I don't get it! A lot of people I talk to down the park ALWAYS complain about the price of the vets.

Now I know they're not cheap, but surely the health and well being of your dog is more important than saving money?

I've had friends tell me when I've been concerned about something on one of my two or our cat "Don't bother, it will be £40 as soon as you walk in the door" So?

Everyone knows (or should know) that animals will get sick and injured at some point in their life (well MOST), it doesn't matter that the vets charge you through the nose to check if your dogs leg is okay, well let me re-phrase that, it DOES matter what youre charged, but some people shouldn't let money come before their pets health.

I recently took Dottie to the vet as she was hobbling for a few days, I phoned up before hand and asked for advice and they said if it kept happening I should take her in, so I did. It was £55...and I only had £60 in my account. Leaving me a fiver to last me the month.

It was a shock to hear the price as we had only been in there for no longer than 5 minutes and only had a tiny bottle of Metacam to buy too, but none the less I paid it.

I understand not everyone can afford such high prices, even with insurance its still expensive, but I think we must be prepared as pet owners to pay such high prices.

One incident in particular I recall was when my friend had her dog castrated, he was a very big X puppy (at least 35kg at 6 months) and she sent me to collect him from the vets as I could drive.
I took her card and paid for everything which included the Metacam. When she seen the bill back home she wasn't happy as she had tried to previously argue with the receptionist she could order Metacam cheaper online, she just wanted the prescription, not the painkiller itself.

I thought if I had just had an operation and was in need of pain killers, would I pay extra at the Dr's for the real thing or wait a couple of days in pain and try and get a cheaper deal online?

I'm no wealthy big shot, I earn a wage of enough to pay off everything and still have enough left, god forbid anything does happen. I think some people have their priorities all wrong, if a few quid is more important than ensuring your pet is okay, then you shouldn't have the pet in the first place.

It just makes me very mad when people tell me about their penny-pinching over their dogs health.

Are the vets by all of you expensive? Down here in Bath we have a big chain of vets called The Bath Veterinary Group, very expensive, but Rosemary Lodge which recently opened up, no more than 5 minutes drive away from us is a proper animal hospital with 24 Hour emergency vets on standby who can drive out to you and are always really helpful when you phone up for advice.

No doubt I bet there are some dodgy vets out there that whack up the price for the sake of it, but you get dodgy people in all trades all over the world. I just think they're worth their weight in gold, they look after our most precious ones when we can't and do their best to get them back on track and for that I'll pay anything, even if it does leave me skint for the entire month!


What do you all think about the subject of vet prices? xxx

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Its not always the vets that charge too much for drugs, its their suppliers

Example, my Ted was on antibiotics long term and I found them on internet at half price.

So I asked for prescription from vet and they said they would ask supplier if they could help in any way, yep they could match internet price, so all in all they were making extortionate profit

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RIP all my babies.
Monty LabxGSD 1972-1982
Jody Black Lab1982-1999
KizzyLabx Goldie 1983-1994
Larry Yellow Lab 1985-1993
Charlie Black Lab 1986 -1997
Ben Yellow Lab 1985-1999
Pud Choc Lab 1989-2003
Bridgit Black Lab 1991-2004
Floss Yellow Lab1992-2006
Millie Yellow Lab1994-2010
My boy Ted, my first my last my everything.Golden Retriever 1/8/98-28/6/2011

The thing I find is you have to find the right vets for the right things, Maya is registerd with 3 different vets simply because each offer cheaper prices or are more local for different things.

Vaccinations for example, my local vets want £38! I went to one that's about 3 mile walk and can get it for £25. My local vets are great though for emergencies and have come out cheaper with flea treatment, the other one was cheapest to get Maya spayed

People do bitch but then they'll complain about anything

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R.I.P Barney, I had 4 wonderful years with you, Thank you-29/04/06-25/11/09
The dog who saved my life
Proud owner of Maya, the Rescued Alaskan Malamute

http://www.dog-breeds-plus.com
Mine and My husband's Dog breed website

Oh man! That's terrible! It is worth fighting your corner for, but me being a big dope I just hand over the money, no questions asked I don't know how people can justify ripping off pet owners as much as they do!

And ...I never knew you could register your dog with more than one vet? I may try and register them with another independent branch just on the other side of town. Keep the dear one for emergencies and the other for check ups etc! Thanks!


xxx

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I think what also winds people up is that there can be a huge diffence between diffent vets prices, I mean i would pay whatever needed when it came to Jack but if you know your next door neighbour paid a hell of alot less for the same treatment/drug it would pee me off slightly.

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Any medications I have had from the vets have only been a few pounds, less than the price it would be for the prescription to get it elsewhere. I do find the consultation fee a bit much, but at the end of the day it's a business first and foremost, therefore profits have to be made.
As long as I get good service, my pets get the best care possible and they don't take the lend of me I'm happy to pay the going rate to keep my pets healthy

The same people often moan about plumbers, mechanics, electricians,accountants... well if you don't have the skill/knowledge you have to pay some one who does...

I also think because we have the NHS for us, people do not realise how expensive medical care is. My American friends do not bat an eye lid at vet care costs!!

I think we're very lucky with our vet. When our boy was about 5 months he had a couple of days where he just didn't seem himself. I couldn't put my finger on anything, but he was just more lethargic. We took him to the vets and to be fair they could have gone to town on us, but they just reassured us, gave him a shot of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, and charged us £25.

He's our first dog and in fairness there was probably nothing wrong with him, but they were great.

I think the thing to remember is that if we didn't have an NHS, we would have to do the same every time we went to our GP/visited A and E, and that would be damn expensive.

So in summary, I'm very pleased with our vets, as above maybe it just takes some shopping around

i only use the one vet, havent even looked at any others as i dont drive and thats the closest (an hour walk!)

They seem good, the dogs like them and so far they've been helpful (though i've only been for routine things)

Today Kizzy had her boosters and it came to £40.39 with a worming tablet, i dont mind too much

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Being disabled and my OH my carer we do use the PDSA but if we were in the situation where we both worked and could afford the vet fees then i wouldnt think twice about paying them.....Our furrys are our family and we will do everything to keep them fit and healthy

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