Flea's...again and cost of consultations :-(

Hi All

I had to treat the buns with flea's...used Advantage (small weight one) 1 pipette per week for three weeks and also sprayed the house & hutches etc with Indorex.

it worked...but now we found two more fleas which looked half dead and Ive got bites so they back.

Spoke to the vets who have suggested using Advocate - however as it is not been cleared for use for rabbits, so they want me to bring the rabbits in to do a health check before giving me a subscription. Which I dont mind.

I am astounded at the cost.

The consults were 10 mins at £26.80 - they are now 15 mins at £36.95! How much! Almost £40 quid for 15 mins to tell me my rabbits fine to be treated.. :-/

Yes I get that they might say the rabbit is not fine to be treated..but I just think thats a lot to charge .

I have three rabbits - this is what they emailed me:


"Further to our conversation, here are some details of the flea treatment and of consultations.

The treatment I recommend is 'Advocate for small cats weighing 4kg or less', which is a monthly treatment applied to the skin in the same way as Advantage. You would use two vials per month to treat all three rabbits, and I would advise treating them all for three months. The medication costs £38.17 for a pack of six (three month’s treatment) or £22.34 for a pack of three doses, when purchased directly from us. If you would like to order it online, you need a written prescription from us which costs £13.00.

We need to see all three bunnies for a medication check-up and weigh-in prior to dispensing Advocate, because it is an off-licence drug (not designed for use in rabbits) and we have not seen them for six months. Our consult fee is usually £36.95 per patient (£110.85 in total), however if they all came in together we do have a reduced fee which is £26.80 for the first rabbit, and £19.80 for any additional rabbits seen at the same time (£66.40 in total). Once they have been seen we can continue to dispense flea treatment for six months in total (which will bring you up to vaccination time).

I hope that is helpful, and hope to see you soon."

I can buy this advocate from vetuk at £ 22.49 for pack of six.


I rung the vets and they said I had to pay £36.95 for the first rabbit and the £19.80 for any more...so are they right or is the email rigtht. Either way I just feel to spend either £89.55 or £79.40 is ALOT to tell me yes we can treat the rabbits.

i dont think vets shouldnt be paid...I just feel like its alot for treatment that will buy elsewhere anyways :-( feeling discouraged.

That is a lot, are they rabbit savvy or could you go elsewhere? I only have one rabbit but she's under a specialist and he had to see her a lot but didn't charge me on a lot of consultations as he just wanted to check how she was doing.

cpayne said:

That is a lot, are they rabbit savvy or could you go elsewhere? I only have one rabbit but she's under a specialist and he had to see her a lot but didn't charge me on a lot of consultations as he just wanted to check how she was doing.

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I thought so too.
yes they are rabbit savvy exotic specialists but still.

My other half is not going to be happy...I might ask them what other options there are as that's not financially viable....its ridiculous...

They want ot charge me £38.17 for the advocate - 6 packs for 3 months treatment.

Vet ukl sell it for £22.49 however I need a prescription so thats plus £13 = £35.49.

My vets are 35 for a 10 min consult :shock:

One of my buns refused breakfast the other day so I gave him a tummy rub and called the vet for a lunchtime appointment when I got to work.

I went home to get him to take him for the appointment and he was back to normal, but it didn't seem right to cancel an appointment 15 mins beforehand - but it meant I then paid £35 to be told my bun looks tip-top:?

I don't see an alternative though - if I risk a later appointment that's a whole day of potentially not eating which I obviously can't monitor when I'm at work!

I used to pay a fortune at the exotic vets I used till the vet I liked left - the price was probably a third higher than other vets I have seen since. There was a large mark up on the meds too. I think all you can do is weigh up the cost against the advice you receive, and shop around if you aren't happy.

Best of luck with the fleas.

well I see exotic specialists for my buns, and they charge £50 a consultation and £35 for follow up appointment! Absolutely madness.. And still can't believe I pay it, but with my past experiences, to be honest I wouldn't go anywhere else. But I completely agree, vet fees these days are just crazy!!

I think it's awful the way vets just pile on the pounds sometimes :shock:

I always hold a tight rein on conversations that suggest they do 'this or that' and try and research what I can do myself. The price of prescriptions is high in my opinion, but you can sometimes get repeats of things on there, which makes it not too bad.

At least you had time to think about whether you wanted to accept their offer - so often we are bamboozled into having stuff we don't really need :shock:

It equates to private medicine. If you saw a consultant privately you are looking at £100/£150.

Babsie said:

It equates to private medicine. If you saw a consultant privately you are looking at £100/£150.

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For how long, Babsie?

In London, the going rate is £400 an hour - are you referring to a 15 min consult?

MightyMax said:

For how long, Babsie?

In London, the going rate is £400 an hour - are you referring to a 15 min consult?

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This is very true, unfortunately!

