Is our vet ripping us off

gpat

gpat

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Our poor old girl Honey (11) has just recovered from a life threatening bout of Pancreatitis. Fortunately she has made a full recovery

Last week we noticed two small lumps in her mammary glands. They are at the bottom end. One either side. They are about 2cms but free moving. The vet thinks they are hormonal masses.

The vet has recommended removal though, in two separate operations.

The killer blow - They have quoted £4,000. Yes £4000

Are we being ripped off?
 
Older dogs get lots of lumps and bumps. If they are not life threatening and not causing her discomfort do they really need removal.
That’s not about saving money but avoiding possible unnecessary stress and surgery for the dog.
If they are causing a problem then of course removing them should be considered.
As for the costs that seems double or worse what I would expect.
Recent paid £300 for our dog to have a tumour removed from testicles
 
Following my recent experience with vets, if the vet is part of one of these large chains, you probably are being shafted. Sounds excessive anyway and there are usually reasonably priced vets which serve the social housing areas. Trouble is you'll have to sit around in a crowded waiting room for a long time, but your pet will get the same if not a better level of care.
 
Glad to hear that Honey has recovered from her bout of Pancreatitis, that must have been a worrying time for you.

I agree with the previous replies, that sounds very expensive and I would definitely get a second opinion, not just for the cost but also whether they need removing at all.

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Mine developed a few lumps. Turned out they were malignant and eventually she had to be put down.

The costs of keeping a dog are rather significant if they need a vet. The cheeky solution is to disguise yourself as a grubby street person and lead your dog on a string to a vet who does a bit of pro bono work for the homeless.

Of course - I never did that.
 
That does sound expensive….
When our dog Taz was diagnosed with cancer, we had ten tumours removed in two operations over time, and paid under £500 in total (no insurance).
He also had several ‘fatty’ lumps (free-moving under the skin) which the vet said didn’t need to be removed - it’s the ‘fixed’ ones that can be problematic. He advised to keep the number of operations as low as possible, as it is very stressful for the dog, and the risk increases with anaesthetic the older they are……
 
I had a smile when I saw the TV vet Fitzpatrick advertising pet insurance on the Tv extolling the virtues of having adequate financial cover, the only virtue he didn’t seem to mention was your ability to pay his humongous fees.
 
gpat said:
Our poor old girl Honey (11) has just recovered from a life threatening bout of Pancreatitis. Fortunately she has made a full recovery

Last week we noticed two small lumps in her mammary glands. They are at the bottom end. One either side. They are about 2cms but free moving. The vet thinks they are hormonal masses.

The vet has recommended removal though, in two separate operations.

The killer blow - They have quoted £4,000. Yes £4000

Are we being ripped off?
Click to expand...
In a word Yes. We equated vets to double glazing salesmen - you’de never ask one if you needed new windows would you ….?

We had spaniel bitches, who all got to 14 or 15, and they all had lumps and bumps in those areas as they got older, none of which was what killed them.

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I think you need to get a second opinion. One of our pups (8yrs) just recently had two lumps removed (neither turned out to be dangerous, but one was on his bum so was uncomfortable), Including the biopsy and antibiotics, £450. Other pups have lumps, been checked and not being removed.
 
Our Reggie has a lump on his left side on his ribs. Took Him to the vets. They took a biopsy. Bill that day £289.

Called in the week to say non malignant just fatty build up.

If we want it removed it will be around £400.

Decided at 12yo not to risk general anaesthesia.

Claimed on insurance. Got £139 back!
 
Miggs said:
In my experience, ALL vets rip you off!
Click to expand...
I think they’re in cahoots with the insurance companies.

They have all this equipment (funded by the insurance companies) that they can’t afford to stand idle.

We were told that our last Spaniel was too old at 10 for an hysterectomy to guard against Pyrometria, so we were given antibiotics every ‘season’ to stop her getting infections.

