Van der MoodHoover Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 Putting up a thread as my wife today bought flea & tick treatment for our dog and 2 cats from the local vets for £115. They've treated all our pets (except the snake) and yep - they charge 50-60 quid for a 15 min consultation so we know they aren't cheap. But the point is, whilst we expect to pay something extra for convenience and so accept the consultation fees, the mark up on the prescription drugs seems too high. A quick check online reveals the items can be purchased for £57, so prices are being doubled. I gather that we can now insist on the vet giving us a prescription and much as I would like to continue giving our business to the local surgery I am sorely tempted. What is also distasteful is that at the same time , my wife bought a new dog collar which was priced pretty much in line with the local pet chain store. The only difference is that the prices of accessories are advertised on the items, prices of drugs are simply totted up and presented as a total. How do others feel about the trade off between supporting local community businesses and chasing price at all costs. What would be a reasonable "premium" to pay on the medicines? And if the practice is to "price gouge" customers by loading up the prices charged for pooch medicines should this be discloses more clearly? Hants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Day Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 Veterinarians are just traffic wardens with a higher IQ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jono Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 21 minutes ago, HantsRam said: Putting up a thread as my wife today bought flea & tick treatment for our dog and 2 cats from the local vets for £115. They've treated all our pets (except the snake) and yep - they charge 50-60 quid for a 15 min consultation so we know they aren't cheap. But the point is, whilst we expect to pay something extra for convenience and so accept the consultation fees, the mark up on the prescription drugs seems too high. A quick check online reveals the items can be purchased for £57, so prices are being doubled. I gather that we can now insist on the vet giving us a prescription and much as I would like to continue giving our business to the local surgery I am sorely tempted. What is also distasteful is that at the same time , my wife bought a new dog collar which was priced pretty much in line with the local pet chain store. The only difference is that the prices of accessories are advertised on the items, prices of drugs are simply totted up and presented as a total. How do others feel about the trade off between supporting local community businesses and chasing price at all costs. What would be a reasonable "premium" to pay on the medicines? And if the practice is to "price gouge" customers by loading up the prices charged for pooch medicines should this be discloses more clearly? Hants. We pay our vet a plan fee of about 10 quid a month ( 1 dog ) . For that you get your years flee and tick treatment, a quarterly wormer and a check up 4 times a year. St Leonard’s ( used to be Marshall and Till ) locally owned and not a huge corporate entity American style “health care provider” The vet industry has gone bonkers .. they have tied themselves to insurers so they can charge huge fees and the insurers can sell more policies because you have to have one now or you could end up with nightmare unplayable bills for al the new surgical procedures they can do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1of4 Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 23 minutes ago, HantsRam said: Putting up a thread as my wife today bought flea & tick treatment for our dog and 2 cats from the local vets for £115. They've treated all our pets (except the snake) and yep - they charge 50-60 quid for a 15 min consultation so we know they aren't cheap. But the point is, whilst we expect to pay something extra for convenience and so accept the consultation fees, the mark up on the prescription drugs seems too high. A quick check online reveals the items can be purchased for £57, so prices are being doubled. I gather that we can now insist on the vet giving us a prescription and much as I would like to continue giving our business to the local surgery I am sorely tempted. What is also distasteful is that at the same time , my wife bought a new dog collar which was priced pretty much in line with the local pet chain store. The only difference is that the prices of accessories are advertised on the items, prices of drugs are simply totted up and presented as a total. How do others feel about the trade off between supporting local community businesses and chasing price at all costs. What would be a reasonable "premium" to pay on the medicines? And if the practice is to "price gouge" customers by loading up the prices charged for pooch medicines should this be discloses more clearly? Hants. You can now purchase a range of cat and dog drugs and treatments from many local chemists. So the dilemma of wanting to support local businesses while getting goods at a better price shouldn't be a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van der MoodHoover Posted January 2, 2019 Author Share Posted January 2, 2019 7 minutes ago, 1of4 said: You can now purchase a range of cat and dog drugs and treatments from many local chemists. So the dilemma of wanting to support local businesses while getting goods at a better price shouldn't be a problem. Didn't know that. And the irony is that the local chemist is next door to the local vet. In fact that's all we have (apart from the tesco express) ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boycie Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 Poundland sell flea treatment, nit sure how much it is mind. Works on our rabbits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mucker1884 Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 18 minutes ago, Boycie said: Poundland sell flea treatment, nit sure how much it is mind. Works on our rabbits. Do you have to pay cash, or will they let you have it on tic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boycie Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 13 minutes ago, Mucker1884 said: Do you have to pay cash, or will they let you have it on tic? Dunno, but I’m itching to find out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TigerTedd Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 3 hours ago, jono said: We pay our vet a plan fee of about 10 quid a month ( 1 dog ) . For that you get your years flee and tick treatment, a quarterly wormer and a check up 4 times a year. St Leonard’s ( used to be Marshall and Till ) locally owned and not a huge corporate entity American style “health care provider” The vet industry has gone bonkers .. they have tied themselves to insurers so they can charge huge fees