# Ridiculous Vet Bill?



## C's Mom (Dec 7, 2009)

I was hoping to get some opinions on a vet bill. A family member took their 8 year old Chi/Min Pin mix in last night to the emergency vets here in Toronto for a possible seizure.

They gave the dog valium, an IV drip and are keeping him for twelve hours to see if he has another seizure. The vet bill is $900.00!!!!!! I understand that emergency vets are expensive but I just can't shake the feeling that my family member is being taken gross advantage of. 

$900 for a pill, an IV and watching the dog over night - sorry, but that is ridiculous. I am tempted to call this e-vet and complain.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.


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## NJgoldengirl (Jan 16, 2011)

Yeah that might be a little over the top. Usually an emergency room visit is $100 for just walking through the door and then the add ons. 

Two of my goldens have been to the ER (2 different hospitals) and both had very different bills. My one who had brain cancer and was there for seizures stayed from a Sunday night to a Wednesday night and has a bill of a little over $2000. My other golden who was having issues with vomiting, diarrhea, and possible ileus was there from a Mon night to a Wednesday night and her bill was $600 something. So it definitely varies.

I would make sure they get an exact copy and breakdown of what was done along with the prices.


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## Jo Ellen (Feb 25, 2007)

E-vets are not affordable, it feels like a racket to me. And in my experience, they don't even give the quality of care a regular vet does


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## Tuckers Mom (Nov 12, 2010)

Jo Ellen said:


> E-vets are not affordable, it feels like a racket to me. And in my experience, they don't even give the quality of care a regular vet does


 +1

We had to take Baby Tucker to the E-Vet Thanksgiving night. We had to wait in an exam room 1.5 hours before we were seen. He had a suture come out from his neuter, and had licked his way to a skin infection on his belly. 5 minutes, some hydrocortisone, and a cone of shame later, our bill was $200.00


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## GoldensGirl (Aug 2, 2010)

It depends on the level of care the dog is receiving. When Sabrina was in her last battle with kidney disease, she was in an ICU where the charge was around $1,000 per day. That included diagnostic work, meds and round-the-clock monitoring. Veterinarians have education and training a lot like our doctors and the costs for their services can be every bit as high.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

When Barkley had his splenectomy our veterinarian instructed us to take him to the E-vet from about 7 p.m. on a Friday night until they felt he could come home. The E-vet called us to pick him up at 11 a.m. They put an IV drip, with antibiotics, frequent potty breaks and watching and checking his vitals with ecgs and incisions, with a few hct counts during the night. He was considered a critical patient in their eyes. When we arrived they took a deposit of $1339 to cover anticipated expenses and gave us a breakdown of what they estimated, both low end and high end. Their low end expense was $1339 and the high end was $2868. When we left they refunded our credit card back for $801, the unused expenses. We walked away paying $538 for the overnight visit. 

I'd say we got a good deal compared to your family member's bill. Ask them if perhaps their e-vet took a deposit and might refund the unused portion when they pick their pup up. I hope that's the case and their bill is lower. The e-vets do a full payment deposit like that down here because so many people were skipping out on the charges, so now every pet owner is "penalized" in effect for the deadbeats.


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## Charliethree (Jul 18, 2010)

I do think that e -vets do take advantage of people, not only that some are downright awful. A friend of mine's dog was hit by a car, he took him to an e-vet and all they wanted to know is if he had the money to pay -and told him they wouldn't do anything for his dog until he could prove he could pay --- how sad is that??? Luckily the dog suffered only minor bruising but his owner got a bill for over $2500.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

Jo Ellen said:


> E-vets are not affordable, it feels like a racket to me. And in my experience, they don't even give the quality of care a regular vet does


