| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| simbba |
Posted - 15 Sep 2010 : 08:57:38 AM
Had my vet bill through yesterday and was shocked by the ever increaseing call out charge £47.00 I could under stand if i were some distance but its on the door step,would not cost no more than £2.50 tops there and back!I know theres increased costs of petrol!Just woundering what other people pay for call outs. |
| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Holly |
Posted - 23 Sep 2010 : 1:59:10 PM
I keep my horses about 1 mile from the vets practice and a standard call out fee is £50 every time. Time is not charged on top of this unless it is for a timely thing like having wolf teeth removed or teeth rasped.
Any medication is added on though.
I recently called out my vet on a saturday evening as my filly was covered in large fluidy lumps all over her body- vet arrived within 10minutes and call out and medication cost about £100.
I am very happy with my vets and would not ever change them although I do think the call out is quite expensive.
If I take my dog into the vets it costs £20 just to be seen before you add medication on.
But like I said i trust my vet and wouldn't use anyone else so for me I am paying more for my peace of mind knowing that I have an excellent vet. |
| Debbie |
Posted - 23 Sep 2010 : 07:35:07 AM
Not too sure how much my vet charges for call out or examination because I know that if I call them it was unavoidable. I 'inherited' my vet from Annie Hawkes when we bought Woodlay farm. If they were good enough for her black arabians they are good enough for mine. The senior vet is a gem and incredibly knowledgeable! |
| lisa rachel |
Posted - 23 Sep 2010 : 12:53:28 AM
Sarah, it was priceless to us too to see him going up the ramp home!!!
The card was fantastic ... thanks!
Just got home from work can never just 'switch off' so read this while scoffing a late snack.
Danielle, Francis and Mary, thanks so much for your kind words  , you are all a pleasure to work for and Mary, I still laugh occasionally about things you said to me about 20 years ago ... you 're the one with the wicked sense of humour!
I now feel very embarassed about my defensive posts  , I just hate to think people are under the illusion that we are in it for the money ( )
Vet bills are expensive ( I paid mine today, just for drugs ... at cost...that Hassan has had here in the last month and it was over half my salary.) But the reason that they are expensive is to meet costs not for us to get rich quick, or slowly, or in fact ever!
Cheers
Lisa |
| sarah_and_sert |
Posted - 22 Sep 2010 : 9:57:52 PM
Little update on my boy
He came home tonight and I cried the whole way home,
Its been the most stressful two weeks of my life,
Cost of my miracle??? Priceless
thanks girls xxxxx |
| maromito |
Posted - 22 Sep 2010 : 9:23:15 PM
I have to say I am also extremely lucky to have Lisa and Phil as my vets,over the years they have always gone beyond what could be reasonably expected and that extra mile has meant the world to me more than once.
They are always very concious of the cost of treatment and keep it as low as possible .
It helps of course that they have a wicked sense of humour !!!![sorely needed sometimes] |
| Roseanne |
Posted - 21 Sep 2010 : 12:16:29 PM
Lindsay that was going to be my question - what are the charges for cows/sheep etc.
No intention to vet-bash here - my vets are great and I always knew this was possibly a big part of the expense of having horses, but I find it exasperating that everything with 'equestrian' has a premium attached. And some (not vets) suppliers are ruthless in how much they bump up prices. Our local supplier almost doubled the prices of fly repellent this summer (£11.45 for the most bog standard bottle) and by the end of August and the flies largely gone, they were offering them two-for-the-price of one! I rebelled and went straight to ShooFly on Ebay!!
It shows we should all be in manufacture/supplies for horses as well as owning them to ride! |
| precious |
Posted - 21 Sep 2010 : 10:46:02 AM
my vets call out during office hours is £80!!!
They are not local to me but i use them as they are the best. They do offer discounts if there is another call out by me or if i book it with 3days notice.
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| sarah_and_sert |
Posted - 19 Sep 2010 : 9:21:19 PM
Originally posted by scooter1
i would like to say that lisa and phillipa are my vets, and i would not consider another practice. they have never once let me down, and i consider their charges reasonable. i know that whatever day or time i need them they will be there for my horses, and i also know they go beyond the call of duty to treat the horses under their care.
