[TC1474]

Our oldest cat is 17 and despite his advancing years he is in very good health.

Anyway, last night he looked to be in pain and he was off his food on top of which he was drooling a lot (unlike him) and he appeared to have difficulty eating his food.

A closer look suggested he had something stuck in his mouth but we could not open it fully to have a look. So....At 10.30pm we are off to the emergency vet.

Emergency vet said it appears to be an infection he has picked up, gave us some pain killer for the evening and a bill of £465 for 10 minutes work and a promise they would call us this morning to confirm he was booked in with our regular vet and treated as an emergency.

Fair enough, at 8.30 this morning, phone call came in and we were asked if we could get him straight in which was not a problem.

Anyway, long story short, 3pm this afternoon, got the all clear to go and pick him up.

One of his fangs had been pushed out at an angle by an abscess, hence why he could not open his mouth so that was removed along with 6 other teeth which were starting to crumble.

He was looking a bit sorry for himself and decidedly wobbly after the anaesthetic, but I think I need anaesthetic now for the 2nd bill.....

£895

Thank god for my good old credit card 🙄

We have insurance, but we have to pay out and then claim it back, but nearly £1400 for what amounts to probably less than an hours work.

I appreciate that there is the medication and aftercare and equipment plus staff time, but it is still a hell of a lot of money don't you think?

Anyway, the old boy is on the mend now and his younger brother is making a big fuss of him..

[Mark07]

Originally Posted by TC1474

Anyway, the old boy is on the mend now and his younger brother is making a big fuss of him..

This is the most important thing... but ouch.

I can only assume that this is what hospitals would be like if we didn't have the NHS.

[Drivingforfun]

Originally Posted by Mark07

I can only assume that this is what hospitals would be like if we didn't have the NHS.

I have family in the US, health insurance (like any other insurance) differs based on your risk factors but he is a healthy 57 year old and he pays just over $2,000 (£1,500) a month

I know someone who was hospitalised in the US and it was over $300 an hour, for every hour they were in there, $7,200 a day in other words ... BEFORE the cost of the operations they had and other care/treatment! Luckily they had insurance

[Mark07]

Originally Posted by Drivingforfun

[...] he is a healthy 57 year old and he pays just over $2,000 (£1,500) a month [...]

< falls off chair >

[NMNeil]

The wife visited the dentist and they said they wouldn't treat her because she had high blood pressure.
Fair enough, so off to the doctor who spent a whole 2 minutes taking her blood pressure, well it wasn't actually the doctor but his assistant.
Wrote a prescription and set up an appointment for a full battery of blood tests at a local hospital.
$860 billed to Medicare (Federal insurance for us oldies)
We skipped getting the prescriptions after we looked them up and they had a few pages of possible adverse effects. And the blood tests are a well known technique for doctors if he refers a patient to a hospital for the test he gets a kickback.
No wonder Medicare is in trouble financially.

[Rolebama]

As far as vets go, some years ago my old dog went senile. Wouldn't eat properly and kept getting stuck in corners. Got an estimate from local vet for around £300 for euthenasia. My daughter recommended her local vet. Went to them and they charged me £35 as they agreed it was best for the dog. Cost me around £10 for the journey in petrol. The difference between London suburbs and Beds countryside.

[olduser]

In my book, the greatest thing (and perhaps the only thing) that UK politicians ever did was set-up the NHS.
Unfortunately, they have spent the rest of the time trying to destroy it!