AIBU to be annoyed with people who can't afford to look after their pets

[Allelbowsandtoes]

Just saw a post on Facebook, someone trying to fundraise for surgery for her 7 month old puppy that has hip dysplasia. Lots of people were commenting about how vets charge way too much and it's all a "money making racket". I pointed out that veterinary surgeons are highly skilled and train for years, and we only think its expensive because we have the NHS and mostly don't pay our own healthcare costs.

Maybe I ABU because its a shame if people can't afford pets, because they bring joy to our lives.

I worked at a vets and it was devastating when owners brought in healthy pets to put down because they could t afford them. Occasionally the local rescues could take pity but often they couldn't. I still remember the man who's brother had terminal cancer and brought in his 6 year old Staffie. We managed to save it and when we said we'd found a place he immediately came back in with photos of her with children and generally being a lovely lovely dog. The brother had weekly updates from her new family until he died.

We couldn't do the same for the family with an untrained Doberman and Alsatian that they dumped at the local kennels. The Alsatian was 4 years old and the Dalmatian was a year, at most. This was about 15 years ago and it still haunts me.

Worst was the couple who brought in a staffie at a quarter of its weight, for food and weekly weighing. It had been reported to the RSPCA but all they could do was fund the food. The couple were absolutely shameless when they came in. We had to discharge it from care once it reached weight. It was untrained but had a lovely personality. They came back a year later to put it down because they were moving.

For those discrediting insurance. We are about to claim £8k for a hip replacement on our two year old cat. We've already claimed £1,000 for the same condition this year. Pet plan havent quibbled at all.

Before that we had a cat on medium cover with Helpucover who broke her leg. Insurance covered £1,000 but we had to stump up £3,600. They excluded any injuries to her leg when we increased to the higher level but stumped up £8,000 when the same leg became paralysed because of a blood clot. They happily took the vet's word for it that the injury was unrelated.

I'm definitely one of the people you can't stand. Had insurance for my pet since the day we got her. We finally need it for treatment after having her nearly a decade only to find that they'll only pay up to £1k for treatment that is looking anywhere between £4K to £7k. Either way we can't afford it even though we thought we'd done everything right.

This is interesting, I've always had cats and when I've needed to claim on insurance have had no issues, they've always paid up to max amount with no queries. I wonder if they quibble more with dogs because they are (generally) bigger so bills are bigger.

Our insurance is up to £8,000. We could top up a little, but not much. Realistically anything needing much more would not be possible - but that covers quite a lot.

We have neighbours facing up to this, their dog has cancer and prolonging its life is very expensive. They have gone for palliative treatment, sensibly in my opinion. We have petsknowing their lives will be short compared to ours, and a shorter but good quality of life is what matters. Their dogs is well, pain free, and loving life for now. When it comes they will have them PTS with much heartache, but without their dog suffering

I feel really sad when you see cases of pensioners who can no longer afford their pets insurance and the pet is 12+ and it’s literally all they have in the world.
I think sometimes circumstances change and that impacts affordability of pets and we can’t plan for everything. Death of spouse, redundancy, illness etc. It is so sad in those instances, particularly older animals, shelters/kennels etc would either put down or they’d likely not get rehomed and live the rest of their lives in kennels.

So sad 😭

People have gone crazy about pets. They're animals, not people. When they get sick they need putting down, not spending thousands to prolong their lives for the benefit of the owner, not the animal. Spending £8000 a year on insurance for a pet is utter insanity.

My dog is 14, I know now that I wouldn’t opt for treatment to prolong life. At his age I don’t think I could put him through chemo etc if he got sick. It would kill be but I think it would be kinder to PTS.

I'm torn on this. I think some people genuinely don't realise how much a pet costs when you total everything up and are a bit naieve. And yanbu in that respect. But at the same time there are some people who take a pet on in good faith that they'll be able to afford their care and then they lose a job or things change and they can't any more. Or they take on a very young animal expecting to be more secure when that animal is older and more likely to need treatment but then they get seriously ill very young. I also think insurance companies will do the utmost not to pay out or people don't fully understand what their policy will cover. I've always had full cover for both pets but there's not that much my cat would now be covered for really. And he's only 13 and a house cat so he could live a good few years yet. I don't think it's fair for people to suggest that vets are being extortionate, although I've had second opinions between vets that were the difference of £14pm for treatment with one vet and £90pm for treatment with another so I think things like that can be misinterpreted as a vet being money grabbing when it's more a matter of opinion on treatment planning.

You don’t usually have the option of ‘child insurance’ for your kid though do you.

irresponsible owner, the puppy won’t have been cheap either. If you can’t afford a oet, do t get one.

It’s a terrible world for animals, rescues are on their absolute knees with long waiting lists & it’s because of people like this.

yANBU.

irresponsible owner, the puppy won’t have been cheap either. If you can’t afford a oet, do t get one

They didn't. They rescued it (OP drip fed a little).

Me and my DH started having pets 25 years ago. (We have had cats and rabbits.) We've been through three cats and two rabbits. We have one cat left. She's 16 and a half. When this one's gone, we will definitely not be having any more pets and we're only around 50 years old.

