vets fees

[foxyferret]

What are reasonable vet fees? I know they are all expensive but I have just paid �70 consultation fee. Dog had a lump on its back. Consultation consisted of five minutes with vet who said "dog has lump on its back, will need to take a sample and send it off for analysis. make another appointment for this to be done". Of course there will be another bill for that, but I thought the �70 was a bit steep. Do other dog owners across the Cambridge area pay roughly the same, or am I paying for a very plush surgery, 4 receptionists, nice pot plants etc? Would just like other peoples comments on this.

[foxyferret]

thanks madmaggot and garner for your comments

[olliebear]

Vets are first and foremost business people, carers second. I don't like the way they exaggerate, and I don't like the underhand way they add expenses to a bill.

I always come out of a vets feeling taken advantage of.

I'm afraid all vets use emotional blackmail to a degree.

[olliebear]

Vets are very clever at hooking clients. The more times they can get a client back to the surgery, the more money they earn - it's as straightforward as that. They capitalise on most people's ignorance, and sadly, yes, they all use scare tactics to loosen your purse strings.

In my opinion, vets contribute greatly towards animal neglect - firstly, by the sneaky practises they utilise and secondly, the increasingly expensive treatments.

[Maxim99]

I live in London and Goddards Vet Group have the monopoly with various surgeries in the area. The consultation fee is about £50, then about £30 for antibiotics, £120 x-ray, and about £100 for a biopsy analysis, but most things are done on the one day in the case of a lump, or if there was a follow up appointment, then the "follow up" consultation fee would be about £25 a time. We have Pet Insurance with a £70 excess, so for an ordinary visit for. say bad diarhea we would get antibiotics and the bill would be about £80 which we do not claim for as we would only get £10 back and don't want the insurance company to make this an "on going" condition. Our previous dog had lumps removed under anesthetic and the bill was about £300 in all but that was 6 years ago, so would be more now, and when he was hospitalised over the Christmas period for two days the cost was £860 with no "time to pay" which our vet would have allowed. So in my mind, the best thing is to get Pet Insurance, as lumps very often reoccur and can become cancerous.