anyone experience VET ripping you off?
 

i went to the vet the other day for elton john.

regular check up plus his shots.
then the vet wanted an x-ray for his stomach as he was having a little bit of diarrhea but we did not go ahead with that and the vet did an eye test.

the bill came back and it came to $368

i'm upset as they add on many unrequested services such as anal gland expression ($14) and he didn't tell us he was going to do those eye tests that almost come to $50
we were told that he had to get his deworming tablets so we paid for those ($170 for 2 doses) and a few other pills for stomach and eye drops.

i just can't believe it came to $368!

i warn everyone to make sure to ask what the vet will be doing and the subsequent costs as they sure add up. also, if the vet wants to give your pet some meds, ask if you can give a substitute at home. for example he tried to charge us $30 for famotidine tabs (acid suppressor) when most people probably have those at home (or ranitidine same thing as per the vet)

the cost of the deworming meds on the internet were a fraction of the cost of what he had charged me. i believe those two doses would have come to about $20 instead of $170 (checked 1800petmeds.com)

well there's my rant.
are there any vets out there who do not do this sort of thing? i'd love to go there next.
thanks

You need to make it clear to your vet that nothing is to be done without your permission. Some vets will get you to do everything even though it's unnesecary, if that is the case then you need to keep yourself educated on what your pet requires.

Like a GP doctor a vet doesn't always know everything, they are human. Educate yourself and speak up. You are their client and have a choice of what to buy and where to buy it.

On the note of using similiar human products please be very careful, there are certain things that aren't safe for dogs. Check with your vet if their is a human equivalent. Do not assume because it is for similiar cures that you can use it on them, you also need to be very sure on the dosage.
For stomach acid I would use pepto bismal. I have had a few vets reccommend it for pets with too much stomach acid. (really though I would look into changing the animals diet.)

oh of course i wouldn't use a medication unless i knew it was safe for my pet.
that's why i verbally double checked if ranitidine would be alright and he said yes.

yes there are many things that are safe for humans that are toxic to dogs.
ie. tylenol, chocolate, alcohol, onions

Oh dear..
Yeah, everyone gets that at some point.
Richmond Animal Hospital, for example, did a full body panel without asking for my permission and cost me extra $150 in addition to the $150 for his blood curve.
Then they proceeded to be very worried about its results and told me to hospitalize him for 3 days, costing min. from $800.
He had already gotten a blood curve just a few weeks beforehand also, and I was reluctant at Richmond.
By this point, I had already spent over $800 JUST to attempt to regulate him.
I went back to my Coquitlam vet, and he taught me how to slowly regulate him myself.
Plus the Richmond Animal Hospital's syringes and insulin is expensiveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Mang is it just me or do most Vet places try to jip you now a days even SCPA

i was listening on the radio a few months back, on the bill good show (980AM i think?) they had a bit on how the vet industry doesn't have regulated prices and they are free to charge whatever they want. he had a caller complain that he went to a specific vet in the west end(not sure the name) and wanted to get his 2 dogs fixed, they quoted him $500+ because they were a "special breed" (i dono what kind). his original breeder recommended this vet on kingsway & joyce and they charged him about $150-200 or so for both dogs.

during the broadcast they had a bunch of callers with the same problem and a representative of the vet association of bc. they mostly talked about how vets can charge whatever they want and still legal, and how the government should regulate prices because people are gteting ripped off.

my gf & i take our cats to the Kingsway Vet Clinic (not to be confused with Kingsway Animal Hospital) and i've had cats fixed, shots, checkups and everything done there. prices are really good, staff knowledge is excellent and friendly, the place looks kinda ghetto outside but not so bad inside.

My Vet & Holistic Practitioner are very expensive, the first visit cost me over $ 350.00 (but it was close to a 2 hours long)

And a simple visit is just over $ 125.00

But there are no suprizes with extra charges they are up front with every thing they do.