I have a different perspective on emergency vets. The E-vets we've dealt with have always been very helpful to us in stressful situations and have always given our dogs excellent care. Many of them are young veterinarians, practicing in clinics by day, and taking on a second job by night to pay off vet school bills. Once, with our first Golden, we were happy to discover that the on-call E-vet was our dog's regular veterinarian! On another occasion, with Toby, 3 on-duty E-vets consulted together when he presented with red urine, but the labs were normal. After that consultation he was diagnosed with a rare condition, most often seen in racehorses, called Rhabdomyolysis. It turns out one of the other vets on duty, not the vet we saw, was from Louisiana and had done some training at the one of the Louisiana horse racing tracks. He was familiar with the condition and he took over Toby's care since the other two had never seen anything like it in a dog before. I left the emergency clinic thinking we might have spent much more at our regular vets with diagnostic testing, and the e-vet figured it out and saved us that money.

I'm just glad we have emergency vets to see our animals when we are in an emergency situation.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

Charliethree said:


> I do think that e -vets do take advantage of people, not only that some are downright awful. A friend of mine's dog was hit by a car, he took him to an e-vet and all they wanted to know is if he had the money to pay -and told him they wouldn't do anything for his dog until he could prove he could pay --- how sad is that??? Luckily the dog suffered only minor bruising but his owner got a bill for over $2500.


Don't forget they are a business first and foremost. If they didn't collect up front they would have a lot of bad debts because so many people skip out on bills. It's an unfortunate fact of life.


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## Jo Ellen (Feb 25, 2007)

Dallas Gold said:


> I have a different perspective on emergency vets. The E-vets we've dealt with have always been very helpful to us in stressful situations and have always given our dogs excellent care.


I guess it really does depend on the e-vet. I have only two e-vet experiences. One of them was okay, the other one **** near killed Daisy. I am really afraid of e-vets now.


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## BayBeams (Jan 3, 2010)

I have had great experiences with our E-vets. Remember most are open after hours and on holidays when the regular vets are home enjoying their families. One of our E-vet clinics has specialized vets who have added acreditation in critical care and emergency medicine. It costs more to staff odd hours and provide services we otherwise wouldn't have available. They are entitled to charge more in my book.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I seem to be a frequent e-vet client. With 3 active dogs I am extremely grateful that there are e-Vets 24/7 in my area. Expensive, yes. But in many ways priceless as well.

Just Friday, my Faelan jumped up on his hind legs and landed on Casey's food bowl -shattering the bowl and lacerating the big pad on a rear foot. Blood everywhere! Off to the Emergency Vets we went .. Wound exam, cleaning, stitches, bandages and antibiotics all cost money. But they are there, they have the expertise and the training to handle all kinds of things. I willingly pay for that expertise - after all I choose to provide that care to my dogs and it is only fair that I pay for those professional services.

During my Rowdy's final days I was in the back rooms at all hours - he was too sick to be moved away from his drips and oxygen tubes, but still able to recognize me. Whenever he started failing, a surgeon would call me so I could get there - he wouldn't die without me and until the final call might gain strength in my presence. Part of what you are paying for may not seem apparent, but there were receptionists, vet techs, vets, cleaning crews and at least while my Rowdy was there, surgeons and specialists on site; this is 24/7 full staffing.


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

Wow, $900.00 does seem kind of steep...I took Hank when he was tiny but he was not kept overnight. The bill was $192.37. Here is the breakdown...
Weekend office call - $37.
Emergency fee - $26.
Parvo virus/C.P.V. cite test - $54.08
Blood "stix" - $16.75
Subcutaneous fluids - $36.41
Polyflex injection - $26.87
Amoxi drops - $13.46


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## Dreammom (Jan 14, 2009)

Twenty years ago our cat became ill on Memorial Day - we had no choice but to use the one emergency clinic we have here. A chest x-ray, shot of lasix and diagnosis of cardiomyopathy cost us $475.00, we were there all of a half hour or so, and lost the cat a week later anyway.

I am glad it is here, but try to avoid using it...not saying I would never go there again, I definitely would if needed...but it is kind of highway robbery here.


