AIBU to wonder about help with vet bills beyond PDSA?

I actually agree with you to an extent. We have rescue cats but I would never get a pet unless it was rescue as I don’t think pets should be bred or sold.

Sometimes breed-specific charities will step in if contacted by the owner.

In Ireland with a lot of insurers you pay first claim after. we have insurance but the basic one and they gave us pittance after our dog got out and got very badly cut on barbed and needed stitches. Insane people saying if they can’t pay eg op said 2500 so they’re saying if you can’t come up with 2,500 on the spot you shouldn’t have a dog?!?!

Usually we sign them over to a charity or the vet practice, treat and then rehome.

This post is horrible! Our cat is lying in his cosy bed by the radiator (NE Scotland so heating still on) after a busy day of being in and out of the garden, and sitting in his cat tree watching out of the kitchen window. He definitely doesn’t look like a prisoner. If anything I am his slave! We have good insurance and would get him any medical care that would improve his quality of life if he needed it.

With our previous cat we spent thousands - again covered by insurance - to reach a diagnosis of aggressive stomach cancer. We opted to let her go peacefully rather than put her through chemo to extend (but not save) her life, much as it broke our hearts to say goodbye.

OP, vet bills are so expensive. I follow a few rescues on social media and they are seeing increasing number of surrenders because people can’t afford to treat their pets. It’s so sad. I have a monthly direct debit to our local Cats Protection (where we adopted our boy from) and to a dog rescue charity based in Manchester. I know our CP branch have a relationship with our vet surgery for treatment/neutering etc so I feel like I’m doing some small good there.

isn't part of the problem the hugely inflated costs. £18 for 3 dog paracetamol. Or the fact that insurance is pretty much a gamble, with what is and isn’t covered, also it feels like once you have claimed it then very hard to change insurance companies as you can’t claim for a pre existing problem, which can make it tricky.

My pet dog was not a commodity but a living creature that had all his needs (physical, mental, health, welfare) met. He was not imprisoned, he had a great life and loved being around people. Neither did he undergo any unnecessary medical procedures, that would have been wrong for me as an owner to allow and unethical for my vet to prescribe. I trust my vet completely, she had my dogs best interests at heart. My experience is that vets have never pushed treatment on me. My dog was euthanised last week but only because it was the right thing for him.

When you have a pet you should consider insurance and potential medical bills as part of the cost, along with food and equipment.

A number of vets offer payment plans, the one we use also offers a well known online payment company.

I've also known vets waive part of their fees, e.g the prescribing fees to reduce the cost of medication.

Vets would like to provide gold standard care- the very best for your pet, but this is expensive, so if you tell them you can't afford it, vets will work with you to do the very best for your pet, within your budget. Your budget is not their responsibility though.

Animals are ultimately a commodity. They get eaten, they get imprisoned as pets, undergo sometimes painful and unnecessary 'treatment' because insurance companies profit, and if their owners can't afford necessary treatment, they get killed.

I didn't think PDSA asked financial questions they just treated animals. But my experience (even then not using them myself) was a long time ago and it seemed people having got a diagnosis from my vet then went to PDSA for treatment rather than pay.

There was a documentary on tv about the PDSA some years ago. What struck me was that none of the pet owners said thank you.

There is streetvet for pets whose owners are homeless,streetvet is brilliant and does a lot of good for pets who would otherwise have no veterinary treatment.
And there is also things like klana so people can manage their payments like with any other expensive items.
And yes if people can't/don't want to pay there is the rehoming option or euthanasia.
It happens so much and is one of the reasons the veterinary profession is so difficult to work in,it's constantly heartbreaking for the staff.
Insurance should be part of pet ownership.

Independent vets might, corporate vet practices probably don't... and yes, the PDSA eligibility actually covers a TINY number of pet owners. I've lived around the country and never actually been in a catchment area for them.

Vets have a duty of care to prevent suffering - so in cases where an animal needs urgent treatment but the owner cannot pay, that means euthanasia.