Amen to that  |
| scooter1 |
Posted - 19 Sep 2010 : 08:31:23 AM
i would like to say that lisa and phillipa are my vets, and i would not consider another practice. they have never once let me down, and i consider their charges reasonable. i know that whatever day or time i need them they will be there for my horses, and i also know they go beyond the call of duty to treat the horses under their care. |
| Lindsay |
Posted - 18 Sep 2010 : 10:31:24 PM
I am £35.00 for a call out from my vet but the farmer who lives 1/4 mile away is £16.00. I have offered to take them to the farm but have been told that the charge would still be the same!!!!!
Their reason - horse owners have more money. My reply no we don't as people like you think we do! |
| sarah_and_sert |
Posted - 18 Sep 2010 : 10:23:43 PM
Im lucky too Lisa and Phillipa are my vets too
I owe them so much as my baby boy is in their care at the moment to say the least its been hell of a week and a half and we still not out of the woods yet, and its because she cares so much its because of Danny she missed the show to do a operation on his leg.
I wouldnt change my vets for the world xxxxxx |
| nikki |
Posted - 18 Sep 2010 : 1:45:24 PM
i think my vets are great though i now always make sure i try and have the same one every time, as i did get sent one i never met before who has i found out after has a bit of reputation for bumping the bill up as much as possible, she was so slow, and i didn't realise/and certainly was never told that i was being charged per min. she kept on having to sedate my horse as she was slow and kept on messing about, and so i got charged for the repeated injections. |
| gryff1976 |
Posted - 18 Sep 2010 : 10:41:59 AM
I just wanted to add that Lisa is my vet - and even, though I've (courtesy of NFU) spent a small fortune at her practice this past year - it's been worth every penny! |
| lisa rachel |
Posted - 17 Sep 2010 : 10:26:57 PM
Originally posted by saddlebredI wouldnt be without my vet - whatever the charge. I do sometimes get irritated if I get sent a more junior vet who knows less than me - but I guess that is just a sign that I am getting old.  Lisa - enjoy your ride on your beautiful Arab and I hope one day you are very very rich - because you're worth it (flicks hair with a cheezy grin!) lol.
I did have a blissful ride thanks  , Bryn loved it and was v good, lovely gallop, sunny and a sky full of red kites and buzzards
Needless to say the rest of the day off didn't happen, .... work called!
BUT as I said, it is wonderful to work with horses, most of our clients and almost all of the horses are lovely, I am not motivated at all by money, it's just that when you work stupidly long hours for not much it hurts a bit when vets are made out to be greedy ripoff merchants.... again though sorry I was being a bit sensitive!
Lots of you sound like lovely clients to your vets, I am sure if I wasn't a vet I would be the ultimate pain in the arse client, when I had to take Auds for MRI I forced poor John Walmsley to let me sleep in the carpark!
Cheers
Lisa |
| templars |
Posted - 17 Sep 2010 : 8:00:37 PM
Thanks Ella - off to track it down and nominate our vets! Thanks again x |
| ella |
Posted - 17 Sep 2010 : 7:12:23 PM
Templers - there are several "vet of the year" type awards, look up Petlan Vet Awards 
There's not many vets out there earning much per hour, only the company owners & those with very specialised skills. A new graduate vet may start on less than £25k......with an enormous 5/6/7year uni loan to pay off. They can't even earn more than a few pounds in uni holidays due to the requirement to gain practical experience.
I'm sure most medics/dentists/opthalmologists/plumbers/gas fitters think anyone wanting to do so much for so little £ is crayyyyyzeeee! |
| abcoboy |
Posted - 17 Sep 2010 : 1:17:28 PM
and am lucky he's patient with my 100's of calls ... is this normal? Is that normal? are you sure? what if you're wrong? Pateience of an angel ...  |
| abcoboy |
Posted - 17 Sep 2010 : 1:15:43 PM
I pay my equine only vet £35 standard callout, £70 if after 5.30/weekend, examination £25 then any lotions/potions on top ... dont care as long as she's not poorly  |
| templars |
Posted - 17 Sep 2010 : 12:34:49 PM
We absolutely love our vet
We use a specialist equine practice for the horses and a general practice for the dogs, cats, sheep and cattle.
