The cost of taking a small animal to the vet doesn't add up

Vets do need to make a living, but I think for some having a pet is the only companion they have.
It's a sad thing if they can't afford what I see as basic care.

That said I would avoid a breed that's known to have lots of issues. I would reseatch the parents and lineage in the hope of avoiding issues.
I don't plan on having any more cats when something happens to this one.

As for feeding properly, doesn't that start with banning all the utter crap that is on the market for pets and that includes horses.
Some products are not even safe for dogs or cats but they sit on the pet shop anyway.
 
Yep a good diet is paramount. When you consider just how many dog foods there are on the market. Every manufacturer will tell you theres is a healthy and balanced diet. Yet theres those that study these foods and rip them to shreds saying how bad a food is. Its a job to actually know what is healthy for your dog.

It is some of these feeds and the bulking agents they use that also cause these skin allergies.
 
You cannot expect vets to operate as a charity, it isn't fair. Also if someone is unable to go out and meet people are they even fit to own a pet and meet it's needs?

You say utter crap that's on the market for animals, would you like to say what you mean by that? In my opinion a lot of rubbish is talked about horse nutrition, most of it in clever marketing where unscrupulous companies imply only their products are going to keep a horse healthy and anything processed/including certain ingredients such as wheatfeed or molasses/including GM ingredients etc is going to kill your horse. I'm not at all up to speed on feed for other animals but the garbage spouted as sales pitch for horses is ridiculous.
 
Pedigree is the one I am being told to avoid as it contains a high amount of corn, wheat, and soy.
 
Workout meaning to go OT on this thread. I would like to go back to horse feed being straights.
It was a lot simpler.
 
newforest said:
Workout meaning to go OT on this thread. I would like to go back to horse feed being straights.
It was a lot simpler.
Click to expand...

It actually wasn't. Unless you had a lot of horses to feed feed would go off before it was all used, so a lot of waste. Straights, ie cereals, are often high in sugar and starch that don't suit all horses and can cause real problems for some, and you can end up with a very badly balanced diet. It wasn't so much simpler so much as we knew less.
 
The stable horses were all fed the same. Beet and pony nuts. It just appeared simple i guess, they were all pretty much doing the same from a workload point of view.

I would still have feed going off as feeding one from a 20kg bag means ff or beet gets thrown away. If it was a grass replacement it might last.
 
Ah what you're calling straights isn't what I grew u[p calling straights, in those days the term referred to oats, barley, maize, bran while nuts were one of the first compound feeds.
 
You can always speak to your vet or veterinary nurse for advice on feeding
 
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It's still much cheaper to get my dog seen by a vet than my horse for me! Recent horse vaccination was £175, dog vaccination was £60-70 including a sedative beforehand.

I'm not convinced insurance has much helped veterinary costs overall, in fact, I think it's probably encouraged some of the rise.

I've not got P insured and I think I get better experience as a result with a lot of vet's as it becomes horse (and owner) centric rather than what the insurance company need to see to pay a claim or we have X amount to use X time fram shall we try Y?

They are a business, no matter how compassionate the staff are and they need to make a profit to be here to treat the next set of animals.
 
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@PePo I agree that overall insurance may not have helped with vet costs, but it does help individuals who may find themselves in a position where they cannot afford expensive treatment.
 
Absolutely! I know plenty of people that probably rely on the insurance for expensive or unexpected treatment. I would have done in the past.
 
If you have a tame vet, ask them how much an actual vaccination dose costs. You will be surprised. Also the fact that only a qualified vet can give the injection, which actually anyone could give. Now, that is the biggest rip-off.
 
I think it's the meds that are being excessively marked up.
A human prescription isn't £23.
 
The NHS is heavily subsidised though, and private prescriptions can cost a lot. If anything the cost of animal meds, prescriptions, and consultations should make us appreciate what we have with the NHS, it may not be perfect but it has an awful lot going for it.
 
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Meds are definately marked up. I was always told get a bottle of antibiotics for the farm to have ready. If you take an animal to the vet and they draw out individual injections for x days they put a huge mark up on each injection.

I was talking to someone yesterday that said it cost £800 to have a old dog put to sleep. That seems like alot. Apparently the vets wanted an xray first. Why i didnt quite understand but thats still a lot of money. I can see alot of people not having dogs pts because of the cost.

Somebody elses i know had multiple xrays done on there dog on Friday. Bill was £2500. Its got to have surgery and treatment to remove the mass yet. This is the 4th lot of surgery i know of that this dog has undergone for various things in its life. So your talking of probably £10,000 spent on a dog. They are insured. I know there cat also spent a day at the vets and that was £900.
If thats what an average family spend on there pets. I can see insurance having to go up or very soon the insurance companies will go bust. Where will it stop.
 
I do think some vets take advantage, and not just for small animals. A friend's horse was kicked and the leg obviously broken, yet the vet took x-rays "for her peace of mind" even though there was clearly no hope of recovery. That, to me, is needless expense.
 
Would you rather the first line be how much can you afford to spend on diagnostics? I know our vets use that line to open a conversation about what the client can afford without being too direct about it.
 
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I know a cat starting medication and it's £8k for the course and that's at cost price, no mark up added. It has FIP. Pets can be very expensive, and yes some vets are also awful. Find one you trust and talk through the costing of everything with them would be my advice.
 
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