[News] Veterinary costs under investigation

[Hastings gull]

My 12 year-old dog had a persistent and smelly ear infection which we treated with antibiotics. Anyway, it came back so our vets suggested she needed an MRI and, in all probability, her entire ear canal removing, leaving her dear in one ear. Cost? About £4k. Insurance company not interested and nor was I, given she's quite old. Been cleaning her ear daily with saline and tea trea oil and it's cleared up a treat. Utter scam.

I've mentioned on here before (when we last discussed this subject), that that's what we do. Having been caught out when our first dog was quite young (about 20 years ago) we cancelled the insurance and ever since then we've put the insurance premiums into a specific savings account. That's covered ALL our vet and medical bills over the years for all our animals, plus it's paid for little extras. This account currently has a huge surplus, so we are definitely ahead. (And membership of the Dogs' Trust gives us 3rd party cover in case they cause an accident).

It isn't for everyone, I think I mentioned last time that we were boasting about this to some friends and they decided to copy us. They cancelled the insurance for their cat .... and then a month or so later they got stung for a huge vet bill before they'd had time to build up a reasonable pot! I tried to console them by saying the insurance probably didn't cover it anyway, but I don't think they were convinced!

We do the same. Our lab is 2 and so the chances of her needing a huge vet bill is slim -yes, I know! We put aside £40.00 per month and it is now over £1500.00, which will cover most things. If the bill exceeds this, then we pay it as we love our pets, but doing it this way is a gamble, albeit with a younger dog, it is on balance a reasonable risk. I don't trust insurance companies to stick to their side of the bargain, after a friend was refused payment, and this has so far worked well for us.

 

[Audax]

I'm afraid that I made the decision to say goodbye to my old cat about 12 years ago when she developed thyroid problems. She detested taking tablets, and it was a real battle every day, resulting in distressing her greatly. I couldn't even hide it in her food.

Thankfully it's not tablets now (I couldn't have done that to my cat either, not as a permanent long term thing). Liquid meds twice a day. Not supposed to be taken with food, but again I'm not putting her through having the liquid shot into her mouth from a syringe. Vet said it'll be ok if we put it in a very small amount of "cat soup", so the feeding routine is now mix the meds with a tiny amount of cat soup, then a half hour later she gets the rest of the soup pouch and some proper food.

I was actually going to start a thread on this as I had to take my cat to the vet the other day.
£140 just to walk through the door, another £120 for bloods and £35 for medication for 5 days.
It's disgusting money and I don't even think that was scratching the surface as they were asking if I wanted x-rays done, monthly injections for her arthritis and so on.

Try to find a different vet. Had my cat out our vet in Uckfield last week for a post-illness and thyroid check. Consultation + blood test + fresh bottle of the meds was £176 total (and the meds are roughly the £76 from that total).

Having said that, the cost for bloods is variable and depends on how broadly they're testing. The illness she'd had was an infection, and the bloods to identify that so it could be treated cost more. Even so ... she ended up having an overnight stay for that illness with IV to rehydrate and antibiotics to clear it up - all in that episode "only" cost us £335 all-in. Think might be lucky to have an independent vets...

 

[mothy]

This week I paid the vet £60 for medicine that I could have bought online (found out after) for £28

 

[sydney]

Welcome news. I took my doggy to the vet a couple of weeks ago for a follow-up check with a cardiac specialist. A 15 minute consultation which involved a few questions and brief physical examination cost a WOPPING £270. That works out at over £1000/hr. Not sure how this is justified, although I'm sure New Priory Vets (yes, I WILL name and shame them) would try to do so.

Fortunately, this was covered by my insurance. I imagine that people who can't afford these kind of ridiculous fees, or don't have/can't afford insurance might have some very tough choices to make when their pet starts to develop the inevitable later life conditions.

vets have become corporatised , mate of mine had a great dane with hip displaysia and dodgy tendons in his back legs , he had pet insurance 23k later they put the thing down , one of our cats got hit by a tiger snake , they tried to talk us into giving him a blood transfusion at 3.5 k ......emotional blackmail is what it is .