The equine practice is so, so good. They don't charge a call out charge because they are usually dealing with more than one of ours when they come to do routines stuff (jabs, teeth etc) but obviously, if it's an emergency then they do charge.
They are all real horse people (they all have horses) and their human handling skills are just as good as their veterinary knowledge. Each one has a specialist area so we can just ask for x for a chat about legs or hooves, y for a chat about teeth and z about reproduction (yipee - they do stallions AND mares). And they are so caring that when we had to have a horse pts, they sent us a sympathy card signed by all the vets and nurses who had helped and been involved.
And what I really appreciate is their honesty. When Mr Feathers broke last year they explained it was an old injury (from before we got him) that was probably never going to heal properly (it had never healed properly before) and they advised putting him to sleep because effectively he would be little more than an ornament. We were shocked and said no, we had the space and we were more than happy to let him retire. And then they said "but what if he's not ready to retire - he's been an athlete at the top level, what if he can't adjust to a life of retirement?" That made us think? And we worked out a plan for helping Mr Feathers and they still call in for a brew and to see how he's coping emotionally with being an "ex-eventer" (he's as happy as Larry!!!! and become a bit of a slob!!) - and we don't get charged! And Mr Feathers got a Christmas card from them!
Our general practice vet is a lot more (sorry for the pun) clinical! They are more impersonal and charge per cm of bandage or plaster, they charge for the contents of the syringe, the syringe and the needle for annual jabs for the dogs and they aren't as open and up front. In fact we moved the horses because we had a youngster that was very poorly and they outlined all sorts of treatment that would help. £3,000 later after he'd died, one of them said we had wasted our money because they knew from the outset he wouldn't live. That's when I changed vet.
Can't believe the difference between the practices. But love, love, love our equine vet. In fact, if there was a place to nominate vets for an award, we'd definitely do it!!
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| saddlebred |
Posted - 17 Sep 2010 : 11:39:12 AM
I wouldnt be without my vet - whatever the charge. I do sometimes get irritated if I get sent a more junior vet who knows less than me - but I guess that is just a sign that I am getting old.
Lisa - enjoy your ride on your beautiful Arab and I hope one day you are very very rich - because you're worth it (flicks hair with a cheezy grin!) lol. |
| lisa rachel |
Posted - 17 Sep 2010 : 09:16:34 AM
Kimzi.
Sorry everyone else maybe I was being a bit sensitive , just a bit knackered at moment, last night I wasn't on call but got home 20 past midnight. I am off till 5 pm today though, then working the w/e ,so going riding now on my beautiful horse on the beautiful mountain.... which is worth more than all posh dinners and shiny lorries in the world so I think I'll stay happily un-rich in my lovely Wales.
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| kimzi |
Posted - 17 Sep 2010 : 08:14:19 AM
Hi back to call out fee's, Ours is £60 in an emergency is which is pretty good for our area, none of the vets in our area offer any free calls, nearly all ask for money upfront which is fine unless you get something truelly awful happen with a veteran which the insurance wont cover. But if you look at it in comparison to a courier i could ring and ask for a large sprinter van that requires an hours loading @ £10 hour at 2 am with no notice to cover the same distance for the princeley sum of £26 and they also require business insurance, goods in transit insurance, public liability etc. & huge maintenance costs, The driver gets nothing for being on call and the courier company takes their cut out of the £26. You dont see impoverished vets in our area they are too busy dining at smiths brasserie or taking their kids showjumping in shiny new lorries, maybe you should move to essex lisa lol. |
| Nut |
Posted - 17 Sep 2010 : 07:47:20 AM
Following the retirement of my vet of over 15 years, I now use an equine only practice that offer set week days in each zone they cover that are free e.g no call out that day, if its a routine visit and they can give you a price upfront then if you take cash with you its 10% off, if you can pay on credit or debit card within 48hours its 5% off which I think is a brilliant offer and encourages early or even prompt payment.
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| Ludanella |
Posted - 17 Sep 2010 : 06:33:19 AM
Not too sure what my call out is. An emergency call out, out of hours + painkiller/anti-inflammitory injection was £100. He was with us for about an hour. Was quite relieved by that bill! |
| simbba |
Posted - 16 Sep 2010 : 11:51:34 PM
no vet bashing intended either!It is very interesting how much the call out charges differ. |
