Vet bills

MrA

MrA

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Feb 8, 2012
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Been thinking for a while now of changing vets but I'm not sure if it's worth it or not.

Ales vet bill for his colic came through. Knew it was going to be expensive but it's £500. Considering the vet was only on site 15 mins, just wanted a general consensus on this amount.

My current vet charge £94 for the consult and then another £50 for the visit fee, this is in working hours, out of hours both double.

Couple of items on the bill I don't recognize, saline washout for example, don't remember the vet using saline. And there is a 100ml injection listed at 10 quantity.

I rang them yesterday to just ask about these things but they really couldn't explain and were not at all helpful. I asked about giving the tube of painkiller back to save £35 and they said no way not even if I dropped it off.

I just wish the vet explained what he was injecting, I've got 5 different drugs on the invoice and no idea really what he injected but there was only one injection I know that.

Anyway going to ask around and see if anyone recommends anywhere else. It's not really about the cost as I know it'll be expensive but I don't really feel like they have any time at all to just have a really quick chat with me to put my mind at ease.
 
I’ve no idea on the cost Ale and I guess the drugs are administered at the same time to save jabbing the horse with five different needles, the saline I imagine was used when they tubed him, assuming they did? Or to rinse out his throat in case there might have been a blockage? The thing that really would make me want to change would be the fact they don’t want to discuss anything with you, my vets are great in that respect and are pretty much always available to talk anything through with their clients.
 
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I can't see there's any harm in ringing round to see what other equine vets in the area charge for call outs and examinations, I know mine don't charge anything like that much. They also don't charge any different for out of hours calls. on the grounds that they would rather see a hours sooner and have it need less treatment than the owner wait until normal working hours and the horse suffer in the meantime - I do appreciate that this is a rather unusual view! I've also never known them leave a colic that quickly, instead waiting a while to see if there's an improvement and also calling later to check if all is ok - that said I can understand if it was an extremely busy day with emergencies stacking up a vet would need to move straight on.

I'm not impressed that they refused to discuss the items on the bill - mistakes do happen - and I'd be calling again and saying the bill would not be paid until these were explained. Unfortunately vets are no longer allowed to take drugs back and reuse so I do agree with them about no refund on that and instead I'd keep it in the first aid kit so you have it if you need it. Again my vets will always discuss that, though on occasion it's worked in their favour, like the time they charged me for one tablet rather than a bottle of three hundred!
 
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You do have to watch what the vets are doing. Mine will put a concoction into a syringe rather than giving several injections. I think they know what they can mix. Ive noticed that.

They do make mistakes on the bill weve queried on occasion.

Perhaps try googling the list of drugs to see what the drugs are for. That will give you a better idea. If they are anti inflammatory or pain relief etc.

After hours is always more in our area.

It does to hurt to look at other vets. We have one for the horse, one for the cattle, one for the dogs and sheep. We also now from this year have a fourth vets who come out to do our tb tests on the cattle

That isnt us being picky. Thats changes within practices because alot of the vets dont deal with large animals now only smll animals. Some have a dedicated horse section.
As of this year the one we moved to 5 years ago because our one we used for 30 years on the cows stopped doing large animals. The new one is large animal still but have stopped doing tb testing so thats now a new vet from yet another practice just dedicated to doing our tb testing. Its barmy but its the way it has to be.
 
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If you are not happy this could be the time to look round.
You do seem to be paying a lot. Ours is £30 visit and £30 consult, give our take, might be £40 now.

Saline will be because he was tubed and if you look back at the thread you started it was ten litres of water. So my guess is one litre at a time, so ten times.
They won't want anything back, it's not going to be sterile/Covid precautions.

The fifteen minutes could be the covid precautions. They won't want to be in close contact with you for any longer than is totally necessary.
Even my farrier, trimmed and went, was with me less than 15 minutes, we usually take our time, have a chat and a coffee.
 
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With vets bills, I always say that you should consider what you think is an acceptable amount to pay and then triple it to get the real cost. My vet is fantastic, always at the end of the phone or email. But very expensive. I don’t think that any other vets would be much different to be honest, it is one of the joys of horse ownership.
 
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I could find out for you which vet we use. But there are things other than price to consider. How long did the vet take to get to you for example in a colic emergency?
I seem to remember walking and being with my old share for ages before our vet came.We also kept some colic drugs on the yard ready if need be.

Then in your place, I wouldnt phne about bills. Any enquiries about costs should be in writing in an email. As phones should be left for people making more urgent calls.
The person answering the phone at a vet office is not always the person who draws up the bills. The vet decides what is on the bill. So put it in writing.

It is correct that one cant return drugs. Cant return unopened human drugs either.

You may find there are only one or two vet practices for horses near here. And that getting colic treatment for a horse already retired and turned out 24/7 is not that usual.
 
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newforest said:
If you are not happy this could be the time to look round.
You do seem to be paying a lot. Ours is £30 visit and £30 consult, give our take, might be £40 now.

Saline will be because he was tubed and if you look back at the thread you started it was ten litres of water. So my guess is one litre at a time, so ten times.
They won't want anything back, it's not going to be sterile/Covid precautions.