Fast forward 5 years, in which time a shiny new hospital had been built and stocked with all the latest equipment (funded in part by Pet Insurance Companies).

She got pyrometria, was in a lot of distress, but we were being pressured to bring her in, where she would be kept overnight to stabilise the condition, and they would give her a hysterectomy the next day.

So what had changed in the 5 intervening years? See my comments above - along with financial ethics taking over from animal’s well-being ethics.

We took her in, but declined all the scans, operation, and medication, not because we couldn’t afford it, but we knew it was the right thing at 15, for her.

Not once did they suggest the RIGHT thing to do.

We didn’t ever replace her, she’s still missed every day, but I wouldn’t want a dog these days with the money grabbing vets/insurance companies out there.

This of course was our choice, and I respect anyone else that chooses differently - so no brickbats please.
 
Miggs said:
In my experience, ALL vets rip you off!
Click to expand...
It seems to me that vets assume that everyone has pet insurance and charge whatever they think they can get away with.

(Ah, my post in similar vein crossed with that of cliffanger )

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Of cause vets are a ripoff as are pet insurance, we pay more for our dog insurance them we pay for our motorhome.
 
Pet insurance is a complete rip off, the reason why vets fees are so high, they know you only pay the excess.
Over the last 50 years we have had lots of dogs and never had insurance, most vets fees have been for less than the excess so couldn’t claim anyway, I once had to pay out £2500 on a boxer in the last weeks of his life, he collapsed whilst I was offshore, came home two days later and picked him up from an animal hospital doped up to the eyeballs, not the big robust boxer he had always been, our old vet would have said it’s time to let him go, he was 12 1/2, he had said similar when our other boxer became ill at 13 1/2, but the young vets who had taken over dithered and said we think he has a brain tumour, what do you want to do, I had to take him for a brain scan which cost a thousand pounds 25 years ago only to confirm there was nothing to be done so I had to make the decision to let him go.
Over all those years at the equivalent of today’s prices I would have paid out between 50 to 60 thousand pounds so I’m quids in.👍👍
 
My patterdale lived to 17,she had some whopping lumps that you could get hold and move with your hands ,but my old vet said they werent hurting her,id get a different vet. My son went from newark to norfolk to save £2000 on an operation on his whippets leg,so i would shop around if i was you ……. Good luck. Pampam

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Got a dog and 2 cats.

Dog hasn't been 'done', no insurance and no problems apart from he has to have grain free food. He's 10 now if he got some disease where ops were needed, we'd let him go.

One of the cats got run over last year at low impact. His tooth was broken, I took him to the vets to get looked at.

They said he could stay in for 4 hourly monitoring for internal injuries or we could take him back the next day to be checked and also have the tooth removed. I took him home for hourly monitoring for free.

I asked him how much for the op, he said if it comes straight out £200, when we went to collect him they tried charging £250 even though the vet on duty said it literally fell out. He was not happy when I told him what his colleague said!

All in all it cost me £325 for 2 'check overs' antibiotics and a tooth out 🐈
 
Miggs said:
In my experience, ALL vets rip you off!
Click to expand...
I read this, and was going to reply but went out with my dog. But I'm not going to let it go. Yes I'm a vet(retired). Guess what, the majority of vets just want to do the best they can for your pet. Firstly costs. The standards and technology in practice today has increased dramatically in recent years and surprise, surprise it's expensive. You can seek a second opinion if you are unhappy. Ask for a breakdown of any estimate. Fear of litigation nowadays means vets will cover all options. Secondly, you do know vets have one of the highest rates of suicide in any profession. Just recently, 3 vets killed themselves in a 2 week period. The pressure on vets in practice has increased enormously. Client expectation is huge. There is a national shortage of vets, compounded by the lack of EU vets since Brexit, so most vets are working long and antisocial hours. So imagine you've just had a long day, had some cases that haven't gone well, perhaps been verbally abused, and you've stayed back to see a client that you squeeze in at the end of surgery that turns into a euthanasia of a much loved family pet with the parents and children in tears. Then you get home, open social media and read comments like above.........I've seen too many friends and colleagues struggle (including a suicide attempt). So instead of throwaway comments, please think before hitting the keyboard. I'm sure there are plenty of people on this forum who are eternally grateful for what a vet has done for their pets. Next time you see your vet, why not ask "And how are you?" It'll be appreciated. Rant over.
 
