The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Goats => Topic started by: Roxy on January 05, 2012, 12:53:14 pm
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Ouch .....or perhaps something stronger springs to mind.
Surprisingly, the callout fee for a Bank Holiday visit to Dolly was only a fiver more than usual .....but, what with the mileage, the examination, the meds, and then we were charged again the following day for a consultation, which does not seem fair, as we were charged the day before for that ......including VAT the total was .....
£99.51.
I then paid £20 to the slaughterman, who kindly knocked a fiver off - not sure if that was cos it was xmas, or cos Dolly was little.
OH does not know yet, but he will go mad at that bill. And weren't they quick off the mark with their bill - and I do have an account with them. Payment required within 7 days it says.
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God knows what ours will be for our rhododendron-munching wether. Soon find out, though ::)
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Being a vet means you have a license to print money me thinks.
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Yes ..... we have to pay for 6 vets to drive round in posh 4x4;s, and then there is the posh new reception with three, or perhaps 4 ladies sat there - then they took it down and made it smaller, cos most clients could not see over the tall counter!! And of course we have all the nurses, the practice manager etc. etc.......so, we need big bills to fund that lot.
Oh for the old daysl, Used to go to a brilliant vet (rather eccentric in his ways, but good!) practice was in the utilty room at the end of his farmhouse. No appointment needed, just call in with your animals, ok, vet may have been feeding his goats and chickens, so came in covered in straw to see to you, but nevertheless his prices were rock bottom. No expensive overheads!!
Had my farm cats speyed and neutured there; Went to collect them, and no fancy pens - they were sitting in front of his kitchen aga waiting in their cat carrier.
Unfortunately, he retired ......pity I could not find another one like him ;D
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I'm lucky and still have the 'mucky-wellies, understand how skint farmers and smallholders' are type of vets. Yeh, they gotta make a living but they drive battered old cars and are great :)
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Each of the two goats I lost cost over £200 in vet bills plus the collection on top was £35 each. And with no animals at the end, its a final insult really ::) No posh cars at our practice either, have got a very good vet there now who didn' deal with the 2 I lost, but I have to say my gut instinct is that had he done, I'd still have them here.
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I took a whippet in with a cut on his leg that was too much for me to deal with, Sunday morning, no other staff available so I assisted. The bill for five stitches and an antibiotic shot-----£125 :o :o. Surgery £12 per minute!!!!!!
I can't count so work that out per hour!
A work colleague had to take her dog in on Boxing daynot to my vet.) with a smallish bite on his cheek about an inch from his eye (I would have dealt with that myself with butterfly stitches) Her bill-----£622 :o :o (one stitch!)
So, all you young singletons, be warned, MARRY A VET!!!!!!
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I can remember it costing a £ for a stitch and another £ for antibiotic Jag.
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So, all you young singletons, be warned, MARRY A VET!!!!!!
That's it...I'm persuading my 4 girls to train as vets ;)
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It cost us over £100 at the vet to have them come out to euthanise Murphy the pig.
And £40 collection, as he was full of drugs
I pay them a tenner every so often - by the time it gets to court I'll have paid it off!!
Absolutely ridiculous....
And with an expectant goat, I know there'll be disbuding fees soon too (hope they are girls and wont need ringing!)
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I pay about £20 for consultation and another £20 for farm visit. It doesn't matter how far they travel and our vets'practise covers a large area. When I had the vet out for a difficult kidding, it took him 30 minutes to arrive because of the distance and it was no dearer than when it's a vet in the same town.
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Little Blue, it's an easy job to ring your little boys, get the equipment (SfS) and practise on two marbles in a sock ;D
MGM,ten years ago the vets in my practise wore old cordouroys and patched jackets, you weren't charged for a consultation and if the bill was hefty you were told "Pay it when you can". Those vets retired (and are sorely missed) and now it's natty green jackets, name badges and modern technology , instead of good old experience. I took a dog in last week with a haematoma on her ear to be told, leave it, it'll go down by itself and was charged 25 quid for this 10 second "consultation".
If I could find a vet to marry me I may be sorely tempted, I could just have an affair with Jim :o ;D ;D ;D
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With the amount of sheep we have, we are always needing something from the vet and i have to say the bill just keeps rolling on and we pay off as much as we can afford at a time. sometimes we clear it sometimes not, but they are so good and helpful.
Andy our vet is such a gem and if he can't get to us in a crisis will always advise over the phone. As often the case he doesn't actually earn the monies they charge to come out, that is dictated by the directors of the company
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Little Blue, it's an easy job to ring your little boys, get the equipment (SfS) and practise on two marbles in a sock ;D
Heehee, can just picture the husband's face when the parcel arrives and he opens it saying "what do you do with these then?!"
or "why are there marbles in my socks?!"
:D
to be fair, the vets did't really charge for the ringing as he was knocked out anyway ... I took advantage by getting the next ones ear-tagged when they were unconscious!
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D
to be fair, the vets did't really charge for the ringing as he was knocked out anyway ... I took advantage by getting the next ones ear-tagged when they were unconscious!
Wish I'dthought of that for Curry.
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Sounds as if some of you aren't getting agricultural rates ...
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Well - I always feel it is a good month if I havent had a vets bill - but with 50+ heads on a "hobby" smallholding it is a rare occasion. A good vet is worth their weight and in my experience you pay for what your get. I have the advantage of knowing a lot of the vets in our area and I am quite brazan in phoning around for the best price - it is amazing at how tings like vaccinations can differ in price. I need to get a bitch hip scored soon and there was a difference in nearly £75 for the X ray and bva fee! Saying that we are restricted in LA vets around here but generally the one we use is first class. Very reasonable priced - we have an a/c and and pay by the end of the month - coincides with pay day! Mt tips would be develop a good relationship, be open about shopping around - now is a quiet period for vets with Christmas and all! Also if you can take the animal to the vet - saves the call out and consultatiion fee - even at a reasonable vet is >£50!! Also learn how to do things yourself - my vets bills are a lot - but less per head than when I first started due togaining some knowledge and experience to do some things myself.
Oh btw 7 kids now from 4 does!!
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when our pig was ill on a sat i dreaded the bill cos he was there ages, i relieved it was a hundred quid cos if it was a horse it would have been triple that.
we have a month to pay (thank god) if its farm but have to pay upfront for pets.
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we have a month to pay (thank god) if its farm but have to pay upfront for pets.
Yes we have the same, no accounts for pets/small animals and a farm account with 30 days to pay. Also if I divide my vet bills per (farm) animal it is very reasonable.
However somehow we only rarely manage amonth without a bill, even though atm it is ony presciptions like Engemycin and Propylene glycol.
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We're on account too - although not actually a farm but it's mostly the goat's that I probably over worry about - so agricultural animals and the added sheep things and the odd dog thing - even though they go in, not all out, it all gets to a nice (for the vet) running total - thankfully paid off before kidding time!!
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I'll be honest, we too have an account that gives us a month to pay ...
... I make the assumption that our cats & dog are included (they are working animals, ratters & guarder!)
... and sometimes, like now, I don't pay it within a month. As long as I go in & pay them something during the month, they wait for the rest. They did offer me an agreement last year, whereby I had to pay £10 every week... seeing as nothing happened when I missed by forgetting , I stopped worrying!