vet bills

[firther]

We just had a letter off the vets saying we need a farm visit every 6 months to prescribe medicines, is this the norm now, they were last here in only april so obviously can't order any in till we have a visit.

we all ready pay 60 quid for a bottle of betamox la, but luckily don't need much medicine in a normal year.

Just wondering if this is standard practice now, cheers

 

[twizzel]

£60 for a bottle of betamox?? Our vets I think is annual but wouldn’t be surprised if it went to 6 monthly given the pressure to reduce antibiotic useage

 

[davidroberts30]

isnt it only if you havent had a call out?

 

[Al R]

When are the prices rising? I don’t use much anyway mind.
I’ve just ordered 3000 bolus’s for the spring incase supply and prices tighten.

 

[firther]

£60 for a bottle of betamox?? Our vets I think is annual but wouldn’t be surprised if it went to 6 monthly given the pressure to reduce antibiotic useage

yea £60 quid, I know its barmy

 

[firther]

isnt it only if you havent had a call out?

they were last here in april, but now saying 2 call outs a year. I don't see why I should pay for a call out for no reason when everythings healthy. In other words I can't even get some blue spray with out paying 60 quid for a call out

 

[Farmer_Joe]

get a new vet im sure my betamox was £21 last time

 

[Farmer Fin]

Big pressure on vets when it comes to animals under their care for dispensing meds hence why they are saying every six months. This is pressure from the VMD who run the show in the uk. £60 is a stupid price but need to put in comparison with hourly rate etc. Still some practices subsidising hourly rate with high drug markup. Most practices now charging properly for what time actually costs and meds at a small markup.

 

[firther]

Big pressure on vets when it comes to animals under their care for dispensing meds hence why they are saying every six months. This is pressure from the VMD who run the show in the uk. £60 is a stupid price but need to put in comparison with hourly rate etc. Still some practices subsidising hourly rate with high drug markup. Most practices now charging properly for what time actually costs and meds at a small markup.

cheers, 6 months for everyone then

so if I want some betamox la it'll be 60 a bottle plus 60 call out fee

 

[firther]

get a new vet im sure my betamox was £21 last time

that's problem, the vets have a monopoly around here. Some on here pay less than you a bottle as well

 

[Al R]

get a new vet im sure my betamox was £21 last time

I’m not entirely sure but I think £9/100ml and £6 for Alamycin? That’s collected from them.

 

[cheviot53]

Betamox LA was £22 Bimoxyl LA £18 ( same thing ) and still on 12mth visit , normally at least one callout per year which covers it

 

[neilo]

I've not heard anything about having to be on farm every 6 months, but thought 12 months was the minimum (quite rightly, as the can only dispense to animals 'under their care' IIRC).

Agree with above @firther , your vet is seriously taking the pee. Just checked last months invoice and Betamox LA was £16/100ml. I know our vet is pretty reasonable (lots of competition locally, being a livestock area), but they are still making a margin on it. To charge close to 4x that is leg lifting of the highest order IMO. To give them a charitable benefit of the doubt, could they have made a mistake with the invoicing?

 

[firther]

I've not heard anything about having to be on farm every 6 months, but thought 12 months was the minimum (quite rightly, as the can only dispense to animals 'under their care' IIRC).

Agree with above @firther , your vet is seriously taking the pee. Just checked last months invoice and Betamox LA was £16/100ml. I know our vet is pretty reasonable (lots of competition locally, being a livestock area), but they are still making a margin on it. To charge close to 4x that is leg lifting of the highest order IMO. To give them a charitable benefit of the doubt, could they have made a mistake with the invoicing?

 

[firther]

No unfortunately that is there price to the likes of me. I've only 180 sheep so I don't expect to pay the cheapest compared to a full time farmer, but even so it is ridiculous what we are being charged. Luckily I don't use much as a general rule.

Hey I tried that Welsh farm supplies mineral drench. It's done a real job on the lambs

 

[Woolless]

I think the summary would be that the 6 monthly visit requirement is strict but justifiable. £60 for Betamox simply isn't. I would query it. You could always ask for a prescription and get it on-line, though lord knows what they'd charge for that.

 

[davidroberts30]

they were last here in april, but now saying 2 call outs a year. I don't see why I should pay for a call out for no reason when everythings healthy. In other words I can't even get some blue spray with out paying 60 quid for a call out

I'm on 12month for tb testing so the vet is here minimum 1 time per year seeing every beast
There will be other call outs too mind

 

[scatterbrainedlass]

No unfortunately that is there price to the likes of me. I've only 180 sheep so I don't expect to pay the cheapest compared to a full time farmer, but even so it is ridiculous what we are being charged. Luckily I don't use much as a general rule.

Hey I tried that Welsh farm supplies mineral drench. It's done a real job on the lambs

I've only got 110 ewes and I pay the same as everyone else for drugs. I can't buy in bulk and make savings that way but £60 for a basic antibiotic is crazy!

 

[ollie989898]

I don't think they can legally continue to prescribe anything if they barely see the place.

Some of them charge less for drugs if you are having a routine system of visits etc.

A lot of smaller more isolated clients are probably uneconomic to service unless your annual bottle of Y is priced up.

 

[firther]

I don't think they can legally continue to prescribe anything if they barely see the place.

Some of them charge less for drugs if you are having a routine system of visits etc.

A lot of smaller more isolated clients are probably uneconomic to service unless your annual bottle of Y is priced up.

Like I said they were only here in April, so not like they never come