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Vets: Saints or ****?

Hammer89

I don't really like when our dog is ill; not only because I love her very much and her pain is my pain, but because it also hurts my pocket. It hurts my pocket because, well, vets are robbing c*nts.

There, I said it. I know it's controversial, and I know they cure our furry friends of their ills, and I know we treat these people with the reverance that we treated priests with a few decades ago but, like those some of those same priests, vets are knackers, and charlatans, and scumbags - well, some of them. Our one, Aoife, most certainly is.

In my experience with Aoife and others, vets usually look for - and usually find - something else wrong with your cat or dog, just to ensure that the bill is a bit longer. And obviously you can't say, 'Hang on Aoife, is her tail really going to fall off if we don't buy your €80 prescription skin cream?' or else you look like a sh*t owner who cares more about money than you do about the pet, which is categorically untrue.

Our visit today cost a lot of money. We came back with treatments for three different things, even though we went for a specific complaint - her paws.

If it helps the dog then maybe it's money well spent, but how do I, as a non-vet, know if the dog was actually suffering from these other things in the first place? How do I know it's not the equivalent of a GP writing a prescription for cortisol cream just because her patient happened to come in with flakey eyebrows or something? How do we know Aoife and other vets aren't taking the piss on a massive scale? We don't. We just have to grin and bear it and take it up the arse because a UCD 2015 graduate says this is the best course of action.

No more Butchy.

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[Deleted User]

Discodog wrote: »

If we follow the UK you could find that all of them are owned by the same company

We do have anti - competitive law that prevents any business taking over all players in any market.

But why are large players in any market seen necessarily as a bad thing? Do you ever use a chain supermarket or chain chemist?

Discodog

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

We do have anti - competitive law that prevents any business taking over all players in any market.

But why are large players in any market seen necessarily as a bad thing? Do you ever use a chain supermarket or chain chemist?

The chain supermarket or chemist have other chains as competitors. The Vet market doesn't.

[Deleted User]

Discodog wrote: »

The chain supermarket or chemist have other chains as competitors. The Vet market doesn't.

Yes, they do. The article you linked to mentions seven chains in the UK. No single chain would be legally permitted to take a dominant share in the Irish market.

D3V!L

Ours is great. Couldn't fault them.

Discodog

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Yes, they do. The article you linked to mentions seven chains in the UK. No single chain would be legally permitted to take a dominant share in the Irish market.

& as you know the price of most products is similar in all chains. We aren't going to get an Aldi/Lidl Vet.

Some years ago my Saluki tore her leg open at 8pm on a Saturday. I was new to the area & phoned the local Vet. I met him at the surgery, he anesthetised the dog, stitched her & I bought her home 30 mins later. Total bill €75.

Muahahaha

Wibbs wrote: »

I'd put the blame more at the feet of insurance companies and medical supply companies. Vet costs and bills have gone up a lot since the whole pet insurance thing came in. Such insurance almost always raises prices across the board, both to the supplier of a service/product and the consumer.

Could you elaborate on this Wibbs, Ive only become aware of pet insurance recently, have no ideas how much it costs or what exactly it covers, etc. Is it a case of vets increasing their fees because they know the insurance will pay out regardless?

r93kaey5p2izun

Fewer than 10% of pets are insured in Ireland. I don't think it's that significant a factor in costs. I think there's a fairly poor attitude towards animals in general in Ireland so I wouldn't see that changing.

Discodog

Gianluca Scarce Igloo wrote: »

Fewer than 10% of pets are insured in Ireland. I don't think it's that significant a factor in costs. I think there's a fairly poor attitude towards animals in general in Ireland so I wouldn't see that changing.

I suspect that it's a lot higher in some practices. I have also been told that some Vets fear litigation or accusations of bad practice so they perform lots of tests etc.

Basic costs, like consultation fees, haven't increased a lot but the overall bills have.

Over 60% are insured in the UK & the insurance costs are rising.

Discodog

Muahahaha wrote: »

Could you elaborate on this Wibbs, Ive only become aware of pet insurance recently, have no ideas how much it costs or what exactly it covers, etc. Is it a case of vets increasing their fees because they know the insurance will pay out regardless?

I am going to insure my pup. About €16 per month for €4000 cover with a €75 excess.

r93kaey5p2izun

Discodog wrote: »

I suspect that it's a lot higher in some practices. I have also been told that some Vets fear litigation or accusations of bad practice so they perform lots of tests etc.

Basic costs, like consultation fees, haven't increased a lot but the overall bills have.

Over 60% are insured in the UK & the insurance costs are rising.

Yes but Ireland and UK are poles apart when it comes to animal care and society's attitudes towards animals. Pet insurance has been common in the UK for a long time but has remained minimal here. I would agree though that it's likely to be a higher percentage in small animal practices in wealthy urban areas, but overall it's a very low percentage. I haven't found that vet costs have increased beyond inflation. I think insurance costs have increased a lot though.

[Deleted User]

Discodog wrote: »

& as you know the price of most products is similar in all chains. We aren't going to get an Aldi/Lidl Vet.

You're far more likely to get an Aldi/Lidl vet from a chain (that can get economies of scale in purchasing and back office services) than from an individual vet practice. This is how Specsavers work in the optical sector.

Are you suggesting that all seven separate legal entities in the UK are illegally colluding in setting prices for services at an artificially high level? And if so, wouldn't this provide a great opportunity for the remaining individual practices to undercut them?

Discodog wrote: »

Some years ago my Saluki tore her leg open at 8pm on a Saturday. I was new to the area & phoned the local Vet. I met him at the surgery, he anesthetised the dog, stitched her & I bought her home 30 mins later. Total bill €75.

Are you telling this story as a good example or a bad example? I'm not quite sure what your message is.

Yes, there are some advantages to individual practices, and possibly some advantages to chains. I don't think there is any evidence to support a simplistic "chains = bad" approach.

RhubarbCrumble

My vet is brilliant, a real gentleman. I wish I could see myself instead of my current GP.