Vet price check
Discussion
Today I paid £52.50 for a 10-minute consultation with a good vet.
I also have a good private dentist, and he charges £35 for a 10-minute check-up.
Does the vet price seem about right, and if so, why do they charge 50% more than a private dentist? It seems to have happened over the last few years.
I also have a good private dentist, and he charges £35 for a 10-minute check-up.
Does the vet price seem about right, and if so, why do they charge 50% more than a private dentist? It seems to have happened over the last few years.
55% of vets now belong to investment companies who have been taking over small independent practices for some years.
In many cases the individual practice trades under the old name so that the customers don’t realise that there is less competition. Slowly the big boys are ramping up prices.
Competition authority starting to get investigate.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cvs-takeover-of...
In many cases the individual practice trades under the old name so that the customers don’t realise that there is less competition. Slowly the big boys are ramping up prices.
Competition authority starting to get investigate.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cvs-takeover-of...
Surely it's also connected to the fact that a check-up doesn't generally require any diagnostic skills and a vet's patient can't directly tell them what is wrong?
A dentist deals with only one species and only one part of that species.
My vet only charges £25-30 for a consultation, but it's only a small practice and we live in a rural area, which seems to affect prices.
A dentist deals with only one species and only one part of that species.
My vet only charges £25-30 for a consultation, but it's only a small practice and we live in a rural area, which seems to affect prices.
Edited by moorx on Thursday 12th May 20:44
Uncle boshy said:
55% of vets now belong to investment companies who have been taking over small independent practices for some years.
In many cases the individual practice trades under the old name so that the customers don’t realise that there is less competition. Slowly the big boys are ramping up prices.
Competition authority starting to get investigate.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cvs-takeover-of...
ThisIn many cases the individual practice trades under the old name so that the customers don’t realise that there is less competition. Slowly the big boys are ramping up prices.
Competition authority starting to get investigate.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cvs-takeover-of...
Nearly all my local vets have been taken over by Manor group.
Turkish91 said:
I paid £57 for some f
king ear drops earlier. Absolute joke
£103 for 100ml of thyronorm. Somewhere in there has to be huge profit margins.king ear drops earlier. Absolute jokeMore worrying, think of all the people who bought pets in lockdown but now can't afford the bills due to the price of everything else.
Booked our two cats in for their claws clipping. One went awol just before we set off so we just took the one. Afterwards we went to the reception desk to pay and were told it was £20. I queried it as maybe they'd charged for two cats as there were two on the booking. No, it was £20 to have one cat's claws clipped. A five minute job!
FWIW a friend has just recommended https://www.petdrugsonline.co.uk/
Thyronorm is only £48 there, less than half price (but you need a prescription from the vet).
Thyronorm is only £48 there, less than half price (but you need a prescription from the vet).
MitchT said:
Booked our two cats in for their claws clipping. One went awol just before we set off so we just took the one. Afterwards we went to the reception desk to pay and were told it was £20. I queried it as maybe they'd charged for two cats as there were two on the booking. No, it was £20 to have one cat's claws clipped. A five minute job!
You can have that done at a groomers. I had my dog done years ago and they charged me a fiver. As for a cat then it's an easy diy, just use sharp clippers.MitchT said:
Booked our two cats in for their claws clipping. One went awol just before we set off so we just took the one. Afterwards we went to the reception desk to pay and were told it was £20. I queried it as maybe they'd charged for two cats as there were two on the booking. No, it was £20 to have one cat's claws clipped. A five minute job!
Sounds a bargain, if it was easy you could do it yourself.I reckon it's £1 for the clipping and £19 danger money
I used petdrugsonline a couple of years ago for our last Westie (R.I.P. little fellow) when he had lung disease. They were a real pleasure to deal with. Our local Vets at the time couldn't have been more unhelpful and even ramped up the price of prescriptions as I wouldn't buy from them after the first fortnights daft prices. He was on meds for just over 2 years. They got took over by an American company then went out of business as most of the Vets left.
Have been using another local Vets located in Pets at Home for our new Westie since we got him in January '20. The annual jabs reminder came through so I called them for an appointment and the closest next appt was 14 weeks away.
Recently changed to yet another one, albeit an independent one that fitted us in the next day. Just under £50 for annual booster and quick look over.
