We sometimes get asked about consultation fees – whether we charge them, and why.
We do charge a consultation fee to see our Vets, it is currently £35, or £23.50 for small furries (rabbits, hamsters etc).
Our Veterinary Surgeons are highly trained professionals, who studied for many years to be allowed to call themselves a Vet. It’s something that they are probably most proud of, out of everything they have achieved in life. They see it as a great honour to look after your pets, helping you find solutions to your problems, making your furry friend feel better, and relieving their suffering where necessary. All of this comes at a cost, as they have mortgages of their own, a car, bills, and they do need to eat every now and again, so we pay them a salary (a very well deserved salary in our opinion!). As well as our staff, our other overheads include building rent, business rates, gas, electric and water bills, computer licensing, card machine fees and stationary as well as professional fees such as RCVS registration and public liability insurance to name but a few (or should that be phew!).
We truly care about your pets, and want to give them the high quality care that they deserve. All registered Vets have to keep up to date with CPD – Continuing Professional Development. This is required by their governing body, the RCVS. CPD is a wonderful thing, it allows our vets to learn about new medications, treatments and techniques, however it does also come at a cost. It goes without saying that our surgery is equipped with modern equipment which enables us to treat your pet whilst they are with us, which again comes at a cost. There’s a theme emerging here…
Charging a consultation fee allows us to keep our medication and surgery prices as low as is practically possible. It just doesn’t sit right with us to allow you to see a vet free of charge, and then charge you higher for medication which your pet might desperately need.
We are fully transparent about our prices, they are on our website here and we will happily chat through them with you if you call. One of the more common questions that we get asked is ‘How much is it going to cost to treat my pet’. It’s not a question that we enjoy responding to, as we just don’t know. Sometimes it takes a lot of time (and money) to get to the bottom of a pet’s condition, because they just can’t tell us what’s wrong. Our vets are happy to communicate with you fully during and after a consultation or procedure, to keep you informed of the costs. We provide accurate estimates before any surgery, which we try our absolute best to stick to. Your pet’s final bill will rarely exceed your estimate. If we admit your pet to the surgery we will keep you updated of any costs on top of your estimate. Insurance can help wonders for pets in need of treatment. For more information about insurance, please see that section of our website here, or talk to us at the surgery.
We truly do believe that our services offer good value for money, however don’t just take our word for it. In a recent survey [November 2018] our clients told us that they were, on average, 99% happy with our value for money. Our Facebook reviews and testimonials also testify this.
Finally, if you ever have any questions about our prices, or anything at all, please get in touch with us via the usual methods; email, phone or pop in to the surgery and see us. And remember, if your pet is a part of our Healthy Pets Plan then they get 3 consultations included in their package to use every 12 months.