Today's Vet Visit - Was I Overcharged?

[miaomiao]

Hello, all,

I'd like your opinions on my most recent vet bill, which I think is a little on the high side.

I took my cat in because she's been feeling sick on and off for the past few weeks. They ran some general bloodwork in-house, and charged me about $180 for it. The vet who checked my cat showed me a sheet with the results - thankfully it showed nothing amiss - and it looked pretty detailed, but since I hadn't had this done before I don't know if this should be considered reasonable or too high. Since she came in for apparent GI discomfort, he also prescribed vitamins, a lubricant for hairballs (she vomited a big one two days ago, accompanied with lots of bile), and Fortiflora, and the charges for those were reasonable.

He told me to call his office if she doesn't improve in a week, and then sent us home with three medications for which the charges seem pretty reasonable. The total came to just over $300, which also included waste disposal (normal fee?) and the perfectly reasonable exam fee. This office has a good reputation, and the staff I'd worked with there were courteous and professional (if a bit harried), so I'm not upset...just curious.

Thanks!

 

[elgecko]

I know blood work is expensive.

I'm finally caught up on the vet bills.

When we took in a 5 week old feral kitten, Buddy, in Sept. 2017. We decided to take our 20 year old to the vet since she has not been there in several years to make sure she was healthy.
The office visit is $49.50. The senior health screen was $145.00. The cytology was $52.25.
Found out she has high blood pressure and stage 2 kidney failure.
More office visits, test, meds, & special food $$$$.

Then of course Buddy needed all his health screenings, micro chip, fixed, etc, etc... $$$

I cringed anytime we did blood work on any of our cats. It always meant it was easy over $150.00.

 

[epona]

Any tests can be expensive, I'm in the UK so costs here are a little different and then exchange rates, but that doesn't sound out of step with anything I've been charged for similar tests.

 

[amethyst]

When one of my cats was sick the vet wanted to do blood tests (I chose to wait since I knew it was just worms), and said it would be between $150-$200 depending on what tests they ran. So yeah, unfortunately $180 sounds about right, especially if they did it in house, sending it out is generally cheaper but takes longer.

 

[lalagimp]

Amalie's bill today was a bit over $300. She has a senior wellness exam and a full blood panel that includes checking her thyroid. All we did today was exam and blood draw. Yes the waste disposal fee is on there. We needed this pre op for her dental cleaning in a few weeks. We may be looking at more extractions.

 

[lavishsqualor]

Truthfully, I think the blood-work cost is a little high but am interested to see what others think. I'm always wiling to pay more for better, more competent service, and it sounds like you were quite pleased with your vet.

Below is the chart of in-house costs for my cat only vet in Winter Park, Florida, which is part of Orlando, and I consider them to be VERY inexpensive.

FeLV / FIV Test $27.00 Parvo Test $35.00 Urinalysis $50.00 Cytology $20.00 Fecal Flotation $20.00 Skin Scraping $15.00 Mini Chem CBC $65.00 Super Chem CBC $90.00 Radiographs (2) w/o Consult $100.00 Radiograph Consult $100-$150

 

[Blakeney Green]

Vet prices vary, but what you quoted sounds like it's within the realm of reasonable to me.

 

[epona]

Amalie's bill today was a bit over $300. She has a senior wellness exam and a full blood panel that includes checking her thyroid. All we did today was exam and blood draw. Yes the waste disposal fee is on there. We needed this pre op for her dental cleaning in a few weeks. We may be looking at more extractions.

I hope it all goes well, my Sonic (the kitten in my avatar, he's now 11 years old LOL) had a ton of dental work done last year and a load of teeth removed including one of his cute little fangs - I hope your Amalie is ok during her dental work and recovers quickly!

(One of my cats is in hospital at the moment and we were quoted £3k (over $4k in translation) for surgery on one of his ears, turned out he needed both done and is still in hospital so longer stay than anticipated - although he has insurance, that only covers up to £4k of bills, and we still have to pay 20% out of our own pocket because of his age - we will be able to do that, it makes me feel slightly shaky and sick thinking about how that will impact us in the near future. But my cat needed treatment, some things have to be done. Budget meals and no treats for the humans in this house for a while!)

 

[lavishsqualor]

Sonic is very lucky to have you, epona.