and the insurers can sell more policies because you have to have one now or you could end up with nightmare unplayable bills for al the new surgical procedures they can do. I think I may be being conned. My one cat costs about £12 a month. Flea injection / check up twice a year, and a years worth of anti worm medication once a month. There are other peripheral benefits with the ‘vip’ club, but nothing we use. I just signed up to it cos it’s what the local vet offered (although they are part of a bigger chain), and we kept forgetting to do it off our own backs. I figured the insurance isn’t that expensive, at the time it was about £2.50 a month, gone up to about a fiver now, so all in the car costs us about £20 a month, which I can live with, it’s a damn site less then any of our other children. So I don’t really moan about it too much, although it sounds like I could get a much better deal if I shop around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsnip Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 My dog's insurance is £78 per month with petplan! What's all this 10 or 12 quid a month crap??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RamNut Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 47 minutes ago, Parsnip said: My dog's insurance is £78 per month with petplan! What's all this 10 or 12 quid a month crap??? Jeeze. That sounds alot. i used to go to Pride Park vets paying out thousands for treatment. The sad fact is that i eventually discovered that it was the treatment we were paying for that caused unnecessary suffering and eventual death when a student apparently intervened to correct a significant error. I now keep well away from vets except in an emergency. They seem more interested in milking the customer than animal welfare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Day Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 1 hour ago, Parsnip said: My dog's insurance is £78 per month with petplan! What's all this 10 or 12 quid a month crap??? Sure you’ve got a dog and not a horse? Mines a tenner with More Than, reckon they saw you coming with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsnip Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 Crap the bed! Just done a comparison thing and i could easy cut that bill in half! Maybe petplan are punishing me for the many many thousands of £££ my old labrador took off them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van der MoodHoover Posted January 3, 2019 Author Share Posted January 3, 2019 4 hours ago, Parsnip said: Crap the bed! Just done a comparison thing and i could easy cut that bill in half! Maybe petplan are punishing me for the many many thousands of £££ my old labrador took off them? Insurance is completely separate. We have that at about 35 quid a month for our 3 year old lab. We've never claimed and it has both an excess (100 quid i think) and a maximum claim amount per condition per year. Vets are offering payment plans for the run of the mill stuff like annual check-ups and vaccinations that insurance wouldn't cover. As you say, if your pet is ill or injured and needs an op or a stay at the vets (400 quid a night at ours), the bills start quickly piling up. My grief is the apparent level of "hidden" costs such as drug mark-ups and I wonder how dependant the vet practices business models have become on them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Day Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 One round of ear drops for my dog would have paid the receptionist for 2 days work. Never any mention of the price until you get to the front desk to pay for the treatment, by this point you have 2 options 1) Pay up and give your dog a look of disappointment Or 2) Refuse to pay and say you will shop elsewhere, at which point everyone will fall silent and look at you as someone that does not love his/her dog. The problem with option 2 is you still have to pay for the 5 minute appointment you've had. Few vets later you've racked up £100 in bills just trying to get the best price. I guess it's our taste of the American health care system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stive Pesley Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 That big vets on Pride Park is the worst - just a haven of thievery. I'm sure there are plenty of others like it. 22 minutes ago, David said: I guess it's our taste of the American health care system. Indeed. Certain large corporate vets totally exploit the fact that we love and care for our pets, and animal lovers tend not to want to take risks when it comes to their pet's health. So they say "your pet NEEDS this treatment/medication" and your instinct is to say OK Now imagine if that was your child? Everyone of us has to fight to save our NHS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Day Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jono Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 10 hours ago, Parsnip said: My dog's insurance is £78 per month with petplan! What's all this 10 or 12 quid a month crap??? The 10-12 isn’t insurance. It’s just to cover the flea, tick wormer and check up. You also get a discount off consultancy charges. i think our pet plan is about 40’ ish with pet plan but it goes up every year. ... a lot depends on the age of the dog and the breed old days insurance used to be about 10-15 but vets are now in a developing an industry with the insurance companies ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsnip Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 10 hours ago, RamNut said: i used to go to Pride Park vets paying out thousands for treatment. 1 hour ago, StivePesley said: That big vets on Pride Park is the worst - just a haven of thievery. Also had a bad experience there. My old lab needed a minor procedure and our vet told us to be very firm with them that he wasn't to be kept in overnight. They try to keep the dog for as long as possible because they can charge so much for an overnight stay. They always make sure they max out your insurance which is absolutely shocking practice. After his procudure (done very first thing in the morning at my insistence) they advised a two night stay to keep an eye on him which is massively stressful for the dog and completely pointless. Obviously i took him home and wiped nearly a grand off the invoice. Tossers. They used to be called Scarsdale Vets and were well known as 'Chargedale'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsnip Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 On the flip side though, the second half of my labrador's life was greatly improved when we found Wildbore Vetstop in Worksop. It's a 45 minute drive but i wouldn't go anywhere elsenow such is the quality of care. And they're a full surgery so they can do anything that Pride can do, but ethically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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