Another Vets has opened recently and that's owned by an American company. Not a fan of those so give them a very wide swerve.
As for cutting cats claws? You couldn't pay me enough
Have been using another local Vets located in Pets at Home for our new Westie since we got him in January '20. The annual jabs reminder came through so I called them for an appointment and the closest next appt was 14 weeks away.
Recently changed to yet another one, albeit an independent one that fitted us in the next day. Just under £50 for annual booster and quick look over.
Another Vets has opened recently and that's owned by an American company. Not a fan of those so give them a very wide swerve.
As for cutting cats claws? You couldn't pay me enough
The funny thing for me is that normally if you bought something in a shop £103, then found it elsewhere for only £48, you'd take the £103 one back for a refund. Yet with vets we just shrug 'yeah OK whatever'. They never say 'That will be £103, is that OK?'. It's the same as buying a round of drinks - you don't get a quote first (that would make you look mean in front of your friends), you just stump up regardless. Slightly in the vets' defence, I can get appointments in a few days not 14 weeks, and what price Tiddles' health? You don't want a grumpy vet...
It's a very big sweeping statement to make, but I've gone off vets somewhat. I have no issue in a practice being run like a business, it is a business, but it feels since having pet insurance became the norm that costs skyrocketed. I'm sure having to faff with paperwork etc means recruiting more staff so more revenue required to run the business but I have seen quite a shift in the treatments offered.
I took my dog to the vet last year as he refused to move, so for him to do that meant he was in real pain. I got him to move, gave him Metacam which I had kicking about, then vets the next day. He was ok, bouncing about, being his usual self so assumed he'd twanged something and was now seemingly ok and just needed to slow down a bit so any inflammation subsided. Now to be really clear, I work in an office environment doing officey type stuff, I am NOT a vet and have no real medical training. The vet came out to see us, explained the issue, the dog and I walked back and forth, the vet pulled the dogs leg about a bit, said he wasn't returning his foot to the usual resting position fast enough, most likely a slipped disc, would cost around £8k. From the Vet introducing himself to coming up with numbers for the treatment was between 90 and 120 seconds. I made it clear that my very active but 9 year old dog with a history of not coping very well with general anaesthetic would not be having spinal surgery.
4 or 5 checks with the vet (at about £60 a time) over a 6 week period of administering just metacam seemed to provide a miracle cure as the vet said on this occasion it's worked out really well. The dog NEVER had another issue.
I guess my main issue was the fact that we spent under 2 mins in a consultation before the 'diagnosis' and £8k price tag came out, the fact that after I refused him that treatment, I did say he wasn't insured, but aren't there some steps in the middle to do first, I thought surgery was always the last resort. It seems that if there is money available, just take the expensive but possibly unnecessary route. Ironically, as an independent vets, that do have a section on their website that says about corporately owned vets practices. On this occasion, I don't see the difference.
I took my dog to the vet last year as he refused to move, so for him to do that meant he was in real pain. I got him to move, gave him Metacam which I had kicking about, then vets the next day. He was ok, bouncing about, being his usual self so assumed he'd twanged something and was now seemingly ok and just needed to slow down a bit so any inflammation subsided. Now to be really clear, I work in an office environment doing officey type stuff, I am NOT a vet and have no real medical training. The vet came out to see us, explained the issue, the dog and I walked back and forth, the vet pulled the dogs leg about a bit, said he wasn't returning his foot to the usual resting position fast enough, most likely a slipped disc, would cost around £8k. From the Vet introducing himself to coming up with numbers for the treatment was between 90 and 120 seconds. I made it clear that my very active but 9 year old dog with a history of not coping very well with general anaesthetic would not be having spinal surgery.
4 or 5 checks with the vet (at about £60 a time) over a 6 week period of administering just metacam seemed to provide a miracle cure as the vet said on this occasion it's worked out really well. The dog NEVER had another issue.
I guess my main issue was the fact that we spent under 2 mins in a consultation before the 'diagnosis' and £8k price tag came out, the fact that after I refused him that treatment, I did say he wasn't insured, but aren't there some steps in the middle to do first, I thought surgery was always the last resort. It seems that if there is money available, just take the expensive but possibly unnecessary route. Ironically, as an independent vets, that do have a section on their website that says about corporately owned vets practices. On this occasion, I don't see the difference.
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