 

[Sirnormangall]

Glad to see this is being investigated by CMA. Hopefully the insurers will be investigated too: obviously there’s increased likelihood of claims as pets get older, but the double whammy of significant increase in premiums each year AND increased excess is appalling. They will of course blame that on the cost of veterinary treatment.

 

[Fungus]

The vets always suggest dental treatment for cats. Mine was an RSPCA rescue who came with notes saying her teeth were in grade 1 condition (examined under anesthetic because she came from a London hospital and came in with an injury). Enrolled her at the vet recommended in Brighton, first appointment (to simply enroll her there) was during covid so i had to wait outside. Took a while .... then I was handed an invoice quote for £750 to have two teeth removed (it took a while because they were costing and printing an invoice it seems). I couldn't believe it (and the pressure to go ahead). I went back to the RSPCA and they looked up her notes and told me it was unnecessary and that private vets always push for tooth extraction. While it is indeed common for cat's teeth to be an issue they have a high pain threshold and they are often not bothered unless it becomes serious. Since then I give her enzyme cat toothpaste and Plaque Off powder and she has to have regular health checkups due to her meds and funnily enough no vet has mentioned any issues with her teeth again (haven't seen the same vet, she left...). While she may need dental treatment in the future I really felt it was just a way to extract money from me. I do believe the actual vet cares about animals but they don't seem independent any more, mostly owned by big companies... who obviously only interested in the money. Similar to dentists nowadays, driven by insurance money.

Interesting, sounds familiar. Was at the vet last week for my cat's annual jab, and mentioned that she'd been off her food for a couple of days. The vet went through a list of tests I might like to pay for, but settled on selling me a £20 tube of gel for Gingivitis and "give it 10 days". Had a similar thing a couple of years ago, and paid £270 for "scale & polish" under general anaesthetic, plus the same gel. I'm getting quite good at massaging that into her gums with my fingers!

We also bought some cheese-flavoured toothpaste, with brushes, but I can't get near her with that! How do you apply her paste and powder? She's 8, and a bit more relaxed these days...

 

[Guinness Boy]

Glad to see this is being investigated by CMA. Hopefully the insurers will be investigated too: obviously there’s increased likelihood of claims as pets get older, but the double whammy of significant increase in premiums each year AND increased excess is appalling. They will of course blame that on the cost of veterinary treatment.

To an extent this is how insurance works though. You are pricing risk, pretty much exactly like a bookie. Man City aren't going to give the same returns on a £1 bet to win the Premier League as Brentford. The risk of City winning it is simply greater. So it is with older versus younger pets (and, within those, breed - you don't want to see the risk loading for a Westie for example - huge).

@Brovian mentioned that he simply puts money into savings. When I was discussing this with him I countered with the fact that my young dog (he's still only 2) made me an insurance 'profit' last policy year. The rebate I got for him having a grass seed removed from his ear was greater than the whole year's premiums and they paid out same day.

Lifetime pet insurance policy types also allow for your pet to be covered when they get older. If you've got a young animal they work very well. Exclusions aren't added as they get older and the claimable limits renew with the premium.

If you haven't got a lifetime policy, if you want to move insurers or if you adopt or rescue an older animal then the savings scheme is entirely sensible. Starting from scratch with insurance for an older animal is just going to be sunk money. The premiums will be high and the exclusions restrictive.

TL;DR? Insurance works well for some people but not others.

 

[Albion my Albion]

It really puts to the test how much you love your pets.

 

[Van Cleef]

I've mentioned on here before (when we last discussed this subject), that that's what we do. Having been caught out when our first dog was quite young (about 20 years ago) we cancelled the insurance and ever since then we've put the insurance premiums into a specific savings account. That's covered ALL our vet and medical bills over the years for all our animals, plus it's paid for little extras. This account currently has a huge surplus, so we are definitely ahead. (And membership of the Dogs' Trust gives us 3rd party cover in case they cause an accident).