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## Maggies mom (Jan 6, 2006)

That sounds about right... I know the ones here charge prices like that. My vet handles there own emergency's and its 100.00.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

It's not that high, emergency visits are expensive, you can't compare it to your regular vet. That's actually about right for an overnight stay.

Who else would you see if you had an emergency? You are paying for the after hours time frame, and emergency care and monitoring 24 hours. It's a lot of money, but I don't think it's a ridiculous amount.


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

How much do you think that would be in US dollars?

It has been a long time since I have had to go to an e-vet, but I think the one I went to charge $175 USD just for walking in the door. I would have expected that visit to have been under $500 USD.


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## Bob Dylan (Mar 31, 2009)

I had Lennon to our 24-hour ER Vet on News Years Eve. He was having problems holding his urine.
He was in the kitchen with me as I was preparing a dinner for NYE and he just lost control of his urine, puddles of it. So I called and told them we were on our way.

ER Exam level 4 was..............127.00
Radiograph prep & acquisition 104.00
Lab sample handling & disposal 4.00
Urinalysis-Antech....................54.00
Clavamox 375mg tablet............65.37
NJ sales tax.............................4.58
Total...................................358.95


Our visit was under 1 hour and I do have insurance on Lennon (Petplan) have not received check as of today. 
I really expected the bill would have been higher, so I think your friends bill is about right.


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## Rainheart (Nov 28, 2010)

The emergency vet near me is pretty expensive, and that price does seem like what they would charge.
The walk in is just $100 alone. An IV is probably around the same price, if not more. Then you have intensive care (or so they would call it) for 12 hours. Add in the cost of labor for the techs and vets and that probably would come out to that.

It's ridiculous how much they charge for things that the your normal vet would have been around $200-300 dollars.


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## CarolinaCasey (Jun 1, 2007)

C's Mom said:


> I was hoping to get some opinions on a vet bill. A family member took their 8 year old Chi/Min Pin mix in last night to the emergency vets here in Toronto for a possible seizure.
> 
> They gave the dog valium, an IV drip and are keeping him for twelve hours to see if he has another seizure. The vet bill is $900.00!!!!!! I understand that emergency vets are expensive but I just can't shake the feeling that my family member is being taken gross advantage of.
> 
> ...


$120 usually to walk in to an e-vet as an office exam.
$25 Valium
$40 IV Cath Set Up
$20 IV Line
$10-15 IV Fluids _per_ bag (how much fluid, rate?)
$50 Observation per 12 hours
Was blood work done?
$100 Mini Chemistry
$100 CBC
$15 Hazardous Waste Disposal- Hospitalized pet

Having worked for a vet, I know what things cost and what we charged. I know E-vets are more expensive b/c you're paying for a specific service. This is what I would estimate each thing cost. 
I think that there was either MORE done than the family member knows, or that they're in an expensive area with limited access to e-vets and they can charge what they want.


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## booklady (Mar 3, 2009)

Maybe I'm lucky we don't have an e-vet. The county's vets rotate on-call for night and weekend emergencies.

Kyra had her tennis ball incident at 10:00 on a Saturday night. I called and was automatically switched to the on-call vet who met me at her office. Kyra was sedated, tennis ball removed and she spent the night being watched. The vet called in a tech to spend the night with her at the office. $200.


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

The only times Brooks has gotten sick was on a weekend, or on Christmas (which was also a weekend)! So he has been three times to the emergency vet hospital. 
Mine has a rate schedule posted at the registration desk-it costs more for weekends, and then more if it is in the middle of the night.
He stayed a couple of days one time, and I think the bill was about $500. This last time (3 am Christmas morning) he was there about 14 hours and had lots of xrays and the bill was a little over $400.
I can completely understand the E-vet hospital asking for payment in advance because otherwise, unfortunately, people would just drop sick and injured animals off and never come back for them.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

That's insane. Our regular vet IS an emergancy vet, but they don't charge that much for so little. 

