If ever you start to question the NHS and its taxpayer-funded healthcare, just ask a pet owner what life is like when it comes to paying medical bills.<\/p>\n
I appreciate I am hardly bringing you breaking news here, but getting any form of treatment for your four-legged friend in this day and age is reminiscent of the cliched garage owner looking under your car\u2019s bonnet, whistling through their teeth, and uttering the immortal phrase: \u2018That, I\u2019m afraid, is not going to be cheap.\u2019<\/p>\n
Hundreds of pounds can disappear – even if your pet is perfectly healthy. Picture: Tony Flashman<\/p>\n
You could probably buy a new engine for your car for less than any significant veterinary treatment in this day and age.<\/p>\n
Now, don\u2019t get me wrong, I appreciate the veterinary trade. I\u2019ve enjoyed All Creatures Great and Small (both original and remake) and understand there\u2019s a long-standing history of costs and expertise involved.<\/p>\n
And, for that matter, that the NHS\u2019 free-at-the-point-of-service approach means we Brits never get exposed to the frankly ludicrous costs of any form or medicine or medical procedure. There is, after all, a reason drug companies return eye-watering profits each year.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s just the relentless manner in which modern day vets seek to extract cash that grates.<\/p>\n
My father is still reeling from being charged hundreds of pounds for an X-ray on his cat which proved only that it didn\u2019t have any injury and that she was pretty much back to normal 24 hours later. But he\u2019d do anything for his moggy. And that\u2019s the point.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll do plenty to keep our pets healthy – but vets need to keep their costs under control. Picture: Terry Scott<\/p>\n
We have a rather old little dog with a heart condition. We shell out more than \u00a330 a month on a healthcare plan for her. And the same again on an insurance policy. Not cheap.<\/p>\n
But if we didn\u2019t, the initial consultation \u2013 at our local surgery \u2013 alone would cost an eye-watering, surely-you\u2019re-not-serious \u00a373. Follow-ups, a mere \u00a34 cheaper.<\/p>\n
Even if nothing was wrong with your pet, that\u2019s the sharp end of \u00a3150.<\/p>\n
A recent heart scan set us back \u00a3360 and on top of which they bolt on the cost of a small bowl of food they offer her. Nothing here is free. I am assuming, given the cost, it wasn\u2019t a tin of Pedigree Chum.<\/p>\n
Then it\u2019s \u00a380 a month for tablets to treat the condition.<\/p>\n
I know medical treatment for human or animal isn\u2019t cheap. But c\u2019mon! Picture: Barry Goodwin<\/p>\n
Yet it transpires if you simply get a prescription from them (more money, natch), you can buy the same tablets for \u00a313 a month online. Yes, \u00a367 cheaper.<\/p>\n
Good of them to highlight that, you might think, but why charge such premium rates in the first place? If I can source the tablets on line for a mere fraction of the cost, why can\u2019t they for in-house customers?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s like shopping in an airport gift shop. They know you forgot to get your loved ones a gift \u2013 so take this bar of Toblerone for \u00a39 (double what it would cost you if you just popped into Asda on the way home).<\/p>\n
The vets know you don\u2019t want your little furry friend to suffer\u2026but they also know that means you\u2019re going to cough up big bucks to prevent it.<\/p>\n
So you stand there as they add up the bill. Adding on the cost of a plaster or when a nurse stroked them (I joke, but it wouldn\u2019t actually surprise me).<\/p>\n
I shudder to think how much the bill is for a dog to go under the knife\u2026<\/p>\n
Then you try not to pass out when you hand over your bank card \u2013 just in front of signs which inform you you\u2019re to cough up before you leave (or, presumably, they set the (healthy) dogs on you). Safe in the knowledge your insurance policy includes such a significant excess charge you\u2019ll be lucky to claw back \u00a3100.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re fortunate enough to be able to absorb this sort of cost without breaking down in tears, I salute you and your financial stability. But for most people, that\u2019s an enormous financial burden on top of everything else life throws at us.<\/p>\n
And pets are, let\u2019s not forget, like family members. Albeit ones which occasionally crap on the floor.<\/p>\n
\u2018Don\u2019t have a dog if you can\u2019t afford the costs\u2019, I\u2019m sure some will say. What about \u2018why do veterinary practices, portraying themselves as caring units, seek to rip off their customers by playing on their emotions?\u2019.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll leave that with you. I\u2019m off to stroke my poorly dog.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If ever you start to question the NHS and its taxpayer-funded healthcare, just ask a pet owner what…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":146357,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4316],"tags":[105,4348,495,391,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-146356","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-kent","11":"tag-opinion","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114601541318078473","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}