They best part is they have very good tea (no charge)

Personally if you haven't ok'd a procedure, unless it is life or death then you do not pay for it. It would be the same as if you took a vehicle to a mechanics and they did things without checking with you. Make your vet aware that other then a life and death scenario you must ok any procedure before it is done, or you don't pay for it.

fille would you mind telling us which vet it was?

it was fraserheights near 152nd. i forget the name of the vet but it's in surrey.
a lady i know loves it there, but she is a breeder so they probably don't take advantage of her.

thanks for all your replies. it's quite shocking that a number of us have been overcharged for many items.

they are truly taking advantage of us as we pet owners are quite helpless and want to make sure our loved animals are healthy and well taken care of.
and it's proposterous how much they charge. they make more than human doctors for gosh sakes! (if you calculate all their fees accumulated in an hour)

i have lost quite a bit of respect for this professional practice.

The big thing is to educate yourself and ask questions. Vets will suggest everything, that's the thing though they are just suggestions. You need to decide and let the vet know right off the bat that nothing is to be done until you ok it. If you think that a test is uneccessary then do some research and get other opinions. If a vet is reluctant to give you any information about tests and any other basic medical questions then they may not be the right vet.

oh man i brought my pinscher there when it was a puppy to get his shots, and the vet was so unprofessional. I dont know what happened but my dog started squirming when the needle went in and ever since (3 years now) he's had this bump where the needle went into

ditto.
i bring both my dogs at that vet, and i've never had a problem with them.
i do a bit of research before i even bring my dog there, just so i know what type of tests/procedures need to be done.

the hosiptal i went to is kind of good
that was my first time going there.

2nd shot : body check and 2nd shot
(they also give me many packs of sample treats that can last for a month, also when my pet feel pain, they offer free pain killer.)

i end up $85 sth.

same as 3rd shot, still end up 90sth.

i think its a fair deal

In squamish there are two vets Dr.Hoff and Dr. Honey, Dr.Honey charges you out the ying and usually tries to prescribe your dog something expensive everytime they come in. Dr. Hoff is way better, totally straight up, good prices and they actually care about your pet. My dog was injured at a doggy daycare while my rents were on vacation and Dr.Hoff took care of him for a whole week before I got into town, fed him, walked him, tended all his wounds, even replaced the stitched that had got ripped out for free. Over all he charged us under 250$ really he did our family a huge favour.

My dog was limping about a month ago so I brought him into my vet to get checked out. Unfortunately he wasn't working the night shift and the other vet who works with him was in.

I had no choice but to see her and i got charged $185 for a bottle of liquid med for my dog because that vet was unable to hold my dog's paw to see what was wrong so she just told me to give him meds. (my poor shiba doesn't like strangers touching his paws and screams hahaha)

So it was $185 for the bottle of drops, PLUS another $100 for the "exam" which amounted to her doing nothing. Turns out the "med" she gave my dog was just liquid form of an anti-inflammatory like tylenol, my normal vet said I coulda just given him baby advil....

the only satisfaction I have is that my dog freaked out and took a shit on her when she was trying to touch his paws

^ LOL
ahaah that is so funny. Maybe part of the $100 was for the cleanup? hahah

Take your dogs to the vets in the US! Our dog needed his teeth to be cleaned and some were rotten enough that needed to be pulled. We brought him to our Richmond vet and got a quote for almost up to $1K which was ridiculously over priced. We found a vet just over the border in Blaine and charged us for all the work at $200 for the same job.

WTF!!! $170 for deworming pills!?!!?that crazy ridiculous, my dogs pills were like 20 at the vet in the kengsington plaza

I do the same...my dog needed knee surgery. Vets here quoted me approx 3K + taxes. I got it done in Blaine for 1800 (no tax required). Its such a rip off here and due to the lack of price control, one of the vet I went to in Surrey quoted me $350 to get my dog spayed. I visit this other low-cost clinic (in surrey as well) and got it done for $120. Compared what they did and it's exactly the same! It definitely pays to shop around.

What's your vets name ? Maybe his brother was my past car mechanic, out there to rip you off. Holistic vet is even more ripoff when they try to sell me magic potion to cure my dogs diarrha . Potion looks and tastes like bottle water .
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I can sell you a cure for your pups Diarrhea. rice and plain chicken for meals plus some canned pumpkin (without sugar) . Pumpkin is the magic cure for hard stool or loose. works great and this advice will cost you nothing. :)