Why do vets charge so much?

One last comment…

It is the British disease to see someone (a vet!) doing well for themselves and having everyone else shake their fist at them for daring to enjoy the fruits of that success!

While there is certainly the potential for ostentation, and rubbing peoples noses in it, often it is simply a desire to have the things you’ve always wanted, and finally being able to have them. It is RARELY an “eff you” to others, regardless of how others take it!

Bono has a story about walking past the big house on the hill. In America, people walk by and say, “One day, that’ll be me!” In Britain (England, or in his case, Ireland), they shake a fist at the house and say, “That fucker! Who does he think he is?!”

That’s why I live here…
 
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Unfortunately most I’ve come across are disgraceful charlatans. Most deserve to be struck off, and live their days out being nibbled at by rabies laden rats.
 
ChicagoBlue said:
I’ve had animals my whole life; mainly dogs but a few cats, too.

I hate to say it, but they’re domesticated animals…pets…not humans.

People are occasionally being mugged by those who prey on the humanization of our pets!

Back in the day, off to the vet, a quick shot, pet out of its misery, go get another one.

Today, spend £1,000s on palliative care to make the OWNER feel better, while the pet lives with one less leg, goes through the pain and trauma, and doesn’t have the sentience to understand what is happening.

Maybe it sounds callous, and I have to admit that my wife has spent some serious coin on our family dog, but at the end of the day, much as we like to anthropomorphize our pets, and act like they’re a human extension of us, they’re still pets that sucker us with their puppy dog eyes, their stroking against our leg, their sleeping next to us, etc, etc, etc…

Accordingly, if you can afford to treat the pets medical care like it’s a child, go for it! If you can’t, then understand that going in and act accordingly, rather than overextending yourself and harming the actual humans in your life.
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Part of the family mate,part of the family
 
Dogs are the only thing I care about on this shitty planet (give or take) but I can't afford one due to vet prices. I walk a few dogs for friends & family, and other dog owners say the extortionate prices have been driven up by the prevalence of pet insurance these days; first question they're asked - are you insured? "Yes" means they perform every procedure they can think of. People also suspect it's the same billionaires investing in veterinary groups & pet insurance. Seems like the best thing to do (for yourself and the community at large) is decline pet insurance and hope you're not one of the very few, who, at the end of the animal's life could look back and say they'd have benefitted from having it. Put away the 30-150 quid a month you'd have spent and bury Rover in a golden casket.
 
ChicagoBlue said:
One last comment…

It is the British disease to see someone (a vet!) doing well for themselves and having everyone else shake their fist at them for daring to enjoy the fruits of that success!

While there is certainly the potential for ostentation, and rubbing peoples noses in it, often it is simply a desire to have the things you’ve always wanted, and finally being able to have them. It is RARELY an “eff you” to others, regardless of how others take it!

Bono has a story about walking past the big house on the hill. In America, people walk by and say, “One day, that’ll be me!” In Britain (England, or in his case, Ireland), they shake a fist at the house and say, “That fucker! Who does he think he is?!”

That’s why I live here…
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Many vets are not doing well for themselves. In fact, they are very high on the risk of suicide and one of the reasons is the torment of joining the profession to care for animals against being forced to charge exploitative amounts that animal lovers cannot afford, thus compromising the well-being of the animal. 'Doing well for themselves is not all about the mansion on the hill.
 
117 M34 said:
Would you go to college for 2 years and uni for 5 years to work for minimum wage?
They have 7 years of lost earnings that need to be recouped plus all the associated costs of studying and student loans to pay back.
By the time they start working as a vet, they will be around £300k worse off than if they had got a job working in an office straight from school.
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Plenty of people make similar sacrifices without needing to play on peoples emotions and charge a fortune, so that doesn't wash with me, at all.

Incidentally, my vet's about 35, drives around in a brand new Tesla, mustn't have taken him that long to pay off his debts eh, and the last time I took my dog for a health check, he didn't even touch him, just stood there looking at him, then tried to sell me his 'supplements' for joints at nearly £40 month, it wasn't until I told him my own background that he decided to shut the fuck up.
 
oldius said:
Many vets are not doing well for themselves. In fact, they are very high on the risk of suicide and one of the reasons is the torment of joining the profession to care for animals against being forced to charge exploitative amounts that animal lovers cannot afford, thus compromising the well-being of the animal. 'Doing well for themselves is not all about the mansion on the hill.
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Well said mate, it's a vocation, if ever there was one, and there are some things I genuinely think they really do deserve to be financially rewarded for, but many of them seem to have lost sight of their version of the Hippocratic oath :-
" I PROMISE AND SOLEMNLY DECLARE that I will pursue the work of my profession with integrity and accept my responsibilities to the public, my clients, the profession and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, and that, ABOVE ALL, my constant endeavour will be to ensure the health and welfare of animals committed to my care."
 