We use to donate to PDSA until a couple of years ago. Someone we knew was receipt of benefit and their dog fell ill, the PDSA paid the bill, neutered the dog, paid for flea and wormer and a good groom. She then gave dog away and 6 months later was back at the vets with a puppy and they paid again no questions ask what happened to other dog.

It’s not even that simple with the pdsa, they don’t cover the whole country, you have to live in certain areas.

I’ve wondered the same OP. My daughter’s much loved cat needed treatment earlier this year for a rare reaction to something unknown that caused hepatitis… her vet, the emergency vet and finally the local university vet hospital (I think they were curious as no one could work out the problem). Cat is now very well.
But the total cost for treatment was very nearly £10,000. My daughter earns well and doesn’t have children and took out very good insurance which completely covered the bills. She was very aware however that many people (even those with insurance) would have had to had their beloved pet put to sleep and it made both of us very sad.
I’d happily contribute to a vet welfare fund.

People's circumstances change. Divorce, bereavement, redundancy, ill health. Its not a choice to not be able to afford veterinary treatment.

I can understand that if someone has worked hard all their lives, and maybe couldn't have children for whatever reason, and their pet is the most important thing in their life, it must be heartbreaking if they suddenly can't afford bills, say if they lose their job. Especially as some people choose never to work (I am NOT criticising people who can't) and completely misuse the NHS.

No idea tbh, I was horrified by the entire thing.

Pets can be extremely expensive. I had a cat, she did not like going outside so never had the worry of being run over etc and she died quite old but that was £600 at the end, and I had the money but I will not be getting another cat because I simply cannot risk the cost if my situation changes.

Vets have an obligation to provide emergency first aid. In reality, this is usually pain relief or euthanasia.

In cases like this, what sometimes happen is the owner relinquishes ownership to the practice. Its how vets, nurses and receptionists end up with collections of animals with one eye and three legs.

I remember one of my old friends, a mum who was working full time on min wage, her cat had a bone stuck in its throat and the PDSA wouldn’t pay out, so she asked the local RSPCA clinic & they contributed to the op.

I agree with you to a degree, but some of us had a pet before the crazy bills came into force (2015). When I got my dog in 2013 vet bills were manageable. Now I am very worried about vet visits as I never know what it’s going to be, despite my monthly pet insurance being £40, (which never seems to cover anything). After my dog goes I know I can never afford another.

I equate the pet health service here with the American human health model. Expensive insurance that doesn’t necessarily cover your needs and expensive co-pay.

I appreciate this thread as I too will be asking at the vets about a discretionary fund.

I have one dog, which came to us when my circumstances were entirely different. In a fairly short amount of time my DP died, I became unable to function and had to leave work for an extended time. The dog unfortunately then became very unwell with epilepsy which required a great deal of urgent care and multiple long term medications for the rest of his life.

Had the dog not have been insured then the consequences would have been dire for him and subsequently for me as I'm not sure I could have reasonably dealt with losing him. The 'can't afford it don't get a dog' is a stance very reliant on your original good luck in life (health, employment, partners to share the load) continuing for the duration of a pets life.

Things fortunately are much better now, for the dog (who is thriving) and I. I could afford the vets bills even if it weren't for insurance but feel very deeply for those that have a loved pet and simply can't. I can't imagine how that must feel.

It is something I try not to think about as it can be upsetting. I hope your pet feels better soon.
If I ever win the lottery, I will go looking on GoFundMe for people needing help with vet bills.

Most vets do offer help if they want to, they just don’t advertise it. We had a really horrible situation where we were previously quite high income and then suddenly dh lost his job and we had a roofing emergency at home that insurance wouldn’t cover - and then our much loved guinea pig developed an eye tumour! Eye removal in Guinea pigs is hugely expensive, around £700 and we just couldn’t afford it but amazingly the vet agreed to do it for free for us. She could see how upset our son was (I took him to the initial appointment as didn’t have any other alternative - he was 11 and has autism). When we came back into some money we paid it back with an extra £300 towards anyone else needing help.

We do also have a cat now that is insured to the max!