I can't afford my vet bill

Lots of them will expect initial payment or proof of insurance for this exact reason.

Is it your vet aware you are uninsured with low income?

Most vets offer a payment plan through a third party provider. Whether you’ll be accepted depends on your credit score.

Get the treatment done and when it's time to pay just say you haven't got it and offer to pay it off. What can they do? They hardly gonna keep the cat 🤷🏻‍♀️

How many is "a few weeks"? You might still be covered by your insurance until the when next payment would have been due.

Most vets will let you do a payment plan. Or PDSA as others have suggested. I hope you can find a solution.

One other thing you could do is ask for a loan from Universal Credit. They let you take out loans for emergencies and you pay it back over 12 months.

To be honest I don't get why people cancel insurance citing they can't afford it and will put the money aside each month....at that age my kitten insurance was less than £10! Given the cost of vets fees - well publicised at the moment - saving £10 a month you'd be saving for decades to cover the cost of basic treatment

To be honest OP - you can't afford her - working 12 hours a week I'd be surprised if you could afford even annual vaccinations - you should surrender her to a rescue really

Never put an animal to sleep unless they are very unwell.

Sorry I'm not a vet that was supposed to say. Just to be clear.
Just giving some thoughts to help get her diagnosed quicker hopefully save some of the money on tests.

Don't get into credit card debt, without knowing your situation I don't think that's good advice.
Always best to be honest and see what they say x

How long has she been off food and has the grunting? I'm my a vet by the way but my cat recently had a grunting sound that was a bit like a strange constant purr. Ended up being nothing and went away. Probably got too close to a plant or some sort of irritation. Does your cat go out? Could she have ingested something toxic?
Have you treated for fur balls? How ill is the cat? Is she drinking and still active?

If this were me id be very clear with the vets about the money and what I can/can't afford.

I'd agree to blood tests and see if that shows anything.

Hold off on scans for now.

Will the rescue take her back or help with the costs?

Vets aren't miracle workers. It can take months in some cases to accurately diagnose issues - pets can't talk.

You have two choices if you can't pay; PTS or give the cat to a rescue - either way the cat is no longer in pain because rescues have vets on speed dial to deal with emergencies like this. You need to do what's best for your pet.

Get a 2nd opinion. My friend was quoted £6000 for a hernia operation.

A different vet said no hernia just infection swelling which cleared after antibiotics. Beggars belief really.

You have no reason to be annoyed with your vet - animals can't talk so it's often a case of trial and error when it comes to treating them. Two trips and anti-inflammatories before moving on to more invasive treatment is pretty standard.

You'd be even more annoyed if they did a load of unnecessary tests and it turned out she just needed some rest and metacam!

I just want to add you can love an animal to pieces and still decide to put your financial situation, which directly impacts on your children, first.

I also think it is 100% morally okay to rescue a cat without being able to afford exhaustive treatment for every hypothetical medical problem it might develop. Without having insurance. You did not commission this animal's existence. You've provided a home, you haven't neglected or abused the animal, it is neutered - that's where the obligations of rescuers end imo. Lovely if you can afford to and want to throw everything at a sick pet. But okay if you don't. Don't feel guilty and do make a rational decision xxx

Sorry but animals can't talk and explain exactly what's wrong. Theyve tried some medicine they thought might work and it hasn't. They are now wanting to do bloods to try find out more information. 2 visits is nothing in my opinion.

Has she had all her vaccines?

There is also a vets called vets non for profit (or similar). They are a much lower cost and don't charge for appts. They have several across the UK

It sounds like she may be suffering, poor little thing. In the short term you could try putting her in a humid environment (run the shower hot / use a humidifier) to try to loosen any congestion, and offer her the water from unsalted tuna in water. If you can get some fluids into her that way, and maybe even a little bit of the tuna, that would be a help. Or Liquivite or Oralade for cats are formulated to help when cats are not eating. I really hope you can find a way to get her the treatment she needs very quickly, as a kitten that age not eating at all and grunting is very worrying.

How long ago did you cancel, I accidentally cancelled my DD and my insurance gave me a grace period (maybe about two weeks). I had to pay an admin charge.

Vets charges are out of control. My dog has had £21,000 worth of bills since Dec. Including two MRIs costing 9k and one opp that cost 8k. I totalled it all up last night it's disgusting. Insurance have covered a good bulk of it otherwise I have no idea how we would have covered the rest.

And if they do the minimum payments are £££

You should be putting money away for these things now any insurance you get won’t cover your pets pre existing issues