Emergency Vets

I must have the best vet in the world. She suggested a different treatment when another vet had suggested PTS. It involved a hundred doses of an expensive drug to be squirted into the cats mouth. By day 3 the cat refused home application. The vet was so keen to continue treatment that she offered to give the dose daily before surgery every day. The cat was cured after 200 doses.and no charge made for the visits . Her love of animals saved the cats life. She was well rewarded personally as my cat was not insured.

We've had cats for the last 45 years and have always paid monthly into a separate account for them. There is quite a healthy balance at the moment, though I don't know if it would last long in a big emergency. We are also members of the vet's practice health plan £14/month, which covers vaccinations, flea and worm treatment also 10% of consultations, treatments and purchases. They share emergency care with another local practice. They are in the process of joining a national group so it remains to be seen what happens.

I notice that vets always say "bring a final in straight away". What if you live in a rural area and have no car or cannot drive. Are there ANY vets which will visit except for farm animals. Once a muntjac deer stepped in front of my car which was going at about 25 mph. The poor creature was knocked across the road and was alive and in pain but I had no idea what to do. Several cars hurried past but one stopped at last. The driver had no ideas either and between us, using a golf club in his boot, we killed the deer by hitting it on the head. Would any vet have been willing to euthanise it as it was dark by that time. Is there any arrangement for this sort of problem? The deer was obviously fit and healthy and by the next day, the body had been removed, presumably by a local with transport.

When my last dog had complete kidney failure when we were away from home 5 years ago the local vet came to the house the put her to sleep and they didn’t charge very much. They’re also the ones that didn’t charge to scan my current dog when she had a suspected pyometra, too. I think it’s because they deal with a lot of holidaymakers pets. But they also do a lot of free work for the local animal rescue and wildlife sanctuary.

Yes, I think that our two much-loved pooches are a luxury these days, and frankly, if we couldn't afford to insure them properly, we wouldn't have taken them on in the first place, but that is very much a personal decision. Sounds hard, I know, but you can't rely on the likes of PDSA or a pre-arrangement with a rescue centre to obtain free or even subsidised treatment. The charities and rescue centres do what they can , but they are massively over-subscribed, particularly with the post-Covid boom in abandoned pets. Please don't think that I'm judging those who can't afford insurance but still have the pet. I quite understand that, as they're part of the family. All I'm saying is that the safety net has now worn very thin.

Our dog certainly isn't a luxury - he is much a part of the family as any other. I would go without rather than see him go without.

Owning a pet can be expensive but so Is pet insurance and it’s almost a vicious circle. Vets know treatments covered by insurance will be paid and I’m sure this has caused some of the increase over time but that means that those who cant afford insurance are being driven to extreme circumstances/ heartache.
An alternative is to set money aside each month in case the day ever arrives when our pets become unwell- if we all did this I’m sure the cost of treatments and insurance would be less.

I can afford pet insurance but choose not to. The insurance companies and vet conglomerates are ripping us off. Simply save into your own account each month as previously stated.

It's a licence to print money I've just moved from a vets because they sold out to a large company and found an independent vet and I do insure my dog but even so they are all getting greedy them and dentists!!

My dogs aren't luxuries, as without them I would have topped myself by now - but neither can I afford them. They both have insurance, but if I needed to pay any excess I would have to borrow it, as I have absolutely nothing left at the end of the month, and I couldn't trust myself to put the amount required by every month. Sadly my big lad had to have a complete work over last year which has increased the monthly amount massively, that along with increased house insurance because one of my patio door windows exploded, and the huge cost of energy has left me with nothing - got taken out by a friend who is increasingly concerned about me on Monday, but had to buy my coffee and bun as I couldn't, but I hated it because of that ....

Scope recently put out their updated Disability Price Tag Report (in 2019 it was bad enough @ £583, but now, where do the disabled manage to get hold of an extra £12,000 a year exactly? We can't, therefore we suffer, this is how our (hopefully not for much longer) current Government treats it's most vulnerable ....

www.scope.org.uk/campaigns/extra-costs/disability-price-tag-2023/?fbclid=IwAR2pukEdl5vpVbgtkohJ3c84AvQzVnjqLza_lybnbXUtxTw9m7gqM97eYrQ

If you walk into an animal emergency hospital - before you turn around you have racked up 100’s of dollars in costs just to be seen and evaluated. They will always insist on x-rays first (for most things.)

Then special or more testing recommended before they even proceed to actually administer to the animal… they really have you between a rock and a hard place. Now what do you do?

Not to sound callous - because I myself would leap in front of a car to save a cat or dog - these places really play on people’s vulnerability and sympathies. You could very well be in the hole for a LOT of $$$$.
I can’t afford exorbitant fees - reasonable yes, but this “special” occasion? Now what?

I honestly don’t know what I’d do. But I have concluded that I should probably set aside a pet emergency fund, just in case.

God bless the vets that save our animals.
USA Gundy

My heart goes out to anyone (myself included) who has to deal with an emergency for a beloved pet. It’s a costly endeavor.

