My friend and I were chatting last night about vet's charging for a consultation aswell as the treatment, what do you all think about this? Do you think it is ideal that they charge or should it be charge for treatment only.

Our vet charges 35.00 to see the pet then add's treatment on top off that which isn't to bad, to be honest though, I never actually thought about it until yesterday.

If they didn't charge this then in cases where there is no treatment required then a vet would effectively be doing it for free.

you do have to pay for their time and expertise
it's like if you take your car to the garage and have something done, you pay for parts and labour

some vet consult fees are a bit high though
i hear of vets charging £5 to look at hamsters and guinea pigs, but when i took one of each to my vet it was £15 a go

most are good though and if you take more than one animal they will only charge you just the one consult fee

How much

Good grief, glad I don't live where you are! It's £16 at my vets, but if it's for routine, like Booster vacs, they only charge for the injection, no consultation at all, so my dog's was done last week for £29.11. The vet actually cleaned the dog's anal glands too and didn't charge for that either.

I don't mind paying because my vet is brilliant. She really takes her time with my cats and does a very thorough examination and consultation each time. When my poor little cat Muppet was very ill she would spend up to half an hour us, and a lot of that time was spent reassuring me and explaining exactly what was wrong, what could be done etc.

I think a good vet is worth their weight in gold, and I would pay whatever was asked to get the care and treatment I do from her.

Our vets are really good. Medivet we use.

A few times they haven't charged for the consultation where they saw fit. One time I recall was when our cat had a tick right inside her ear. The vet got it out and charged us only for the antibiotic jab (about £20).

But of course they have right to charge for consultations. They are professionals.

When I get my horses looked at its a fortune for them to come out so I try to get anything that needs doing on a zone visit. They come to our area every Wednesday and there is no call out fee

My vet charges £18 for consultation, except for routine stuff like vaccines. He usually waives it for my cats though, since it sometimes seems like we practically live at the vets with two of them (FIV and diabetes)

I have no issue with paying it anyway, its only fair they're paid for their time and expertise.

My vet is brilliant. He only charges about £8 per animal. When i took smokey in for his leg when we first got him he only charged for the ab nothing else as i agreed too take him on. when i tried too have garfield and stalker neutered and he wouldnt do it i did get them wormed and he only charged for the wormer. He even phonned the following week too see how they where as well. I need a vet nearer but i dont trust anyone else.

Yes - definitely

Yes, but possibly not as much as they do. I think maybe there should be a base rate, for their time and every consultation is about 20 mins. Anything more and you pay for another one? I don't know....

Mine charges 19.50 consult fee but if there's been treatment and I have to go back so he can check progress, take stitches out or whatever, he normally doesn't charge me again the second time. He's pretty good

Yes I think we should pay a consutation fee, we visit to check lumps and get repeat prescriptions at the time it's good to get the once over and have a chat about any problems - if they had to do this for free I think time may be more rationed and we would not get a chance to have the dog properly examined every few months.

You cannot run any business without charging to cover ALL your costs, including staff, utilities, rent etc, and some profit to cover your own own wages to in turn cover your own living expenses.

Vets spend a similar time training to lawyers and accountants, if not more, both of whom only charge for a consultation, as they give no "treatment" as such.

Vets generally charge less than these other professions, although some referral vets do charge an absolute fortune.

ours charge 27.00 but they are fantastic both my two cats love it there not so keen on the car but the vets is not an issue

Good point also if they didn't charge consult fees goodness knows how much they would have to charge for treatments just to keep the surgeries open. It would be prohibitive cost I would imagine and put many off from having animals treated.

Very true and it would also put anyone off training or working as a vet!