We had my sister's cat over there for 2 days. He was on an IV, had valium + xrays, and meds and it came out to be about $400. 

Back when our Danny was having his pancreatitis issues, the bill was usually about $250 for overnight + iv. Then it was just another $120 for xrays. <- I know, because I was paying the bill for him.  I would have flipped my wig if they told me $900....

And that's ER as in there is somebody taking care of the animals around the clock. 

We went with an ER vet because our dogs only get sick in the evenings and on weekends + our regular vet had banker's hours so there was a premium on the last hour for people like me who had to work during the day and had to get their dogs in for shots or whatever. 

And our vet does care credit if people can't pay upfront but have an emergancy. It's not the best situation, but our standard vet that we had before the ER vet was the same way about payment. The pricing was the same too, right down to refusing to do an urinalysis without charging us for an exam/visit ($35, same exam price whether I went with the regular vet or the ER vet).

Paying $150 for an exam visit is something I'd do with a specialist. Not a regular vet, er or otherwise.


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## Jo Ellen (Feb 25, 2007)

There's a lot of economic hardship going on now. Not everyone can come up with that kind of money on the drop of a dime. Should they lose their pets? I guess I really don't understand how an e-vet can make the decision to deny life-giving care when it's just payment in advance that is the issue. Sometimes it might take a few days and some creative financing to meet the financial demands of an emergency.


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## Jackson'sMom (Oct 13, 2007)

When Jack was at the emergency hospital before his gall bladder problem was diagnosed, I was amazed to find that I was billed for a 'consult' every time a new vet took over his case. He was there from Friday night to Monday morning (when he went to our regular vet), so there were a lot of 'consult' fees.


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## msdogs1976 (Dec 21, 2007)

booklady said:


> Maybe I'm lucky we don't have an e-vet. The county's vets rotate on-call for night and weekend emergencies.


Same where I live. No such thing as e-vet clinics. The vet clinic I go to has 4 full time vets and they rotate after hour and weekend calls. Anything outside of the normal office hours only cost an additional $50 surcharge. Pretty good deal. That's for their regular customers, they may charge more for others.


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## Debles (Sep 6, 2007)

I actually don't think that price is out of sight. Considering it is an emergency hospital, he had an IV and was being watched closely for 12 hrs.

Luckily we have never had to use an ER vet since our former vet was open till 11 PM and came in for emergencies. Our new vet doesn't so we may need the ER vet sometime and I am grateful they are there. They have answered my questions on weekends for free.

Did they feel the dog received quality care?


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

I kind of think that way too Deb. We took Maggie in for swelling in her eye a few months ago and I think her bill was $125. That included the exam, shot and script. Considering the base fee is around 90-95 ( can't remember exactly), I didn't feel that was bad. However, in cases where it is an ICU situation of course that will be considerably more. There is definitely a price for having off hours, continuous care just as there is in a human care situation.


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## C's Mom (Dec 7, 2009)

I guess I would feel better about the fee if he needed a procedure of some sort or they ran a blood test at least but other than giving him valium and an IV that's it. I do indeed appreciate having e-vets in times of emergency but I still feel this bill is excessive.


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## Bender (Dec 30, 2008)

Jackson'sMom said:


> When Jack was at the emergency hospital before his gall bladder problem was diagnosed, I was amazed to find that I was billed for a 'consult' every time a new vet took over his case. He was there from Friday night to Monday morning (when he went to our regular vet), so there were a lot of 'consult' fees.



See, I would complain about that. Whey did each new vet need to do anything, other than look at the file and carry on? Should be part of their basic job if the clinic is taking on dogs overnight - not like each vet coming in to work is going to be starting with no idea of what the dog's issue is.


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

Have they asked for a listing of what the $900 includes? I would demand a listing of what they are charging me for to come up with that total since it is so high. To me a vet including e-vets should have to come to the owners when it gets over a certain amount to let the people know so they can start getting money together. What if they dont have the money to pay? I know a vet here would not release a dog back to the owner until they came up with the money to pay for the vet bill. there was a story on the news about it awhile back.


