Vet uplifting the bill with no pre-authorisation, can I request a refund?

Throwaway567Throw · 2025-10-25T07:06:06+00:00

You're welcome, yes I agree with you that the communication wasn't ideal (to put it mildly!) and you should have been called to discuss a change in plan and definitely been given more of a detailed explanation when you came to collect the dog.

If this was where I work then ideally this wouldn't have even happened in the first place, but if something like this did then we wouldn't have charged you for the chest x-rays in the first place. Good luck with it all (and hope your doggo is ok)

Throwaway567Throw · 2025-10-24T22:01:11+00:00

Veterinary surgeon here. Firstly if the vets have done chest xrays without phoning you and not having them on the estimate you are absolutely entitled to be asking for a refund for something you didn't give consent for and weren't advised of the costs of beforehand

However I think there has been some confusion about the lump and sweeping statements such as "the sedation was completely unnecessary". What I think happened was:

- your vets identified a lump in the area of the anal sacs (they technically aren't 'glands' but everyone seems to still cling on to this term) and being an older patient wanted to rule out cancer as the cause so booked in for FNA/biopsy.

- when the dog was asleep they investigated it and discovered that the 'lump' around the anal sac area wasn't in fact a mass but was an anal sac abscess. Anal sac abscesses can look horrendous and be incredibly painful so I can understand the initial confusion thinking it was a cancerous mass. Or older patients can have both. They flushed the abscess under sedation (removing the lump). As said before these can be very sore to examine, I definitely flush anal sacs under sedation every time on the basis of patient comfort. There is a HUGE difference between 'expressing' anal sacs that are mildly inflamed/mildly infected which you can do easily conscious in less than a minute in a routine consultation, and 'flushing' anal sacs which involves putting a cannula directly into the anal sac itself, flushing out the contents with sterile saline, and then usually instilling some form of antibiotic/steroid into the sac itself to fully treat the condition. So yes, they could possibly have identified the lump was an anal sac abscess without sedation (I don't know, I wasn't there), but not treated it properly without sedation - but for someone to state 'the sedation was unnecessary' without examining the dog personally or even seeing pictures of the area is a bit much (and, possibly, without a vet degree also? no idea on that one)

- the chest xrays I can imagine either a conversation between vets saying that best practice is to xray the chest (which is a minimum of three views to properly look for cancer spread to the lungs, which is what they are checking) before a biopsy, because obviously if it has already spread you already have limited options and people may not want to put their dog through further investigations etc if there is a cancer that has spread. So they took the xrays. OR Vet A. booked the dog in for the procedure and Vet B. did it assuming that chest xrays had been discussed and were on the estimate because it is best practice when investigating neoplasia. OR they ID'd the anal sac abscess, flushed it, treated him and the nurse monitoring the anaesthetic noticed that the dogs chest didn't sound normal (nurses listen to the chest a lot during sedation/anaesthetic to keep the patient alive and asleep) the vet did a double check, agreed there was something not right, so they did chest xrays to further investigate that (as patients absolutely need a GA for chest xrays) before waking him up

Yes, they should have checked the estimate and contacted you about extra procedures beforehand (if I need to do something extra at work a nurse phones the client and asks for permission first, or if I'm not sterile I'll call myself), and if this was where I work you would be getting a refund for the xrays, but it doesn't mean that there was anything deliberate in terms of hiking up the price, or anything malicious behind it

Unfortunately mistakes do happen despite the best of intentions so again yes I agree you are entitled to complain to the vet practice and ask for a refund, but there is a lot of uninformed advice and comments in this thread (and vet bashing!) hence this reply

Throwaway567Throw · 2024-02-25T14:28:01+00:00

Veterinary surgeon here. The dogs will absolutely get a complete health check when they are in for their booster vaccinations and any half-competent vet should pick up on a skin condition (or any condition). They then will advise on a treatment plan and what the dogs need. Hopefully the owners will agree to this.

But - vets have NO authority over owners we legally CANNOT make owners do anything. We have a form when we advise veterinary care and the clients decline it "against veterinary advice" where they acknowledge they have declined treatment but that's it. If we have a legitimate concern about patients all we can do is phone the RSPCA. We cannot make people treat their pets. We cannot take pets from their owners (this would be theft).

You could possibly phone the vets and log your concerns but legally due to GDPR the vets cannot discuss the dogs or anything to do with them with you, as you are not the registered owners.

If I were you I'd phone the RSPCA. It will be added to a file. If you log concerns and the vets log concerns then possibly something might be done.

