Vet fees

[gager5000]

Hello, just after some words of wisdom really. Our dog has got cancer so we're looking at getting it treated but have no idea what sort of price would be realistic. I've been told that the vet that did the test is well known for ripping people off so dont want to go there if another can do it cheaper.

Also, could I take those test results to another vet or would they do another set of tests and charge accordingly?

Any advice would be great.

Ben.

[stinkwheel]

Ask them how much it would be. Explain money is tight and you need to know how much things are going to cost so you can budget for them.

I don't know about any details. If it's a surgical case, then they ought to be able to give you a fairly accurate quote for the surgery and follow up care. Remember to get them to add any follow up tests such as histopathology to the quote.

If it's a medical one they should be able to give you a rough quote for the "per week" cost of the drugs plus any monitoring tests they have to do.

There are also varying options for dealing with tumours ranging from doing nothing and putting them to sleep when their quality of life is adversely affected, through surgery, palliative care only, right up to full-on chemo protocalls or even referral to Cambridge vet school for radiotherapy. All depends on the details of the case, how well the animal would cope and what the owner is prepared to do and spend along with ethical checks and balances as to what is really fair (I have oppinions about the ethics of some of the more agressive forms of chemo in pets).

They should have gone over the options with you.

You're free to change vets. If you do, the new vets will normally get in touch with your old one for them to forward any relevant clinical history. They would probably want to examine the animal themselves so they can get a good handle on what's going on because there is only so much you can glean from clinical notes.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[gager5000]

Thanks for the reply, a lot of good advice. The vet seems to be saying its one that wont spread so can just chop it off and she'll be fine. To look at her you wouldn't there was anything wrong, apart from the large lump on her chest, so I'd hope there wouldn't be any long term issues that would require putting her to sleep. Will speak to them and see what we can beat out in terms of a deal or payment plan. Not had much experience with vets in terms of proper treatment so didn't know how it worked. Thanks for the advice.

[JP7]

Good advice from Stinkwheel, just wanted to say all the best and hope your dog is ok.

[stinkwheel]

[gager5000]

[t121anf]

our dog had a lump on its chest, vet suspected cancer and quoted a daft figure to my parents informing them if they didn't go ahead it would die.

lived with said lump for about 10yrs on, never bothered it.

guess it depends on the lump and animal but surgery isn't the only solution.

[f1fan111]

Do you have pet insurance? as that can cover some if not all problems depending on what cover you got.

[Rogerborg]

Nothing to add to Mr Wheel's edumacated information, I just wanted to say I'm sorry to hear about your pooch, and I hope it works out OK.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[Visitor Q]

https://www.legaljuice.com/shotgun%20barrel%20gun%20looking%20down.jpg
____________________
China traffic/travel bike vid - When I make a sweeping statement, please add the word 'statistically' in to the sentence before you bitch...
From September 2014 to January/February 2015 I will not be using any English, nor reading any. As such, I won't be on here. PM at will, but I won't be checking/posting unless in emergencies. Certainly not for the first couple of months. Please berate me savagely if I break that rule...

[michael j]

Are you hungry. Bonny?

[Visitor Q]

[hellkat]

Tangentially ... does anyone have comparative prices of pet insurance?

I've so far managed to pay the vet myself for various cat bills: neutering, assorted abscesses and suchlike, but I know I really ought to take out pet insurance, especially now I seem to have acquired myself a VERY LARGE dog.

Is there a sliding scale?
What do other people pay, and for what sort of pets?
Is there a better [insurance] company than others?
____________________
Not nearly as interesting in real life.

[panrider_uk]

Comparethemeerkat do pet insurance comparisons.

Mark
____________________
Current bikes: Honda ST1100 Pan European. Moto Guzzi V85 TT Travel

[Shreddie]

[hellkat]

[Nai]

Dont get pet insurance. Period.

99.999% of the time its far easier and cheaper to set up a direct debit to put £50 a month into premium bonds than it is to get pet insurance. Insurance companies are renowned for wheedling out of payments, pet insurance is the worst.