It isn't for everyone, I think I mentioned last time that we were boasting about this to some friends and they decided to copy us. They cancelled the insurance for their cat .... and then a month or so later they got stung for a huge vet bill before they'd had time to build up a reasonable pot! I tried to console them by saying the insurance probably didn't cover it anyway, but I don't think they were convinced!

Same here. Ive been "self insuring" for years now, starting with my old Lab about 15 or so years ago. We have 2 dogs at the moment and i put £100 a month in a savings account. we are well up at the moment, but of course it's a gamble really and you could lose out.
As mentioned, once your dog hits 6 or 7, premiums absolutely skyrocket.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Our dogs overnight stay and “monitoring” at Fitzpatricks (the one from the telly) was equivalent of us staying at the Rosewood for the night, safe to say we negotiated a more competitive price as was nearly capping out our insurance limit

 

[herecomesaregular]

Interesting, sounds familiar. Was at the vet last week for my cat's annual jab, and mentioned that she'd been off her food for a couple of days. The vet went through a list of tests I might like to pay for, but settled on selling me a £20 tube of gel for Gingivitis and "give it 10 days". Had a similar thing a couple of years ago, and paid £270 for "scale & polish" under general anaesthetic, plus the same gel. I'm getting quite good at massaging that into her gums with my fingers!

We also bought some cheese-flavoured toothpaste, with brushes, but I can't get near her with that! How do you apply her paste and powder? She's 8, and a bit more relaxed these days...

My cat loves a chin and head rub but won't let me brush her teeth unless held tightly by someone else and we'd no longer be friends because she will really squirm. It's too distressing for her. I was told that an enzyme toothpaste given to her to lick off a lickimat herself or just rubbed on once, if you can, would be better than nothing because of the enzymes. Annoyingly she doesn't like the flavour so i cover it on the mat with some lickilix and she licks it up. Hoping that is enough.Plus the plaqueoff powder in her food (seaweed powder I believe). Also the toothpaste i use is Beaphar and about £3 not £20.
If I had a kitten or a dog I woudl definitely start brushing their teeth as soon as possible. so much easier with a dog

 

[Fungus]

My cat loves a chin and head rub but won't let me brush her teeth unless held tightly by someone else and we'd no longer be friends because she will really squirm. It's too distressing for her. I was told that an enzyme toothpaste given to her to lick off a lickimat herself or just rubbed on once, if you can, would be better than nothing because of the enzymes. Annoyingly she doesn't like the flavour so i cover it on the mat with some lickilix and she licks it up. Hoping that is enough.Plus the plaqueoff powder in her food (seaweed powder I believe). Also the toothpaste i use is Beaphar and about £3 not £20.
If I had a kitten or a dog I woudl definitely start brushing their teeth as soon as possible. so much easier with a dog

Thanks, will investigate. She’s getting used to the finger in the mouth for the gel, so might try a small brush when that’s done. It would be great if I could have introduced her to an electric toothbrush and a vacuum cleaner (she’s a long-hair) at an early age, but I couldn’t get anywhere near her then!

 

[GJN1]

Our dogs overnight stay and “monitoring” at Fitzpatricks (the one from the telly) was equivalent of us staying at the Rosewood for the night, safe to say we negotiated a more competitive price as was nearly capping out our insurance limit

Not sure how much truth there is in it but Cathy Dennis went out with Noel Fitzpatrick and later wrote the song 'Toxic' about him which Britney Spears had a big old hit with.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

Not sure how much truth there is in it but Cathy Dennis went out with Noel Fitzpatrick and later wrote the song 'Toxic' about him which Britney Spears had a big old hit with.

I can’t fault them for the care they gave to our dog, who made a full recovery from being run over at a very young age but the prices were obscene.

There was a DB9 and a G Wagon parked in the staff car park, which tells you the mark ups in play

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

Anyone got any experiences of PDSA?

