Vets who push products

After reading through some of the threads here I was thinking about my vet.
Every time I go in she seems to be trying to sell me something.
Last time I went it was the Science Plan ID pouches and the time before it was Identity Chips.
I did get kitty `chipped as it was something I`d been meaning to do then I found even though she said it was a special offer, other people had got it done cheaper.
Do you think it`s right that she`s pushing their products on people?
Is this normal for vets to do?
Last time we went it cost £45 and we were only in there 10 minutes!

A lot of vets do this. The stuff they sell is a big part of thier income just as much as the actual visits from clients. It's when they are pushing things that arren't good on you. Like Science Diet, I hate that stuff but many vets sell it and will try to get you to buy it. And it looks like it is working for you if you are buying the stuff they recommend

I am lucky. My vet does sell food, frontline for dogs, and Revolution for cats but they don't do a hard sell on any of it. They just have it in the reception area so if someone wants it they can get it.

My vets like that too, doesn't force me to buy foods I did ask what kinds of foods to feed Bindi when I first got him and didnt even join the forums and they recamend the bad brands, but they just recamend them. Also they fed some food to Bindi while he was gettig his vac's and they really love amimals you can tell. The bad part of being their client is the price. They want $300 for a tooth cleaning under gas/anasteria!.

My vet doesn't push any products. They don't have any food displayed or anything like that. If you feel your vet is pushing stuff at you all the time I'd find another vet.

What did you get for £45? A consultation over here usually costs around £25 but it may be more expensive depending on where you live, then there's the cost of any treatment on top of that, so hard to say whether that's reasonable or not. My vets provide a breakdown of all costs so if something seems expensive I can at least see how it's broken down. It did cost me a lot when Jaffa had a dental but the invoice broke it down so that I could see how much was for the anaesthetic, how much for pre-op blood tests, how much for xrays etc.

Many products such as flea and worming treatment can be bought cheaper online from places such as vetuk.

http://www.vetuk.co.uk/

Thanks for the flea med site Urbatigers.... just one problem I didnt know they sold stuff in pounds.- E, http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima...laughing02.gif
English dollars, I've never been to england but my dad told me about their price system. I agree with you about vets, if they pressure you to get things you have no use for or things that you as a person know are just false avertizing then a change should be on the way.

Also when you get a pet spayed or neutered and your vet is too costly its always good to look on the yellow pages for the cheapest deal you can get, I did that once for a friends dog.

Originally Posted by urbantigers

If you feel your vet is pushing stuff at you all the time I'd find another vet.

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Or, if the vet is great otherwise you could politely tell them you're not interested, that you already have a great food that you and your cat are satisfied with.

The vet I use now doesn't really know much about the holistic/more organic type foods. She drew a blank on it (yes, her face went blank/slightly confused look), said she didn't know much about those types of food, and dropped the subject right away. Whether she knows much about nutrition or just didn't want to look silly is debatable.

Originally Posted by Panther pride

Also when you get a pet spayed or neutered and your vet is too costly its always good to look on the yellow pages for the cheapest deal you can get, I did that once for a friends dog.

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Cheaper isn't always better, if the vet cuts corners or uses cheap anesthetic. You get what you pay for sometimes..

i am lucky that my vets don't do that - and she doesn't recommend prescription diets for certain illnesses either. I do like some of the service I get though - I had enquired about discounts for chipping multiple cats, and the week after, they had a deal on, so the receptionist rang me cos she remembered I had enquired. The emergency vet tried to sell me sensitivity food after Pebbles' weekend there - I just told them I already had some (which was the truth actually - but as they had just charged me£515 and not found anything wrong, I wouldn't have bought it anyway!!)

Thanks for the warning on that strange wings, I will tell my friend so he knows about it. Today I bushed Bindi teeth, I found a back moler that was getting tater on it, otherwise teeth look great I heard cats on raw have few dental issues, when I move out either to a group home or an apartment I will switch Bindi over to an all raw/wet diet and get him a friend, I'm thinking either a Bangal or an Aby, they match his actions. http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima...laughing02.gif

I think it is 'normal' for them to do that...but I must admit I'd be a bit put off by a real hard sell every time I walked in, though.

That said, my vet doesn't do this. For example, she sells probiotic in a bottle...but has always recommended yogurt to me. Another one - She has 3 or 4 different enzyme cleaners on the shelf. Last time I was in I asked which one she would recommend. She said "vinegar and water" LOL...she didn't push any of the stuff on me. Either she's really honest or she just thinks I'm broke and feels sorry for me. I think it's a little bit of both

Originally Posted by urbantigers

What did you get for £45? A consultation over here usually costs around £25 but it may be more expensive depending on where you live, then there's the cost of any treatment on top of that, so hard to say whether that's reasonable or not.

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Thanks for the link! will definatly be taking a look.
It cost £45 for consultation, anti-biotic and anti-inflammitory injection and a weeks worth of anti-biotic tablets. I haven`t got the receipt in front of me right now so I`m not sure how it breaks down, but I think the injection was roughly £5-6.
We live in a town so I dont know if that makes a difference. I read that rural practices are cheaper but I thought it would be the other way round!

Originally Posted by Jaffacake

I read that rural practices are cheaper but I thought it would be the other way round!

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The price usually matches the cost of living in an area, rural places are cheaper here too. Though rural vets here are more familiar with livestock then cats.

Our new vet is actually closer into town than our old (rural) one, and an "exam'' is $20 cheaper... but - Maybe because the old vet was the only good vet in our end of the county- now I drive at least 30 min. one way... The new one also has a variety of Prescription foods on the shelf, instead of just SD, which I found refreshing .

Originally Posted by beandip

I think it is 'normal' for them to do that...but I must admit I'd be a bit put off by a real hard sell every time I walked in, though.

That said, my vet doesn't do this. For example, she sells probiotic in a bottle...but has always recommended yogurt to me. Another one - She has 3 or 4 different enzyme cleaners on the shelf. Last time I was in I asked which one she would recommend. She said "vinegar and water" LOL...she didn't push any of the stuff on me. Either she's really honest or she just thinks I'm broke and feels sorry for me. I think it's a little bit of both

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Ditto here... I have been sent to the human store for supplements to aliviate budget stress and easy access ....

My old conventional vet also didnt push... but when Kandie had a CRF flare he told me I needed to try purina Nf for a month... that is what I like since he had a reason for it and a timeframe