| Non-motoring > Vet fees | Miscellaneous |
| Thread Author: legacylad | Replies: 23 |
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New Tue 7 Jun 16 08:56
Vet fees - legacylad
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My mothers Lakeland has its annual booster for which she is happy to pay a substantial amount. Last week, with failing eyesight, she didn't notice the tick attached to the dogs head and it was only spotted by a neighbour who came to walk it and by then it had detached itself once fully gorged. I passed the vets yesterday and enquired if there could be any repercussions... My mum bathes the area where the tick was attached with salt n water and puts on some antiseptic cream. The dog seems it's normal lively self. They offered for a veterinarynurse to have a quick look foc, but when I turned up they decided a £28 consultation would be better. I declined as dog is happy enough. They then suggested a palatable flea & tick tablet, effective for 3 months. Best if ongoing, so 4 tablets a year. Ok says I. Will buy one please. Got a fiver out. Erm, that's £29 please. What, for one tablet, effective for 3 months? I politely declined the purchase. |
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New Tue 7 Jun 16 09:42
Vet fees - Alanovich
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for about 2 years now I've been forking out 80 quid for 50 days worth of heart tablets for my elderly Jack Russell, from our local vets. I've just twigged I can buy them from an online supplier for less than half that. Racket. |
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New Tue 7 Jun 16 09:57
Vet fees - Dog
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I keep well away from doctors and vets. My Ridgeback lived 'til age 15 which is a good age for a large breed, he hardly ever visited a vet in those 15 years, although I did treat him myself for a phew! minor conditions, such as impacted AND infected anal glans :( If he contracted a bacterial infection, I would bung some colloidal silver in his h2o As regards to his yearly jabs, he didn't have any, simple as that. He adam when he was a pup, that builds up his immunity + a booster every once in a while, but annually, don't needham. ditto with me - I stay well away from all vaccinations ... all the more for you clowns. :o} |
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New Tue 7 Jun 16 11:17
Vet fees - helicopter
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Vet tretments cost our OAP neighbours a fortune for their elderly Scotty.I believe around £ 4,000 although some was covered by insurance, most was not. I noted an article in the Telegraph about the Supervet Noel Fitzpatrick where sums of £ 10,000 plus were mentioned for the treatments and surgery he provides. I admire the man and what he does is brilliant but I cannot see how anyone can justify such spending on an animal...... compare the attitude of the owners in Supervet to those in the Yorkshire vet programme. Call me heartless if you like but I believe human welfare comes first. I am with Dog on the basis that you have to draw the line somewhere.... |
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New Tue 7 Jun 16 12:10
Vet fees - smokie
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| Yeah my last cat started getting expensive as he got on in age. He had little bowel control and over a few months he cost us maybe £400 at the vet but more than that in new carpets. I was pretty annoyed when I took him to the vet to have him put down, only for the vet to give me a bit of a lecture about pets not being disposable (that's what he said in a nutshell). The cat was never going to get better. |
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New Tue 7 Jun 16 12:56
Vet fees - Falkirk Bairn
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My last 2 dogs cost £400/£500 in their last week - money spent to see if the would get better. I do not regard this as a waste of money but to give me a clear conscience when they were put down. Dog 1- was on insurance but anything she had wrong was mostly not covered. Dog 2 - Paid up when needed & it worked out cheaper over their 12/13 yrs of their lives. The 2 dogs were magic and never a day passes but their names are mentioned and we think back to the good times with 3 kids & the dogs. |
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New Tue 7 Jun 16 12:58
Vet fees - Robbie34
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One of the problems is that there are very few independent vet practices. My vet retired and his practice was bought out by a national chain with over three hundred practices around the country. I wondered if the vets employed were on commission. Every time I visited with one of my Cockers they always recommended some treatment or other. Prices rocketed, so I looked for another vet. I found only two independents within a six mile radius. Fortunately, I came upon a young woman who had set up a practice within the last three years and I registered my two with her. She is excellent and her fees are a lot less than my previous vet's. Henry has Epilepsy and she takes good care of him. His medication is much cheaper and when he has a problem she follows up with a 'phone call or e.mail. The point about Fitzpatrick's hospital being expensive is due to the inordinate overheads to maintain it. Goodness knows what the wage bill is. The cost of maintaining the equipment must be extortionate. |
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New Tue 7 Jun 16 13:15
Vet fees - sherlock47
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>>Every time I visited with one of my Cockers they always recommended some treatment or other. Prices rocketed<< Welcome to the world of privatised medicine - the NHS is the next step. If in doubt look what happens inthe USA. |
