Since I wrote about the extortionate costs of out of hours veterinary care in the UK and my experience with my out of hours emergency vets “Vets Now” in Worcester in my Greed Over Need – The Corporate Influence on Veterinary Services and Getting a Ruff Deal: The Extortionate Cost of Veterinary Care in the UK Laid Bare I’ve been inundated with comments on my blogs that I shared on my Facebook page, as well as received many emails about this issue. Not only did I hear from Dr David Reader who I wrote about in my last blog on this subject, but I have also received the following messages/emails:
Hi Lisa, I just wanted to let you know that my friend is currently in the process of buying what was a local independent vet, he’s asked me to be the financial consultant on it. I’ve been following your posts which prompted me into reading David Reader’s posts and the CMA investigation on it. I just wanted you to know that You’re making a difference because I’ve refused to take this on unless some stipulations of my own are met, including the fee structure which I was appalled at when I saw the original proposal, and as it won’t be vet owned, the ability for the vets to apply discretion in cases where the cost of care could be prohibitive. As you know, our doggie had major surgery for her cruciate and I worked with a wonderful vet during that time, and I was kept in the loop at every stage. I’m looking at all of this to make sure it’s an ethical practice that emerges, some things I wouldn’t have thought of without your work.
I wrote back and in response I received this:
I absolutely will keep you up to date, I’m already beginning to identify who I don’t want involved. I’ve been put in contact with someone who does this for a living, identifies vets for sale and makes a business plan for someone else to buy them based on his financial forecasts, and passing them on as sound investments instead of the ethical practices they should be. Frankly I’m utterly disgusted by what has been put to me so far and I’ve batted it all back. We have a very good small animal hospital in Glasgow and this guy was trying to tell the investors they don’t need to provide an out of hours service because the vet school does it for free. Untrue and completely appalling. I’ve really had my eyes opened.
David Reader has made contact with me, and I’ll be keeping him in the loop with what’s happening. I’ve also brought an absolutely amazing vet on board who actually retired from his field last year after 37 years practicing because of the very issues your article raised.
I also had this email:
I just read your blog post with great interest.
My dog became poorly on Thursday evening last week, and I was forced to take him to Vets Now in Tunbridge Wells. I was in and out in the space of 15 minutes, prescribed opiates and was charged £450. How on earth can they arrive at that figure?
He didn’t do well for the remainder of the night, we saw my vet during the day, and that evening (Friday) he deteriorated which resulted in me using another local out of hours vet. He had a twisted stomach (bloat) and required emergency surgery. I collected him tonight, however as it stands my vet bill is circa £9K. My insurance will cover me up to £7.5K, and I will cover the shortfall. I’m a single mum and this is incredibly hard for me. Of course, we wouldn’t have it any other way, right? They are our family members.
I know they veterinary care in the UK is extortionate in comparison to our EU neighbours. My friend owns an apartment just outside St Tropez in France and surgery for her dog cost a fraction of the price her UK vet wanted to charge her. I am all for paying for a good service and care, but it really feels like we are being monumentally ripped off in this country.
What I want to know from that email is how on earth the vet concerned managed to miss the fact that this dog had bloat, which can be fatal!
I’ve also had the following comments from sharing the blog on my Facebook page:
You know how I feel about the emergency vets in Worcester. and I didn’t even get there. People should know that the charge £320 just to get your pet through the door and then you have all the charges on top. When you have a very poorly dog and you know they aren’t going to make it, that is so heart breaking. I miss Mr Wolf so much.
It’s just all about profit now, we never get to see the same vet so each visit begins with them having to check history on the computer. No out-of-hours service from our own vet so a visit to an emergency vet costs £288 just for a consultation AND they have no access to your dog’s records. The cost of drugs is ridiculous, so we buy online but our vet charges £28 for a prescription, the days of seeing a family vet that knows you and your animal are long gone.
It’s the same in the USA. I’m old enough to remember the old family vets that were available for emergencies and all. I don’t know of any vets here that do any sort of after-hours emergency care. There is one 24/7 emergency vet office about an hour away that serves our entire region and all the area vets refer you there. Outrageously expensive. $500 to walk in the door paid up front. We also have the issue of more and more local vets being bought out by big corporations.