I do not have pet insurance (never had an emergency incident) but I do know from friends who’ve had to go in

Please ignore my last two paragraphs (above). I forgot to delete them before I started a new thought to type. 🙄

My work colleague can no longer get insurance because of the age of the dog

To insure or not to insure? Had dogs in the past and no insurance and only vaccination bills, phew lucky! But with the prices the vet's charge just for walking through the door I now have insurance, my last two dogs were covered and no claims at all, the last old girl her insurance went up to £50 a month, in a year it jumped up £19!!!! So that was stopped, at her age as there was no way I'd put her through ongoing treatment, wouldn't have been fair to her.
Current rescue Romanian is insured, thankfully she was when she took a nasty tummy bug, bill came to £500! The company was easy to deal with and paid out quickly, but the price has jumped up and she's a young dog. I will be looking to change for a cheaper rate! The first thing the vet asked me was "Do I have insurance?"!!!!!
It galls me that resuce centres/charities want us normal folk to adopt but we just can't afford either insurance or vet bills, I definitely can't afford to take on a second needy dog! it's definitely a No win situation!! Thank god we still ( just) have the NHS!!

Janetashbolt

My work colleague can no longer get insurance because of the age of the dog

How old is the dog Janetashbolt?

I've just taken out a policy on my 11 year 5 month old Jack Russell. Reasonable rates and cover I'm happy with, having read a lot of comparison websites.
Several companies wouldn't even quote because of his age, including the PDSA.
The RSPCA would cover him but their policy was eye-wateringly expensive!

I’m with Petplan, expensive but reliable. It’s personal choice, providing you can afford it. Either insure or save. Saving wouldn’t have paid the £15,000 bill two of mine racked up in 8nweeks several years ago,

My daughter found my beloved pooch on Grapevine. He was born in an RSPCA shelter but the people who were selling him had never attended to his medical needs. When I got him in the car that day I realised he was not at all well. Long story short, I love him to bits but he costs the earth. Four operations in 2 years. Went blind with cataracts at four and had new lenses fitted that enabled him to see again. Then three operations for skin problems - 2 different sorts of lumps and one massive swelling caused by him chewing a small cut overnight.
The insurance company coughed up for all four operations but have now put an exclusion on skin problems. Short of a lottery win, I am at a loss to know what to do when the next serious skin issue arises.
White dogs often have ear, eye and skin problems so it may be best to avoid buying them if you are not flush with the cash.

Iam64

I’m with Petplan, expensive but reliable. It’s personal choice, providing you can afford it. Either insure or save. Saving wouldn’t have paid the £15,000 bill two of mine racked up in 8nweeks several years ago,

Exactly - it's all very well people saying don't insure and just put money aside every month, but who could afford to put that kind of money aside?

Blondiescott, those two dogs were aged 6 and 10. Previously fit and healthy. The 6 year old was pts 24 days after limping. Long story lots of investigations then mri scan showed an inoperable tumour on his spine. The mri was £2500 and prior to that he’d had X-rays, bloods endless vet exams.
The 10 year old had mini seizures. Brain scan, bloods. Meds, referral to specialist.
Them I found a mast cell cancer in her shoulder. She had surgery and lived well to age 12.
It was awful, over a couple of months. Because it was 3 separate issues, pet plan paid the lot.

I have a friend who remortgaged her house to pay for chemotherapy for her Spaniel after he developed cancer. I'm not sure I'd have gone to those lengths, but he was given weeks to live at the time without the treatment, and he's still here now and loving life 18 months later.

I save into a monthly account, but I'm well aware that an expensive op would wipe that out, however we would pay if needed. I wouldn't pay for everything recommended though. Our last dog lost his sight at 12 and there's no way I'd pay for lenses. Because dogs aren't people and, much as we might not put ourselves through a major op to save our sense of smell at 60+, what is the risk / benefit for dogs -for whom smells and hearing are their major senses? He certainly enjoyed his walks etc for the remaining 4 years of his life. In a younger dog I would, though. But owners have to critically think for themselves & their animals because in many practices vets have to be salespeople as well as animal medics and surgeons, these days.

I have insurance for my Singapura, but I think the reason vets bills are so high is because of insurance. When he had conjunctivitisthe bill was £58 so too little to claim, and the eye drops were exactly the same as for humans!

A couple of years ago we moved from our vet of 36 years due to them selling out to an international company and no longer carrying out their own out of hours service. Like a lot of you we have rarely needed out of hours care but the idea of having to drive a sick animal 20 miles up the motorway to a vet we didn't know and in the middle of the night was too awful to contemplate. What annoyed me as well was the underhand way in which this change to out of hours care was implemented. Our vet didn't tell anyone, clients had to find out the hard way. On many occasions I had sat in the waiting room and watched elderly people arrive in taxis with their beloved pets. How would they cope?? I rang the out of hours service and asked how much it would cost to take an animal there and the answer was astronomical. An out of hours fee plus a hefty consultation fee plus the cost for whatever treatment was required, all payable up front. We have joined the last local independent vet in our area. They do farm work as well as domestic pets. They carry out all their own out of hours care. They assured me they had no plans to follow other practices by selling out to a corporate company. I sincerely hope this continues to be the case. The other thing I heard the receptionist telling someone was that the practice had stopped taking on new clients due to an increase in their client base. No surprise there.

My oldest cat came in late at night about 8months ago, dragging his back legs and howling. I called the emergency vet and described the symptoms. She warned me at once there was a charge of around £100 to bring him in but said she was certain he had an embolism in his spine which was causing the paralysis and would be extremely painful. She also warned me that treatment wouldn't be possible in a cat his age. No argument obviously. We drove straight over, she confirmed the diagnosis and he was PTS as quickly as possible. I think the bill came to just under £300. I hadn't insured him but he had cost us very little in the 13 years we had had him and 13 years of premiums would probably have worked out as more. Fingers crossed nothing too drastic goes wrong with our last boy.

I would never have a pet without insurance. I owned a border collie for 11 years and there wasn’t one year in that time when I paid more in insurance premiums than the cost of her treatment. (She had flea bite allergy and had to be treated most years!)