Someone is taking the p….

It does sound about right, I'm afraid. When mine was a puppy (13 years back) she had a (baby?) puppy tooth embedded in the roof of her mouth. It was Sunday, she was uncomfortable - so we went to the local 24hr vet. 5 minutes later, all done, we came out £100 lighter.

Then, a few years ago, she had a swollen face (tooth abscess) - so visit, painkillers, antibiotics - then extraction of a broken tooth - well over £400. Still, we're quids in, as she has a savings account but no insurance.

No one is taking the " p..." .
I am a GP
This is how much private care costs . Without the much maligned NHS this is what we would all be paying for our appointment, medication etc etc .
I think we all need to think about that !

It's not vets per se who are charging these ridiculous amounts, it's the large businesses that are gradually buying up all independent vets and bumping up the prices. That coupled with the fact that they're charging the proper rate for medication means a visit to the vet or a visit from a vet is now double what it was a couple of years ago. You need pet insurance but that's unlikely to cover things like dental care. Hope the spaniel soon feels better.

@WonderBra
Glad to see someone defending vets, they're my favourite people - and I know they often have no say over fees.
I have a new (to me) dog now & I have him insured as my last dog (PTS 2 Jan 2019) cost approx 12k in her last few years for specialist operations. I adopted her aged approx 13 and had her for 6 or so years. I don't resent a penny.
I then fostered for 3 years - all vet bills paid tho you do, of course, eventually have to hand them over.
I could save the £16 a month my dog's insurance is costing me - in 26 years I could save up for one of the ops my previous dog needed...
If they're not worth the money, don't go to the vet.
And for anyone truly not able to afford vet fees (I don't live in a PDSA catchment area either) I'd thoroughly recommend fostering.

My last dog had an eye condition kind of like Dry Eye in humans. When she started having a cream inserted every day the charge was £32. Years later it was £78 a tube. Checking the cream online I could purchase it for a quarter of the cost. The problem was a vet's prescription was required and vet wanted a horrendous amount to give me one and only for a month at a time. Just couldn't win. I have a vet in the family (doesn't live near me) and he and partners are selling the business to a large company but are retaining the building and renting that to the company. Quids in for all concerned me thinks!

Yes, your vet was taking the p whilst literally taking the pee. These are the kind of eye-watering fees and costs that will become familiar to all of us if the NHS is abandoned. Right now it is slowly slipping away before our very eyes and we must make our voices heard before it is too late.

Bibblebibbleblop - medical care for humans isn't always very expensive. See my post quoted by CountryMouse22 above.

The medical care would cost just the same for humans if we didn’t have the NHS. Welcome to the real world of medicine and count your lucky stars.

I'm sorry to say that the cost of vets fees is a major contribution to why animals are being dumped. I would not argue so much if it wasn't for the fact that VAT is added. When a pet is in pain, the treatment is not a luxury

This comment is not about me! It's a comment about a friend who has always had cats and she lives in a rural village. She told me that none of her cats have ever been vaccinated, never been fleed and never had plaque removed from their teeth. She says, apart from obvious illnesses which have always been treated, all her cats have been healthy. Food for thought?

Farmor15

I think you've had the p... taken. I live in Ireland where we don't have NHS. Unless you have a low income, you have to pay for GP and medication. I recently had a urinary tract infection and ended up going to an out of hours doctor, which is run as a business - no government funding- so a bit like a private vet. The visit cost me €45, which included urine test - there's a quick dip-stick test to show if there's an infection. I assume vet would have used similar - very cheap as no lab needed. A week's course of antibiotics cost €16 - most antibiotics are not very expensive. I just took paracetamol for pain - pretty cheap! So my diagnosis and treatment for something similar to dog cost less than £60 (if you convert from €.

Just FYI, you can buy those testing sticks from Amazon. Useful if you need to quote results to the GP.

amazon.co.uk/Parameter-Urine-Strips-Dipstick-Tests/dp/B095X5TQW9/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=urine+test+strips&qid=1669902986&sprefix=urine+%2Caps%2C155&sr=8-5]]

I recently had a course of anitibiotics for a tooth infection - the dentist charged me £20.00. Why anyone has to pay hundreds for antibiotics for a dog I cannot imagine - unless of course profit is the key word.

I hope your dog is better soon - for everyone's sake. x

I remember years ago taking my cat to the vet as she was limping badly. The vet went through the costly procedures needed and then asked if cat was insured. I said no and was then told to keep her confined for a few days. Cat was fine after a couple of days. This made me realize that none of the procedures mentioned were actually necessary. It was the vet just wanting to make a lot of money....

We have x3 dogs and always keep them insured. We pay £67 a month for all three and, yes that's just under £800 per year. A lot of money? Yes.....and quite hard to find BUT, if there is a major bill at any time (less £100 excess and 25% of the total) it would be covered.
Our dogs are part of the family and we could not see them suffer, or have to part with them. Their lives are short enough as it is and we would rather cut back ourselves than deprive them of care.

