Note: all prices have been converted to USD
The Australian owners of a French bulldog have slammed an emergency vet clinic after copping an eye-watering $25,000 medical bill for their beloved pet’s lifesaving treatment.
Matisse, the five-year-old Frenchy, was treated at Sydney Veterinary Emergency & Specialists, in the Sydney suburb of Rosebery, over the Easter weekend this year after running into some dire health strife.
On Easter Saturday, owners Sabrina and Daniele noticed Matisse’s back legs had become wobbly and took her to the local vet, twice, but were sent home.
“We brought her back home, I think she was in a lot of pain,” Sabrina told A Current Affair, adding that “her breathing became really, really bad.”
She said they then took Matisse to Sydney Veterinary Emergency & Specialists where the pooch was put “under oxygen” and her status “went downhill from there.”
“We were told to sign these documents and leave them a $2,000 deposit because Matisse was going to have to be kept in there overnight to stabilize her,” Sabrina said.
The couple said the initial estimate for the treatment – for the pet, they do not have insurance for – went up to $5,925.
But then the cost kept climbing.
“Once you’re in for a penny, you’re in for a pound. Like, you’re already halfway through, what are you going to do? You’re gonna stop? Where do you stop?” Daniele said.
Matisse reportedly needed spinal surgery, CAT scans, tests, 15 paracetamol pills, and monitoring over six days at the veterinary clinic which, with a $2,663 public holiday surcharge tacked on, brought the final bill to $24,635.19.
The couple “couldn’t believe” the eye-watering cost of the vet’s lifesaving treatment, saying it was “just way too much”.
“We had to find the money from somewhere, and they (the clinic) wouldn’t budge off the price at all,” Daniele told ACA.
“I had to sell a few designer handbags that I didn’t really want to part with,” Sabrina added.
“But, you know, you do what you have to do.”
In the end, the couple could only pull together $19,308 that day to bring their dog home.
Now they are calling for the vet to reconsider their prices, so other families do not have to worry about getting a “massive bill” like they did.
But vets have warned that expensive designer dogs, like French bulldogs, can require serious and equally expensive upkeep – whether that’s basic grooming or the odd, unfortunate, and notoriously pricey medical bills.
Sabrina and Daniele reportedly bought Matisse from a “reputable breeder” for $3,329, five years ago.
Western Sydney veterinary surgeon Robert Zammit, who was not involved in Matisse’s treatment, says that although he believes vets should be transparent about their prices, pet owners are often not prepared to pay for the care they expect.
He said more and more pet owners are expecting “human-equivalent care for their animals, but (are) not prepared to pay for it”.
“If you’re going to have a dog, especially if you paid $5000 for a dog, you might want to think about paying a reasonable fee for some pet insurance, health insurance for your dog, because it can get very expensive,” Dr. Zammit told ACA.
News.com.au contacted Sydney Veterinary Emergency & Specialists (SVES) for comment, but their privacy protocols limited the information they could provide.
SVES did provide a statement to A Current Affair defending the bill, saying the client was aware and consented to the cost for the “unique and critical case” prior to treatment and after choosing between “alternative treatment options”
“The client also obtained a second opinion with an independent 3rd party about the proposed treatment and costs prior to consenting to the cost of the surgery,” the clinic’s statement read.
It said Matisse presented in a critical condition requiring “lifesaving intensive care and treatment for breed-specific complications”.
“The standard of care was equal to what would be provided to a human in a critical care unit.”