The fifteen minutes could be the covid precautions. They won't want to be in close contact with you for any longer than is totally necessary.
Even my farrier, trimmed and went, was with me less than 15 minutes, we usually take our time, have a chat and a coffee.
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He used water from a bucket that I provided to hydrate him, hope I wasn't charged for that!
 
Thanks everyone. I have messaged them to just reassure me that everything on the bill was actually used. They once charged me for 100 Bute when I didn't have any so mistakes do happen.

I've contacted another practise to see if they cover my area. It's not really the cost, I had no problem paying the £200 for his teeth and flu jab because they managed to fit me in when lock down restrictions were still quite difficult and the vet that came was brilliant. He had lots of time to answer any questions etc and I felt confident with him. He went into detail on what he was doing and why.

Anyway will see if they get back to me
 
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I've never really understood the call out fee being so high, they are 10 miles away so why do you need to pay so much and then a consult fee. I get it's how vets work but doesn't really make sense
 
Ale said:
He used water from a bucket that I provided to hydrate him, hope I wasn't charged for that!
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No but you would be charged for the professional administration of it, else he would hand the tube to you.
 
Ale said:
I've never really understood the call out fee being so high, they are 10 miles away so why do you need to pay so much and then a consult fee. I get it's how vets work but doesn't really make sense
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I’m with you on this one Ale, ours charge both a call out fee and a consult fee, I mean you can’t really examine the horse unless you can see it can you, although saying that obviously if you take the horse to them you only pay the consult fee.
 
Mine also charge a call out and a consult fee, but both are a lot lower than the figures you stated @Ale , they also split the call out fee if they see more than one horse on the yard in the same visit and charge slightly less if a return call out is needed for the same incident, eg a colic not clearing after initial treatment.

@Skib is it really that unusual at your yard to get a vet to a retired horse if it is colicking, or indeed needs the vet for any other reason? I've always viewed it as a completely normal thing to do and have never been on a yard where it would be questioned, indeed I've never known a vet to treat a retired horse any differently to a working one. IF things progressed to a point where surgery was needed then age and general health would be a consideration, but not whether it was retired or working. If I felt my vet in any way considered my horse was inferior and less worthy of treatment because it was retired and/or lived out then I would be changing practice immediately!
 
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carthorse said:
@Skib is it really that unusual at your yard to get a vet to a retired horse if it is colicking, or indeed needs the vet for any other reason? I've always viewed it as a completely normal thing to do and have never been on a yard where it would be questioned, indeed I've never known a vet to treat a retired horse any differently to a working one. IF things progressed to a point where surgery was needed then age and general health would be a consideration, but not whether it was retired or working. If I felt my vet in any way considered my horse was inferior and less worthy of treatment because it was retired and/or lived out then I would be changing practice immediately!
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Oh I read this as because they are less likely to colic if retired and out 24/7, not what you are suggesting. I do hope people still ring the vets for their retired field ornaments
 
@Ale from experience I would say that if a field kept horse is seen to be colicking it has a higher chance of being a serious colic. While this may be partly management I suspect there is also an element of mild colics being less likely to be picked up on and so the horse either resolves it itself or it worsens and someone notices or the horse is found dead. But I would hope a vet would treat all colics as equally important and not treat according to monetary worth.
 
Ive just checked my bill for last September as im curious how my vets costs compare with others.

Call out incl. vat £34.00
Examination incl. vat £42.00

Cant tell you what the April call outs and examinations were as the vets havent sent me a copy of the bill yet again. Very cheeky. This is the second time its happened. So basically they can shove on the bill what they like, send direct to the insurance company and id never know if i was paying for drugs or treatment that was never given or over paying the odds. I shall be getting a copy as i want it for my own records and incase i ever change vets.

Does anyone elses vets do this if its going through an insurance claim. Or do you automatically get a copy sent to you.
 
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When chunky showed odd symptoms years ago. Me not knowing at the time how colic presents. I rang the vets and described symptoms they said straight away said sounds like mild colic. They told me what to do and to give bute. They did offer to come out but said i could just monitor for the time being. If it got worse to ring and they would come out. I was lucky it did pass. If i hadnt been there when i was i would probably have never known hed colicked. I racked my brain for weeks on what could have caused it. Eventually it did dawn on me about some hay that had been put out for him. I wonder how many other horses out in pasture colic without someone knowing about it or colic after the owner has left the yard.
 
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@chunky monkey I get a copy sent to me for approval before it's sent to the insurance company - since I hve to fill in a claim form I wouldn't be at all happy not seeing the bill. If it was significantly wrong I suspect it would be the owner that the insurance company came after, not the vet.
 
Yes the initial claim inquiry i had to do over the phone with the insurance company. Apparently they no longer send out claim forms. After that it got a bit muddled and i had to request a copy of the bill. In april the claim was just done between vet and insurance and again nothing came to me. But my insurance company rung me to query something which i couldnt answer as i hadnt seen copy. Inspite me requesting a copy i still havent received it to date.
 
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