vet fees

IMPORTANT: If your cat is in any distress or discomfort, please consult your own vet as your first priority.
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simba86
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vet fees

Post by simba86 »

sorry if this is not the most appropriate place to ask. i need to take my cat to the vet, but the elephant in the room, which is not so explicit is their pricing. last time i was blindsided by a monumental bill taking her on a friday 8AM. would this be classed as Out of Hours- is OOH mon-friday 9-5/ is this something i can ask the vet?? should these be indicated? i want to know but am slightly embarrassed they will be judging me thinking i cant afford to care for my pet. i have obviously factored in vet costs, but it would be good to have more transparency, as taking her in a 8AM or 9AM could be quite different in cost, but little benfit to her health
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Mollycat
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Re: vet fees

Post by Mollycat »

They certainly should make it clear to you if the time you're coming is classed as out of hours and incurs extra charges. And if they don't then you have every right to ask and you should not feel embarrassed about it either, asking for prices doesn't mean you can't afford something it just means you want to know in advance. If you don't feel comfortable though you can always say you need to know how much cash to withdraw, or how much to transfer from your savings account to cover it. But you do not have to justify yourself. "Because I haggle does not mean I am poor, it means I am thrifty" - from the 100 foot journey. I would actually make a point of asking for an itemised bill every time you go, they might get the message that transparency builds trust. We just got an itemised one, £83 for a bag of saline but only 11 for a Metacam injection (plus VAT), who'd have thought? But out of hours is just that, outside of their normal and clearly advertised opening hours, so if it says on the door they open at 8.30 then 8.15 is out of hours and 8.35 in within normal hours.

Our out of hours who I don't like as a practice (they are actually nearer than our regular vet) did at least have the decency to say upfront when we brought in a dog's cut pad that it would be £101 just for walking in the door out of hours. I didn't mind that at all, what annoyed me was when they offered to bandage it. I can bandage it, in fact it was already bandaged when I brought the dog in, which is why you don't have a blood trail all through your waiting room. What are you going to do for your £101 that I can't do? Well what do you want us to do, we cant stitch it! No, so how about GLUE? Oh, she said, I suppose we could glue it. Yes for £101 I think you jolly well could glue it and where's my consultancy fee for telling you how to do your job? Hope you at least got a giggle out of that!
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Ruth B
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Re: vet fees

Post by Ruth B »

Any good practice will display there standard hours and explain that coming outside those times might incur additional coslts, when you call them to make the emergency appointment they should tell you up front what the base consultation cost is likely to be. A good vet will even be willing to discuss the case on the phone and help you decide whether the cat (or any pet) really needs to be seen as an emergency or if it will wait until normal surgery hours.
If they don't tell the the extra cost up front then never be afraid of asking, you have the right to know, and as Mollycat says, you want to make sure you have enough in your current account to pay for it, getting a surprise and having a card refused would be far more embarrassing.
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fjm
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Re: vet fees

Post by fjm »

Certainly ask. Except in an emergency most vets will only offer appointments during their regular consulting hours, and these will probably be listed on their website.
mustafa811
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Re: vet fees

Post by mustafa811 »

nothing wrong about not affording or saving money , it has been a tough year on everyone , and even in general .

i always tell them that i need to be informed about the costs prior to the services done .
Anita
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Re: vet fees

Post by Anita »

I have just been charged £184.94 including VAT for a cat euthanasia. Does anyone on this forum think that is extortionate or is it me? £105 for the euthanasia £40 for consultation, and £39.94 for communal cremation.
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Kay
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Re: vet fees

Post by Kay »

I paid £40 to have a stray cat euthanized last year - that was the total bill, and I left the body at the vets

I do live in a very rural area. and I daresay prices are higher in cities, but the difference is striking
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fjm
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Re: vet fees

Post by fjm »

I think that is about what I paid for euthanasia - it was somewhere in the region of £200. I do not question my vet bills - my vets run their own 24/7 emergency service and are always available on the phone if I need them; they will fit my animals in at short notice if I have concerns; they have invested in diagnostic machinery that means I rarely need to travel far for tests, or wait long for results; they invest in continuing education that keeps knowledge and methods up to date. None of these things are cheap, and I think their prices are very fair when everything is taken into consideration, especially having recently ended up with a human dentist bill for nearly £600 for a rather complicated filling!
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susand
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Re: vet fees

Post by susand »

I am a bit hazy on the exact amount because it was a couple of years ago now but I had a home visit by the vet to PTS my cat and it cost about £120.00. There were no cremation/burial costs because I buried him myself in the back garden.
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