I've never had pet insurance but have always put money aside for the inevitable vet's fees. I do think it's become a "Catch 22" situation - more pet owners took out insurance when it was relatively affordable, so the vets put up their fees knowing that the insurers would pay up but the insurers have now hit back at the high cost of claims by upping their premiums and refusing to cover some conditions. I do sometimes find it ironic that, as a nation, most people are unwilling to fund a better health service for themselves and their families (how wonderful to get a GP appointment and treatment on the day as I always get at the vets) although they will pay out hundreds if not thousands for their pets. But then we're British ....

Vets have the highest suicide rate of any profession in the UK, and there's a reason for that. They deal with people's pets at their very worst. They have to treat animals that should have been treated days ago, but people have waited as they don't want to pay. They have to put animals down, often the owner doesn't want to be there because it's too upsetting. It's upsetting for the vets too. They've gone through 7+ years of training, and put themselves in massive debt to do so. They've been called out at all hours, in all conditions to save people's pets.
They have to pay the rent, business rates, water, electricity, phone bills, internet, receptionist, out-of-hours phone service, vet nurses. They have to have a lot of drugs there and available so they have them to hand in an emergency - even rarely used drugs, just in case. these cost a lot - and many are disposed of as they've gone out of date, so they have to pay disposal. They have to buy equipment (do you know how much an anaesthetic rig costs, an ultrasound scanner, an x-ray machine?) and they have to keep that equipment serviced. They have to buy surgical tools, swabs, consumables. They have to pay lab fees, and / or have a trained lab technician in the practice - more salaries. They're constantly re-training as medicines and practices evolve, and so some equipment - expensive originally, is now defunct and worthless.
We are really struggling with the numbers of qualified vets in the UK, as they work so hard, are not paid anywhere near what people think, and are constantly berated by people calling them greedy, rip-off merchants, callous, and accusing them of emotional blackmail and manipulation.
People don't post on here nearly as often on the cost of lawyers, mechanics, plumbers, builders or roofers, yet they charge a higher hourly rate, have less training, and don't have to have the skills, dexterity or compassion of a vet.
Seeing all of the comments about how much of a rip off it is - makes my blood boil.

My cat had conjunctivitis, 10 min consultation, pain killing antibiotic injections and eye drops £168.00 Eye drops exactly the same as can be bought over the counter for humans.
What a wheeze!

I think Vet should have a sign outside that has a picture of Dick Turpin! It is highway robbery and we can do nothing about it. Heart string stuff because they are our pets. My cat had diabetes for 9 years. I injected her twice per day with insulin. She had blood tests twice per year and we purchase the needles from there as well. It cost a fortune. One we were quoted £27 consultation. We never asked a question??? We paid it because we loved her. Sadly she had to be euthanised in November 2019 at the ripe old age of 20.5 years. I still miss her to this day. The vets are greedy sods!

I hope your beloved spaniel is ok now.

I wouldn’t go back there! It’s the fact of insurance that makes these vets greedy.

We used to insure, but then Mr C wanted to just put money away . He got overruled fortunately, as our dog needed surgery and it was far beyond what we would have saved. The other thing to consider is the insurance covers if your dog caused an accident, that could be ruinous if you don’t have it.

When I was a vet in the 80s, early 90s, the treatment described would have cost about £12 in hours, so £22 out of hours. The price of property since then has gone up about 6 times?, so about £132 in real money terms.
Having said that vets are a lot more specialist now, they do provide 24hr nursing and scanners in house for small animals so that higher standard of care has to be recouped somehow. But i agree with the posters who say pet insurance is the reason the fees are so high. And the mark up on drugs - in the past I've been charged £21 for eyedrops I can get for £1.50 in Boots if I say they are for me (non-prescription).It is the main factor in families having to rehome their pets in the current economic climate - decent insurance is so expensive & people genuinely can't afford it when things get tight. It does make me cross.

Surely it is well-known that drug companies are unprincipled, cynical and a very, very powerful. They have lots of influence on the government and the media (including Google) and they are in a good position to manipulate public opinion and make outrageous profits. The chief financial advisor to Pfizer rejoices in the fact that Coviod-19 is a billion dollar franchise for years to come. For all we know they are involved in insurance companies, finding ways to drive up costs.

However, this seems to be about the vet's charges as much as anything. It does seem excessive. Unfortunately vets have us over a barrel because we would do anything for our pets. I agree that so many people having insurance does drive up prices. My dear old Goldie had a sore spot that he kept worrying at. The first thing the vet said (with a glint in his eye) was 'Are you insured?' I replied 'Yes' and there followed a course of antibiotics, painkillers, tranquillisers and another drug that escapes my mind now, and the price came to nearly £500. Next time he got a similar sore I knew the insurance company would not pay up for a 'prior condition'. A knowledgeable friend said 'Sudocrem' and the sore was healed for pence!

My dog had colitis and I was asked to take a poo sample in which I did. I then had a message to say I owed them for the test and charged me £116. I couldn’t believe that it would cost that much

Keeper1

I think the PDSA is a wonderful organisation that receives no Government or Lottery funding it survives on donations made by the public.

I totally agree. But I have also seen in the past how many people never make any donation (however small) for the treatment their pets receive. I've even heard some boast about not paying and saying how stupid the PDSA is to let them get away with it. There ought to be a better system, maybe there is now.

Don’t forget 20% vat Which won’t be charged on nhs fees.