Advice Needed - Should I Complain?

Hi all,

I would really appreciate some on advice regarding some emergency treatment one of my rabbits received.

Last Saturday evening I found Roger (7 year old neutered male) laying on his side and breathing rather fast. As our usual vet was closed we had to call the emergency vet who quoted nearly £120 just to be seen. Of course we went immediately.

On arrival at the surgery Roger was taken from us by the receptionist. When we saw the vet, we did not see Roger. We were informed that he needed hospitalising, fluids, meds and possibly xrays. We were quoted £420 (£120 was for xrays). We left without seeing Roger after been told he was old and that he could deteriorate. It occurred to me later that we never said goodbye to him.

The next day we were told that Roger had not eaten or pooped so could not be discharged. They did not feel xrays would help at this stage. We visited him with all his favourite foods.

Monday morning we were told he had eaten a small amount of food and pooped a little. He would be able to go home that evening. At 4pm we were told that he could not go home as the vet was not happy with his progress. I tried to explain that Roger would be struggling in an unfamiliar environment, that I was experienced in rabbit care but I was basically given no choice about the matter. He was staying.

We called Tuesday morning and the story was pretty much the same. I said that I wanted to bring Roger home and that I was sure he would be more likely to eat at home. It was a different vet and she agreed that as he had made little progress he may be better off at home. They said to call before we came to make sure it would happen. We decided not to call and just go get him!

When we arrived we were present with a bill of £630! I was shocked! As he did not have any xrays this was over double the original quote. I understand he was in for 2 extra days but with no indication what this would cost and Roger still no better I felt very let down.

Tuesday night and Wednesday Roger was pretty much the same. We took him to our usual vet on Thursday who diagnosed a huge eye ulcer (no mention about any eye issues from the emergency vet) and the need for a dental (no mention of teeth either by the emergency vet). He was admitted immediately for a dental and to have treatment for his eye.

Since then Roger has started to improve.

Do you think I have a case to complain to the emergency vet or should I just let it go and be happy that Roger is still here.

It's really your choice. Did you get a break down for the bill to show what they charged for etc?
I may be tempted to express disappointment that the didn't seem to have noticed an eye ulcer and dental issues when he was with them for so long... just to see what they do. They may refund some of the bill.

Any treatment carried out extra that you didn't agree too, or was explained to you shouldn't really be charged as it's done without consent etc.

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If it were me I would most certainly complain. I would put it in writing and tell the vet that I will send a copy to the RCVS as well if they are not willing to reduce the bill. You could also consider approaching local newspapers, Trading Standards. From what you describe it would appear this emergency vet is not that experienced with rabbits. Did they give you an itemised bill for Roger's treatment detailing exactly what he had and what was done? Poor Roger. I'm glad he's now on correct treatment and starting to improve.

daphnephoebe said:

It's really your choice. Did you get a break down for the bill to show what they charged for etc?
I may be tempted to express disappointment that the didn't seem to have noticed an eye ulcer and dental issues when he was with them for so long... just to see what they do. They may refund some of the bill.

Any treatment carried out extra that you didn't agree too, or was explained to you shouldn't really be charged as it's done without consent etc.

Click to expand...

I would go with DP on this. The specific prices you were quoted for emergency consult and xrays seem average for round here, but you need to get a full breakdown of the bill and a copy of his notes. Point out that there were no x-rays taken. Did the £420 include the £120 emergency consult fee? £300 for an overnight hospitalisation with fluids / feeding seems steep if there were no other tests done. You don't say if they attempted syringe feeding, either. If he wasn't being fed and there was no suspected blockage, I would have serious concerns - as well as them not mentioning the teeth or eye ulcer.

Glad he is doing better now.

I would complain - but rather than focus specifically on the cost, I would focus on the fact that they didn't diagnose and treat the condition appropriately (they may well approach your usual vet for follow up notes) and as a consequence you paid them £xxx for vet care that didn't identify the problem and some of which was avoidable if he had been discharged back into the care of your normal vet when they first opened. Plus potentially this lack of identifying the cause could have resulted in more serious consequences for the bunny. I think if you focus more on the lack of appropriate treatment rather than the cost, you're more likely to get traction.

I have complained to a certain OOH provider before now about one of my cats, and after them getting the notes from my own vet to show that they had missed the problem, they did refund.

Santa has explained what I was trying to say a lot better.

I would focus more on the missed diagnosis, but it would also tie into the costs as what were they charging for if they missed two big diagnosis' like that?

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I'm glad Roger is doing better - yes I'd complain along the lines Santa suggests. That is a huge amount of stress & cash for what essentially just prolonged his access to decent treatment

Just thought - your usual vets should be able to assist in the complains process too

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I'm glad Roger is improving, you must have been so worried.

Just to echo everyone else really, I would definitely want some answers. They should provide a breakdown of everything. It does seem a lot especially without the x rays, also the fact that they didn't find the cause. Do you have any pet insurance? Our rabbit Sydney (rip) recently spent two night in the vets and had lots of injections etc and it was around £200 x

Whenever I have taken my buns to the emergency vets they have always given us a rough estimate depending on the situation. For example, when Sy had to stay overnight with stasis/potential blockage our quote was £600-1500. That price covered staying overnight, fluids, syringe feeds, meds, any xrays required and an operation if needed. It was all in writing and we had to sign an agreement before we left him there for the night.

In the end he had syringe feeds, fluids and meds. When there was no improvement after a few hours they rang and asked my permission to do a conscious xray to check for a blockage which we approved. He only stayed for the one night, they didn't figure out the cause of the problem and it cost us over £800. They did keep him alive though and because we'd had a good discussion about the costs beforehand I wasn't overly shocked with the amount we had to pay.

Unfortunately emergency vets are very expensive but I do think that you should have been informed about how much the price was going up during the time that he was there. I would definitely question it and see if you can come to some sort of agreement over the bill.

I hope Roger is well
Xxx

I think that you should definitely get a full breakdown of the bill and his notes so that you can get a better idea of what was actually done whilst he was under their care.

I am glad Roger is doing better.

However, I would definitely complain. Not only were you not informed properly about the costs, but they apse refused to hand him back to you and are also incompetent cos they didn't even find out what was wrong with him.

I agree, I would focus on the fact they failed to spot that he needed a dental. With a rabbit not eating teeth are one of the first things you check. Not sure what your regular vet did to diagnose, but if the teeth were obviously an issue with just a basic mouth exam then that makes the emergency vet seem very incompetent.

A itemised bill would be a good idea to check you weren't charged for the xray and see what treatment - overnight at the emergency vet adds up so it wouldn't surprise me if it was just that. I would approach them about the fact they failed to noticed the teeth and see the response - then go on to ask about a refund on some of the costs.

Thank you all for your comments.

Roger seems to be doing well and is eating his veggies as normal.

I have sent a letter of complaint to the vets in questions. I will post if I get a reply.

Happy New Year to all. x