Have Vets lost the plot................ ?

[MARK MARSHALL]

Yesterday I enquired and received the bill for my recent CS on Lana.

Yes we came away with 4 healthy pups, but it took less than an hour from arrival to departure. The time of day was approx 2245 hrs.

But £550 for such an operation !

No wonder Vets top the league when it comes to earners within their own professional group.

What do others think about such charges ?

[lorebringer]

Sounds about right to me (still, I agree, it's really steep!). Out of hour ops are pricey - there is the call out fee, plus op price, plus meds etc. It's just one of those situations that can't be helped but gets you in the wallet.

[*Pauline*]

I do think it's unreasonable. You should complain, the thing is, their prices go up too because no one ever challenges them. We just grin and bear it and cough up. Last time I went to the vet (this week) though they kept me hanging on for 2 hours while I waited for the vet to sign the prescription, he decided not to charge me! I think it was because I said I'd make him a copy of Dylan's MRI which I have on a disc, all 193 pics.

I spoke to someone last week who told me their vet had given their Cavalier the all clear from SM. Oh I said, so he had an MRI? No, they said, he felt the back of their dogs head.

[Sabby]

I spoke to someone last week who told me their vet had given their Cavalier the all clear from SM. Oh I said, so he had an MRI? No, they said, he felt the back of their dogs head.

Oh my god. I hope you told them to change their vet.

[*Pauline*]

I told them there is no way to tell unless you have an MRI. People seem to get funny about their vets, we all think we go to the best one!

[Karlin]

I guess it would depend on the vets and the time etc. I'd be paying considerably more here for anything done out of hours as an emergency procedure and that can be a considerable cost right there. Then it is a fairly involved surgery. For me, to have just a spay at normal cost would up around €200* or quite a bit more depending to whether I decided to have bloods done in advance. For me to have a growth removed from Jaspar's leg, at a scheduled time, was about half of what you were charged and it was a pretty simple procedure.

What would be the normal price of a caesarean delivery? What was the emergency charge? I guess that's how I'd be looking at it.

The two vets that I use for rescue and my own dogs have always been excellent but not the cheapest. Nonetheless they give me a rescue discount on the rescue dogs of a bout a third which means they are not making very much for their care. They've accommodated me in urgent situations and been helpful to many of my friends and rescue families. That relationship is more important to me than the cost. However that said -- a large bill is still pretty darn painful! I've had single rescue dogs cost me €500-600 almost none of which I can recoup via a homing charge so in that sense would understand that good breeders don't get into breeding on the assumption that they will make money. When the unexpected happens there's little chpice but to deal with it and pay the bill.

[sins]

It seems like a lot of money but as you say you have four healthy pups.
Vets bills can vary quite a lot from location to location but it appears that you had little choice other than to use the out of hours service.
Have a look on the CC forum at the "Warning out of hours vet service" thread.
£1700 and a dead bitch at the end of it....absolutely appalling.
When the bill arrives, don't open it until you have a double brandy in front of you,then write the cheque and swallow brandy swiftly.
Karlin is right when she says that "good breeders don't get into breeding on the assumption that they will make money". When you factor in the C/S bill,the ultrasounds you had done, all the testing on both dam and sire and the cost of maintaining puppies etc..you're lucky you didn't have the stud fee as well...or you'd be in the red....
A breeder recently told me how much they paid for their Royal canin every month..bit of a shock really.I think sometimes you must need nerves of steel to breed.
Sins

[Justine]

I like the idea of sit down first with a stiff drink.

[Yorkysue]

It sounds about the going rate to me. A CS can be tricky, and you did get live pups as a result. Probably the going rate is the approximate price of a pup? A small price to pay for a happy ending.

Unless of course you are in it for the profit!

[sins]

We dropped down mother in laws cat down to our vet for spaying today and met hubby's sister at the vets.She has a pair of Brittany spaniels, Britt and Tosca and 14 year old Britt was savaged by a pack of labradors on Wednesday morning and left for dead.She was found by the postman who took her to our vet who saw her as an emergency case.She was anaesthetised, stitched back together(extensive neck injuries).Every day she's been taken to the vet,spends the day there, gets IV fluids and antibiotics and comes home at night.This morning she walked a little and drank water on her own so is finished her treatment.
The total cost for all this? I love our vet.
€230.
Sins