vet charges

[binbob]

My information came from a source who has access to this information as disclosed by vet practices.

At the end of the day you can have as much competition as you like, there is nothing to stop any vet in the world opening a practice up here. All you would find is that one opens and one closes - who that is well you decide.

I dont really know how to respond to someone that is happy to take the free advice at all hours and not happy to pay when need be. There is a vets in Rogart, maybe they are cheaper.

now u are being difficult and lost what i have actually said..my dogs are all insured ...no problem for me to pay ,no matter the cost.
rogart is not for me...
i also have access to that information.i have several friends who are vets in the central belt.they do have very nice cars,been at unietc.they all deserve that as do the vets here.i have no problem with any of that either..
i know about penny and praise is deserved all round on that score.
only asked how other pet lovers felt about the costs..now i have a very small selection of opinions..thank u.

i notice many go on about dentist charges..do they not also deserve to charge whatever they desire too???having spent many years at uni too???ahhh well..perhaps another thread on thaone soon..again..then petrol...energy bills ...oh dear so much to think about.time for bed.

[binbob]

My information came from a source who has access to this information as disclosed by vet practices.

At the end of the day you can have as much competition as you like, there is nothing to stop any vet in the world opening a practice up here. All you would find is that one opens and one closes - who that is well you decide.

I dont really know how to respond to someone that is happy to take the free advice at all hours and not happy to pay when need be. There is a vets in Rogart, maybe they are cheaper.

oh ,one last thing..i never said i was not happy to pay...and how do u know i have had 24 hours free advice??u are assuming far too much,munron.
my bills are paid very promptly..end of subject for me now.thank u.

[neepnipper]

What annoys me about the vet in Wick is the amount of dog mess outside, it's really ignorant of owners not to pick it up.

Once I said to a member of staff about it and they said 'oh, we never come in that way so don't notice it'.

I see they have a notice on the inner door about picking up dog mess but I just think it's terrible having to dodge the doo doos every time you go in there.

[binbob]

What annoys me about the vet in Wick is the amount of dog mess outside, it's really ignorant of owners not to pick it up.

Once I said to a member of staff about it and they said 'oh, we never come in that way so don't notice it'.

I see they have a notice on the inner door about picking up dog mess but I just think it's terrible having to dodge the doo doos every time you go in there.

not much better in thurso...

[dousslesh]

We use the Vet. Practice in Wick. Staff there are always friendly, always helpful and always there in the event of an emergency (Which for some reason always seems to be a weekend !)
The first time I used the practice to buy Frontline I was amazed that a pack of Frontline was split to enable me to buy one dose at a time. Down South we had to buy a minimum of a pack of three!
Can only say I would not personally use another Vet should a new practice open locally, as we are more than happy with the Wick Practice.
The staff know us personally (Much like our local GP's ) Many people do not realise just have valuable and reassuring that is until they have lived 'Down South' and experienced being 'just another 'customer or patient. We are grateful and thankful to be living here in Caithness where the people are friendly and businesses have time for you.

[KEEP_ON_TRUCKIN]

aye we suffer with everything for living this far north, but as you said we willl do anything for our pets and that will never change.

I absolutely agree - WE WILL do everything for our pets and that will never change...

HOWEVER the first part of your sentence........??? I just can't see how you think we suffer for EVERYTHING for living this far North??? I moved home to Caithness after living in Aberdeenshire for 6 years and Ross Shire for 1 and I can assure you - living THIS FAR NORTH if much cheaper than either of the above....

Price of land, house prices..... ok so we have to pay delivery charges because they think we're an island.....there is a huge market out there for just about any product we could ever want so shop around...... electricy , gas - they cost a fortune anywhere..... our food do we pay more for it here? no ......not really..... Fuel ok that's more expensive .....what else??? I can't see where we suffer??

The vets don't charge us that much money just because we are in Caithness... the market determines that price on so many different levels including supply and demand........... the market structure....yes they do have a monopoly ....... level of service- yes its very high - therfore cost of service provision high .....it can be attributed to many things.....

