My dog needed emergency treatment yesterday(saturday)his own vet was closed i was told the pdsa gave emergency treatment so i phoned them because i work part time i would have to pay which was £81 upfront just to see a vet then treatment on top of that more than a weeks wages for me.

We have health insurance for our dog which costs about £12 a month.
Having a pet is like having a child; with it comes responsibility and costs.

i too am a responsible pet owner i do have insurance but the fact is i still had to pay all that money up front then you can only claim back a percentage of it.

When my last dog died it involved getting my dog to a vet at 10 pm. The total bill came to just over £400 which I had to pay before I could claim the majority of it back from petplan animal insurance. Surely there should be some way for the vet to check at all times as to whether or not you've got up to date cover omn your animal and therefore not put you through the added stress of finding what could be a large sum of money.

I talked to the receptionist at the out of hours service which is run from the PSDA building, whilst picking up our cat.

She explained the reason everyone has to pay £81 to see the vet is a standard call out fee as this service is emergency only out of hours service and very expensive to run.

The £100 deposit is to cover the fact that many animals are abandoned at the centre when people are worried that they can't afford the bills. :(

These pets still need to be cared for, so if less animals were abandoned here they could afford to charge less or not demand such a large deposit before treatment but the minority ruin it for everyone.

The Pet Plan will pay your vet directly for treatment if your vets agrees but this does not apply to the out of hours service from the PSDA building.

Vets are an expensive visit but dentists are even worse.
Not like that has anything to do with this thread.
Your best looking round for insurance and go with a reliable one.
I have a Boxer and pay nearly £17 a month and i have to pay the first £45.
I'm with Direct line and can rely on them paying out when it comes to the crunch.

When we had to have the cat put to sleep,(see separate thread),it cost £121 at PDSA because it was Bank Holiday Monday.
£81 to walk through the door,and then £40 for the injection.

It states on the TV ad for the PDSA that all treatments are free!

Originally posted by uncleheed
When we had to have the cat put to sleep,(see separate thread),it cost £121 at PDSA because it was Bank Holiday Monday.
£81 to walk through the door,and then £40 for the injection.

It states on the TV ad for the PDSA that all treatments are free!
The out of hours service is a private service nothing to do with the PSDA.

The private company rent the use of the building at night FROM the PSDA.

All pets which go there at night for emergency services must be transfered to their own vets at 8am the following morning so the building is clear before the PSDA staff open for the day.

If you took your pet for treatment during the day, the PSDA would treat your pet free if you met certain criticia.

But when you ring the out of services based at the PSDA centre, they make it clear what you will be charged before you go out to them.

May your cat rest in peace.
http://www.piftails.com/rainbowbridge.html

Where is the Sheffield PDSA Clinic?

Louise

somewhere in attercliffe.
use to be near London rd -moved a while ago.

i prefer to use my local vet, as years ago i had a very bad experience with p.d.s.a
and have heard lots of other horror stories too.

The PDSA is in Atlas, Sheffield. On the way to meadowhall near the big post office.

I take my animals o a private vet. I have also heard bad stories about PDSA.
Eample. someone we know used to work there. When you take an animal to be put to sleep they just throw them on to a pile of other animals in that room> They actually drag and throw. This person actually quit working there for that reason. She couldn't stand to see this happen.

I think they are too expensive generally speaking. What particularly annoys me is when they sell a pet owner something like Fuciderm cream [for atopy in dogs and cats] at twice the price it costs over the counter at Boots for human usage. However, when our 5 year old English Bull Terrier bitch recently died of kidney disease, the vet didn't charge for the six days continual treatment and nursing, only for the lethal injection to end her misery. He also sent us a card of condolence. Needless to say, we have registered our new Bull Terrier puppy with his surgery. So it is not always a case of being "ripped off".

timo, which vet is that one, my cat is registered with springfield. they have surgeries all over sheffield. was reasonable when i had to get him castrated. and so far 'touch wood' he has needed no other treatment.

I do not recomend anybody takes their pets to HIGHFIELD VETENARY CENTRE on London Road.

I took my dog there and we had an Asian lady, she was so rude and arrogant. If I didn't say anything to her she wasn't even going to look/ tough him. She just wanted him to have surgery when it wasn't needed at all.

