Costs of Veterinary Explorations

[Kelly Marks]

Hi
I'd love to compile an up to date list of the costs of equine veterinary explorations.
Over the last 2 years has any one had any exploratory work done on thier horse i.e. for say suspected,
gastric ulcers
kidney problems
liver problems
worm damage
arthritis
unexplained lameness
I guess the list is (nearly) endless - I'd be really interested in people's experiences and particularly the costs.
Just to start it off, I'd say generally a veterinary physiotherapist exploration (and treatment) costs £40 plus travel

[annie]

My horse went to Sue Dyson at Newmarket last year for lameness tests. Wasn't able to ascertain where the lameness was so he was sent back home. The bill came to £2450. After a bit more thinking he was sent to local veterinary hospital for gastric ulcer scope and tests for EPSM which came back as abnormal cells seen but no further information. This bill came to £460. Transport costs were about £1100.

[jen526]

Unexplained lameness can result in an MRI scan after numerous other nerve block tests, the cost of an MRI scan is about £1,200.00

[amarche]

my lad was inexplicably lame on all 4 legs - his treatment totalled £2600 ish (thankfully insured) - his explorative treatment involved looking for Wobblers & EPSM

for this the itemised bill was


1 x vet visit (examination) £75 incl travel
2 x vet physio visits £60 each
hospitalisation for 5 days, nerve block on all four legs, heavy sedation for 2 angiogram scans (where they put the die in down the spinal cord,can't remember the procedure's name - looking for pinching in the spinal column (wobblers) ) plus time of vet & attending staff - £1850
muscle biopsy & blood tests whilst at hospital £250

Further 2 vet visits when home £75 each
Further vet physio appt £60

Bute (2 boxes) and various other meds £100


the irony being that the vet's were very vague about prognosis & actual diagnosis, i had already read up on EPSM before talking to the vets so when he came back I decided to start feeding him an EPSM diet anyway - within 6 weeks he was a different horse!

so vets treatment £2600
or
1 bottle of oil from asda £0.75

(I don't say this to my OH though lol!)

[SaturdayGirl]

My front foot MRI (Leahurst) was about £1100 (finally got a diagnosis though after £2500 other tests.)
Nucelar Scintigrophy was £770 plus £25 for catheter placement
Shock Wave Therapy £105 a session
Xrays ranged from £57.50 for the first plate + £107 for up to five more (Lancashire) to £105 fee plus £11 per plate (Berkshire)

[jennyb]

My ACPAT physio charges £65 incl travel.
MRI scan on forelimb to diagnose suspensory ligament strain was £1150.
Twice daily hydrotherapy plus full livery cost £500+ per week.
Total cost to diagnose and treat suspensory strain cost over £4,500, including local vet lameness work up, referral to Newmarket and a lameness work up there, ultrasound scans, MRI, steroid injection into ligament, course of three shockwave treatments, three weeks of twice daily hydrotherapy, and that's not including the fuel for transport, magnetic boots, extra hay and bedding on box rest, etc, etc!!!

Recently had bloods done and the lab fees alone were over £50.

[mjcssjw2]

To sedate and scope for gastric ulcers was £500, the gastroguard for the treatment in about £30 per day, i had numerous call outs painkillers two lots of scoping, blood tests all in all £4500.
I think the scintigraphy cost over £1000 for what eventually turned out to be suspensory desmitis, we went through the steroid injections and the shockwave therapy and ultimately two ops, one for each leg £5000 in total.

[portiabuzz]

these vets are very good at charging! Now why didn't i go to vet school....

[jennyb]

As a fellow professional, you don't spend five years + training in your chosen field not to be able to charge for your expertise! You are paying for their knowledge, plus some pretty high tech testing equipment.

However, speaking as a specialist medical accountant dealing with private medical practices on a daily basis, I am intrigued about the higher prices charged for animal tests than human tests.... Perhaps the kit doesn't get used quite as frequently in a vet practice, or maybe it doesn't last quite so long.... Hmmmm....

[mjcssjw2]

yes the equipment is very expensive, and probably doesn't get as much use.
However I have still had some interesting items on my bill, a few years ago £25 for insurance for the xray machine whilst in transit. It was already on the car, so I am glad I didn't have to pay all the insurance cost!! and water for injection £12 per bottle, at the time it cost 80p, but its a POM and unless you have a prescription.

[Trouble]

Sedation and scoping for Gastric Ulcers = £300
1 month of Gastrogard to cure them = £900

Repeat the scope several times, and the month of Gastrogard a few times, and my total bill for last year was £6,376.

[Lorraine L]

Back in 1999, Sunny underwent tests for Headshaking. He was scoped and it was a process of elimination of feeds / paddocks / tack / pollen / all manner of things. That ended up at £800


Luke had an outset of colic like symptoms which saw him deteriorate rapidly. He was admitted to hospital with perontinits and there for 3 weeks. Bill was £5,400 and that included no surgery at all.

[rifruffian]

I had a horse examined, tested and treated as a result of colic; no surgery; after 22 hours the horse was pts and the account for those 22 hours was £1200. (I had my own transport)

[poppyandbea]

sedivet 16.00
trobugesic 16.00
penellin injection 4.81
scoping for ulcers , rectal, ulta sound of organs, bloods and belly tap including the visit from specialist £900
liver biopsy £95 + lab fees £60
3 boxes of equitrim grans 149.73
full blood works 93.22 23.00 of that call out
visorbin £39.99 every month
prednicare steroids 5mg 2000 tablets 141.00
and its still on going as she needs more bloods in a month and poss another biopsy she has a form of hepatitis

[Bridget RA]

Rebel: Tests at Rossdales at Newmarket for unexplained neck pain... £3,250 ish

They didn't find anything... the best thing was they told me they wouldn't find anything before they started so almost set out to prove me wrong... oh and in a discussion regarding pain v's "behavioural" informed me that 'the way horses learn is that they learn what to do to avoid getting hit'. Seriously. The best diagnostic centre in the country, seven years at vet school and that is what Rossdales vets have learned? Shocking.