We can all have a moan about it.....as for whoever raised the issue on dentists......ehhhh well they can charge what they want but there is competition so obviously that comes into account ..... vets are generall the worst paid of the professionals......

I got accepted into vet school conditionally as a postgrad.....however the cost of the course having already had an undergrad course paid for me to come out to a salary of about £18k a year as a 28/29 year old with about 60k of debt on course fees alone...... just not financially viable....was making far better money with both livestock auction firms ive worked with over last 4 years......

OOoH interesting now that opens up the debate for farmers and the cost of their procedures compared to small pet owners....... with charges of around £150 fior a ceasure on a coo and the calf only worth £500 at 8 /9 months old if it lives that long and isn't dead when it comes out and the cost of the coo keep about 300 for the year..... and that's their living we are talking about...... not the luxury of us enjoying our pets.....

There's always a much bigger picture....

[Mall67]

"Touch wood" I don't have to experience the fees that some of you have had. But what I have had was some bad manners from the desk. At the time our cat was 6 months old and we had a suspicion she was pregnant, so took her to vet to confirm she was.
While paying our bill the receptionist took it upon herself to tell us how irresponsible we were for letting such a young cat get pregnant. But unknown to her we had just rescued her 2 weeks prior and she had never been out the house yet, and she was about 3 weeks pregnant. She has since had 3 kittens all of which went to good homes and she was speyed shortly after.

[GruesomeTwosome]

I had a similar experience when I bought one of my pup's I went for the first check up a couple of days after I got the pup home. The vet kept complaining that she couldnt hear the pup's heart because she was sniffing too much, someone please tell me how you stop a 7/8 week old pup from sniffing???????????? She was very blunt in saying the pup had a heart murmur and it could kill her within 6 months or never affect her at all. I was devistated, vet was very uncaring and offered little advice, just that I had to wait and see, luckily I contacted the breeder who was so helpful and got me in touch with a specialist who gave me more info, I was lucky to have support like that elsewhere.

This was however one vet and one experience.

When one of my dogs were pts they were fantastic and couldnt have asked for better. So sympathetic and treated my dog with nothing but respect.

Irrespective of either experience I think they are an invalueable service and never grudge or question the cost.

[Kodiak]

I have a Rabbit and every so often have to take him to the Vet in Janet Street, Thurso to get his claws clipped.

I find it depends on the Vet how much I get charged as I have never been charged the same price twice. By this I do not mean it has got more expensive every time, but that the price goes up and down depending who the Vet is.

The last time I was charged £6.50 + VAT but the time before that I was charged £9.75 + VAT. Over the past 2 Years I have paid anything from £6.00 + VAT to £12.50 + VAT.

It would be nice if the Vet had a Clear pricing policy so we the Customers know where we stand.

[Bad Manners]

We have had to use the vet in Wick with an emergency regarding one of the pets and they have proved to be very helpfull friendly and reasonably priced we have been back for routine jabs etc and find that they are certainly far cheaper than our previous vet. and must add even when we phone up they know exactly who you are and what animal you are talking about this is far better than just being another one on a list.
When you have animals you will pay whatever it takes but we find up here it takes a lot less.

[cazmanian_minx]

I've found the vet in Thurso astonishingly cheap compared to Croydon. For example - 28 Fortekor tables, £29 in Croydon, £17 here. 5kg bag of Hills k/d, £42 in Croydon, £35 here. Blood tests - £60-ish in Croydon for just the kidney ones, £60-ish here for a complete haematology.

My cat, as you may guess from the above, is ancient and her kidneys are going. Over the last few months she's been through all kinds of diagnostic tests and medications, including x-rays, to get to the bottom of mystery wheezing (which has turned out to be a thickening of the soft tissues and related to the kidney problems). The bill for 3 months of consultations, x-rays, blood tests and medication has been under £200. In Croydon I'd be running close to £450 by now.

[Liz]

My Veterinary Surgeons always treat my pets (and myself!) with such care and respect and are there 24/7.

You can't put a price on that.