We recently had a old dog we took from a local rescue on long term foster,she had been dumped at 12 years of age,showing obvious signs of neglect,after 4 visits to the vets and various medications,the vets decided she had a pyometra(infection of the womb),she had a emergency operation,when we rang to collect her the vet said she had to go to Vet Now based at the PDSA on Newhall Road.Total cost £750,which the rescue we fostered from paid.If the local vet cann't cover dogs care overnight and they send them to vet now,why should the dog owner have to pay over £150 for a dog to stay in their care for 14 hours,plus another £45 consultation fee.You could get a night in a decent hotel with a evening meal included.I think the general public and insurance companies who do animal cover are being ripped off

Yes the vets are a complete rip off. It's down to the companies that own them though, as they set the astronomical prices.

Thats why we go to Peak Vets , they do their own personal cover for animals, it has great advantages that they know your pet already and can give on going help. I don't find them a rip off, vets train very hard, (we deal with training vets at nottingham vets school) they can't take paid jobs to help pay debts and continually have to update their training, Courses cost from £300 to £600 per day!! and it benifits your pets in the long run. If we humans had to pay the cost would be more !! and we wouldn't like that either

I agree i think the problem with vets is they assume everyone is insured so charge inflated prices and the poor soles who are not insured or cannot get insurance get stung as well :rant:
Its a nightmare and so wrong :confused:

the current trend for such 'services' as VetsNow is disturbing

we switched vets specifically to avoid ever having to visit the rip-off out of hours cash leeches ever again

I'd have been far happier if they'd have emptied my paralysed dog's bladder as required instead of giving him a morphine shot and a sympathetic look that said he'd be dead by tomorrow :rant:

Brude was later referred to a spinal specialist and has made a FULL recovery btw

We're now with Peak Vets at Woodseats too

When we registered our Lab with a vet they did all the usual checks and the x-rays showed signs of hip-isplacement (in a pup!)hey referred us to a specialist and by the time it was all over the bill was about £600, would they have taken the same route with someone that wasn’t insured.:suspect:

This was all 2 years ago and so far he as been fine.:)

yes vets are a complete rip off and they seem to charge what they want!

We all seem to go over this same problem time and time again.

We all know its a major issue - what we need is someone to dedicate the time involved - to chase it through

it is a MAJOR problem and should be reported to someting like the BBC programs
just now we need someone to stop moaning about the result, and try to tackle the problem.

so anyone who isn't doing any thing else in animal welfare wanna take it on board? it could make a difference

We all seem to go over this same problem time and time again.

We all know its a major issue - what we need is someone to dedicate the time involved - to chase it through

it is a MAJOR problem and should be reported to someting like the BBC programs
just now we need someone to stop moaning about the result, and try to tackle the problem.

so anyone who isn't doing any thing else in animal welfare wanna take it on board? it could make a difference


I said something similar the last time it came up. People need to express their views to their vets that use the service, if enough business is lost to surgeries that use their own out of hours service then surely there isn't a place for VetsNow? More people need to be made aware of their out of hours options!

Personally I have never had this problem and only know about it from reading on here, much to my luck by the sounds of it. My vets have always had their own out of hours service and the only time I have needed it I have been very grateful - and found them very reasonable and helpful. VetsNow sounds like an awful get together, and can't be doing the PDSAs reputation any good either, a lot of people seem to be confused by the 2.

Not sure if it's relevant, but I had to use the out-of-hours vets somewhere near Meadowhall. They were expensive but it was the price to pay for Sunday relief to a pained pet. I paid it, rather than wait until Monday. I put it down to the excess that had to be paid for the facility.... I chose to not wait for the cheaper option (from the usual vet) on Monday morning.

Anyone providing emergency cover has to be compensated: that's the way I saw it. We had a choice...

I just paid out over £500 for Josh and it turned out to be what I thought it was in the first place... EPI they wouldnt send the TLI test off intitially because his liver enzymes were raised-- I am a bit annoyed really as he has now lost 15 kl in weight due to this messing about.
The vet said -oh hes insured isnt he - yes thank god, but the premiums will go up with a right bump next year.

Regarding the vet that diagnosed Hip displasia in a puppy, I understood that it cant be diagnosed that early, hip x rays are not taken on gsds until over a year old as the picture can change literally. I had a bitch who went lame and we used a puppy x ray scheme and went through the breed specialist Dr Willis, he said that there was a possiblility but it was impossible to say that she would suffer from the HD, ended up she lived to 12 and was a bit creaky in her back legs for the last year.... money makers---

I would love to take up the cause Rainrescue but have no idea where to start. I am convinced that prices have shot up since insurance came about..
Also meds are so expensive, they are charging me £50 for his enzymes and I could get them on the net for £23 however I couldnt claim that back on my insurance policy, they have us over a barrel.

maybe the price of medicine has risen.

Not sure if it's relevant, but I had to use the out-of-hours vets somewhere near Meadowhall. They were expensive but it was the price to pay for Sunday relief to a pained pet. I paid it, rather than wait until Monday. I put it down to the excess that had to be paid for the facility.... I chose to not wait for the cheaper option (from the usual vet) on Monday morning.

Anyone providing emergency cover has to be compensated: that's the way I saw it. We had a choice...
Peak Vets at Woodseats are open on Sunday - so there is no out of hours fee to pay if you have to dash down there on Sunday

They are also open until 9pm, so again - no extortionate fee to set foot through the door

Isn't Peak closer to you than Meadowhall anyway SHS?