Operation cost...

I've always had pets; dogs and cats, even back to student days. I know when I was newly maried and very broke I always bemoaned the fact that, whenever there was any money to spare for clothes, one of the cats would get ill, but I never remember the vets bills being so great that I questioned whether to continue having pets. One cat was hit by a car and we had to call the vet out in the middle of the night [he turned up at the surgery in his slippers] but, even then I can't recall having to live on baked beans for the next month so we could pay the bill. Given that my dog had a lump removed last year wich cost @£750 I don't understand why this one has cost so much. Even the follow on appointments, which used to be free after the initial consultation have been charged for. I was expecting to possibly pay up to £1000 if the insurers wouldn't pay but this bill has shocked me, as the lump was tiny compared to the last one [which grew because the vet advised a 'watching brief' and only agreed to take it out when we said we wanted her to have a teeth clean at the same time..it turned out to be cancerous]. Over the years I've been to various vets and always lose faith in them after a while; like most things, instead of complaining I just move to another. I do believe there is a correlation between people insuring their pets and the fees that vets now charge and agree that it's best to say you haven't got insurance even if you have. My daughter took her cat to the vets last week to be put down [it's obvious he was dying] but, even then they suggested putting him on a drip to see if he would improve [which she refused].

We took our dog to the vet because his front leg splayed out and he was obviously in some discomfort.

After examinations, x-rays and scans, investigative surgery found that he had a torn shoulder ligament and he was given a cortisone injection. He was also given a sort of harness to wear.

The bill came to over £6,000 which seems an awful lot of money to me. The harness alone was listed as costing £360. Luckily we had insurance.

I was reading in the paper the other day that people may in the future be more likely to buy "robot dogs"/"virtal pets" than real ones. Given the cost of insurance - which rises hugely as a pet ages - I think many people may feel this is their only alternative - though I can't imagine anything being so lovable as a real dog.

My neighbours dog has just had a £4k emergency operation on a shattered knee and will need another £1k on the other back leg. No insurance either.

She's only ate a tiny amount of the sardines and had a small drink of water; I thought if anything could mask the taste of the tablets sardines would. Her poor little head is just one huge scar and I'm worried about her knocking the wound. They wanted to put a cone of shame on her but whippets are a strange shape when it comes to things like that and I'd rather she was comfortable. She had a reaction to the shearer as well and needs some Sudocrem on it; also struggles when I try to cut the bandage off her leg. Think we'll be taking it in shifts to watch her for the next week or so. She shook all over when we got to the vets this morning; whatever happens she's not having any more operations .

Have you smashed the pills up between 2 spoons then put the crushed pills in those sardines Tegan (I'm sure you have). My doodle is an expert at hiding pills in the side of her mouth, she must have watched One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

...might take it meself....

Well, she's refusing to take the paracetamol and codeine even when I drown it in sardines.

This thread is making me feel very fortunate with our vets. I know they're good but I now realise their charges are reasonable, well they seem to be in comparison with some of the horror stories here.

My current 2 dogs are insured with one of the biggest pet insurance companies. The 6 year old has had a number of hunting injuries (racing through shrubbery after rabbits, ripping her side open, getting thorns stuck up inside her foot etc). The 3 year old has never been ill/injured himself but I did claim for a behaviourist because he's reactive and a bit of a challenge. The insurance company pay out, other than the £75 excess, with no quibble. I decided to keep the policies going, rather than put a monthly amount away after my neighbour's dog broke a leg - £3,500 and that was a few years ago.

Our vets work in an area where there is a lot of competition. A not for profit vet practice opened a mile way from them a few years ago. Maybe that's helped make sure they don't ask for silly money

I suppose cats don't need third party - they're not liable and neither are their owners!

Oh yes. The pharmaceuticals. They are much, much cheaper to buy on the internet but the vet charges you at least £12 for the prescription.

It's difficult to just get third party accident cover for dogs; I know I tried to get it years ago and hit a wall, but it's included in medical cover. Horse insurance seemed much better value and work done on them didn't seem to cost too much. I just think that dogs and cats are where vets make their money. I keep seeing these 'value' vets everywhere and am wondering what they charge.

