Some friends of mine had to take their ageing dog to emergency vets last night, the poor boy has had bladder trouble and is under the care of his normal vet for this and is on tablets to help , he is a little artharitc so when the trouble flares up he cant wee his back end is a little weak , anyway he seemed to be in pain with his legs so to be on the safe side the called the vet , only to be told to go to (well known out of hours vet group) when they got there the vet was quite rude and told them they didnt know if he would pull thru ( not collapsed or near deaths door at all)  quite bright but in some discomfort , they have kept in overnite and charged them £225 for the privelege  (all he had was a painkiller ) and his bladder empitied by catheter  oh yes and blood tests which their own vet did last month ,  they told them this but went ahead anyway , i know they have overheads but i think its a definite case of license to print money.

If your friend thinks the charges unreasonable they should ask for a itemised bill and if it still seems excessive they should discuss it with their normal vet it is likely they will get a refund. As a last resort they could complain to the BVA although I am not sure they would become involved with arguments about the fees charged.

Hi Newfienook,

TBH I don't think that's an unreasonable fee for out of hours consult, treatment and overnight care - especially with bloods being done.  It's of no consequence whether the GP vet blood tested the dog 24 hours or 1 month previously as things could have changed and only by doing the tests could that be determined.

I have a similar set up for emergency cover and although none of us want to feel we're being charged over the odds or having unnecessary tests done, bear in mind that the dog's own vet may well have redone the bloods too - a LOT can change in a month.

It's also not unheard of for dogs being treated on a long terms basis for a condition by their usual practitioner to then be diagnosed quite differently elsewhere and the 'ongoing' problem resolved entirely. 

Good labour is worthy of it's hire and certainly the vets and nurses working in our OoH service work exceptionally hard and take fantastic care of their charges including lots of TLC for anxious owners too :)

I sincerely hope this dog is much more comfortable now.

regards, Teri

It's hard to say.  If he could not pass urine that is pretty serious depending on the reason ie the discomfort of getting into position versus a blockage.  The difference in any blood test results over a period of a month could also be very useful in determining a diagnosis although I think they could possibly  have waited until hand over to the usual vet if they felt they had stabilised his condition.

An excellent summing-up of the reality of the situation, Teri. :-)

I appreciate thats ooh have to be charged for  , the problem with the dog is not a blockage but  his spcinter (not spelt right) between the bladder and urethra doesnt relax enough thats why he has tabs to counteract this  , his arthiritis had flared up because of the constant squatting  . they asked me to go with them to pick the dog up this pm which i did , the bill was bad enough £75 for a blood test  and a total of £233  . i was horrified to see the state of the waiting room (pdsa) pee and faeces everywhere and the the mop and bucket were still in the same place the owners had left it  last night after cleaning up after their own dog , yes i know we all have to pay of unsocial hours. i work with vets everyday of the week and know they work hard and give the best treatment they can , but i was very disappointed by this one (and yes i know there not all like that)  ut this ooh vets seem to be the same across the board from what i have read in the past about them!

Hi again Newfienook

Don't you think the out of hours practice has to hire the PDSA facilities with some very extensive and expensive equipment included?  Also in my vets, the emergency service (also housed in the PDSA hospital) is staffed by permanent vets and nurses - i.e. professionals committed to full time nightshift and 24 hour weekend work.   Not only unsociable hours in the main but often extremely hectic on bank holiday weekends for example.

If hygeine was a problem then by all means your friends should complain, however it could easily have been an oversight to leave a mop and bucket out in the waiting area when one or more critical emergencies was being attended to in the treatment and surgical areas .....

As to the issue of blood tests, I mentioned earlier that these can be quickly out of date - even within a matter of hours - however had the dog's owner stipulated these should not be carried out they would not have been.  Treatment is not forced upon the clients.  Presumably as the dog's owners were also already very used to this poor old lad having difficulties, they themselves felt his condition sufficiently serious enough to seek emergency attention rather than take the chance of him muddling through the weekend until their usual practice was open - that in itself shows, IMO, that they were more concerned than usual so why criticise a vet who doesn't know the animal from Adam for trying to quickly establish a diagnosis

One of mine spent last Easter weekend in the care of a similar place (and four visits, meds, nursing care and one overnight stay cost a hang of a lot more than the figure you've mentioned ) and I couldn't believe each time we went there how busy the staff were and how many very seriously ill animals came through the doors :(  As with any job they need to prioritise.

My regular vet one day kept me waiting for almost an hour in a waiting room which looked like a bomb had hit it - just before I arrived a BM had been brought in almost dead having gone through the glass of a large window.  Thankfully they saved the dog but it was all hands on deck and I'm sure (quite rightly) the appearance of the waiting room was the least of their concerns at the time.

If your friends still believe they have due cause for complaint in any form, then I would recommend they put it in writing a.s.a.p. to the practice manager of the EV and also their own vet.

regards, Teri

Why couldnt your vet deal with it? I thought all vets provided an out of hours service? - maybe not. I would be very disappointed if my vet (that i get on with and my dog likes) sent me elsewhere in my hour of need

A vet practice has to provide 24 hour cover, but they can sub-contract it out to an special OOH service if the vets don't want to do it themselves. As long as the provision is available the law is happy.

I agree the charges soudn about what I'd expect for out of hours, especially if the dog was kept in.

I was charged similar when my bitch had Mastitis, she was only given an antiinflamatory injection, AB's and I was told to take her to my own vets next morning.  They didn't even attempt to drain off the infected milk, my own vet took teh not inconsiderable time to do that.

I  too would like to think i would see someone from my practice ( i am lucky mine is old school and i have his mobile number and he will come out to me ) i went to their normal vets with them this am  vet was very apologetic  and has refunded a portion of the bill , they are changing their vets to one that covers locally not 30 miles away , the dog is fine now  maye they overeacted a bit but hey dont we all sometimes  it wasnt just the bill but the attitude and state of the surgery  aswell

> vet was very apologetic and has refunded a portion of the bill

Wow, that's gotta be some vet who'll part with their own cash to recompense for treatment they didn't carry out and for which they received no part of the fee from the vet that did! 

> the dog is fine now

That's the most important part :)

Sounds very reasonable charges to me and the fact that the dog is now doing fine suggests that they did a good job. Shame the original vet had to lose money though.

My own vet charges £60 just to go to the surgery out of hours so the bill usually does knock up to several hundred if various tests are taken and the dogs stays in overnight so I think that bill is pretty much the norm really.

On Christmas day one of our dogs when she came back from her walk, some how had torn the skin in her inner thigh. We took her to the vets & he stitched her up & gave her antibiotics, & he charged us double because it was out of hours & it was christmas day, but he did have to come to the surgery especially to see her.

I recently had to take my dog to an emergency vet and was charged £82.50 consultation fee the total charge was £99.00 as he had an anti biotic injection and a pain killing injection. The reason I took him was because he had a tear injury to his back leg caused my another bigger dog chasing him and catching him accidentally with a claw. Although the emergency vet couldn't stitch the wound that evening because he had eaten too recently to be given a sedative I was glad i took him because I was worried about infection getting in. I took him to my own vet next morning where he had to have 8 stitches and I had another bill for £154.00 this time.

I had to pay £90 approx out of hours with my own vet a few years ago. My dog was in distress due to a very poorly tummy. She sorted him out with an injection and we were home again within half an hour. It seemed a lot at the time but when we had him bouncing about and well again it had been worth it. Our insurance covered it (although the excess was £50).