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New Tue 7 Jun 16 13:24
Vet fees - No FM2R
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>> If in doubt look what happens inthe USA. The NHS is a badly run basket case, but damn its better than not having one. 1) Someone I know in Chile has a sick Father. This man must take certain drugs or he will die. He can no longer afford these drugs +/- £1,000 per month. So he will die. 2) Another friend said this about a week ago.... (she's not a native English speaker, so be tolerant. And $1,000,000 CLP is about £1,000 GBP) A close friend's sister recently had a baby and around the time she gave birth, they found a tumor in her brain (15% of her brain mass is apparently tumor tissue by now). This happened a few months ago and since then her situation has been somewhat stable, but extremely delicate. The only safe option the doctors have given them is a $25 million (clp) surgery, which they have no way of affording at all, and unless they go for it, she will most definitely die within a few months time. They tried getting a bank loan and it got rejected (they only asked for 7m, but they all have Very Low incomes and of course, having a newborn and a brain tumor in the family means A LOT of expenses). So the situation is thrice as delicate since it's not only the fact that my friend's sister isn't well, but there's also a baby involved, and my friend has had to work everyday to help with expenses, on top of going to college everyday and being there to take care of the baby when needed; all in all, life's quite ***** tough for my friend right now. Do you think it'd be possible to raise that money somehow? Keeping in mind that the total income in the family already isn't enough to live by. Do you know of any institutions or any oncologists that might be available to help them IN ANY WAY? Also, even though my friend is a science person and has never believed in anything religious or "supernatural", she has found herself pondering on God's existence and trying to cling to some hope of a bigger force that might help ease the emotional pain and fear that her sister might die very soon. Along those lines, they've also started looking for alternative medicine options, such as Brazilian monks, but again the money issue is holding them back. So, again, if any of you has any info on good alternative medicine practices, I'd appreciate your comments with tips and/or contact info. Last edited by: No FM2R on Tue 7 Jun 16 at 13:26
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New Tue 7 Jun 16 15:12
Vet fees - Lygonos
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>>The NHS is a badly run basket case Excepting, of course, general practice. For approximately £10/mth per person (paid for on your behalf via your taxes) you have unlimited weekday access to GPs either on the phone, face-to-face, or in your own home if necessary. Of course general practice is the closest the NHS gets to raw capitalism - the consumer gets the worst deal when it is run badly, or when the business focusses largely on profit generation (which some do). Pretty much everything run from a Health Board level, however, is at risk of inefficiencies similar to any other organisation where the real management are unrewarded for making improvements. |
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New Tue 7 Jun 16 15:24
Vet fees - commerdriver
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>> >>The NHS is a badly run basket case >> >> Excepting, of course, general practice. >> >> For approximately £10/mth per person (paid for on your behalf via your taxes) you have >> unlimited weekday access to GPs either on the phone, face-to-face, or in your own home >> if necessary. Key word is necessary, isn't it? And the one you omitted was eventual. How many people can genuinely get to see a GP the same day for something which is not a "medical emergency" as my local practice defines it? Not denying that general practice does a good job in the circumstances in many cases, but it is far from a well run operation in many other cases, and differs widely from practice to practice, in my experience. |
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New Tue 7 Jun 16 15:33
Vet fees - Lygonos
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>>How many people can genuinely get to see a GP the same day for something which is not a "medical emergency" as my local practice defines it? Can't speak for your practice, but it varies depending upon demand and doctor availability. This week is perhaps anomalous in my practice as no-one is on holiday but there are over a dozen appointments left this afternoon (as of 3.30pm), 13 appointments this morning were unfilled, and every day this week are plenty free. The weakness in the GP contract is GPs get paid according to how many patients they have. Access counts for naught. So a 4 doctor practice with 10,000 patients makes a lot more money per doctor than a 6 doctor practice with the same list - guess which is likely to have the best access. p.s. surely having a guaranteed same-day appointment for anything would simply make the system less efficient - anything urgent should be seen as is medically appropriate. Last edited by: Lygonos on Tue 7 Jun 16 at 15:35
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New Tue 7 Jun 16 15:39
Vet fees - Alanovich
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Rang my doctor's at 8am on Monday this week and was sat in front of my GP at 9.10 the same morning. Did not state medical emergency, just asked for a GP appointment. Was out of the built-in pharmacy with my prescription by 9.30. I reckon that's pretty damned good. Now, can anyone tell me how to settle my guts down whilst they're getting bombarded with two types of anti-biotic? I'm trying Actimel, but any other advice would also be welcome. |