My grandad also had the same issue with that vet other week. She wanted to operate on his dog, when it certainly isn't needed.

Is she just thirsty for blood?


I have now registered him with springfield and am taking him their tonight.
I would rather pay a little more money and take my animals to a good vet that a little cheaper at highfield!.

STAY AWAY FROM HIGHFIELD / LONDON RD.

I don't know if it's still there but there was a vets at Crystal Peaks that I went to a couple of times with my pet rat, they were very good.

nick, thats a springfield :)

Having said that about the pdsa they have an excellant web site useful for minor ailments.You can ask a vet if you have a problem and they get back to you on the site .www.pdsa.org.uk/

Joy5ey, really sorry to tell you that the vet is in Southport. I'm an ex-pat Sheffielder who regularly visits to see friends, relatives and to support United. When we did live in Sheffield we found Hallam and Martin at Crookes to be good, but we are talking circa 1991. I should have made it clear.

The Hallam one is good. Our Tortoise goes to that one.

My previous vet was Springfields, my cat was mis-diagnosed by them and i will never forgive them, i changed vets to one called Crookes they have branches in sheffield and Rotherham and although it`s further to travel it`s far better.

If anyone wants a good vets, I highly recommend Hallam Vets on Holme Lane, Hillsborough. Tel. 0114 234 3013

All seven of our cats are registered there and we are often visit the vets for not just illness but also yearly boosters and checkups.

All the vets are polite, friendly, good with our cats and the prices are very reasonable. They always explain what is wrong and talk though treatment before going ahead with it.

I hear they have a branch in Crookes too (Don't know the name of that branch)

My friends & i all registered our pets with Highfields on London Rd and have found them to be really helpful, kind & friendly. I don't think the treatment charge is overpriced

All of my 11 pets and most of my friends pets are registered with Highfield and I've never heard a complaint.
My animals have never seen or been treated by any lady of asian descent either.
I too have had problems with one vet at PDSA, I had a 4 week kitten abandoned by his mother and his treatment ultimately required antibiotic jabs, one of which went straight through his body and through his throat.
I was 18 at the time and receiving benefit so I made no complaint since I thought I was lucky to get any treatment for him.
He died about 4 hours later though :-(
Having taken a friends dog for him though - they can be fantastic at times. Im sure like doctors, it depends on the person.

I'm sorry but I will never take my animals to highfield again. I would rather pay alot more which I have by taking them to springfields. I have been and much more nicer and helpful.
If highfields cost £10 and Springfield cost £1000 I would rather take them to springfields!

OK, you may not have had this asian lady yet but wait while you do. You will certainly change your mind. My experience has now put me ff that vet centre for life. Watch out how nasty she is if you get her:rant:

Originally posted by tara


i prefer to use my local vet, as years ago i had a very bad experience with p.d.s.a
and have heard lots of other horror stories too.

Our local vet is the Abbey Lane surgery in Woodseats. Utterly exemplary in every way. Mind you, when idiot hound decided to take on a car this New Year's Day we were mighty glad of the out of hours service at PDSA. Twas the only service open in town and they did rather save his life. Got him to Abbey Lane for surgery once he was stabilised and the ending was a happy one, if pricey. Ho hum...

Getting back to the original post of 'Are vets too expensive', its like anything else - if you want a service you have to pay for it.

More and more in this country we expect the nanny state to 'pick up the tab', be it health care or anything else. These vets are self-employed people out there to make a living - nothing more, nothing less. They have premises to maintain, staff to pay, medicines to buy etc etc. They have also spent many years training for their profession.

As someone said earlier on in the thread, with animals comes responsibility and costs. If you don't want to pay the costs, don't have the pet!

(And no, I'm not a vet or related to one - I just think if you want a service, you have to pay for it)

My dog was run over by a car tonight. His back leg was lame and he was in a lot of pain. I rang the vet which he's registered with and was directed to the out of hours service based at the PDSA. I was told that it would be £87 for a consultation and I could bring him straight down.

Eager to see Jack relieved of his pain and be checked over, I took him down and quickly realised that this operation is a licence to print money. They are purely money orientated and anything they do has a price attached.