Vets are running a business and when you take your animals in they are always going to offer solutions to any problem and especially these days with all new and technology expensive equipment and training costs that needs covering costs are going to be high. One of the vets we were with had the very latest equipment, access to MRS machines, high ratio of staffs, overnight fully staffed hospital and they seemed to be able to deal with anything but by gum you paid for it. Another was very small - 1 vet who did everything and did it well - cheap as chips.

I have paid a small fortune over the years with dogs, horses and cats and when faced with an serious illness/old age I have asked the vet what would he do if it was his/ her animal and a couple of times they have admitted they would PTS rather than continue with expensive medication/operations so feel that yes they are a business but at the end of the day they really want to do what’s best for the animals. We may of had to pay a fortune over the years as in tens of thousands but thank goodness for vets.

OP - Your quoted costs do seem excessive however - I personally would get a 2nd option on cost etc
 
Get another opinion. Our vet £640 for a procedure, another vet £300 for same thing. We have changed our vet to the less greedy one.
 
Sad yo say it's like any drugs for your pet.

Our old cocker is suffering from a bit of arthur (aren't we all) so vet recommended Rhuemocam.
15ml from vet £20.
Prescription for same product from the vet, but now a 200ml bottle =£13
Cost of 200ml bottle on line £27.
Same from the vet £90.
So Saved £50

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RandallC said:
Sad yo say it's like any drugs for your pet.

Our old cocker is suffering from a bit of arthur (aren't we all) so vet recommended Rhuemocam.
15ml from vet £20.
Prescription for same product from the vet, but now a 200ml bottle =£13
Cost of 200ml bottle on line £27.
Same from the vet £90.
So Saved £50
Click to expand...
I will stand by my earlier statement, they are a rip off, insurance of dogs has pushed up prices, I know that equipment can be expensive and running a practice can be expensive but how do you explain the above where they charge 2 or 3 times what you can pay on line. I look into a French bulldog site as I have two of them, I know some will need boas surgery because of bad breeding, someone asked what people had paid to get a rough idea of costs, it can obviously vary as some will require more work than others, but when you get a price range of £800 to £12,000 some people are definitely being ripped off.
 
Langtoftlad said:
Just wait until the NHS goes tits up... then you'll see the real cost of treatment & drugs...
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Dentistry has already gone that way. For (probably more than) 15 years none of the dentists that I and family/neighbours have contacted within 20 miles of me have taken NHS patients.
 
Spriddler said:
Dentistry has already gone that way. For (probably more than) 15 years none of the dentists that I and family/neighbours have contacted within 20 miles of me have taken NHS patients.
Click to expand...
...but, currently, they are constrained by the NHS pricing structure.
See your eyes water when there are no NHS dentists anywhere, nor NHS dental hospitals

At the moment, supply & demand, there's more demand for small animal care, than vets available... plus the insurance distortion.

My tip, find a no nonsense farm vet.
But no airs & graces...
 
A bit of a dilema. Some breeds like Labs & Retrievers are prone to lipomas as they get older. They're usually benign, fatty masses which move easily when pushed with a finger. It's the harder "fixed" or "attached" lumps which can be nasty. NB this is very much a rule of thumb, but our Rosie has a massive one on her chest and has had it since she was around 10 - she's now 15 - but our vet said not to worry over it.
Get a second opinion, and don't wear your best shoes, as I'm convinced vets set the bill according to how well heeled you appear to be.

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