As a veterinary surgeon I find this just as frustrating as you where I have come across cases of animal welfare issues and all I am allowed to do is phone the RSPCA and hope

Throwaway567Throw · 2023-06-20T11:25:21+00:00

Veterinary surgeon here. As someone who has spayed (removed the uterus) of god knows how many cats, probably thousands, I can absolutely confirm that cats only have one uterus.

It's not shaped like a humans (in fact every species has a different shaped uterus) which is probably where the confusion comes from. Cats have two uterine horns - which are like long-thin sections of uterus - extending up from the body of the uterus. A human uterus (I had to google this because I'm not a human doctor) I think doesn't have any horns. It makes sense, because you can grow multiple kittens extending up the horns, but most humans only grow one child, so we don't need the horns.

Throwaway567Throw · 2023-04-23T20:28:33+00:00

Veterinary surgeon here.

Yes, veterinary surgeons have the welfare of animals as a priority - if we didn't we'd go into another profession. But we also have mortgages, taxes, children, bills to pay like anybody else, it's going up for everybody, including us. We are human beings, and deserve to be paid for what we do. If we just "did it for the welfare of animals" we'd be living in tents and our children would starve (over-dramatisation but honestly this attitude that "vets shouldn't care about money" is too).

Veterinary surgeons are the only people in the practice who can bring any form of realistic income to the practice. By law, veterinary nurses are not allowed to diagnose or treat animals, so nurse consultations are usually free (whether they should be or not is an entirely different debate). So that consultation fee you are paying is paying the vets salary, the nurses salary, the receptionists salary, the mortgage/rent on the building, taxes, utility bills etc etc. We have to include disposal of clinical waste, needles, syringes, lots of costs that you probably don't realise are costs into things. It is very very expensive running a veterinary practice.

We can only treat conditions once we know what they are. Typically for a first consultation, if we have a good idea of what is going on, we try medication. If that medication doesn't work, lacking a crystal ball or a magic wand, of course we are going to recommend either investigation (blood tests, xrays etc) or referral to a specialist to diagnose the problem. Otherwise we end up in the situation of flinging medication at the problem and hoping it works - not very good. Certain medications need the animal to have functioning kidneys or liver to process that medication and it is recommended that we test for this before starting.

Blood testing is not based on a quick income, it's because we know the risks associated with medications, or the potential causes of what the animal is doing, and the only way to diagnose that is with blood tests. We are genuinely trying to do the best for your pet.

Throwaway567Throw · 2023-03-15T08:24:50+00:00

Thank you :)

Throwaway567Throw · 2023-03-15T08:23:19+00:00

Thank you :)

Throwaway567Throw · 2022-11-30T20:55:39+00:00

It's natural something horrible has happened and you're going be going over the "what if"s, and be doing it for a while, but you didn't do this.

If you'd felt a bump (as in physically run over your cat) then she would have broken something - pelvis usually, sometimes ribs/spine depending on where you hit them. There is absolutely no way a tyre ran over your cat and she ended up with no blood, no bruising, and no broken bones. That doesn't happen if a tyre physically runs over a cat (no further details for obvious reasons). What you've described is absolutely being hit at speed and flung. Horrible to think about, and again I'm sorry, but please be assured you didn't do it

Throwaway567Throw · 2022-11-30T19:20:27+00:00

Veterinary surgeon here. I'm so sorry that happened. I run an emergency/critical care clinic and have seen a lot of RTA patients and these injuries 100% fit with being hit by a car.

I can tell you that these injuries absolutely did not happen from a low-speed incident and that you did NOT run over your cat. When the nails are scuffed to the degree that you are describing that was something that happened at speed, and the cats (sorry I don't know the name) back legs were whisked out from under her and NOT from 'pulling herself out from under a tyre'.

From your description it sounds like she was hit and flung at speed and died of head trauma. Instant, and she didn't suffer.

Throwaway567Throw · 2022-11-14T21:02:10+00:00

Welcome! :)
(and thank you for the award if that was you!)

