rabbitraider1 Posted January 14, 2014 Report Share Posted January 14, 2014 Perhaps when we have a sick/injured animal we should let economics rule our heads and weigh up the cost of treatment and prognosis against the animals monetary worth. I do this with my farm stock and dogs and it works for me. I agree completely in the fact that just because something can be done doesn't mean it should,however, the majority of the expenses of a normal vets will be the standard equipment, including X-rays and scanners, which has to be reflected in the price (which in comparison to human medicine is cheap). The extreme cases of surgery which require extremely specialized equipment such as those used by the bionic vet are generally only owned by referral practices and that's when bills move out of the hundreds into the tens of thousands and so the cost of the operations have no reflection on the bill from a standard first opinion practice. Unfortunately in the future its probably going to get far more expensive when vets start qualifying with £60-70k of debt instead of £20-30k and need to earn their debt off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apache Posted January 14, 2014 Report Share Posted January 14, 2014 Sadly, Rabbitraider1, in the next 10 years every University and college will have a vet course leading to oversaturation of the market and vets working for less and less. You can't do a good job on the cheap. Period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitraider1 Posted January 14, 2014 Report Share Posted January 14, 2014 It will be interesting to see how Surrey does, I've also heard that Aberystwyth and Newcastle are planning to open in the next few years, I'm hoping I will be graduated and in a secure job before the rush Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
activeviii Posted January 14, 2014 Report Share Posted January 14, 2014 The vets we use are spot on. never had an issue with costing, often told the name and where to source the drugs from at the right prices. had bits sorted out without charge. the same practise but 3 different vets, all very happy with and would recommend to anyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casts_by_fly Posted January 14, 2014 Report Share Posted January 14, 2014 But if you removed my appendix would I have to wear one of those cones for a week or two? OMG, I am glad I finished my coffee a minute ago. It would have gone everywhere. I now have a mental image in my head of various people in my office wearing cones on their heads. rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casts_by_fly Posted January 14, 2014 Report Share Posted January 14, 2014 (edited) It's very simple - good care costs money. There are things we can treat now and cure that were impossible even 10 years ago. Go back 30 years and it's a different world. As a child our local vets couldn't take x-rays, couldn't analyse blood, didn't have any real modern equipment. These days you can have your animal treated in a lot of cases as well or better than a person. Veterinary medicine has come on in leaps and bounds. You don't have to go whole hog, but good care costs money. I have nothing against putting old animals to sleep, but occasionally I find people let their dogs down having them put to sleep with fixable conditions just because they are either unwilling to spend, or don't have the money to fix the dog. I'm talking simple surgeries costing less than a thousand pounds. Owning a dog is a privilege, not a right. If you're not wealthy enough to afford reasonable vet fees then the dog should be properly insured. If you can't afford insurance then you cannot afford to have a dog. Sounds mean, but it's true. So many people get a pet they can't afford and then want to make it my fault that it cost money to mend. Well, we got a Christmas card from our vet - so that should tell you something about how much money passes over his counter! I'm not objecting, because his service is excellent and TBH Apache is bob-on (and of course he should know) with how that service has improved over time. Quality service costs money and our vet keeps the costs down as much as he can, but when all is said and done, he is not an animal welfare charity and he is still in business to make money. However, I found over the years that a good vet that listens to you is worth his weight in gold. Many is the time our friends have been fleeced via obvious mis-diagnosis through not taking on board the information the owner has provided. In three cases we've had to ask our vet to intervene and liaise with their vets to get a correct diagnosis and then administer the proper treatment. It's the whole arrogance of the 'I'm the vet and I have a duty to do what's best for animal' that really gets on my breasticles. I think some need a reality check on who actually pays their bills! I've got off tack a little bit, but what I'm trying to get at is: If you're not happy with the service you are getting, change your vet! I'm onboard with the above two comments completely. We've been dealing with a signiicant illness in one of our dogs since the end of September. We were on holiday in the Caribbean when 4 year old Ruby came ill. Our dogsitter was advised to take her to the 24-hour animal hospital as her condition deteriorated very rapidly (before she was able to get a hold of us in fact). Long story short, nearly 4 months of weekly visits and meds (plus the emergency treatments in the first place) have put us in a similar place to Paul-T. We didn't get a christmas card, but not far off (let's just say we have a fresquent visitor's discount on consults and meds). We don't have pet insurance for Ruby, so it is all out of pocket. They asked the question up front, but only in reference to the fact that the course of treatment is (1) known, (2) doesn't