Same here in the USA. Soon dogs will only be for the rich.
It’s not just the cost due to these private equity firms buying up independent practices. I believe that pet insurance has also been a contributory factor in driving up prices i.e. vets know that if an owner has their costs are covered, they will therefore increase their prices. They also know that a pet owner will move heaven and earth to pay for their pet’s care – it is almost a mafia extortion racket.
It’s the same here in the USA, companies like Mars buy up popular dog foods like Pedigree, Royal Canin, Iams and then they buy the larger emergency care clinics here like Blue Pearl, Veterinary Centers of America etc and charge an absolute fortune for anyone to have their animal taken care of. So they get you on the front end with their food and on the back end with their expensive care for the problems their food causes.
Lt’s all about the money. They know we will pay whatever it takes to help our furkids. Even if it takes getting into debt.
I was quoted a few pounds more on our usual treatment which was £122, I bought £140 worth this time just in case. Nope, it was now £350! I emailed the vet clinic ( sister company Mars) and complained I wasn’t told the price correctly, got it back in 3 hours after weeks of getting the wrong email addresses to send it to, probably got it as they are all under investigation by the CMA which helped I suppose. I couldn’t get my boys records forwarded onto to the new Independent vets I’d found ( cheaper by 100%) as I was in debt with previous vets, sorted out now. You are right, they have taken over our town too, making it particularly difficult for some to have a choice. I’m lucky I drive we now have one 8 miles away but it’s worth travelling .If anyone needed a lift to a vet I would gladly give them one. So upset and angry I’ve been with this previous practice for 24 years, very emotional. But after meeting several independent vets now I’m more than happy to change over. We have 3 now that we are registered with. I also worry how people will afford their bills when they understand what’s going on at the last minute of being able to do anything at short notice, I was lucky. Plus the insurance has doubled for my senior, no conditions I feel this is because of the rise, but not with all vets. There is the independent Veterinary Association online that offers a postcode checker of vets around owners’ area too. Also a phone number was listed, very helpful. I reported my story to the BBC as well. Enough is enough!
You need to talk to people running rescue centres, we could certainly open your eyes! An errant vet supposed to be treating a cat with fleas ended up issuing a bill of over £1600!
Lisa it’s all about ££ now, very rare you will get a privately owned vet. That vet who will give you good advice and charge you the minimum is long gone!
The new government really needs to investigate this. The vet will charge you £90+ for a repeat prescription, go o line and its half that. Says it all. And don’t get me started on if you have to go to the emergency vet!! It’s outrageous what they charge, before even seeing your pet!
Our vets now part of a huge organisation. Metacam jumped from £64 to £80. I buy online for £16.99 + £25 for prescription
The vet tried to extort £1300 to examine and put to sleep my little girl cutie. Fortunately, my sister threatened to show the bill to the Veterinary Ombudsman, and they immediately reduced the bill by £700.
Vets need to put the focus on our babies lives and care and not make it a profit gaining business.
All I can say is that my dog’s cancer treatment, including an operation, some aftercare, 1 trip to out of hours because of infected stitches, and the cost of putting her to sleep cost me over £6000. I’m still paying for that now a year after she passed away. At the time she wasn’t insured because she was elderly, and her monthly payments were very expensive, so I cancelled the insurance. I’m not entirely sure though I would choose to insure again, as it is so expensive!
This is but a snapshot of the comments I’ve received, so I’ve decided I am going to raise this with my new local MP, the local branch of the RSPCA and my local paper if I don’t get a satisfactory response from Vets Now to my complaint, as I still haven’t had a proper response from them yet (although they have acknowledged receipt of it and said they are looking into my complaint).
If any of you reading this has had a similar experience and would like to email me, I am collating it all to give to my new local MP, the local branch of the RSPCA and to the local paper if I do go down that route depending on what Vets Now come back to me with.
One way or another as I said in my previous blog I will get #JusticeForPoppy.