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New Tue 7 Jun 16 15:46
Vet fees - Lygonos
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>>Now, can anyone tell me how to settle my guts down whilst they're getting bombarded with two types of anti-biotic? Presuming you haven't managed to brew up C.Difficile, I would guess one of your antibiotics is clarithromycin or erythromycin - if so them it's a chemical upset so Actimel won't do much and it should settle when you stop. If it's neither of those then it's probably cancer*. *It's probably not cancer. **edit - smiley face with horns on. Last edited by: Lygonos on Tue 7 Jun 16 at 15:47
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New Tue 7 Jun 16 15:51
Vet fees - Alanovich
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Cheers, Lygo. Clarithromycin and metronidazole. I am allergic to penicillin, and erythromycin has given me shocking stomach problems. Seems to have settled in the last half hour or so after Actimel at lunchtime. Probably psychosomatic. (No worries on the cancer gag.) Last edited by: Alanović on Tue 7 Jun 16 at 15:51
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New Tue 7 Jun 16 15:55
Vet fees - Lygonos
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Interesting combo - for helicobacter eradication? Clarithromycin used to be quite expensive so we would use erythromycin first line and clarithromycin if it wasn't tolerated - personally I've always preferred clarithro because it's twice daily rather than four times daily (and less likely to make you puke/trot/colicky). Nowadays they're both cheap as chips - only ever use erythro for acne now. Don't drink alcohol with metronidazole - some people get a fantastic vomiting reaction if they do (I'm sure the tablets will be emblazoned with such a message) edit - ps if it's for a bum abscess I'd really rather not know ;-) Last edited by: Lygonos on Tue 7 Jun 16 at 15:57
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New Tue 7 Jun 16 16:03
Vet fees - Alanovich
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Spotted the alcohol warning. There goes my weekend. :-( Course will be finished on Sunday night. And yes, you don't want to know.............(have you ever considered a career as a GP? ;-)) |
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New Tue 7 Jun 16 16:02
Vet fees - Manatee
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| I have a disturbing vision of the antibiotics fighting it out with the Actimel. Isn't the idea to use the probiotic after the antibiotic to repopulate the gut? |
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New Tue 7 Jun 16 16:05
Vet fees - Alanovich
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Dr Internetz says that probiotics can be taken 2 hours after the antibiotic dose. I presume this would be to allow the antis time to get in to the blood stream to head for their showdown with the nasties. But then it's Dr Internetz so it could all be spherical organs. |
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New Tue 7 Jun 16 16:08
Vet fees - Manatee
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| Well he probably knows better than I do. I overthink these things - pro + anti = fight. |
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New Tue 7 Jun 16 17:36
Vet fees - Haywain
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"Now, can anyone tell me how to settle my guts down " You've been worry-gutting on for too long about this here referendum, Alano - and now you've got the gripe. Stop worrying, and get better ;-) PS If your poo turns black and you haven't been eating blackcurrants, go see the doc again immediately. [I speak from experience!] |
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New Tue 7 Jun 16 18:05
Vet fees - Lygonos
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>>PS If your poo turns black and you haven't been eating blackcurrants, go see the doc again A sign of blood loss in the upper gut as you are no doubt aware. In its nastier form the black tarry poo (clinical name 'melaena') has a rather horrid smell. Once a nose is trained, it is often possible to walk into a ward and exclaim "someone's bleeding" from the pervasive aroma. www.gpnotebook.co.uk/simplepage.cfm?ID=-2087059454 Last edited by: Lygonos on Tue 7 Jun 16 at 18:06
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New Tue 7 Jun 16 18:11
Vet fees - Haywain
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"A sign of blood loss in the upper gut as you are no doubt aware." 'Twas a bleeding duodenal ulcer. |
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New Tue 7 Jun 16 15:37
Vet fees - Manatee
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>>Pretty much everything run from a Health Board level, however, is at risk of inefficiencies similar to any other organisation where the real management are unrewarded for making improvements. With the best will in the world they eventually internalise the measures, not the aims. One of the funniest things I have ever heard was about this sort of problem in the old Soviet control economy, run on 5 year plans. Brezhnev or some other leader expressed bafflement as to why furniture produced for the masses all seemed to be very large and heavy even though many of them lived in tiny flats. The manager of the sofa factory he was visiting explained proudly that they had target of converting 5 million cubic feet of timber per year into furniture, and by ensuring that as much timber as possible was incorporated into each sofa he was confident that he would beat it comfortably. That might be slightly embroidered but not much - it was in one of those documentaries that were done after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. |
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