets who drive prestige cars..as most need work horses.. to get them to A, B, C , vets dont sit in the surgery all day looking at their posh cars...they are usually up to their necks treating your sick animals.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not being critical of ALL vets. Sure they may go into the business for the love of the animals, but like us all they gotta pay bills.

Oh, and I do mind Doctors getting paid so much. The NHS has made it so they can get away with it... but this is about vets (ditto lawyers or ambulance chasers as I prefer to call them)

To be fair. I haven't had a "bad" vet yet, just pricey. I did warn my current vet that I can be a pain. I'll read up and ask questions, not just accept what they say on first pass. That they'd have to work for their money, because I'm not flush with cash and will probe for why, why not and what about... but at the end of the day "they" are the professional and I'll take their advice, once they have explained the basis of their decision.

So far over the past 3-4 months I've been spending about £250 per month, so any saving I can get I will push for - I can't afford not to (insurance in hind sight would have been the best solution). Even changing vets to get more reasonable prescription fees, even though the vet was closer to home and other than price couldn't be faulted.

Your implication is that I don't work for a living, I most certainly do. I just don't have the fortune to be in a situation where I can play the heart strings of my customers to the tune of their wallets. Which a vet can do.

So vets put in the hours. Doesn't anyone else? It's a job they get paid for their time - but what makes their time more valuable than anyone else?

I do have an interest in what car my vet drives, but only because it's an indication of the profits that they are making from its customers.

Not all vets look after livestock and those that do I'm certain have much more reasonable rates than those us pet owners face. A farmer will look at a balance sheet and have a hard figure saying this is what the animal is worth. Pet owners don't generally put a price on their friends.

A £3,000 cat scan for a cow/calve... will a farmer ever pay that? But for our pets...

I know vets who drive crappy old cars because if the don't some people will take the attitude that they shouldn't have anything nice

The fact you are having to pay out such an amount is not the vets fault... and yes insurance in hind sight would have been a good thing..but I understand for some, even the cheapest is to much for their budget.

You can always get a prescription from the vet and buy your medication on line.. which should give you a saving.

And yes there are some bad vets, just like in all walks of life.

But it take 6 yrs of hard slog to be a vet (thee most difficult profession to gain ) to qualify you have no life, it consumes you... so you can hardly say they are not in it for the love of animals... it takes dedication , and then some.

Being in education for 6 yrs.. the debt you accumulate can be huge.... and as most vets will be salaried and not partners... you can hardly say they are rolling in it.

Onto the hours they work, for instance mine will be for morning surgery.. 8.30 am.... till 11, then any operating to be done... then on to house calls.... back for evening sugary... not to mention the on call 24 hr call out...

Taking on the responsibility of our animals will be exhausting to say the least.

I have no problem what they charge , it is all down to personal choice, if you are not happy, vote with your feet...

I have just said 150 to one specialist and 200 to another..just to set foot in their clinic... even before any investigation or treatment.

Am I complaining, not a chance , I still have my dog!!!

And yes, thank god for insurance.

I was never blaming my vet for what I'm paying out. The reality is that it would be significantly more if I hadn't made the call to shop around, talk with vets - all of whom were understanding of what it was costing me with no insurance, but that's my own case, and my own mistake. I pay what I must, and am concerned about reaching the end of my finances.

The only thing that rubs is the fact that in order to make significant savings you MUST put in the effort to shop around. But even when you can save money online your vet is going to profit from the prescription charges.

But you're right as with anything else. I guess you get good and bad vets, mostly good in my experience. So I'd probably have to say it's good or better vets.

I implicating no such thing, I was responding to the fact that , you seem to think they should give their services for free ...or cut price...and not make a profit for their business. vets like any other business have overheads... employing people , who also need to be paid a wage.

I have no concern at what profits my vet makes.... if I was worried over them ,and what car he was driving at my experience.. I would look else where... thankfully I dont.


People would not be in business long if they gave their wares a way for free.

Hi All,

My vets are very reasonably priced and will always give me al the options available. If I'm better of buying something over the counter at Boots and that will do the same as doggy drugs, they tell me.
They have also informed me of diet etc without trying to push their own dietary foods onto me/my dogs.

Not so long ago Zane was playing with Murphy, a rescue dog I had at the time. He managed to end up with his top lip imlaed on his top right cnine tooth. Nobody, not even the vet could properly see what the problem was. I was given the choce of going home with painkillers which woul dhave cost me ^16 (incl. consultation and drugs) or have him sedated so they could wiggle his jaw about (cos it looked dislocated) and to have a proper look. I made the infomred choice of having him sedated and this is how they foundout what was wrong. They rectified the problem, gave him pain relief and I picked him up an hour later - all at a cost of £98.

My vets put up prices when they have to but they're still entitled to charge for their time etc. The amount of time at university and the level of study they have to reach must cuont for something andit's those such as vets, doctors, lawyers who can command such high salaries because they've worked so hard to get there.

Also, vets and lawyers are on staff and unless they are partners, they aren't paid a fortune at all.

One last thing - from what has been posted already and as a qualified lawyer (although I'm not in legal practice right now), firstly I'm obviously not charging enough and secondly, what's an ambulance chaser?

Laura xx

Hahaha that made me laugh. Ambulance chaser = where there's blame there's a claim.

I really think I'm being read out of context and most of what I've written seems to have been ignored. Not once have I suggested getting anything for free - or not expecting vets to make fair charges.

I think it's better if what I've written is actually read. It was not intended as fuel for flames.

hey Warlord,

Sorry if what I wrote was upsetting or offensive to you. It wasn't intended that way.

I know I don't charge anywhere near as much as most lawyers as I don't agree with the tactics of many law firms to gain business. I reckon since they were allowed to advertise, law firms have become (as you posted) "ambulance chasers". Theya re definitely in it to make money and don't generally give a toss about their clients.

Anyway I'll stop now 'cos I'm completely off topic.

Laura xx