Vet Prices?

AceCard Jones

Hi all,

I was just wondering if the prices I am paying for the vets are in line with what everyone else is paying, as I feel like I’m paying more than I should for return visits.

Basically one of my kittens has a bit of a rattley/wheezy chest. At first we thought it was a chest infection. Brought her to the vets, and paid €45 for the visit and a course of anti-biotics. Now if the tablets cost €10, that’d mean the visit cost €35, and if the tablets cost €5 the visit cost €40.

No joy with the tablets, the problem persisted so we brought her back. Were told she’d need an x-ray to see what’s going on. That visit cost €35 even though it was about the same thing, so we either paid the same as the first visit (without the tablets), or saved a fiver.

The x-ray with tablets (it found she has fluid on her lungs, even though the vet thinks her heart sounds strong; the vet was a bit baffled by it) cost €135. Not too concerned with this price being too much as I understand the anaesthetic can be expensive.

Now, the tablets we were given don’t seem to have made a difference so we want to go back and see what the next course of action is. I rang today to find out when we could see the vet we have been dealing with, and asked how much this visit will cost and was told it would be €35 again.

Now to me that seems like we are not paying any less for each visit even though it is about the same problem. Is this normal with vets? I know that going back to our doctors about the same issue costs less than the first time and I was under the impression that vets operated the same way.

Are these prices in line with what other people are paying? If not can anyone recommend another good vet in North County Dublin?

portgirl123

sorry not from dublin but i know our vet if we go back with a recurring problem he dont charge the fee for seen him.

blondie7

Wow i think €35 is cheap for a vets visit, i go to a vet in Blanchardstown and they charge €42 for a visit. I think they only charge €25 when its a second visit with the same problem, i cant remember as when my kitty was sick he was there so often and i was so worried i just handed over the card without even asking how much it was costing. I would pay my vets any amount for the work they do, they saved my kittys life and ill be forever grateful.

ppink

sounds a bit wild to be honest.

we are to and fro from the vets right now and I brought 3 dogs in ........one had an xray on the spot and got steroids and got well examined for a couple of different issues; one got examined for a skin issue and scrapings taken to test and steroids to clear and the final one was a check up on an ongoing problem....no meds for that one.

total was €50

not in Dublin though!

we had a review then and another bout of meds which total was €20 for 1 dog.

Wisco

I think €35/40 for an initial visit is quite reasonable. Many (most?) vets will offer a reduced for for follow up visits (€25ish is my experience) but obviously medication is added onto that.
However, I would say that if you're not happy and your pet is not improving that it might be time to seek a second opinion, although you'll have to pay an first visit fee again for the new vet. But it might be worth it if you see an improvement quickly.

@Ppink- you're getting a great deal and your vet is probably not charging you enough to even cover his costs. Count yourself lucky I suppose.

AceCard Jones

Thanks for the replies.

I have no problem at all with the initial price for a first visit. I may not have made this clear, but it really is just the follow up/return visits that have me questioning the price. Cost of treatment/procedures/tablets etc are definitely not the issue; although money is tight we would pay anything to make sure our cats are in good health.

At the first visit the vet had said that an x-ray may be necessary if the anti-biotics didn't work, so the second visit was really just for him to have a listen to her chest and confirm that an x-ray would be needed. At the time we thought nothing of the price as we were worrying about her, but thinking back we either paid the same or got a fiver off for a two minute check-up.

Money is a bit tight, and the prospect of further procedures obviously means more costs (she may need her lungs drained, and may need to have an ultra-sound scan of her heart; have no idea what they would cost), and as said we will gladly get the money together, it's just really the "in-between" visits that we feel could be a bit cheaper. It all adds up after-all!

Just out of curiosity though, would anyone recommend a good vet for the North County Dublin area? Just in case we do need a second opinion, and have never really heard of any vets in our area other than our current one.

Thanks again.

Sigma Force

It's not the price I'd be worried about it's the fact the vet isn't being very thorough I would change vets this is a common enough ailment and with a kitten it should be dealt with more efficiently I think anyway. I wouldn't be happy having to go back to the vet that many times and still not get any results from it.

ppink

I have no answer for you for North County Dublin, you could try calling Dogs Trust and see what vets they recommend or use? I am sure there are some people on here who are in that area.

as regards you 2nd visit it just reminds me of the vet we used to go to......in the end I felt it was a money extraction rather that the health of my animals so I now travel a fair distance to a different vet. why go back and pay more money to be told the same thing, for the same problem? why did they not take her in then and there for xray?

the distance we travel now to our vet does not concern me as I know I will get the best care possible as his sole focus is the animal. we have gone from vet no 1 who had to have our dogs overnight at huge cost to xray and then we had another appointment to read the scans as they needed a radiologist to do it, to now if there is an issue the dog is sedated immediately and xray while I wait and scans read on the spot. Big difference in price and more importantly the care of the animal.
as regards ultrasound, our vet has one in his surgery and that is done on the spot and explained immediately too and costs a normal consult fee.

I have no experience of draining the lungs but if they do not know what is wrong with her can this just recur?

If I were you I would probably get a second opinion too.

AceCard Jones

ppink wrote:

as regards you 2nd visit it just reminds me of the vet we used to go to......in the end I felt it was a money extraction rather that the health of my animals so I now travel a fair distance to a different vet. why go back and pay more money to be told the same thing, for the same problem? why did they not take her in then and there for xray?

