Ever refused to pay for medication at the vets?

shifty_uk

shifty_uk

shifty_uk

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I'm sure we've all been there! Today I took the dogs in for a quick look at their eyes as they were weepy with mucusy discharge. All checked out okay, they have a common infection that's cleared up with drops - one tube of drops each of course, as she didn't want any cross-contamination, how thoughtful. One of the dogs also had a scratch on his leg that he's been biting so she recommended cream for it..

Get to the desk 'that'll be £84' mr... 84 quid!! For a minuscule tube of cream and 2 tiny tubes of eye drops - are you having a laugh?

Needless to say I coughed up the cash, as I always do because you don't want to look like a careless owner in-front of a full waiting room.

Does anyone take the prescriptions and get the medication cheaper elsewhere? I'm pretty sure you can buy these eye drops for humans out of a high street pharmacy for buttons...

The pet care industry really does take advantage, I'm £60 a month in insurance alone.
 
You can take your prescription and go buy elsewhere for cheaper but the Vets have the right to then charge you for your prescription.

Its a business and the profit/mark up on the drugs helps pay for the practice.

They could change the whole business model and charge you cost on the medicines and far more on the labour per hour if it would make you feel better?
 
Everytime we go to the vets lately the pricing is always different. Even the normal yearly booster is up and down in price depending what new virus it's supposed to protect against.

I think this sums it up these days, the vet and previous owner of 50 years who retired says selling his surgery onto who he did was the worse decision he's made as it's losing all the loyal customers it had due to the typical we're a business first mentality with charges.
 
Without the NHS you'd find exactly the same when you went to the docs. They're a business, the drug companies are business and they know there's little chance of you saying "No thank you, they can suffer" so everyone in the chain prices accordingly.
 
shifty_uk said:
Does anyone take the prescriptions and get the medication cheaper elsewhere? I'm pretty sure you can buy these eye drops for humans out of a high street pharmacy for buttons...
Click to expand...

You're blinded a bit re: the cost of drugs for humans as the NHS operates fixed charge prescriptions. Granted if this was equivalent to something over the counter then perhaps it is a complete rip off as you suspect but that might not necessarily be the case.
 
Tosno said:
Because beta. “A lion doesn't concern itself with the opinion of sheep.”
― George R.R. Martin, A game of thrones.
Click to expand...
Looks like you got lost on your way to one of those "How to be a man" blogs. This thread is about vet prices.
 
I can't remember the website but if you get a prescription you can buy from them for a fraction of what it would cost at the vets. A quick search finds this website: https://www.petdrugsonline.co.uk

Our dog is having some monthly treatments at the moment. I think we paid around £40 for the cream from the vets but this website is charging £12 for exactly the same stuff.
 
We have 2 vets practices in our town. Always used the one, costs a fortune then we were told about the second one. about 30% of the price and just as good.
 
Some of the cheaper vet sites ask for a presciption but you can still buy it anyway - we got a really strong flea treatment that was prescription only but it only ask if I had a prescription and I simply clicked yes! I half expected they wouldn't send it till they got proof but no emails were sent and it was here 1st class
 
Generally if you ask the vet will they will write you out a prescription for the medication. They will charge your for it though, iirc circa (£12-16) I have no idea whether there is a "standard charge" for doing so, I suspect it varies between practices. Even with the charge of the prescription on top, it can be significantly cheaper to buy the medication online. Problem is when you have a sick animal in front of you waiting 2-3 days for it to arrive isn't really acceptable to most people. So I think most people pay-up there and then. Sods law generally prevails for minor ailments, so the cost of medication you need is on par with excess for your pet insurance, so pay up there an then.
 
My lab developed Glaucoma, this is managed with human eye drops Xalatan. £54 a bottle from the vet which only lasts a couple of weeks, I sourced it for £2.80 from Boots who will accept vet prescriptions.
 
shifty_uk said:
I'm sure we've all been there! Today I took the dogs in for a quick look at their eyes as they were weepy with mucusy discharge. All checked out okay, they have a common infection that's cleared up with drops - one tube of drops each of course, as she didn't want any cross-contamination, how thoughtful. One of the dogs also had a scratch on his leg that he's been biting so she recommended cream for it..

Get to the desk 'that'll be £84' mr... 84 quid!! For a minuscule tube of cream and 2 tiny tubes of eye drops - are you having a laugh?

Needless to say I coughed up the cash, as I always do because you don't want to look like a careless owner in-front of a full waiting room.

Does anyone take the prescriptions and get the medication cheaper elsewhere? I'm pretty sure you can buy these eye drops for humans out of a high street pharmacy for buttons...

The pet care industry really does take advantage, I'm £60 a month in insurance alone.
Click to expand...

I feel your pain, we just had a bill for £164 for antibiotics for 5 tiny kittens - you can't refuse paying, it's like say 'sorry old boy but your not worth the cost'
I agree that the cost is high but everyone understands the risks of bills when you have pets
 
Just think if we didnt have the NHS (not considering the opinions) we would be paying £200 for antibiotics etc so its understandable how much drugs cost.
 
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