have many options, and (3) will take a while. He made it clear what the likely outcomes were. We were given best/worst/probable case scenarios with the book literature success rates. There was no hard sell at any point. There weren't 2 prices. The price was the price, I could take it or leave it. I could use pet insurance to pay or I could pay myself. We made an informed decision with 'opt out' decision points. We didn't know this vet. I was sceptical at first as I was 6000 miles away and was just told that my dog might not make it until we could get home. I didn't believe him at first. It couldn't be as severe as he was describing, surely he was taking the mick. However even at that point, he was very up front about things. He explained why each test was necessary, what we were looking for, any alternatives, and what the various results of the test would mean. After we did some research about the problem, we asked about doing other tests which he declined to do as they wouldn't give anymore useful info and wouldn't change the course of treatment anyway. They have the equipment to run some of the tests in house, so rather than waiting 3 days for a pathology lab, he was able to diagnose in 4 hours. That 2+ day difference meant our coming home to an alive dog. All told, we've built up a level of trust with this vet. He isn't who we've used previously, but he is who we'll use going forward. He is a dog person himself and you can tell in how he handles the dogs. The last vet was a cat guy and a bit cold to dogs (IMO)- I never had a good feeling with him. Yes vet care is expensive, but I don't feel as if I'm being taken advantage of or ripped off (if anything, I don't think they are charging me enough for their time. £20 for a consult!) Rabbitraider- Some unsolicited advice from someone who has been in twice weekly contact with my vet for the past 4 months- the most important thing you can do is build that level of trust and compassion. If you don't have it it shows and no matter how good your techical expertise may be there will always be something missing. thanks, rick Edited January 14, 2014 by casts_by_fly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
four-wheel-drive Posted January 14, 2014 Report Share Posted January 14, 2014 PDSA Vet Care services are available to pet owners who receive means tested help with their rent or Council Tax (Housing Benefit or Council Tax Support/Reduction). Just get a mate to take it that's on benefits. Some years ago when I was out of work for a bit our little dog got out of the garden and ran in front of a police car the dog had its pelvis crushed and was rushed to the vets who wanted several hundred pounds to do an operation money that I did not have. Contact the RSPCA people said and I was told as we are in a country area they did not have the funds to help but they could give me £25 towards the cost and said contact the PDSA in Bristol about 30 miles away and they said if you can bring it to our centre we will do the opp free of charge. First can you tell me where you live I said where I lived and she said Oh I am sorry but you are outside of our area so we cannot help you that is a shame in the end I went back to the vet and said as I cannot get any help they will have to put here to sleep. The vet thought for a bit and said that there was another way as the dog was only small a yourki we could treat it as they would a cat and just keep it still in a box in the worm for six weeks she was very good and slept most of the time only being carried out to the garden to do her jobs. But it worked her legs went in funny directions when she ran but they worked apart from that she was ok and lived to be about 12 no thanks the charaties so please do not say that pore people can get free treatment some do but others do not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poorpeet Posted January 14, 2014 Report Share Posted January 14, 2014 As in all professions there will be good and bad. If you think you've been 'had' then vote with your feet. There was some hidden camera stuff on one of the consumer programmes last year which was VERY disturbing. It was filmed in one of the multiple franchise outlets. I have always been well served by my vets through several name changes as the senior vet retired and sold up over the past 30 or so years. 3 years or so ago a small cat started following us when I was walking the dog. This went on for a few days with her coming closer and closer to the house & ended up with her inviting herself to stay. Time came for her booster & the vets at Pets at Home were doing a deal so I went there instead fully expecting a hard sell. The vet checked her over and said she had some rotten teeth which really needed to come out. Yeah right! was my first reaction but he showed me how loose they were. Cost was estimated at £220 'unless they found other problems. Well, if you take on an animal you have to accept responsibility so I said go ahead. When I collected her the bill was........................£170! they had had to take more out but it had gone smoothly so the bill was lower than expected! It goes to prove that you can't just assume people are out to fleece you. As has been said the cost of modern medicine and practice overheads must be eye watering! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo33 Posted January 14, 2014 Report Share Posted January 14, 2014 It will be interesting to see how Surrey does, I've also heard that Aberystwyth and Newcastle are planning to open in the next few years, I'm hoping I will be graduated and in a secure job before the rush This area is absolutely saturated with vets and the same in my line of work. Apache is absolutely on the mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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