Vets - a con isn’t it?

Author
Discussion

GT03ROB

Original Poster:

13,640 posts

230 months

Friday 24th January
quotequote all
What’s the thoughts? Overpriced, money making machines?

Before Christmas we paid for a health certificate for our dogs to come down to Spain. It was in excess of £150 each. Took around 10 mins.

Went to the local vet here in Spain to get them sorted for worming tablets today. “If you can give us a local address we can give you a EU pet passport.” So we have a Spanish address, oh & their rabies shots were up in a month or so anyway.

10 mins later we walk out with an EU passport for the dogs, their worming tablets to return to the UK & their rabies shots renewed.. Cost less than 1 dogs UK health certificate for.

Dingu

4,551 posts

39 months

Friday 24th January
quotequote all
Not sure how it’s progressing but the CMA were looking at it.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-launches-re...

Richard-390a0

2,682 posts

100 months

Friday 24th January
quotequote all
My current pet insurance policy states "they will accept up to 100% mark up on medication costs" or similar, so I think you can make up your mind from that statement. Someone somewhere is doing very nicely.

moorx

4,014 posts

123 months

Friday 24th January
quotequote all
While I think there may be increasing issues with multi-practice companies, I'm not sure why vets attract such criticism per se.

Veterinary medicine courses are notoriously competitive (arguably more so than medicine) with extremely high entry requirements. They take as long to complete as courses in medicine and dentistry.

Doctors and dentists treat one species; vets treat multiple species.
Vets are both physicians and surgeons.
Some, like doctors and dentists, choose General Practice, others choose to specialise.

They have to have their own premises, which they need to light, heat and staff, like any other business.

Why the pigging hell shouldn't they make money after all that?

I love animals, and have owned many dogs, rabbits and guinea pigs. But at the end of the day, like it or not, pet ownership is not obligatory; it's a luxury. And taking your pets abroad is certainly not obligatory.

(For the record, I have spent many thousands at various vet practices over the past 30 odd years, so would have as much cause as anyone to complain).

KobayashiMaru86

1,412 posts

219 months

Friday 24th January
quotequote all
Insurance and the expectation to have it drives costs. A checkup is £50 but I'm on a £16/mth plan now for 2 checkups and any tablets but it's even debatable if all that is needed as there's many who argue pets get too much medicine and shots. My breed of dog, many in the clubs flat out refuse to have the lepto 4 injection because of seizure risk. Mine has had it twice so far with no issues. Had to have a heart scan to rule out a murmur cost me best part of £900 to find it's something he'll grow out of. I almost felt scammed paying it but had to know, which is what they play on a bit. I don't have insurance as many expect you to front it and claim later, then some policies won't pay out for that condition for life etc. I put money in savings account and take my chances. Breaking even so far.

ChocolateFrog

29,734 posts

182 months

Friday 24th January
quotequote all
Practically a scam these days.

I don't bother going at all these days, last time I went they handed me a £1150 quote for a 10p sized subcutaneous lump removing off my dogs hind leg.

I declined and it disappeared on its own after a couple of weeks, once it had popped.

Edited by ChocolateFrog on Friday 24th January 16:42

Doofus

29,361 posts

182 months

Friday 24th January
quotequote all
The fact you needed AHCs for your dogs but you replace them with a Spanish passport is not because the vet is a ripoff, it's because of Brexit.

Our dog's had a French passport since 2021.

StreetDragster

1,554 posts

227 months

Friday 24th January
quotequote all
For me, the gripe i have with the vets is the flea treatment.

I needed prescription flea treatment for my cat at the time, stronghold, as frontline either he, or the fleas were resistant too.

No prescription without an annual checkup, £44per animal.
Where basically they weighed him and that's it
All based on 'recommendations from the rcvs'

Then i was told that it's moving to 6 months. Not sure if this happened as i didn't need the vets again.

When i queried that's it's only a recommendation and not a rule, why can't i just have a repeat prescription, i was told no.
Not like the prescriptions were cheap, and now there was a mandatory £44 - £88 per year overhead.
And the weight banding on the dosages wasn't even tight, it was like 3-5kg x amount x often.

