I used to be able to take my dogs to the vets and not worry about the cost. Although they are both insured, most visits to the vets were under the excess charge anyway so have seldom needed to claim. My vet was an elderly man with a very run down surgery (ripped lino on the floor, torn chairs in the waiting room, smell of tobacco lingering from the pipe he had smoked in between consultations
.) He was a grumpy so and so to the owners BUT he was wonderful with animals
The last time we had to visit was when Marley was nipped by a collie on a dog walk. He examined her, gave her an antibiotic injection, gave her a 7 day course of antibiotic tablets and the price was £17! This was only last year. When Stevie needed a lump removed the total cost of everything with the anaesthetic, surgery and after care was £100. He didn't have any high tec equipment and had to refer you to another practice if you needed xrays, scans etc but none of my visits needed them and most of his clients just needed basic veterinary help (vaccinations, neutering, flea treatment etc) but the opportunity was there if your pet needed further investigation.
He was able to manage his surgery successfully for many many years without going bankrupt with these prices and he only gave up his practice due to his retirement. His practice has now been taken over by a franchise and everything is being updated including the prices
Years (and years ago) when I had GSDs there was no such thing as pet insurance and I could always afford the vet bills. There has been an advance in veterinary treatment which means more options are available to the pet owner but these come at a price which can only be met by insurance. I feel as pet owners we are emotionally blackmailed into insurance and are then trapped. My two girls are now 10 and therefore considered elderly so premiums have gone up drastically
but from this age they are more likely to need treatment so I can't get out of the trap for fear that I won't be able to afford treatment if they need it. I never want to be in a position where one of them needs treatment which I can't afford, so I just keep on paying the premiums. It has got to the stage where the premiums cost me more than their food