am i being ripped off at the vet?

Question

my kitten has a broken leg. i took him into the emergency vet clinic and had to put a $650 deposit down. that is the low end of payment, i may have to put more when i pick him up in the morning. is this right? it does include xrays which i know are expensive, but $650 minimum seems a little steep..??

Answer 1

No, you are not, but I am sorry you have this expense. In fact for an emergency clinic, I would say it is in line with costs for a broken leg.

Kitten will need follow-up visits with your regular vet. If the sudden out of pocket expenses are a strain (I know they would be for me!), here is a link to Care Credit. It is a credit card just medical expenses, including veterinary. You can apply online.

I hope kitty is better soon.

Purrs and prayers for you and kitten.

Answer 2

Mainly, a few things can determine the price. There is the type of surgury, and in this case its difficult because a kitten's leg is smaller and babies require closer montoring in all areas of surgery - remember that a vet will not even spay or nuter a kitten until it is at least six months old for that reason in most cases.

The type of clinic could also be a factor, as emergency clinics are more expensive. If this is the case, since your kitten is not in danger of dying, I would request that the emergency vet give you the tools to make the baby comfortable until you can schedule a regular vet appointment which is typically cheaper.

Lastly, as with any doctor, if you are not sure about the price, get a second opinion.

Answer 3

I don't think so. Our emergency clinic would charge more. A vet needs to do major surgery on broken bones, make sure no fragments stay in (x-rays), have an anesthesiologist on hand for all surgery, the equipment costs, any pinning of the bone, a cast, etc. They charge surgery by the minute (ours does), so you're probably looking at $800 total. They'll need to do blood tests to make sure the organs didn't take a major hit with shock, there's post op care, kennel fees for however many 12 hour staffing days they keep the cat(that's $35 a day here) and pain meds, so a whole slew of things are being charged. They can give you an itemized bill.

Answer 4

It is true that some interventions may be expensive, and definitely more expensive than the cat, but that is no reason to say you'll get another cat instead. Cats are not an investment and they are not disposable.
However, 650 sounds a little too much for a broken leg, but I can only compare to prices in Greece where I live. The best way to find out if you are ripped off is to call some other vets in your area and ask what it would cost at them. And I advise you to have insurance for your pets, I have paid a lot for mine because I can't get pet insurance in Greece.

Answer 5

To start with , there's an out of hours fee for seeing a vet eg., at midnight. The diagnostic aid was x-ray , did that include anaesthetic ? It also depends what the treatment was . If you have surgery that may cost a lot more than just a support dressing . If the kitten was in shock at the time, then your vet might have given him fluid or other types of treatment on top of pain relief medication . Ask for a breakdown or query the bill if you are not happy.

Answer 6

Wow, I don't see how they can charge you a minimum without even having first seen your pet. I can understand, I guess, charging a deposit. They probably get a lot of no pays from people whose pet dies then the owner just never shows back up but $650???

Yeah, I think that's a rip off but emergency vets can get away with this because they know they're the only ones after hours.

Answer 7

Depending on what's included it sounds about right. Emergency office visits can cost up to $100, IV catheter and fluids $75-$150, Xrays $100-$200 or more depending on the number of views, injections such as pain, antibiotics, and possibly other meds if he was in shock. Possible sedation for x-rays if he was too painful etc....
I'm sorry to hear about your kitty and I hope he gets better soon. And I'm glad you're getting him the care he needs. That leg may be expensive the since cats aren't "things" he's irreplaceable.

Answer 8

That seems very high. An xray for a kitten usually costs around $45 to $75 depending on where you go. The THO, which is possibly the surgery they are doing, if the injury is in the hip area, can cost about $600. It seems to me the vet is overcharging.

Answer 9

Dear fellow cat-lover: I am just now expereincing this same issue...
Our 7 month old kitten broke his back leg 10-24, and we got to the vet hospital before they closed. The vet did say he'd have to come once a week to get it re-wrapped, but he shouldn't need surgery. They kept him over night, x-ray & splint it for $200. ... however, they failed to tell us anything when we picked him up other than, pay the bill, here's your cat. We confided him in a large dog kennel where for the first few hours he thrashed himself silly trying to get around in the kennel. I called asking for something to calm him down, but they told me there was nothing they could do or meds to give. One week later, they went to re-wrap & they re-xrayed: he broke his leg EVEN FURTHER, and they suggested surgery to the tune of $2,200!!
I called some other animal owners and we located another vet about 35 miles away who did the same surgey for only $550. !! We are so thankful for taking the time to investigate other options.... We will no longer take any of our animals to that original vet place, even tho we had been going there for over 20 yrs...

Remember this: in any medical field, there are no guranttees, however, we don't carry medical insurance on our animals, so we have to respond like consumers as well.

Answer 10

Im not sure, but my girlfriend had her sick canary put down and that cost her $130!!. My previous dog passed away before the vet arrived and he charged the same even thou he didnt have to use injection to put him down, charged $140 for removal of my dog!! My pup was stung by a wasp and that cost $78 for a anihistime injection, then spayed was another $189, Its such a shame vets are so expensive as many pensioners just dont have the money consequently the animals suffer from many minor things that turn into major problems. .