A tough week

I'm so sorry to hear about your much-loved little rescue cat.

But I don't think vet's fees are especially extortionate considering they have wages to pay, the upkeep of premises, the cost of medication. I know they may seem high (I recently paid £840 to have my dog's eye removed due to glaucoma) but when the same dog almost died in a fire, and was rushed to the vet by a neighbour, revived on an oxygen tent, washed, treated for smoke inhalation and soot in eyes, and kept in overnight the cost was only £160. So I do think it's proportionate.

I wish our NHS was half as efficient as our vet - I can could ring up, get an appointment the same day, be treated quickly and sympathetically and get free after care.

Our vets refer you to a vet hospital 12 miles away after hours. They have wonderful facilities and 24 hour care. My dog needed an operation at midnight, she died and it cost nearly £5000. Next dog spent 24 hours there with epilepsy, cost £600. These things always happen at weekends or night and the referral vets charge twice as much for everything than our own vets. After each claim the insurance soars. My insurance for 2 little dogs (vet fees only) was my biggest payment every month, more then all my utilities combined.

i have 4 cats .2 from cats protection and 2 street cats plus 1 dog insurance does not.cover teeth.and .with all my cats they have a lot of problems in that department . i could not count the cost how much i have paid with these problems, one of my cats will have a op soon and that will cost me £350we never have much spare money but vets are over priced after all these cats would be dead but for us caring people who are to soft.

annrose, one of my cats had tooth problems found at check-up two years running, requiring a 'dental' under anaesthetic. I now have substituted one meal a day with a dental kibble food (Purina Proplan dental plus). His mouth has had a clean bill of health ever since. Perhaps it is something you could try.
Instead of insurance I pay a monthly sum into a savings account and am still in profit so far.

If you don't need to kennel your pets then inoculations are only needed every three years. The vet will confirm this if you ask but the local councils insist that you have to have them yearly before you can use kennels - why? It is me taking the risk not the other animals.

I don't feel our vet over charges. As Anya says, they have to maintain premises and employ staff as well as work (often) anti social hours. When our much loved old rescue x breed became ill, we spent in excess of £1000 on various treatments. It prolonged his life slightly but the quality of his life had gone. We made that final loving decision and he was put to sleep by our vet, who was supported by his senior vet nurse. She'd known our old dog since he came to us from the local dog shelter 12 years earlier, she wept with us as he went into his final sleep. They spent almost an hour with us, discussing the various options before supporting us in our decision. We had a very affectionate letter, complete with poem and card (queue much weeping at our home) a few days later and the bill 4 months later. I'd asked about paying as I left but was told no, you go home and have a cuppa or a glass of wine.

We'd never insured that dog so felt the money we paid in his later days was in fact less than insurance would have been. Our two current dogs are insured. For 4 years the big dogs insurance covered large bills after she injured herself racing through brambles. The younger dog developed some behavioural problems and the vet supported a claim for a behaviourist to see him.
Yes, insurance and vets bills are high but have any of you paid private dental/health bills? I've recently been left with no option but to pay for some treatment - good job I saved up whilst I was working or I'd have been in a real pickle.

I agree with the OP , vet bills are extortionate . I had insurance for my cats for several years but found that I could never claim despite going fairly frequently to the Vets . The bill usually was just short of the excess or the condition was not covered . I now put money into an account to cover emergencies for them but if something major happened I would have difficulty paying the enormous bill .