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## CarolinaCasey (Jun 1, 2007)

Jo Ellen said:


> There's a lot of economic hardship going on now. Not everyone can come up with that kind of money on the drop of a dime. Should they lose their pets? I guess I really don't understand how an e-vet can make the decision to deny life-giving care when it's just payment in advance that is the issue. Sometimes it might take a few days and some creative financing to meet the financial demands of an emergency.


If the animal is in your hospital, at least by my state's law, you're required to give basic first aid. That could include oxygen, stopping bleeding/bandaging, etc.


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## GoldensGirl (Aug 2, 2010)

*Financial aid*



Jo Ellen said:


> There's a lot of economic hardship going on now. Not everyone can come up with that kind of money on the drop of a dime. Should they lose their pets? I guess I really don't understand how an e-vet can make the decision to deny life-giving care when it's just payment in advance that is the issue. Sometimes it might take a few days and some creative financing to meet the financial demands of an emergency.


I came across this GRF list of grants and financial aid for people having trouble paying the bills for vet care:http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com...-grants-financial-aid-might-not-complete.html

Seems appropriate to post the link here, given the concern about people who could lose their pets in this kind of situation.

Lucy


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## C's Mom (Dec 7, 2009)

BeauShel said:


> Have they asked for a listing of what the $900 includes? I would demand a listing of what they are charging me for to come up with that total since it is so high. To me a vet including e-vets should have to come to the owners when it gets over a certain amount to let the people know so they can start getting money together. What if they dont have the money to pay? I know a vet here would not release a dog back to the owner until they came up with the money to pay for the vet bill. there was a story on the news about it awhile back.


I suggested she do the same thing - get an itemized invoice. They did provide her with paperwork but it was not very illuminating. A $235 charge and $300 charge with no explaination at all. The dog is still at the e-vets and I have encouraged her to take her dog home and bring him to her vets. I would imagine that the bill will now be double - again, with no procedures or blood work being done at all.
She also told me that minutes after they took her dog to be examined they were telling her that she will need at least a thousand dollars up front. When she explained that she didn't have this kind of money they were urging her to apply for a credit card which she declined. Ugh!


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## Jo Ellen (Feb 25, 2007)

I would definitely dispute all charges without an explanation -- that's just sloppy accounting. If you had pet insurance, how would you submit a claim for something like that?

If Daisy got sick like this and an e-vet told me I had to come up with $1,000 up front .... I'd lose her. This topic scares me.


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

I know when I took Beau to an emergency vet once, I told the girl that Beau had seizures in the past. She took it to mean that he had them before coming in and put a IV in him after they said they wouldnt unless he had another seizure. I refused to pay for the IV because they said they wouldnt put the IV him but did it anyway. The vet was right there when they said they wouldnt put it in him so she took the fee off. 
If it was me and I got that bill, I would tell the emergency vet, unless they could give me a complete listing of what all the charges entailed, I would not be paying the bill. Leaving what the costs are is criminal in my opinion.


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## AmbikaGR (Dec 31, 2007)

I can only base on my experience with ER vet services. They tell you on the phone that it is $200 just to walk in the door. Then after assessing the dog have presented an estimate listing low and high end estimates for each service they feel at the time may/will be needed. This is always dependent on how accurate the initial diagnosis is and we all know how difficult that can be even under the best of situations. And they require that the estimate be signed and accepted before treating the dog. Cold, maybe but like already stated it is a business. I would think that at the end of the stay they will be presented with an itemized bill. I would also talk to the regular vet and see if they feel the dog still needs to be observed or if they should bring him home.


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## Lisa_and_Willow. (Dec 18, 2007)

We don't have e-vets here but they may have 24 hour clinics in the cities? I'm not sure.

We have to ring an emerancy vet line and meet the on duty vet at the surgery. Depends where they live how fast they get there. The call out charge is £80.


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