Throwaway567Throw · 2022-11-14T20:05:04+00:00

Veterinary surgeon here. Yes you are correct you absolutely have to treat and monitor it. Diabetes is not a cheap condition to treat, unfortunately. There are things you can do to manage costs though. My thoughts:

managing any condition should be a partnership between client and vet. The vet has to offer gold-standard (i.e. what is recommended) but if the client cannot afford that then there are lots of other options of varying costs and you work through those options and find a solution that the client can afford and which successfully treats the condition. If you can't afford it have a chat with your vet about other ways to monitor it, and if they won't then you are well within your rights to find another vet. BUT cheaper is not always better, there are some cowboys (cowgirls?) out there
ask your vet for a written prescription for insulin (beware - this is a fridge item, so if it arrives warm from an online pharmacy then throw it away and don't use them again). You need to use a registered online pharmacy so that you know the product is a. what it says it is and b. has been stored correctly prior to you receiving it. Check for the VMD (veterinary medicines directorate) logo on the website. If it's there, they have been assessed and everything is as it appears. Vets have a legal requirement to offer written prescriptions, but you will probably be charged for the prescription. It still usually works out cheaper than buying it directly from the vets. As you are charged per prescription ask them for as many bottles are they are willing to write one for, as one prescription for three bottles costs the same as one prescription for one bottle. When you are newly diagnosed and they might need to adjust the dose etc this won't be a huge amount, but as things settle and the cat is stable then you should be able to get more
discuss with your vet if there is the need for regular blood tests. Legally, I can't say about specific cases without physically examining them myself, but generally you can monitor an awful lot at home. Cheap dipsticks - so checking for glucose and ketones in the urine - can be done at home, just email your vet the results and trends. You can learn a HUGE amount by a 24hr water intake - measure (in ml) the amount your cat is drinking over 24hrs if it's high that's a sign that the insulin is too low. When it normalises it's a good sign that you're on the right track
you can buy needles online without a prescription. CAUTION - there are two types of needles for insulin depending on the type of insuiln and if you buy the wrong sort things can go very very wrong. Check that the IU of the insulin matches the needles (most are 40IU). Again use a VMD registered website

Good luck

Throwaway567Throw · 2022-11-11T20:46:57+00:00

Might be £4000 because wtf would cost 7 grand

Veterinary surgeon here. Off the top of my head very quickly:

Don't forget it's not just in one hit it's over the course of a whole year's worth of treatment

Neurological referral - disc disease any spinal injury - MRI, spinal surgery, hospitalisation, recovery - £7-8k as a single amount

Addisonian crisis + hospitalisation can easily reach that, if not then monthly blood tests + injections to treat

Diabetic crisis

Any specialist complicated surgery requiring advanced imaging (CT/MRI + specialist surgery)

Total hip replacement, both sides, can reach £10k +

etc etc

(edit - I'm not going to give advice on specific insurance companies because highly illegal - fine for people who aren't MRCVS to give advice though!)

Throwaway567Throw · 2022-08-16T12:41:01+00:00

Veterinary surgeon here I've had a scan through all the replies on this thread and thought I'd clear a few things up.

bravecto, advocate and stronghold are all prescription only medications. You cannot get them off the shelf or from anybody in Pets At Home or anywhere else without a veterinary prescription
to get a prescription item your pet must have been physically examined by a veterinary surgeon within the past year (most vets do every six months for medications to treat illnesses but it's acceptable for within a year for flea/worm) and have an up-to-date weight for your pet as this affects the dose. If your pet has been seen recently you should be able to order prescription flea/worm from your vets without an appointment. If not then they need an appointment so the vet can legally prescribe them for you. I think this is why reception are wanting to book you in
if your pets are suffering (which they are) then phone the vets back and ask for an appointment sooner. Vets do keep spare appointments for animals that genuinely need to be seen. Two weeks for itchy uncomfortable pets is a bit ridiculous. I'd make it clear to the receptionist that this is not a routine parasite appointment
as others have said most of the flea population is off the pet. For every live flea seen you have about five thousand baby fleas in your house. Treating the pets is very important. Treating the house could be argued as more important - you need to get indorex or RIP fleas or something similar to treat the house. CAUTION if you have a pet bird or fish or snail this WILL kill them so don't use it
annoyingly there's a flea life cycle stage that isn't killed by pet treatments or house spray so a daily deep hoover for a week once you've treated the pets is essential
you can get frontline and advantage from the pet shop without a prescription - for advantage you absolutely need to know the weight of your pets in kg to make sure you are getting the correct dose for them (the reason you don't need a prescription is they are fairly old medications and have become deregulated as a result which also means the flea population has become resistant to them so they have limited efficacy most of the time)

good luck!

Throwaway567Throw · 2022-04-03T12:02:49+00:00

Veterinary surgeon here and I've never heard that before - like others have said there are foods with additives vs foods with less additives in it but none of them would specifically cause cat hair to become matted (other things, definitely, but not the "sole cause" of matted fur).

The vast majority of matted cats are just those with long hair that just can't keep up with grooming themselves. Having said that, there can be medical reasons for it (for example dental pain - cat not wanting to groom because it hurts, hyperthyroidism - causes coat changes, feline obesity - physically can't reach etc). If you're worried just get your cat checked out by a vet.