The fact is, vet bills are WAY more high than they were when we first started having pets (and when my parents first had them some 30 to 50 years ago.) And that is taking into account inflation too. The costs are easily three times more than they used to be.

And don't anybody bother saying, 'oh, they've got so much better technology now and much more outgoings...' because 30 to 35 years ago they had better technology than they did 30 to 35 years before that. And big outgoings then too.

As quite a few people have said - insurance is sometimes pointless because you have to pay an absolute fortune for the ones with a good payout - like £10,000+.. More than many can afford. AND there are some things they don't pay out for, like treatment for teeth, and eyes, and long term conditions like diabetes and epilepsy.

If our cat started needing lots of treatment, and the vet said we will be paying 6 to 8 thousand £££, we would make the decision to PTS. She is around 83 in human years and we have given her almost 17 years of love - and a great life .. Would NOT put her through medical treatment and procedures to try and prolong her life by a year! And put us in the poor house at the same time!

Also YABU @Allelbowsandtoes because many people CAN afford their pets when they have them, and their financial situation changes and they struggle to afford the vet bills. So YABVVVU...

It used to be a normal thing for working class people/people not on high incomes, to have a pet some decades ago... Now it's an absolute luxury. Like going to the pub, or a football match, or a UK holiday in a caravan... Used to be for the working classes.. now you need loads of money. These are all for people with lots of surplus cash now!

I spent a couple of thousand having my dog's broken leg sorted. She was fine otherwise. It was not for my benefit at all.
Yes, some people fork out lots of money for the sake of a few months when their pet has a serious illness like cancer. Dogs have no sense of their own mortality, and I would argue that some owners are doing it for selfish reasons and not in the best interest of the dog.
But at the end of the day, it is their money. If a young dog has a serious illness that can be cured even though it costs a lot, then that is down the owners. Their money and their choice.
But then, I know your views on dogs. You seem to wish them and their owners were yeeted into the sun, and never exist. I would say that is more extreme than someone having a hefty vet bill.

I have nothing against dogs but they are animals. I do have something against the way people fetishize pets nowadays. I don't know if that is the right word but I can't think of a better one.

I remember watching "All Creatures Great and Small" when I was a kid and there was an elderly woman who was always taking her dog to the vets, spoiling it with treats and talking to it like it was a child. She was a ridiculous comedy character in the show and people laughed at her and treated her as a figure of fun. But there are a lot of people like her nowadays, and they expect people to take them seriously.

My vet told me that the worst part of her job was putting animals to sleep, because owners found this a cheaper alternative to paying for treatment. She said that it made her job hard to bear.

Both can be true. Yes people should have insurance to cover illness and injury of their pets. But also, the costs are inflated because of the insurance based system. My brother's dog was ill while he was in Europe and he was shocked at how cheap an overnight stay was compared to how much it would be in the UK.
And I often see threads where people recommend just putting the money you would spend on insurance in a savings account for your pet which is very much reliant on the idea you dog will never need any treatment till it is old. Also, doesn't really make sense, as if you genuinely put that money aside, you won't have it either way, so you could have paid insurance

I give my dog treats and I talk to her like a child. So what? She is looked after, and loved. I am not sure what is wrong with that.
I could be starving her and neglecting her... but yes, people like me are the main problem in the world.

Just to add to my PP... I think it is awful that anyone would laugh at an elderly woman who loves her pet. I assume her pet was her only family. Absolute shame on the people taking the piss.

Agree. Also the people who don't have a big enough garden for their pets, and who leave them alone all the time. Disgraceful. I feel the same about people who have children too. Don't "get" something if you don't have the means to cate for it!

I'm puzzled when I read accusations that insurance is a rip off simply because it failed to cover a particular amount or a certain illness, all these conditions and illnesses are quite clearly listed in the policies in question, it's just that the purchasers have failed to read the policies properly. And I'm tired of hearing/reading "insurance is a rip off you're better off putting money away each month" I'll give you this scenario...try putting £30 a month away for 12 months and see how effective it is when you're pet breaks a limb or swallows something it shouldn't and you're presented with an X-ray bill for £1000. If you honestly believe pet insurance is a rip off and you can manage without it take a quick look on Gofundme or JustGiving at all the appeals and fundraisers for pet operations.

So you are shaming people on benefits? Plenty of people who work do not look after their pets either. Goady post

Yep, goady post.
They were at the vets, so obviously trying to look after them.

It's an interesting question. My cat was adopted from a shelter. She's had a wonderful life, in the course of which she's ruthlessly killed plenty of smaller, defenceless animals for fun. I'm not sure that paying literally thousands of pounds in insurance over her lifetime, or on one-off vet costs would be proportionate. Where do you draw the line? It's different with pedigree (overbred) dogs, but with a moggie or a mongrel dog, I think it's reasonable to have one without expecting to pay out thousands of pounds.

I stupidly took out the cheapest puppy insurance because i naively thought what could go wrong with a puppy? I realised halfway through the policy that it only had a £1000 limit on each condition and most serious things cost at least 5k. Renewal is very soon and I'll be changing it to the right amount of cover.
Either way, I would cover that bill like you have any way I could but I'll breathe abit easier when I know I've got a better policy!