High vet fees cause pets to be abandoned

I COMPLETELY agree with Charmian Evans’ article in Saturday’s edition regarding the ridiculous increase in vet fees.

I’ve owned pets all my life and the threat of having to take one to the vet has become a real burden. For starters, it now costs around £50 per visit for a ‘consultation fee’ and this is usually charged multiple times if the vet asks you to bring the pet back in order to check progress.

If you have a pet with an ongoing condition that requires regular monitoring, this becomes a considerable financial burden. It’s a nice little earner but I feel that you should only need to pay a single amount for consultation at the start of the treatment in question.

I have a pet which requires fairly regular visits to monitor a condition and to have blood taken and I get charged this fee every single time.

Insurance can help but it isn’t the answer. Most policies will take maybe a £150 excess plus 20% of the residual cost, but for an expensive procedure you will still be out of pocket. Then come policy renewal time, the insurers will hike the premiums because you’ve had the temerity to actually use the insurance.

I fully appreciate that I must pay to have my pets seen by a professional who has undergone many years of training, but during my lifetime the costs to do so appear to have risen unchecked and it’s high time that some regulatory body looked into the practice. For many people, their pets are family, friends and companions, but if you are on a low/single income, the fees are simply far too high. I’ve seen many cats at various shelters and in their notes it has stated the reason the poor soul was surrendered was that “the owner could no longer afford to keep him/her.” Veterinary fees should never be the reason that an animal is abandoned.

Something needs to be done to make veterinary treatment more sensibly priced and less of a burden. Keep pets in loving homes and not dumped in rescue shelters because of over-charging.

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