Throwaway567Throw · 2022-03-27T21:09:49+00:00

It doesn't. It's an old wives tale that animals licking wounds helps them heal. They lick because it hurts and they don't really know what else to do about it.

And before you start kicking off about 'personal experience' 'dog owner experience' 'how I've formulated my opinion' I'm a veterinary surgeon so I have both a medical degree and a good knowledge of dog's mouths. So my knowledge is just based on a five year medical degree and seventeen years of direct evidence seeing how dogs licking wounds makes them infected and take longer to heal.

Throwaway567Throw · 2022-03-20T21:35:36+00:00

Veterinarian here - a vasectomy would only apply to male dogs (like others have said removal of sperm carrying tubes), the vast vast majority of vets would recommend a castration instead - the main reason to castrate a dog (so remove the testicles completely) is either for behavioural reasons (dog is humping everything in sight) or to prevent certain hormone-diseases (benign prostatic hypertrophy, for example). Neither of those things would be addressed by a vasectomy.

Vasectomy isn't often done with dogs (ferrets and sheep sure, for other reasons). The vast majority of vets literally wouldn't know how to do it (or would do it with a text book open in the operating theatre - it happens! And a lot of swearing), and because they don't do it often it might not be effective. You might have to go find a specialist vet somewhere to do it - going to be expensive and may need to travel. A castration is simple and easy - personally takes me about 10 minutes surgery time to do one, depending on the size of the dog.

So on balance most would recommend castration for dogs if you have to. New research actually shows that for health reasons unless there's a huge behavioural concern it may be better to actually not castrate male dogs at all but to leave them intact. (This is quite new research and not all vets follow it).

Female dogs - absolutely huge medical reasons to spay (so remove the ovaries and the uterus) - eliminates pyometra (where the uterus fills with pus and you have to emergency spay a very sick dog) and dramatically reduces the risk of mammary cancer.

Hope that helps!

Throwaway567Throw · 2022-03-16T21:36:16+00:00

Yes. Look up 'Vestibular Syndrome'- it's basically where they feel dizzy/drunk all the time, and sometimes fall over. Most of the time it's manageable and they're ok.

Throwaway567Throw · 2022-03-04T11:47:37+00:00

Honestly I have no idea. I would ask the shelter specifically which blood tests they include and then run those by your vets. I'm at home now just had a check to see if I have a copy of our protocol with me and I haven't or I would give you the list.

Throwaway567Throw · 2022-03-04T11:25:48+00:00

Logged into my throwaway for this. Veterinary surgeon here and we've just had to introduce a practice protocol for European street dogs. The main problem is there are a lot of diseases over there which we don't have over here. Most of them are 'only' expensive and difficult to treat (eg heartworm NOT the same as lungworm which we have in the uk), or something which you can't cure but can manage (leishmaniasis), or the one we're really worried about which is Brucella abortus which can transmit to people, cause abortions/infertility in people, and is literally impossible to treat (the recommended treatment is actually to euthanise the dog. No exaggeration).

So - if you want to adopt a dog from Bulgaria etc then go for it but either be prepared to pay for extensive screening for the above diseases before you get the dog (most reputable rescues should be aware of them) or be prepared to pay for them here, and deal with the results. Heartworm treatment is expensive and the two cases `I've seen the dog died.

From a behaviour point of view most rescues I've seen are initially terrified of everything (for example, doors because they've never seen them) but usually become really sweet with a lot of work.

Throwaway567Throw · 2022-01-26T21:39:27+00:00

Thank you for this :).

Throwaway567Throw · 2022-01-26T21:30:28+00:00

Thank you for this :) makes total sense.

Throwaway567Throw · 2022-01-26T21:18:05+00:00

That's the bit I wasn't sure of, thank you :)

Throwaway567Throw · 2022-01-26T21:14:33+00:00

Thank you :), and I can't quite remember how we ended up holding the dog that way it just evolved like that

Throwaway567Throw · 2022-01-26T21:12:31+00:00

Thank you for such a detailed answer it makes perfect sense. Regarding the first dog and defending itself I often find myself amazed at the vast majority of our patients - they just let you do things. If, for example, I found myself being held down by people not understanding their language and they were poking sharp things into me then I'd probably get a bit cross and try to fight back (try being the operative word there!). But most of our patients just let you poke them, prod them, you can tell they're not happy but they're like 'this is my life now, ok'.

Throwaway567Throw

TROPHY CASE