Have you seen a vets wages? You certainly don't become a vet for the money.
Pet Insurance. Probably a good idea.
- Thread starter Narj
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Have you seen a vets wages? You certainly don't become a vet for the money.
Sorry to hear this...
My Jack russell just had a abscess removed and that cost £400.
We are with M&S pet insurance and so far haven't received anything back.
Every time we call them they say it hasn't been processed yet and it has now been 3 weeks.
Is it normal to take this long to get your money back?
My Jack russell just had a abscess removed and that cost £400.
We are with M&S pet insurance and so far haven't received anything back.
Every time we call them they say it hasn't been processed yet and it has now been 3 weeks.
Is it normal to take this long to get your money back?
I forget the name of my dogs insurer but they are pretty decent. around £14 a month, we only have to pay around the first £50 of any treatment and they pick up the rest. Also make sure you really look into the policy as some cover only covers illness or injury for the 1st 2 years so if they pick up an illness that needs ongoing treatment then they only help for 2 years. Luckily the one were on covers for the life of the dog on any treatment.
In terms of the vets and fees. They are pointlessly large and how much they vary between different places surely shows how much of it is private profit driven. Also the drivel they spout about some of the foods you shuld give them, usually the one they have tons of in the reception and/or are partially sponsored by. Took our dog there who had been limping for a day or so (thought hed just twinged it or something so just let him rest a bit) took him there and they had a look, told us to bring him back the next day, they took an xray, told us he just had a bit of a limp and charged us £190... luckily we only had to pay the 1st 50 but £190 for them to tell us what we already told them....
In terms of the vets and fees. They are pointlessly large and how much they vary between different places surely shows how much of it is private profit driven. Also the drivel they spout about some of the foods you shuld give them, usually the one they have tons of in the reception and/or are partially sponsored by. Took our dog there who had been limping for a day or so (thought hed just twinged it or something so just let him rest a bit) took him there and they had a look, told us to bring him back the next day, they took an xray, told us he just had a bit of a limp and charged us £190... luckily we only had to pay the 1st 50 but £190 for them to tell us what we already told them....
This. Vets don't actually get paid a huge amount, most of the cost comes from expensive medicine/drugs and medical equipment.
As you say, people tend not to think of the costs of medical care due to the NHS being free.
Soldato
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Out of interest; what insurance company does everyone here use for pets?
We've just got two Savannah kittens, and have insured them with the same company that the breeder gave us 30days free cover with - PetPlan. Purely for the convenience, didn't look at any other companies.
We've just got two Savannah kittens, and have insured them with the same company that the breeder gave us 30days free cover with - PetPlan. Purely for the convenience, didn't look at any other companies.
Soldato
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We got 4 week's free petplan cover but when it came to choosing one after than, I thought they were expensive and when I looked around on some forums they didn't get a great write-up.
Had a look around, actually went with Argos pet insurance as they got a really good write up . It costs about £9 a month each for the two cats (in fact our boy is £2 more expensive than his sister strangely).
Had a look around, actually went with Argos pet insurance as they got a really good write up . It costs about £9 a month each for the two cats (in fact our boy is £2 more expensive than his sister strangely).
Soldato
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- Cheshire
How old is the dog?
When I was in Thailand there was a dog that was run over, couldn't use it's back legs. Being really rural, no vets, nor the money, they waited to see how it would do. It learned to 'hop' around, people tried wheels but it preferred to hop. Still doing well today, apart from it's limited range, has happy eyes.
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Well according to my sister, she's her normal happy self, but dragging her legs behind her. I'm thinking that if she's not actually in pain, then maybe one of the doggy wheelchair things might work. There are reports of some dogs regaining use of their hind legs in time with these, and it's a few hundred quid as opposed to thousands.
The dog is 4 by the way, which is why it's such a bummer and so unexpected. She's absolutely mental and it's strange to think she won't be bounding around the place like a bluebottle on acid anymore.
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Have vet bills increased a lot in the last few years?
I don't have her anymore, the ex took her when we split up, but back in 2002 or so my dog (about 18 months old at the time) decided to run under a car. We had the front door open unloading the car and she sneaked out and hid under the car without us noticing. Then as another car passed, she ran out and tried to bite the wheels (always had a thing about wheels of any kind - nutter!). Anyway, the driver slammed on the brakes and she had one rear leg dragged along the ground caught under the tyre - really messy, broken bones, blood etc.