 

[JamesCalifornia]

~ Your bill sounds reasonable to me . I am in Los Angeles so everything is expensive here. My experience with veterinarians has been mixed . Some vets are very good and reasonable with fees . Others are the opposite. To me if a vet is not good at diagnosis and honest any fee is too much !
Good luck to you & kitty ...

 

[weebeasties]

lavishsqualor
I am in Florida too (the Ocala area). I was comparing some of your vet's prices to my vet's. They seem similar. Radiograph single view with consult $184, urinalysis $69, office exam $45.

 

[Neo_23]

Your vet bill sounds typical but not reasonable.

 

[FakeGourmet]

I just had two cats in for a full blood profile and urinalysis. Total bill was $264 including exam (no waste fee though) for each cat. So, yes, your cost does sound in the same ballpark. I KNOW my vet costs about 15% more than surrounding vets, but I have confidence in them as well.

I sympathize with costs. I had a cat get 2 teeth pulled at the end of December and it cost over $1,400 total because of complications. I had $3,000 worth of surgeries for 2 cats 3 years ago and only paid those off last Spring, so I never really catch a break now.

 

[lavishsqualor]

That's actually not too bad, FakeGourmet, at least not for Orlando, Florida, where I live. I was at the vet on Saturday and paid $170.00 for a yearly exam that included rabies and boosters plus a full blood panel. Had I taken both cats in at the same time I would paid $340.00.

 

[snowbird]

I live in New York, and that sounds about right. Any time bloodwork is involved I immediately expect it to be over $100. Luckily my current vet is VERY reasonable and lets us pay it off slowly. She never turns anyone away.

I used to go to a much more "fancy" vet years ago, and they wouldn't see an animal unless you could pay that very day, even if it was wounded, in pain, or needed to be sent to the Bridge. A checkup alone would cost about $200. Not to mention they would constantly hound us to buy whatever new product they had gotten in that day.

(WARNING: potentially upsetting story!) When the family cat Inky had to be helped to the Bridge (she was 19), the vet gave her the injection and asked my grandpa (who was crying) "will that be credit or debit?" I only went back once, and that was for Inky's ashes.

A good vet who is in it for the right reasons is priceless for us animal lovers.

 

[lavishsqualor]

A good vet who is in it for the right reasons is priceless for us animal lovers.

I agree totally. But I also realize that vets are running a business too. My partner of many years is currently a circuit court judge but prior to that he practiced criminal defense. He was constantly telling me very sad stories of people who would come in and practically beg him to take their loved ones cases at no cost. There was no way he could stay in business and do that much pro bono work so he devised a lottery system.

Those who asked were given a form to complete and he and his staff went through them every month. They automatically excluded any firearm charges, murder charges and almost all first degree felony charges. There also had to be a very strong indication that the defendant was either over-charged or innocent. Then those cases when into a computer lottery program and one was chosen.

 

[snowbird]

I agree totally. But I also realize that vets are running a business too. My partner of many years is currently a circuit court judge but prior to that he practiced criminal defense. He was constantly telling me very sad stories of people who would come in and practically beg him to take their loved ones cases at no cost. There was no way he could stay in business and do that much pro bono work so he devised a lottery system.

Those who asked were given a form to complete and he and his staff went through them every month. They automatically excluded any firearm charges, murder charges and almost all first degree felony charges. There also had to be a very strong indication that the defendant was either over-charged or innocent. Then those cases when into a computer lottery program and one was chosen.

Of course veterinarians must make a living. However, there will always be a handful of those more interested in making money than caring for animals. And when they own a practice and don't care for animals, they start pushing unnecessary products and procedures, without care for the animal's best interest. (Human doctors sometimes do this, too.)

Teachers should like kids and want them to learn, doctors should want to heal, cops should want to protect, vets should actually care about animals...otherwise, what are they doing??? You know what I mean? These are careers that require compassion.

That was very kind and smart of your partner to do, by the way. I'm sure he has really helped a lot of disadvantaged people.

Also -- apologies to miaomiao!! This thread has gotten a little derailed.

 

[lavishsqualor]

I agree with you wholeheartedly, snowbird!

And yes, apologies to miaomiao. I've gotten us offtrack.