If your rabbit savvy vet is open to the use of Advocate I'd call around a few vets and ask them the cost of a consult for all three at same time to confirm fleas and to provide a prescription for Advocate. If the vet is unsure about prescribing it off licence they generally contact the producers directly for guidance of safe dosage. (The fact its off-licence doesn't mean it dangerous it just means Bayer don't want to pay for the licence that allows them to add 'Licensed for use in Rabbits'.

That's what I'd do personally.
If not your other option is to use Advantage again, and treat the house/hutches with Indorex every two weeks for approx. 2 months.

The eggs can survive an indorex treatment. Best way to get them to hatch before you treat is to hoover the area really thoroughly. (Its safe to use advocate on mattress' too.

That's a lot of money! Are the buns insured? I'm just looking into getting my buns insured but I'm unsure as to what it actually covers.

Calathea said:

That's a lot of money! Are the buns insured? I'm just looking into getting my buns insured but I'm unsure as to what it actually covers.

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It covers everything but preventative treatment. E.g. flea treatment/worming/vaccines/neutering etc.

Also, if you don't do preventative treatments they won't pay if they then get what you are trying to prevent... e.g. if they get Mxyomatosis but haven't been vaccinated, they won't pay for treatment.

MightyMax said:

I think it's awful the way vets just pile on the pounds sometimes :shock:

I always hold a tight rein on conversations that suggest they do 'this or that' and try and research what I can do myself. The price of prescriptions is high in my opinion, but you can sometimes get repeats of things on there, which makes it not too bad.

At least you had time to think about whether you wanted to accept their offer - so often we are bamboozled into having stuff we don't really need :shock:

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I've got to say, they aren't all bad though - I use a different vets for my other animals (as he's not too bunny savvy) and he will happily give me my cats repeat prescription for her eye drops without a consult or any sort of charge. He also regularly gives me a bit of a discount (as I'm there so often for one thing or another) and will also sometimes charge for just the meds without the consult fee.

I think that's the difference between a chain and an individual practice, because he owns it he can do what he wants!

beckie20 said:

I've got to say, they aren't all bad though - I use a different vets for my other animals (as he's not too bunny savvy) and he will happily give me my cats repeat prescription for her eye drops without a consult or any sort of charge. He also regularly gives me a bit of a discount (as I'm there so often for one thing or another) and will also sometimes charge for just the meds without the consult fee.

I think that's the difference between a chain and an individual practice, because he owns it he can do what he wants!

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Yes, much preferable to have an independent on rather than a chain, I agree, from the point of view of cost. He sounds quite reasonable.

Really interesting to hear everyone s opinions...seems that its normal and I agree its exotic advice that i do trust so thats worth counting.

I have thought about treating with advantage again and continue using andorex.

I'll have another chat with other half to decide what to do...perhaps call around another vet to see costs in comparison and opinions too. I just really trust my vet and if there was some reason one of the buns couldn't be treated I would worry another vet could miss it.

Almost like paying for peace of mind but then worrying about the costs so no peace of mind..lol

chelle said:

Really interesting to hear everyone s opinions...seems that its normal and I agree its exotic advice that i do trust so thats worth counting.

I have thought about treating with advantage again and continue using andorex.

I'll have another chat with other half to decide what to do...perhaps call around another vet to see costs in comparison and opinions too. I just really trust my vet and if there was some reason one of the buns couldn't be treated I would worry another vet could miss it.

Almost like paying for peace of mind but then worrying about the costs so no peace of mind..lol

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I know that not everyone will agree, but I am much happier staying with one vet for everything. I trust him and he knows my rabbits.

Babsie said:

I know that not everyone will agree, but I am much happier staying with one vet for everything. I trust him and he knows my rabbits.

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I agree 100%

Continuity of care is essential IMO. If a second opinion is needed/requested my Vet is more than happy to oblige and she never justs goes on charging for things she knows she does not have the in depth knowledge about. She will forward all relevant clinical details to the Second Opinion/Referral Vet. So they have an accurate history of all treatment given so far.

Whilst cost of consultations is obviously a factor, we are paying for a Qualified Professional opinion. After all you wont get a Lawyer, for example, handing out freebies ! They can charge £250 per 30 minutes just for the privilege of being in the same room as them !!

My advice is shop around first, find a Vet you can get to know and trust. It really is worth it in the end.

Babsie said:

I know that not everyone will agree, but I am much happier staying with one vet for everything. I trust him and he knows my rabbits.

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I agree with you Babsie, but where an animal's life is threatened, then I believe it's right to use a vet who is suitable to their needs at that time. I have experienced this, and I would go with my instinct, however much I felt loyalty to a particular vet.

That said, I would hope most vets would cope with the basic things in much the same way regarding matters like fleas etc. Here we were just discussing possibilities of cost and not quality of care.

MightyMax said:

I agree with you Babsie, but where an animal's life is threatened, then I believe it's right to use a vet who is suitable to their needs at that time. I have experienced this, and I would go with my instinct, however much I felt loyalty to a particular vet.

That said, I would hope most vets would cope with the basic things in much the same way regarding matters like fleas etc. Here we were just discussing possibilities of cost and not quality of care.

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Perhaps my opinion is based on the fact that JC is my vet.