I think they're geared to do stuff for those who can't afford to pay - how is that assessed?

 

[Soton Seagull]

Our cat has cost us a fortune- lost a leg in an accident and urinary issues etc; naturally insurance wriggled out of stuff on technicalities etc.

Of the many thousands we spent, the one which made me the most angry was good old Acorn in Hove who insisted on a urine test, which we paid for the kit and did the legwork. It was followed by a charge for the testing (from memory c.70 quid) fair enough maybe, but also had an additional charge (30ish quid I think but the Mrs thinks it was a lot more) for 'interpretation of test results'. Thieving *insert crude phrase here*.

 

[bluenitsuj]

When my beloved Megan passed away last year, it cost us about £1900 for appointment and treatment, overnight stay with drip and then the horrid final injection due to my girls deterioration. Then the bill for individual cremation and urn.

I put it all on the credit card and cleared immediately but because of the state I was in it wasnt until a day later that I saw I had been double charged for cremation and urn AND the final injection and the vets did not want to know as they already had the money. It took for me to go into the practice and demand to see the manager to get the refund actions, all the while I was broken with grief. Awful customer service.

My Megan (Golden Retriever) was just short of 15 which was a good age and we stopped her insurance when she was 11 as it had rocketed to £130 a month due. We put £100 a month away instead.

Megan had had two operations for cancer during her life and another when she was bitten by an adder on the downs which was all paid for my insurance before we cancelled.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Our cat has cost us a fortune- lost a leg in an accident and urinary issues etc; naturally insurance wriggled out of stuff on technicalities etc.

Of the many thousands we spent, the one which made me the most angry was good old Acorn in Hove who insisted on a urine test, which we paid for the kit and did the legwork. It was followed by a charge for the testing (from memory c.70 quid) fair enough maybe, but also had an additional charge (30ish quid I think but the Mrs thinks it was a lot more) for 'interpretation of test results'. Thieving *insert crude phrase here*.

Acorn are a bunch of con artists - charged me £230 for a health care certificate for the dog to him take to France - the so called 'health check' consisted of :

> Checking all his vaccs were up to date ( something they could see immediately on their system )
> Looking at his knashers and eyes
> Checking his heart beat
> Stamping and signing the form

Less than 10 minutes work !

Coming back we had to do the same in France and get him a tapeworm tablet. Total cost 35 Euros.

UK vets take the piss.

 

[Peacehaven Wild Kids]

I paid sixty quid for a 90 second look at my son’s rabbit’s skin condition. This was during Covid and said examination took place on the street.


Edit: I’ve just read some of the upsetting accounts of dog and cat owners on here, so just to clarify my comment was a bit off the cuff and of course on the scheme of things £60 is not a lot

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I used to be with New Priory Vets, in Peacehaven. Mr Richardson was a lovely man, and costs were reasonable. Unfortunately, he died suddenly and the practice was taken over by a conglomerate, keeping the name. Costs rose year on year, but the killer (literally) was May 2021, when my 10 yr old cat suddenly vomited quite badly. The vets said he had a raging temperature, and needed antibiotics £480. I had a Healthy Pet Plan which was supposed to give me a 10% discount but, no, that was only for a specific list.
Later that day, I received a call, saying they didn’t keep animals overnight (he was on IV), to collect him & take him to their hospital in Withdean. Another £1K plus a scan, which told me he had a massive growth on his pancreas. £800 please.
He was put to sleep so cremation costs on top of that.

We changed to Meridian vets, who are very reasonable, plus their Healthy Pet Plan gives discount for all treatment, with vaccinations, flea & wormer all included.

Very similar with my vets. Prices rocketed.

Also the cost of insuring a cat is prohibitive, especially when you take account of the excess before you can claim.

The name of the vets clinic hasn't changed, but their website says it is now -

Company's registered name: Independent Vetcare Ltd
Registered number: 07746795
Registered Address: The Chocolate Factory, Keynsham, Bristol BS31 2AU

I don't live anywhere near Bristol.