A man came out of a door who had obviously had his dog put to sleep and was in tears, in a state of grief he approached the reception and the receptionist offered no words of comfort, she just demanded £149 from him. He was disorientated but she persisted. He paid and left. No words of sadness or compassion, just money demands. I was and still am disgusted.

When it was my turn, Jack was inspected and an estimated bill was produced to the tune of £250!!! This covered the £87 walk in charge, £40 for hospitalisation (if I left him overnight), almost £80 for two x rays, nearly £20 for drugs and a tidy sum for 'miscellaneous'. I couldn't believe what I was reading. Truly a licence to make up figures and charge for the fact that they are the only option available to people with injured or sick pets at that time of night. It's also misleading to have this expensive service based within the PDSA which promotes the well being of animals and asks for donations to help the charity.

There needs to be other options available and bit of healthy competition to drive down the prices being charged to vulnerable pets and their even more vulnerable owners.

Anyway, back to the tale.....I was told to expect a phone call at about 11.30pm - two hours after I'd dropped the dog off. I was also advised that they have a cut off point of two hours and extra charges are introduced if they hang onto animals more than two hours. At 11.25pm (almost two hours later) I pulled up outside, I had no intention of waiting for them to call me and let the time tick on. Upon arrival I was told that they were just doing the x rays! When the bill arrived I was charged for running over the two hours as a portion of an hour, how convenient for them - great time management, considering the waiting room was empty! Really glad I came down at that time or I'd have been charged more as time ticked on - it operates like a taxi meter!

They'd administered morphine, anti biotics and another pain killer. Ker-ching, ker-ching....the bill came to £175. I'd already had to fork out £150 as a deposit before I was able to leave the building and let the treatment start. It's funny how you can book an international holiday with a £100 deposit but they'll not treat your dog for you unless you cough up. If you didn't have the money, they would refuse treatment - where is the humanity in that?

The whole operation is just money, money, money and what they can get out of you. The minute they realised that I would be paying it was a case of adding on whatever they could. It's a bit like going to the dentist - when the dentist realises you pay for your treatment then you always get slipped a quick scale and polish whether you need it or not - that's an extra £££ please. I noted however that because I audibly complained aand kicked up a fuss, the bill was reduced at the end.

I don't see how this service is regulated. There's no pricing structure on view to the public - other than generalised amounts to castrate your rabbit, cat and dog. There's no information anywhere in there to tell you what each thing costs. Late in an evening your only option for the well being of the animal is to seek their help. You have to use this service if you have an ill animal - it's the only option. It shouldn't be. :rant:

It is expensive but you have to think the qualified vets have trained for years and surely they deserve a decent wage dont they? They train longer than doctors do!

Absolutely, but this is an outrageous pricing structure - a licence to print money and take advantage of misfortunes.

I was told on the phone about the consultation fee for looking at him, I didn't expect it to be trebled when I got there. How they can justify £70 for a couple of x rays is beyond belief!

I could have accepted the extortionate amount if they'd had to set his leg in plaster, or operate, but in effect all they did was look at him, realise pretty quickly that nothing was broken and then stick him in a cage for a couple of hours while they made up a bill.

I've just read the medical notes this morning and they're full of spelling errors, abbreviations that don't mean anything and because I calmly queried the bill at the reception they have also put on the notes that I'm on a limited budget and an awkward client!!!!! That's appalling. Defamatory comments which are unjustified and has just made me realise even more how they're just a money making operation.

I'm taking him to my own vet this morning and will let them know my thoughts!

Defamatory comments on the notes......is that slander or libel ?
I always get the two mixed up.

Tell them if the bill isnt reduced you will be putting in a claim.
Got to admit, that is over the top - when one of our cats had an accident, our vet had to operate, put pins in one leg and the poor cat lost one of his toes.

One top of this he had to stay at the surgery for 2 days on constant pain killing drugs.

Total bill at the end of all this.....£225

And that is including x rays.

The cat is alive and well - although I do think the drugs affected his mind :D

It's libel. You can defame someone, if it's in writing it's libellous, if verbally it's slander.

I just couldn't believe that they'd handed me the notes that they'd made about me. Very, very unprofessional. Even if I had been awkward and rude (which I hadn't been) they still should not have written anything down, stored it on a computer and then printed it and passed it on!

