My Greyhound has just had surgery for bloat, at the moment the bill stands at £2,500. Is this the normal price for bloat surgery?, he did not need his stomach un-twisting and no organs were removed as I had caught it in the early stages.
I am querying the bill with the head office of my vets (medivets), also my Greyhound is not insured (I know in hindsight he should have been). Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Kirsten Ciddelapaz
This does seem excessive, and it is unacceptable for a vet to carry out £2,500 worth of work without an owner's permission! Perhaps you said 'to do everything possible'? Also, your vet should have checked if you had insurance. I would definitely make an appointment so that an itemised bill can be explained to you in detail. Your dog should definitely have received 'Gold Standard' treatment!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds a lot to me too.
ReplyDeleteWhy should a vet check first if you have insurance? Do they charge more if you have?
It goes without saying that you are grateful that your dog's life was saved, as bloat is life threatening, but just the same it's not a bad thing to query the bill.
There doesn't seem to be a standard pricing system in place & some vets (only some) may take advantage of this.
At least you are doing something about it instead of just moaning.
It is insurance fraud for a vet to charge more because a dog is insured, BUT the treatment of an insured dog need not be limited by cost in any given situation e.g. a complicated limb fracture which can not be 'mended' in general practice, could be referred to a vet school specialist in order to save the leg. The only financially viable option for the owner of an uninsured dog, might be amputation of the limb by their own vet. Vets surgeries are not charities, and would not survive long if they did work which owners could not afford to pay for!
ReplyDeletethis does seem a huge amount!Was this 'out of hours' treatment? Any news of how your dog is? My vet always says 'oh yes, you're insured aren't you' before calculating my bill.....hmmnn
ReplyDeleteSeems a lot to me too, my GSD had bloat twice and together didn't come to your amount and she was hospitalised for four days. My daughters GSD went to RVC with bloat despite her getting there immediately the could not save her, her stomach had started to die, cost was £800 and no dog.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting everyone. My greyhound is on the mend, were just waiting for the staples to come out know. I recieved a letter fromthe head of medivets and they say that 'you get what you pay for', I am in the process of writing a reply. I am worried that he may get bloat again, since owning him I have fed him twice a day, from a raised stand, not exercised 2 hours either side of feeding. I have started to feed him three times a day and changed him onto meat and wholemeal mixer with some veg. I don't know if we could afford to pay for another opp if it was to happen again.
ReplyDelete