Where I live in South East Spain vet bills are reasonable, nowhere near UK costs but with in house blood tests, xrays and surgery.
We have 2 dogs and 2 cats all with full passports but the older Spanish pet owner does not bother so dumping pregnant dogs and cats are, or their litters has been a problem. Recent fines of up to 20k have stemmed this activity but the dog and cat charities here are overloaded.
Vets help the charities with reduced fees so that pups can be vaccinated to then hopefully find suitable homes.
Ferrule packs are still an issue with a nearby goat farm (milk for cheese) losing 100 last Saturday in a prolonged dog pack attack.
Luckily our fenced property keeps our pets safe but life in the Campo for pets can be dangerous.
 
oldius said:
I got a bill for £927 for an X-ray. The Spanish vet who treated her apologised but told me he had to charge what his employer told him to charge. He said that the same treatment in Spain would be about 100 Euros.
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Spanish vets, while as a nation, not known for their animal welfare....are Ok. Ours was trained at Cardiff uni, didn't fuck about. Neutering was almost a ' while you wait' / 'drive thro ' scenario. No after care, job done, on your way...and he pulled a few strings ' sorting ' 4 dogs passports to get back to Blighty.
 
Got quoted 650 for an xray and 6.5k from my vets for an acl op on Chopper as the daft bugger has torn it. I have moved him to a non profit one, well, a less rip off one called Animal Trust, all in it will be between 1.1k and 1.8k. It is not a charity one but a group of vets who decided to start up a non ripoff company.

How can it be companies allowed to charge that much? it is a literal crime in my eyes. I believe it is mars who bought my local vets a few years ago and the prices went through the roof over night. Honestly i'd beat the faceless unaccountable fuckers into the floor. The industry needs regulation desperately.

I am fortunate enough that i could, if i had to, pay the full whack but it would very much have hurt my wallet. What about people who can't afford that amount and are nowhere near a vet with decent prices. It really boils my piss that does.

Anyway i am really happy with the new vets and feel bad for my vet i just left because she basically said look elsewhere because private vets are a joke now. I get that equiptment and staff need paying, no issue with that but 7+k for a relatively simple op?, i feel someone somewhere is taking us pet lovers for a ride.
 
Id imagine the student loan for a newly qualified vet is the best part of hundred grand , so no surprise the cost of treatment is sky high
 
TCIB said:
Got quoted 650 for an xray and 6.5k from my vets for an acl op on Chopper as the daft bugger has torn it. I have moved him to a non profit one, well, a less rip off one called Animal Trust, all in it will be between 1.1k and 1.8k. It is not a charity one but a group of vets who decided to start up a non ripoff company.

How can it be companies allowed to charge that much? it is a literal crime in my eyes. I believe it is mars who bought my local vets a few years ago and the prices went through the roof over night. Honestly i'd beat the faceless unaccountable fuckers into the floor. The industry needs regulation desperately.

I am fortunate enough that i could, if i had to, pay the full whack but it would very much have hurt my wallet. What about people who can't afford that amount and are nowhere near a vet with decent prices. It really boils my piss that does.

Anyway i am really happy with the new vets and feel bad for my vet i just left because she basically said look elsewhere because private vets are a joke now. I get that equiptment and staff need paying, no issue with that but 7+k for a relatively simple op?, i feel someone somewhere is taking us pet lovers for a ride.
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...and that's why they and others push for Vets insurance, it's a numbers game with peace of mind payments usually with expensive strings attached.
 
carlosthejackal said:
Id imagine the student loan for a newly qualified vet is the best part of hundred grand , so no surprise the cost of treatment is sky high
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5 or 6 years full time univesity, so that's about £115k. Not including paying your own way to go no internships etc. in the summers.

That's just for some junior vet of course, by the time you're running a practice, you're paying rent on a property, employing receptionists, IT people, vetinary nurses, buying huge amounts of equipment and drugs and lets not forget massive insurance costs too.

I know a few vets from university. They're doing well enough but they're not raking it in.
 
I had my ex-racer greyhound insured, when he needed treatment they refused on the grounds that it was an old racing injury. I cancelled the policy.
 
Going through this at the moment with my boy . Just waiting for my pet insurance company to wriggle out of it and leave me with a big bill . Both vets and insurance companies in it together
 
The reason is its now pretty much 3 or 4 big business that control the market. Independent vets are no longer a thing. They might look Independent but in actuality they won't be. Perfect conditions to over inflate the prices
 
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