In fairness I can't fault the vets for not taking her there and then, as we didn't go to the main branch of the vets, we went to a clinic they operate near us, it wasn't the main hospital branch. We organised when we would drop her up to the main place. But looking back €35 for a quick check and to be told she needed an x-ray just seems a bit excessive, I mean they knew we'd be back to pay €135 for the x-ray just a few days later.

ppink wrote:

as regards ultrasound, our vet has one in his surgery and that is done on the spot and explained immediately too and costs a normal consult fee.

On the day of the x-ray we rang to find out when we could collect her (assuming we would speak to the vet then), and ended up speaking to vet on the phone, and he explained about the fluid and said he was confused by it because her heart sounds fine to him (he said he couldn't hear any murmers or anything like that), and told us he'd be putting her on tablets that should clear up the fluid. When we asked what the next step would be if the tablets didn't work he said that she would have to be referred to get an ultra-sound. We didn't get speaking to vet himself when we went to collect her (we only got speaking to the nurse; it was her who brought up getting the fluid drained when we asked), so we couldn't find out more about the ultra-sound so we're not sure if it can be done there. The fact that he said she would be "referred" has us thinking it won't be done by them.

We will be bringing her back next week as with it being the Easter weekend that's the earliest we can see that vet so we'll be asking for a lot more info then.

Sigma Force would you be able to give me more information about what can be done for our kitten in this case? Is it hard to diagnose what would be causing it? Googling the problem brings up nothing useful as any cases I read online haven't got the same symptoms ie none other than a wheezy/rattley sound from time to time when resting. She's eleven months old. As I said she hasn't got any other symptoms: no runny nose/eyes, is eating well, using the litter tray the same, and keeps up with her sister when playing. We noticed it first around January but thought she was just snoring as she was fine otherwise, and it would only happen from time to time when sleeping. It was only in March that we noticed her do it when she was just resting and getting ready to go to sleep. We thought that it was her nose, but listened to her chest anyway and heard the slight rattle so we organised a vet visit thinking it was just going to be a chest infection.

Getting a bit worried about her now as the vet said that the tablets should clear it up (couldn't say it definitely would), and it hasn't. As I said though, other than the rattle/wheezy sound from time to time when she's sleeping she seems perfectly fine, so we are taking that as a good sign! Just praying it's nothing serious as we can't stand the idea of her suffering at all, even if it is only slightly.

ppink

Ah I see that kind of explains it.

Just when you are telling more of the story there it seems similar ot what I had with one of our dogs. I did notice wheezing but she suddenly slowed down and took her to the vet and he did an ultrasound of her heart and saw that her heart was enlarged and the reason for her slowing was that she also had fluid on the lungs.

he gave us meds for the fluid also.....cant remember the name now? anyway that may be why they are checking her heart by ultrasound?

your kitten is only young so they are probably ruling the heart out by ultrasound. Is she still playing away normally?

AceCard Jones

ppink wrote:

Ah I see that kind of explains it.

Just when you are telling more of the story there it seems similar ot what I had with one of our dogs. I did notice wheezing but she suddenly slowed down and took her to the vet and he did an ultrasound of her heart and saw that her heart was enlarged and the reason for her slowing was that she also had fluid on the lungs.

he gave us meds for the fluid also.....cant remember the name now? anyway that may be why they are checking her heart by ultrasound?

your kitten is only young so they are probably ruling the heart out by ultrasound. Is she still playing away normally?

Yeah, she's playing grand, she keeps up with her sister anyway! She never has any sort of laboured breathing either whether playing or resting. The only symptom is the noise from time to time when she's resting or sleeping, and as I said at first you would just think it was her snoring.

On the day of the x-ray when I was talking to the vet on the phone, he was quite surprised that it was fluid as he said that usually points to a heart problem, but said her heart to him sounds good (he listened for murmurs etc). That's why he suggested the ultra-sound, to rule it out really.

How did your dog get on with the enlarged heart? Is it hard to treat? As I said we got tablets for her to clear up the fluid but it really doesn't seem to have worked. For the first week of tablets we thought it had been improving, but it seems the same now. We are obviously praying her heart is ok, but as we haven't really got speaking to the vet we don't know what the other possibilities could mean.

Just bad enough worrying about your pet and then wondering are we paying to much! I have to say though, she's a brilliant patient anyway; I've never had a cat that I didn't have to wrestle a tablet into! She actually purrs when getting a tablet! (Although that could be because she knows she's getting a treat after! )

ppink

unfortunately our dog did not end up so good. It was chronic heart failure and we ended up pts her before Xmas:(.
Before you start worrying though our dog was 12 years old and was having problems walking short distances and our vet did hear an issue with the heart before he did the ultrasound. your kitten is very young and it is unlikely that is the issue I would have thought. the ultrasound is probably just a ruling out thing, precautionary.
our dog did respond to those meds for a while though, but she was given meds for fluid and something else for her heart I think.
It is hard and obviously the pet comes first but in this day and age you have to keep a handle on cost and all. Like everything it can spiral quickly out of control.
I take it you have no health insurance for them?
Hopefully Tuesday will bring you a bit of relief. She is playing and eating treats so it is not all bad:D