Took her to an emergency vet, it was Sunday evening, so lucky to be able to find somewhere to take her. They asked if we had insurance, which we did, and said that they would have amputated if we had not. Anyway, she was stabalised and moved to our local vets where she had an operation which involved removing one of her toes and using it to rebuild the smashed bone in her leg, skin grafts etc, and months of aftercare, and time spent "hospitalised" in the vets surgery, plus all the associated drugs and painkillers. The whole recovery must have taken about 4 or 5 months i think, and the total cost was about £700 - paid for by the insurance.
Given that little story, £4000 for an operation sounds like a ridiculous amount of money to charge!! What's changed in the last few years that makes vets so much more expensive???
As an aside, my cat is not insured, she's about 8 now, and reading this thread makes me think i ought to take out insurance on her...
I don't have her anymore, the ex took her when we split up, but back in 2002 or so my dog (about 18 months old at the time) decided to run under a car. We had the front door open unloading the car and she sneaked out and hid under the car without us noticing. Then as another car passed, she ran out and tried to bite the wheels (always had a thing about wheels of any kind - nutter!). Anyway, the driver slammed on the brakes and she had one rear leg dragged along the ground caught under the tyre - really messy, broken bones, blood etc.
Took her to an emergency vet, it was Sunday evening, so lucky to be able to find somewhere to take her. They asked if we had insurance, which we did, and said that they would have amputated if we had not. Anyway, she was stabalised and moved to our local vets where she had an operation which involved removing one of her toes and using it to rebuild the smashed bone in her leg, skin grafts etc, and months of aftercare, and time spent "hospitalised" in the vets surgery, plus all the associated drugs and painkillers. The whole recovery must have taken about 4 or 5 months i think, and the total cost was about £700 - paid for by the insurance.
Given that little story, £4000 for an operation sounds like a ridiculous amount of money to charge!! What's changed in the last few years that makes vets so much more expensive???
As an aside, my cat is not insured, she's about 8 now, and reading this thread makes me think i ought to take out insurance on her...
Our Terrier-cross is insured with More Than and they've been quite efficient since we've had him (7 years old, had him 6 years.) He's permanently on meds (has a rare form of diabetes) costing £300 per month which costs us once claim per year where we pay £75 excess. We pay the vet £300 for the meds each month and get reimbursed within a week or two.
We're stuck with More Than as if we moved to a cheaper company, his condition would be "pre-existing" so wouldn't be covered.
Insurance is around £300 per year and has increased by around £20-30 each year. Still a good deal considering the price of the medication.
I'd never be without insurance for a cat or dog after this!
Thats my first thoughts also. We had to have an operation on my german shepherds left ear to remove polits. To do this they had to remove all of the skin on the inner lining, create a new ear "flap" and then stitch it all back together to make it look like an ear lol. That cost £500 and was a very large operation.
£500 for that though was money well spent, however 8 times that is eye watering!
TBH. And I said that as a life-long working dog owner and trainer, who knows all too well not only how close you get to them, but how much it hurts to lose them. But £4k for a single op, with potential aftercare and further surgery down the line, for a dog who can't walk now? Sorry, but PTS I'm afraid. You'd be mental to give her your mortgage money.
No disrespect intended, good luck getting this sorted one way or another.
My thoughts aswell.
KaHn
The NHS is a godsend, yet does shield us from true costs of operating (on anything). I was agast when speaking to an American a couple of months ago. He is a recent graduate doing low paid environmental/outdoor work so can't afford medical insurance at the moment. He damaged the end of his finger in some way and the hospital wanted $10,000 to fix it. In the end he just got it chopped off because it was cheaper, at aroind $1,000...
That's just for a minor finger operation so I can well see something that sounds pretty major on the dog being £4k. Medicine, gas and equipment isn't exactly cheap for a start.
£0, be sensible, its an animal not a person.
I sound harsh, but I've got a dog and a cat now, had 6 cats in total and 5 dogs, all the cats died of old age bar the one I have now, One dog was diagnosed with cancer (diagnosed and destroyed on the spot) two to old age and one was run over, and I currently have a labrador with the brain of a cow.
I've never bought pet insurance and wont ever either.
Vets will stand there and spin out reams of Bull**** in an attempt to get you to stup up cash to get Fido to limp on a few months longer, Ignore them.
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