vet bills!!

[Welshcob92]

cannot believe the vet bill i have just recieved. fair enough for the £50 call out fee (before 5pm) and the £30 consultation but £10.28 for 1 vet wrap?!? how can they justify charging so much when they are only 2.50 in local tack shops??

[watchbank]

oh my lord... that is discraceful!! £10.28?! we had our charge us £2.50 for a pair of gloves once, so next time they came i bought some surgical gloves for £5.00 for 200 pairs and made them use those!

[brt]

Mine know how to charge too, i only wanted some powders for a coughing pony, they told me i had to have ventapulmin (without seeing him) and then said they don't give antibiotics out much these days (fair enough) and put him on a baby inhaler (which he hates) and charged me £200!!

Changed vets which gave me the powders i wanted, £30 all in with visit and cough gone!!

[brynarthstud]

I was shocked last time we had a vet out of hours so fair enough a large call out fee although when i rang she was at a yard 10 minutes from us, but then double the amount for examination because it was also out of hours and the vet was C*#p anyway!!! So it cost me well over £100 for nothing

[Welshcob92]

brynarth i dont think thats too bad for out of hours, our vets charge £118 call out for out of hours before they even look at the horse!! they are fab vets though, so they should be for the fee they charge lol x

[Sam]

MMM I dont bother look at my bills, they come through every month but have got a standing order so dont have to worry. Know its over 2k though

[viklady]

omg i pay £1.00 for mine at the pound shop as there well better than vet wrap

[Louise Dixon]

I always get my vets to use my vetwrap/gloves/poultice etc. etc. they are very good about it, but then they are all round good guys.

[09rebel99]

My vets call out is £118 for out of hrs and £23.00 examination fee (which they charged me when they just came to take bloods so in fact no examination) I always ask my vets if there is anything I can buy on the market that is cheaper for me and they are very good normally. Especially if I manage to speak to the vet I've had for 13yrs. He is great and last time he came out he checked his teeth and trotted him up and didn't charge for the examination just the call out and for jabs.
I've given up even worrying about vets bills as if my ponies need the vet that's what I do and to be honest I'd pay 10 times what I do to know they have their every needs met.
Do agree about the vet wrap though, it is extortionate! Could you not ring them to double check that its correct? We use to bring a load back from america with us every year as they were only a couple of dollars so about a pound each when we use to go.

[honeypot]

I am not a vet but am a nurse and have worked for private companies.
Vets can carry a large stock of drugs which they may never use but have to have for emergencies. The cost of the Vetrap is because they have to make a profit and if they don't use the drugs they have in stock when they go out of date that is a loss and they have to make up that loss somewhere.
You should be able to ask if there is a list of their normal fees so you know what to expect. A plumber a round here will charge £60hr, so that makes the vet a snip.
My normal call out fee is about £26, and they are the only service who actually come when you want, phone a head when they are late and for the most part turn up when they say. Try getting a plasterer, plummer, electrician , BT, or the gas man to do that.

[bumblebee]

Another way of reducing the costs is to see if your vets will do a 'passing visit' for non-emergencies. Ours often will and it reduces the call out fee by quite a lot.

[sageandonion]

I also have a stock of most everyday things and would hand these to my vet. Indeed my vet has actually come to borrow some iodine for a horse next door (for which I didn't charge him!) I must say that over £10 is excessive though. Were I in your position I would ask the practice for a price list which they should be happy to provide and then stock up on the basics so this doesn't happen again.

[kayjayem]

Have you checked that it's not a mistake? It does sound excessive and might be a genuine error.

[gtr121]

Now I know why I haven't called a vet out to mine for over 12 years. Think I may be in for a shock if I ever have to!

[sageandonion]

I think kayjem is right, ring and check this is correct. If it is ask them to justify charging so much for a vet wrap and politely tell them you are unhappy with the mark up and it is unreasonable. Gone are the days when we had to just accept charges without justification.

[prettyreckless]

my vet is quite reasonable... his normal call out is about 30 and about 60 for out of hours which is the normal rate for small practice round here... and i would def ring them up and query the vet wrap...