This is so wrong dont you agree?

Does anyone have a vet that refuses to see your pet with out payment even if it was life or death?

I have one and know pleanty more. They refuse to see my moms chiwawa unless she has atleast half of the amount of full payment(which isnt possible at the moment she has tons of medical bills and doesnt get payed until later this month).
i really dont want to discuss it out loud i dont wanna be chewed out at or be harshly spoken to about this subject.

Im waiting for the local vet to call me back on the subject since we were rejected at our main vet. I know this vet wont allow us to come in with out full payment on account were are not a regular.


Ashley

As far as i know mine would still see them, but then they do anyway and then you pay on your way out, so if you havent enough funds then what can they do because they've already been treated?!.

IMO if their lovers of animals by being vets then i would hope that they would take installments, because if they turned someone away then again IMO they don't love animals enough.

Obviously im not saying that they let the person go without paying anything, because after all it is a business and bills have to be paid by vets also, but something could be worked out.

If some vets can do it then why can't others?!

OKn the problem is Ginger is in labor here water sack has been hanging out for 4 hours now. A vet agreed to see her they are gonna hold a check.

Ashely

A true animal lover! Hope she's ok!

I've never heard of that. Vet offices would set up a payment plan for the bill.

Originally Posted by eburgess

I've never heard of that. Vet offices would set up a payment plan for the bill.

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Unfortunatley, mine didn't. My dog had a cancerous tumor which had to be removed and they wanted payment in full when I picked him up. (I had asked before bringing him for the surgery if we could pay on it.) The bill was $500! I ended up paying half in cash and putting the rest on plastic. My only other option was to wait but the tumor would continue to grow and decrease his chances.

I'm still kinda peeved about that but they are the best vets in my area. So what are you gonna do?

When you asked if you could do payment did they agree on the phone?


Ashley

I was at a Drs appt one day last summer and in the waiting room I recognized one of the techs from Dori's vets office. We said hello and she got called back for her appointment. I got called back for my appointment about 15 minutes later and I heard her talking to the doctor in the hallway. He asked her where she worked and asked if she liked the vet. She had all good things to say but the one thing that stuck out is "Dr. Woods loves animals so much and he would never ever let an animal suffer for an owners inability to pay, he is always will to work with them."

Hearing her say that while she didn't think anyone else could hear made me feel so good about my vet!

Our vet is pretty good with that. When my niece's kitty broke his leg last week she had no money,but could pay in a couple days, the vet said it was an emergency so they would treat him anyway.

My sister who lives in Alabama though, her vet won't give you back your pet until you pay in full!

Originally Posted by stormy

My sister who lives in Alabama though, her vet won't give you back your pet until you pay in full!

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WHAT!!!!!!! as if a vet visit isn't stressful enough for them without holding them to randsom like that!

I'd knock doors through windows if they held on to one of my two!

All three of the vet's I've ever used would offer payment plans if needed.
And for regulars, they just simply mailed out bills.
I'm super fortunate in that our cats will never incur any medical expenses.
5 of the 6 were all adopted from the same clinic, rescued by the same vet, they get routine and emergency medical for free.

I had a £150 vet bill today and my vet told me to pay what i wanted now and then the outstanding next time i saw her.

interesting.
Honestly i think the vet bills here are fairly cheap compared to other countries. but i dont know how they work
i just pay in full, and i bring extra money with me incase its more than usual

Originally Posted by fwan

interesting.
Honestly i think the vet bills here are fairly cheap compared to other countries. but i dont know how they work

i just pay in full, and i bring extra money with me incase its more than usual

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I always pay in full as well. But our dog has eppilepsy (sp?) so he's on medication 2x a day which isn't cheap and then having the cancer thrown at us out of the blue I just didn't have the $500 laying around. Not to mention, Goose & Sophia (our kitties) who are healthy but need regular checkups and our son who is the most expensive of all!!!!

I was kind of insulted because we have always paid in full and this was an emergency. I felt like in this situation, our vets should have worked with us. Heck, I wouldn't have had a problem if they wanted to do a credit check first. But it's over for now and hopefully, the tumor will have a slow re-growth rate.

Both of the drs in our vets office will work with you....but neither of the other vets in town will.

I haven't had any issues, but like someone else here said, I pay on my way out and I've been fortunate enough not to have sick kitties or emergencies.

I assume if someone is not well known to the vet or if they have defaulted on payment previously or taken too long to pay, or if the vet has been burned by a lot of other people, they may very well insist on payment up front.

They have expenses too, rent, drugs, supplies, people to pay, etc., but it is really awful for the person who has a really sick precious pet.

My vet actually has some sort of credit card program that you can apply for. They do not do payment plans, but pretty much anyone is accepted into their credit plan. The APR isn't outrageous. You don't actually pay until after your pet is seen. When I picked up Abby's ashes after she had been cremated I had to pay the bill for the euthanasia/cremation, but I was expecting the bill to be mailed to me and didn't bring any cash. The receptionist let me come back before close to pay the bill, which I thought was nice of her. The actual bill was in my mailbox when I got home- so I just had bad timing.

Originally Posted by rosiemac

WHAT!!!!!!! as if a vet visit isn't stressful enough for them without holding them to randsom like that!

I'd knock doors through windows if they held on to one of my two!

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One vet I had was exactly like that! (obviously in the past tense)..
There was a sign in the back area that said if you didn't pay upon pickup, they would hold your animal for a certain amount (3 days I think) and then relinquish them to the shelter!!
I had an emergency $500 bill with them once and had to borrow the money that day!


Most vets will work with you if you are regular in an emergency situation though...
And I am not about to blast you, Ashley, but if she is breeding her chihuahua, you could gently suggest to her that if she breeds again, she should be prepared for the worst..Its not like a broken leg, or an emergency situation if the reason for the visit was somewhat planned.
This could be the reason for the vet stating what he/she did..
Not defending the vet, but I can see their point somewhat.

Glad everything turned out ok!!!

I love my vet. If I forget to pay on the way out, they just add it to my tab and we settle the next time I see him. If I don't get up there within 30 days (rare), they just mail me the bill as a reminder. They know where I live, know where I stash the keys to my house so I don't think they are too concerned about me not paying. I think a long term relationship with your vet goes a long way to building trust about making payments.

My vet does have clients that have a lot of animals and can't always pay in full. He and I talk enough to know that he simply reduces their rates and charges what they can afford. He also provides volume discounts and we sometimes negotiate charges in advance for those times when I am bringing in, say, a lot of cats for TNR.