An example of expense as well. Our Jack Russel died a couple of years ago of liver failure. The average quote for insurance on a pure Russel is about 40-50 a month. In that dogs shortened but still 7 year life, that was the only cost us £750, not even that, in vets fees. It would have cost between £480-£600 a year to insure her. Utter waste of money.

Your are far better either setting up a debit to pay into Premium bonds or a savings account as a rainy day fund for your pets.

[michael j]

Do get vet insurance. Stan, my 5 yr old Staff has been an absolute money pit. Prolapsed urethra when he was 1, cost in excess of £3000 and has recurred twice at nearly 3 grand a pop. Then the idiot decided to eat a tennis ball which got stuck in his intestine and resulted in 18 inches of intestine being removed. Kerching another 3 grand. We have to pay up front but we get 75% back. Would have been f*cked without it.

[Nai]

My company didn't pay out either time.

First time someone hit our dog when it was on a lead on the pavement because a car driver pulled up to quick and nosed onto the pavement. No witnesses. He claimed it was running loose in the car park. Insurance company didn't pay cause it was claimed we had no control over the dog.

Secound time our dog pulled a muscle on its front right leg as a puppy before we got insurance. It went on the vets record that it was a pulled muscle. It later developed a problem with its rear right legs muscle. It needed an op and the insurance company backed out of paying because my dog had a history of problems on that side's legs dating back before insurance was started.

Pet insurance is a scam and fraud.

You got unlucky, your part of the 0.001% of the time it saved money on.

[f1fan111]

with petplan for both our dogs on joint policy, eldest dog is welsh springer vet aged at 6-8 years and petplan let us insure him which was lucky as he needed an operation. Bill was just over £1000 which i paid up front and then got a cheque from pet plan for full amount.

I'm not 100% convinced on pet insurance but girlfriend wanted it for dogs so we have it.

[Robby]

I've found that pets can be surprisingly hardy living with tumours, a old cat of mine live to 18, the last 2 years of it with a liver twice the size it was meant to be. When we called the vet to say he had died (peacefully, in his sleep) the vet was rather surprised, given that he had given a diagnosis of two months to live in the first place.

If the tumour is operable then get it fixed, even if it expensive, and get the biopsy done - you may find that a change to a special diet or some daily medication are worthwhile from the results.

If it isn't operable and you think the dog hasn't long left, consider getting a puppy. One of the things that gave my cat a new lease on life was getting kittens, it flicked a switch deep in his memory and he became all paternal, even caught them a squirrel. He hadn't caught anything for 5 years previously.

Chat to your vet. Cancer tends to be a scary word, but can range from anything from a small, benign, easily operable tumour to an aggressive malignant series of tumours or leukemia.

If you do go down the insurance route in future it may be worthwhile, but bear in mind that you need to keep up to date on jabs and such. Never been worth it for me with several cats.

[Visitor Q]

The thing is, if there aren't kids in the mix, then why can't you treat pets like girlfriends?

You may be quite attached to them, but they're hardly irreplaceable. I don't like to see them suffering, like I often do out here. But in England the idea that you can't put down your own animal irritates the shit out of me.

If you have the spare money to fix the dog, great. The idea of dropping vast sums on insurance, or defective bits, is just crazy to me. Small problems, fix, big problems... doggy heaven. There's no shortage of the buggers, endearing though some may be.

Whenever I hear about dog/cat/hamster owners getting massive invasive surgery done on their pet, with a success rate below 80% and price tags running into 4 figures, I do have to wonder whether they're right in the head.
____________________
China traffic/travel bike vid - When I make a sweeping statement, please add the word 'statistically' in to the sentence before you bitch...
From September 2014 to January/February 2015 I will not be using any English, nor reading any. As such, I won't be on here. PM at will, but I won't be checking/posting unless in emergencies. Certainly not for the first couple of months. Please berate me savagely if I break that rule...

[Nai]

[gager5000]

Cheers for the replies, lots of good advice there. She's getting it sorted next week, was going to be today but she ripped it off with her teeth, blood everywhere so has to have a course of anti-biotics and wait a week. But she's been given one of those big collars to slop her licking it, funniest thing I've seen for a while