I started to phone around this morning because normally I take my dogs to Ashburne Vet (the very controversial one!!!!!) and I thought I should see what everyone else charges.

Ashburne quoted me R269 for Trigger's 5 in 1 and Rabies and R259 for a normal consult. So I phoned my parent's vet and they quoted me R240 for innoculations and R210 for a consult. Both these vets are a 45 minute drive from home so i can add my petrol costs to that. Eventually I phoned a vet right near where I live and they quoted me R205 for innoculations and R195 for a consult!!!!!!!!!! and it's less petrol! and they are open at times convenient for me.

usually I would leave home early, drop the dogs off with my mom because she lives near the vet I was going to and then after work I would have to fetch them and take them and then hit peak hour traffic on the way home. Plus, both my dogs suffer with car sickness so on a long trip like that they will both vomit at least 2 or 3 times each!

So i have solved 2 problems in 1! actually more than that because as you all know, Ashburne vet has a bad reputation after his incident of keeping a dog alive after it's owner thought it had been put to sleep. and it has bugged me ever since hearing about it that I still go there

what do vets in other parts of the country charge?

When I took Pepper for his second and third shots my vet charged me R305.00 each time plus he gave me deworming tablets for free. That was for both the shots and the consultation. He was very good and gentle with Pepper. Plus he's about 5 minutes from where I stay

Wow K, those are crazy prices plus the time and petrol!!

I will pay for the dewormer extra but it's cheap, like R20 so that's no issue.

R305 is a bit high wow! i feel like im getting a bargain now!

I thought R305.00 was cheap because it included the shots and the inoculations

I mean consultation and innoculations - silly Me

well, im paying R205 at this vet who is a vet that has been there for decades and is well established. Im happy to get innoculations done at the cheapist place. if it was a serious illness i would be happy to go back to my proper vet who i have known all my life and pay his fees and claim from medical aid

I just got an email from my vet:

The general downturn in the world economy since August 2008 followed by a downturn in the South African economy about one year later has left many of us reeling. Many people country wide are feeling the pinch and unfortunately our beloved pets often pay the price of households not being able to meet their commitments. We at Citivet Tamboerskloof have put a plan together to try and assist you in ensuring that your pet’s health is not compromised.
1. We have kept our fees static. Many of our colleagues who have implemented a 10% increase

2. We have discounted our dental exam and scaling fess by 50% (special ends July 31st)

3. We are currently discounting our sterilisation fee by 20% (special ends July 31st)

4. We are offering Identipet Microchipping for R156.00, usual fee is R206.00

5. From 1st July we will be offering a laboratory diagnostic general health check for R450.00.

Laboratory Diagnostic health check
What we do for your pet
· We examine your pet

· We take blood (some pets require sedation to avoid stress)

· We use our state of the art in house laboratory to assess your pets health

· We give you the written results

The usual fee for this procedure is R800.00; our fee for July is R450.00.
All pets benefit from this early detection system. It is not fool proof but will give early warning about kidney and liver failure as well as many other problems that our pets experience. This profiling system is specifically of benefit to our older patients. Once we know what the problems are we can institute early treatment to hopefully ensure a healthier pet. Ultimately prevention is not only better than cure but MUCH CHEAPER AS WELL

For this year's inoculations, we paid R299 per dog. R24 for dewormers and R130 for Revolution. Our vet is at least R60 cheaper than anywhere else and as you can see from the email, they really care. I'm so happy we finally found a vet who cares!

Wow! I wish ALL vets would do something like that. Especially with sterilization. It always shocks me at what we pay for it yet we are always urged to have it done.

I also like the Health Check idea - perhaps I should forward this email to MY vet!

I am glad that my innoculations are so drastically cheaper than R299. Im paying R205 for the 5 in 1 and rabies combined and dewormer costs me R18 last time for both dogs.

What is Revolution?

and the microchipping is super reasonable too. I paid R195 for mine and that was the cheapest I could find. Which reminds me I need to have that done asap for Trigger!!!!

Marilize,

Your wet sounds good. At the moment we take our dogs the the Tygerberg Animal Hospital. Must check what their fees are. My husband usually takes the dogs in for their shots and if they need a check up!!

My vet is the Citivet in Tamboerskloof if you are looking to change. It may be too far away from you, though.

Revolution was for fleas - we had a terrible problem here a few months ago and the vet recommended Revolution (it's actually made for cats and is too expensive to use on big dogs). It worked very well.

Never heard of it to be honest. I dont have a big flea problem luckily so i use the odd frontline and that's all i need.