Saturday 7 January 2012

Just a little Cassie update…

Further to Cassie’s specialist appointment in November, and the blood test results, a new drug called Keppra has been added to her regime.  As this drug is expensive, our vet suggested that she give us a private Vet prescription which would enable us to buy the drug at the local chemist – it turns out that it is between 50% and 100% cheaper that way.  Pet Plan have approved the addition, so we are buying the drug (£103 per month) and claiming it back.  The only thing that sticks in my craw is that this new vet charges for filling in the Pet Plan claim form!  We have used numerous vets around the country over the years, first with our old retriever Rosie and now with Cassie, both insured with Pet Plan, and never before have we been charged to have the form filled in.  I understand the theory behind it, as it does take up the vet’s time, but if it’s that time-consuming, why don’t more vets charge?  I spoke to the Practice Manager (an accountant, what a surprise!) and his explanation as to why they charge when most vets don’t told me nothing, peppered as it was with many ‘with respect’ phrases.  However he did say that they were currently re-working the charges, so perhaps they have lost customers  through this already.  Anyway, we need to stick with it until this 6 month prescription has expired then we might look around for another vet who doesn’t charge to fill in the form.

Anyhow, back to Cassie.  She had gone six weeks without a seizure, and we were just beginning to relax and to believe that this drug might actually be working, when she had a fit early last Tuesday morning.  She wasn’t right all day, and threatened another fit on Tuesday evening which never happened, then had another at 5 am on Wednesday morning!  She seemed back to normal by Wednesday lunchtime.  So now we just wait to see how long it is until her next one.  Not sure which is preferable - 2 or 3 fits in a ‘cluster’ every 6 weeks, or one single fit every 2 to 3 weeks!

5 comments:

  1. That's a hard decision to make - how is she after the seizures?

    We'd be very peeved if our vets charged for filling the insurance forms - we pay them enough as it is!

    Best Wishes

    Sue, nb Indigo Dream

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  2. I know that Jill and Graham have had vets that charge for the form filling - the vets WILL recover their costs somewhere, make no mistake, but when it is as blatant as this it is irritating..
    Lesley
    Fingers crossed for Cassie though.

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  3. Sue - After the seizures she sometimes recovers quite quickly, and at other times it takes her a couple of days before she is 'herself' again!
    Agree that we pay vets enough as it is - the mark up on the Keppra is almost 100% - disgraceful!

    Lesley - I suppose that all vets will recover their costs, maybe hiding it in the consultation fee - which is fine, but we have bought Cassie's medication from several random vets around the system, never having seen them before or again, and not having had a consultation (we have a letter from our previous vets stating what she needs, which we present to any vet) and have never once been charged to fill in the form. You'd think that in that instance they would ask for payment as they never get any other money from us!

    Pip

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  5. Hi!

    My name is Hannah and I’m contacting you from Pedigree about your gorgeous pooch Cassie! I hope she's doing better - hopefully we can cheer her up a bit! We noticed you have an older dog so I thought I’d get in touch and see if you would be interested. It's completely free and there's no hidden catches, we’d simply love for you to share your experience with your community as we’re keen to see what dog owners such as yourself think of the product.

    Pedigree Joint Care+ helps to ease joint stiffness, which becomes more common as dogs get older. We’d like to send you 6 weeks’ worth of tasty Joint Care+ treats as well as a fantastic goodie bag, packed full of fun things to help keep Cassie entertained.

    What’s more, those undertaking the Joint Care+ trial have the opportunity to attend some very special Pedigree Play Again events happening around the country in August. Take a look at the Pedigree Joint Care+ Play Again video to see what you can enjoy at the events and visit the Facebook page for photos of what went on at the first set of #playagain events in May. Search for the #playagain hash tag on twitter and you can also see all the fun other triallists are having!

    If you are interested in taking part in this trial then get in touch and I’ll send you more information shortly: feel free to email hannah (at) uk (dot) pedigree (dot) com. If you have any questions – or you just want to chat about anything dog related– then I will be happy to help. Just bark them my way!

    Looking forward to hearing from you,

    Hannah

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