I feel a fabulous letter of complaint coming on not only to their head office but to whichever organisation regulates them.

i thought the pdsa was like the nhs of the animal world, why do they want loads of charity money off people if they arnt doing anything, or have i got the wrong idea?

It's PDSA by day, but by night it's taken over by Vets Now - a private company who provide an out of hours service, realise they have the monopoly on the market and charge accordingly.

I felt very cynical reading all the 'donate to the PDSA' posters around the waiting room while looking at my estimated bill. It seemed very unjust. For anyone not realising that it's a different organisation it could severely undermine the reputation of the good work which the PDSA do.

Also, did the car driver stop and give you his details ?

Even though a dog licence is no longer required, a road traffic incident involving a dog still has to be reported to the police.

Was it the drivers fault ?
Knowing your dog, I find it hard to believe that he was running around on the street......too idle for a start :D

But seriously folks, I do know the dog in question and he is very well behaved and to imagine him running loose on the street does not sound like the dog that I know.

And Buffy is a very responsible owner (before anyone starts on that)

And F_G, the PDSA is really for people who cannot afford to pay vets bills, like the unemployed,oaps etc.

If you are in full time work, you will not be able to get PDSA treatment (unless there are exceptional circumstances)

Just got back from the vets KERCHING...£30 for dog pain killers!!!

Somebody else was walking Jack, Jack saw a dog across the road and bolted to get to it, the walker didn't expect this sheer flurry of action and the lead was pulled out of his hand. The rest is painful history.

The driver did stop and we know where he lives, but it's not really his fault, just the dumb dog. But to keep this on topic, it's irrelevant how it happened it's the financial burden that comes with it.

I told the vet (Highfield) about this emergency out of hours service and they commented that they'd heard lots of complaints about them for the prices and attitude, there are a lot of angry pet owners in the city. They couldn't believe the rude comments made on the paperwork given and agreed that a complaint was worth making.

A comment re Highfield's vet - I have had my pets treated there for over 15 years and have never had a problem. They treat both the pet and myself with the utmost respect and have always done what is best for the animal.
Having had a sick dog for over 3 years I am a regular visitor and cannot ever imagine going elsewhere.

Try owning a horse...

Mine recently got a cough, so I called the vet. The vet came, listened to his chest, and gave him a week's course of oral antibiotics. Total cost = £300. Vets seem to think that horse owners are made of money. Some are - but others exhist on beans on toast to keep the nag happy!

Small animal practices are not much better. As a responsible pet owner I recently had my bunny neutered, and it cost me £75!!!

The animals are worth it, but only just.....

£75 to neuter a bunny!!!!??? Whaaaaaat?

I saw the cost of neutering on a poster in the rip off vet's last night. Cats are the cheapest to do, then dogs and I think bunnys are the most pricey.

I dread to think what it costs to neuter a gerbil. It wasn't on the poster. Knowing the con artists from last night, they'll just invent a figure on the spot, add on a contingency 'miscellaneous' figure, charge for unnecessary hospitalisation above and beyond the time needed and write nasty things about you on their records.

I'm still seething, can you tell?

Originally posted by Classic Rock
I saw the cost of neutering on a poster in the rip off vet's last night. Cats are the cheapest to do, then dogs and I think bunnys are the most pricey.


It's crazy isn't it? Rabbits are smaller, so presumably they need less drugs to put them to sleep, less stiches, ect. ect. So that must cost a bit less... no?

She didn't need one of those coller-come-lampshade things that they put on dogs to stop them scratching, so they probably saved on that too.

And it's more risky to operate on a rabbit than a cat or a dog, so you'd think that would make it cheaper. Would I have got a discount if she'd died mid-op??? I think not!

I watched a programme on Rabbit castration ( yes, I know I need to get out more) a while ago, and apparently they react very badly to anaesthetic, therefore a far riskier op to perform. Perhaps it could be to do with the extra post op care?

Originally posted by cloudybay
I watched a programme on Rabbit castration ( yes, I know I need to get out more) a while ago, and apparently they react very badly to anaesthetic, therefore a far riskier op to perform. Perhaps it could be to do with the extra post op care?

Well, the post op care was from me, cause two hours later she was back at home (and hopping around like nothing had happened!!!).

They made a programme on rabbit castration? Ewwww!