Vet Charges

[mayennaise]

How much do you pay for a consult with your cat at your vet ? ? I have a feeling we are being 'fleeced' but I'd like to see what others are paying.

[wolf63]

We pay £20 for a consultation fee. Our vet is usually reasonable with their charges.

[Buenchico]

I'll have to move to your area, Wolf63. That's roughly half what I pay!

My 4 little ones will all have to be neutered this month. (The girl should have been done 2 months ago but she's so tiny that I couldn't bring myself to take her). I'm dreading the cost; when Patches was 'done' a few months ago, the cost (including a worming tablet which I asked them to give her) was £110.

[tamborine]

PDSA can give free or donation treatment to those who qualify.

https://m.pdsa.org.uk/pdsa-vet-care/eligibility?

[Buenchico]

Tambo:
While I fully recognise that any charity only has limited funds, and must therefore have rules about how they distribute their funds, I find the way that PDSA do things a little odd.

They have a strict 'post code' rule so, if you don't happen to live close enough to a PDSA centre, you can't get free (or discounted) treatment for your animals. An elderly lady (with a very limited income) that I know dedicated a great deal of time to helping in one of their charity shops but, when she really needed it, she found that PDSA couldn't help her at all with providing treatment for her dogs (or helping her with her vets bills) because she didn't live in the right area.

[wolf63]

Chris - Scotland is good, England is bad! We only have a couple of vets in the area and they are old practices. I remember going to this practice when I was still at school in the 70s.

mayonnaise - this first site says that £35 is the average cost of a consultation. http://www.moneysupermarket.com/pet-insurance/vet-bills/

This is a list of average costs
http://www.tescobank.com/insurance/petins/elh/vet-fees.html

My vet has only recently (last year or so) started charging a consulting fee. I never feel that they are fleecing me. My call out charge is £100 which seems a lot - but I was convinced that my cat was dying.☹

✰❀

[kvalidir]

I got charged £40 for a home visit the other day and I think it ws the same when I last took my dog into the surgery.

[wolf63]

I was stunned at the £100 call out charge. It was a Saturday afternoon, not as if it was two in the morning.

[campbellking]

£35 approx. Both my kitties are on 'vaccines for life', so paid an upfront fee which means I don't have to pay the consultation fee each time now, and they've both been on it long enough now for it to have paid itself back. Now only have to pay when Robbie does something stupid like get beaten up by another cat (he's little and neutered but still dim enough to think he can hold his own against a bigger cat) or cuts himself open on some wire.

[Purple_Popple]

£20 at my vets for consultation only

[Purple_Popple]

Some weeks they hold a week of 'reduced' consultations where you pay only £15 per animal - say every 6 months. So if you want to just get your cat a health check it's a good idea !

[chaptazbru2]

£26 for a consultation for a cat or dog at my vet's.

[mayennaise]

Our elderly cat has been diagnosed with a thyroid problem. I have to give her half a tablet of medication twice a day and the medication involves a blood test every three months to check the levels of something or another !! Last vet visit was for the consult, blood test and repeat meds, also a urine dip test. This cost us almost £300.00 !! I almost fell over when the receptionist told me!

[campbellking]

That does sound a lot. Robbie cut himself open about a year and a half ago(big cut across his side,vet thinks he got caught on some wire) , and had to be stitched under anaesthetic, have antibiotics and follow-up appointments to take stitches out etc, but that came in at under £300.

[janbee]

I know that Pets at Home have a vet instore and he/she has reasonable charges although I don't now what they are. If you have a store near you, it might be worthwhile making inquiries.

[Buenchico]

^^^The services offered by Pets at Home are very limited. (e.g. the Ipswich store offers microchipping and routine inoculations one day per week).

However they are definitely a lot cheaper than most vets. Microchipping costs just a tenner and a jab for a cat, offering protection against three illnesses and including the follow-up jab later, costs £25. (I'm reasonably confident that those prices are correct but I am quoting, from memory, from a leaflet that I read several months ago).