I know vets' fees do seem alarmingly high but I would point out that veterinary pharmaceuticals are very expensive.

That's what we did with our Rhodesian ridgeback. Pet-plan messed up our policy and then wouldn't re-instate it because she was over seven so we put £1000 in a building society account and left it there hoping we would never need it. We added some more as and when we could afford it but sod's law was against us and it was all hoovered up when she developed pyometra.

Can't win really.

Sorry should be £10,000 not £1000.

That's a good point about third party insurance, Tegan, but isn't that separate from health insurance?

When my friend bought flea shampoo the wretched woman in the pet shop spun her some yarn about fleas were resistant to most shampoos and these 'super fleas' infested your house within days (I bet she was the vet's wife!) so of course DF obediently trotted off to the vets.

That dog must have cost her well over a £1000 in 9 years

I think you're right regarding insurance rosesarered

Incidentally I always paid out for horse insurance and it was very reasonable, far less per month than dog insurance. Where horses are involved you don't seem to get this exploitation.

The problem with that is, if your pet has a fracture of some kind it could run into thousands;also it's good to have third party cover. I've paid '£1700 in insurance and have claimed for two operations [probably £1200's worth]. If I'd put £50 in the bank each month I would have £4,800 minus the £1200. The insurance only started off at £14 per month and I didn't realise how much it would go up by. I very much feel that, when my dog is gone I won't replace her .

Exactly Loopy. furthermore I would let the vet know you are not insured, as their eyes light up if they know that you are. if they think you haven't a lot of money and have no insurance they seem to tone down their demands for treatment. I can only go by my own and close family's experience of this.Naturally, if a pet really needs treatment, we would pay it, but somebody mentioned a big bill for a dog scratching, well, I would buy a routine flea treatment or a dog shampoo before I hauled it off to the vet.

Now there's a thought, loopy - bit of a gamble but at least you wouldn't be paying out every month for a service you may not need.

I've been reading this thread to DH, he's as shocked as I am.

I wonder if instead of buying dog insurance it might be better to put the same amount of money into a savings account or similar. That way you wouldn't be paying out either for nothing (if you're lucky) or still having to fork out for the excess or, even worse, conditions excluded.

Vet bills have gone sky high.They love insurance policies and suggest treatments not really needed.I said no to various vets when they wanted to give treatments to our cats, especially when they got older.They seem to want to take teeth out now as a matter of routine.You know when a pet is suffering by it's behaviour.I would not take out any insurance for pets in the future, but set aside some money in case it's needed.That way you have money to spend/save if not needed for the pet.As a pet gets older it's difficult to insure anyway.

I mentioned that my dog had been shaking her head a lot and thought it might be something to do with what was wrong with her, so I've been charged for an ear clean. It's as bad as going to see a solicitor when the bill starts racking up the minute you walk through the door .

My daughter's lab had two teeth out last month and it cost her about £570. She had recently changed vets because she'd moved and the insurers said she would need evidence that the previous vet had carried out a dental check in the routine annual health check. She contacted them and thank heavens they were able to confirm that they'd checked the teeth and provided documentary evidence to that effect. But even so, when the insurance payment came through she was puzzled to find they'd deducted around £130, when she thought the excess was about £100. She rang them and was told that the excess was £75 plus 10% of the bill. So the higher the bill, the more the excess. They really have got you by the short and curlies.

My rescue dog needs a couple of teeth out. T'other dog had the same a year ago and it cost £250. That included 10 days of antibiotics and a check-up later. My daughter had all four wisdom teeth dug out without either so I'm going to suggest the vet omits the unnecessary bits of the bill. Insurance doesn't cover dentals.

That's blinking wrong merlot! I'd have refused to pay the extra as done without your consent - and probably ended up paying because it'll be in the 'small print' somewhere.

We never insured our dogs, all cross breeds, and we rarely had vet bills beyond routine jabs and spaying. I do wonder if some pedigree dogs are less healthy because of their breeding, my sisters seem to visit the vets with their posh pooches with monotonous regularity.