Boiled my blood. Feels like a racket

otolith

59,847 posts

213 months

Friday 24th January
quotequote all
I think the NHS causes us to be blithely ignorant of how expensive medical treatment is.

moorx

4,014 posts

123 months

Friday 24th January
quotequote all
otolith said:
I think the NHS causes us to be blithely ignorant of how expensive medical treatment is.
yes 100%

Tim Cognito

596 posts

16 months

Friday 24th January
quotequote all
It seems like it bears a lot of similarities to the US healthcare system wrt the symbiotic relationship with providers and insurance aka yes it's a massive con.

Arnold Cunningham

3,988 posts

262 months

Friday 24th January
quotequote all
It's a real problem, with the majority of vets now owned by one of 6 companies.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ve...

However, if you live in or near Romford and want a proper vets, one of my friends has just started a genuinely privately owned and independent vets service there. They've only been open a few months, but if I'm happy to share their details if useful.

Doofus

29,361 posts

182 months

Friday 24th January
quotequote all
Arnold Cunningham said:
It's a real problem, with the majority of vets now owned by one of 6 companies.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ve...

However, if you live in or near Romford and want a proper vets, one of my friends has just started a genuinely privately owned and independent vets service there. They've only been open a few months, but if I'm happy to share their details if useful.
Likewise, I have a friend who owns a genuine independent practice in southern Coventry.

Mr Tom

648 posts

150 months

Friday 24th January
quotequote all
If it’s that much of a con and we all make a ton of money why don’t you set your own practice up and reap the rewards…


loskie

5,892 posts

129 months

Friday 24th January
quotequote all
same people complaining would happily pay a BMW garage £150 per hour for some spotty apprentice to wave an oily cloth near their car and call it a service. all you are getting is an ovWhen in realityerpriced coffee and an invoice.

Bonefish Blues

30,083 posts

232 months

Friday 24th January
quotequote all
Dingu said:
Not sure how it’s progressing but the CMA were looking at it.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-launches-re...
This will be instructive. There's been so much consolidation in the sector over recent years that it does raise issues.

Personally, a £1400 operation we turned down was cured by the continued application of the cheapest (by a factor of 140) option the specialist said might work. Balance that with the frankly huge amount of spend to try to save our older dog ( frown for the failure, not the spend)

Arnold Cunningham

3,988 posts

262 months

Friday 24th January
quotequote all
Mr Tom said:
If it’s that much of a con and we all make a ton of money why don’t you set your own practice up and reap the rewards…
My buddy had the opportunity, and did.

Anyway, if anyone knows of an independent vet in northeast Hampshire, please let me know

Pistom

5,748 posts

168 months

Saturday 25th January
quotequote all
loskie said:
same people complaining would happily pay a BMW garage £150 per hour for some spotty apprentice to wave an oily cloth near their car and call it a service. all you are getting is an ovWhen in realityerpriced coffee and an invoice.
But the vet doesn't serve coffee.

Seriously though, it's hard to believe the costs of a vets compares to that of a BMW dealership.

And even if they did, I'm not sure many of us are happy that the BMW dealership rate is value.

I've just paid £115 for a 15 minute dental check up (not at a vets or BMW dealership) and that seems extortionate.

fourstardan

5,218 posts

153 months

Saturday 25th January
quotequote all
There is a known price for servicing though when you use a garage.

Vets have put me off owning another dog pretty much until I have more money than sense to pay for one (never).

I had a dog who was in multiple vets over his life and it is amazing how many assumed we had insurance and never even asked when booking him in.

Would vets be cheaper if pet plans didn't exist?

ChocolateFrog

29,734 posts

182 months

Saturday 25th January
quotequote all
Mr Tom said:
If it’s that much of a con and we all make a ton of money why don’t you set your own practice up and reap the rewards…
Did you guys not make any money before all the P/E money came in an bought everything and made it all atleast 4x more expensive?