Vets say they are under pressure to bring in more income per pet.

Why do independent veterinarians allow themselves to be bought out? If they resisted, pet owners would have more choice. Word would get round and their businesses would boom.

My sister lives in Estapona and says vets there charge a good deal less than when she lived in the UK with a (different) dog. To be honest she was amazed at how little the Spanish residents are charged. 🤷‍♀️

We are very fortunate to have a privately owned vet practice, lovely vets and staff and a very caring attitude. Our previous vet practice was bought out by one of the conglomerates and the fees went up. We also were told that our cat needed teeth cleaning and an operation slot was available the next day for £400, let's get her booked in !. We declined as I could see no evidence of decay or pain and being 13 an anaesthetic would be traumatic and unnecessary. We also noted that the new out of hours provider was over an hour away from where we lived, imagine the trauma of an animal in pain having to endure that. We were so lucky to find a new vet and our lovely pet was cared for there until she was 20 years old and no, she didn't need her teeth to be operated on (second opinion).

My dog always has a 'health check' before her annual boosters. Vet keeps telling me she now needs a six monthly check too (if this isn't a requirement for insurance l suspect it soon will be).

Just like doctors used to be!

We had a local rookie vet who has sadly now retired. Years ago I had a dog that became jaundiced. He said there was no hope for her and I arranged for him to come to my house for her to be pts. I then decided to have a second opinion at one of the bigger vets and was told all she needed was a course of antibiotics. They were totally wrong and then refused to come to my house when a couple of weeks ago it was obvious that the first vet was correct. I think he still sees a handful of his older patients and wish I’d stayed with him. A lot of these large concerns are now only using Lepto4 which is unnecessary in this country and I’ve heard of dogs having a bad reaction to it. My breeder ( along with other breeders I’ve spoken to) doesn’t agree with yearly boosters, either but pet insurance insists on it. Apart from the vet at my partners I don’t really have any faith in my own vet and I couldn’t afford the insurance if he didn’t pay for it. I do wish I could go back to the time when my vet was like a family friend; proper James Herriot stuff.

Pets are definitely luxury items nowadays - £55 just to walk in the surgery door. Sadly there are not many independent vets left now as they have been bought by these huge multinationals and immediately all the costings increased. The Vets themselves are mere employees having to toe the policies of the company. One of my dogs came via my vet after being abused and another of my dogs was dumped up on the Moors. Sad times.

I can only agree with WW2 and MayBee. We moved Vets (preferring to travel a bit further) when our local practice was sold to a big provider. Even the Vet there ‘admitted’ he was under pressure to press clients to have various tests to try and claw back the cost of all the new equipment. We moved to an independent farm vet, who recognized working dogs and their ailments.

Here's the link you wanted 62Granny.

www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62zzegvk33o.amp

I'm not sure about this, though I guess it's big business for these companies.

However, I went today to see an independent vet in France to sort out the dogs' paperwork to come home. One of the dogs had been vomiting yesterday, (don't ask, he's a scavenger), and he was given a thorough examination - teeth, ears, eyes, heart, temperature - then he was given an injection and a big bottle of medecine. I was happy to accept the extra treatments and drugs in order to improve the outcome speedily. I was also fully expecting a rather large bill, we were in the consulting room for 40 minutes. The cost was only 112 euros, that's £95. I'm sure it would have been double that amount in the UK at my CVS vet. It's £60 per dog just to walk through the door, and the medicines often cost as much as that again.

My vet told me my dog would need to be sedated to have her teeth cleaned. They have been taken over by a big American concern. But when I took her to a vet near to my partners house ( she always manages to get ill when I’m away from home) the vet there said her teeth looked great; better than his own dog’s. The first vet also didn’t offer any advice on how to improve my dogs teeth to avoid having to be anaesthetised. Regarding vets suffering abuse from their human clients, I think it’s endemic in this country at the moment; hospital staff etc. I find it very sad.

I have thought that for quite some time now.

It started when the independent vets were bought out.

Now it is more about profit for the big companies more than care for animals.

Saying that , the hospital facilities and equipment are so very expensive it must be very difficult for independent vets to provide that as well as 24 hr/365 days care, which we have had to use in the past.

Unfortunately vets are left right in the middle.

Veterinary care is very expensive - it makes you realise what human medical care would cost without the NHS!

We're fortunate to have an independent vet. It might be difficult for many people, but perhaps we should try to use independent vets whenever possible.

*have

My daughter-in-law is a senior Vet at a group practice in the North of England.

The verbal abuse she encounters from some pet owners is beyond belief.

She herself has adopted both a dog & a cat from owners who just literally walk in off the street and dump their pets. Most of the staff have rehomed animals that gave been 'left'.

The suicide rates for vets is at an all time high.

Sorry should have said article is on BBC online. I couldn't do a link.