not to offer to pay the man who took my cat to be neutered without discussing it with me

[powpow]

basically my cat came home last night neutered.
We had no idea what had happened or who had taken him.
I called 11 vets in the area until I found the one where it was done.
A neighbor has been feeding our cat and took him to be done. My cat broke through this guys catflap to come home to us where he feels safe. He wasn't missing. We saw him Monday night and he came home tuesday night.

Most of the cats running around the neighborhood have no collar but I would never take them to the vet unless they were hurt!
he said my cat has been coming around for a few months. He never once tried to find out who he belonged to.
We had taken off his collar because it kept getting tighter and tighter on his neck and getting caught on the fences.
But he was very obviously well taken care of, groomed and happy.
We were waiting a few more months to neuter him and would have taken him to the clinic that does it for free.
This guy paid £280.
I don't think I should have to pay for this.
AIBU?

why should she pay when she was going to take it to to a free clinic? Presumably because she couldn't afford it otherwise.

The man was stupid to take someone else's cat to the vet for an operation.

If someone took my cat in to be neutered without my permission I would be furious and there is no way on earth I would pay for it.

ah, soup dragon, i didnt see that bit.

BUT im sorry, bit if you can't afford veterinary treatment for animal, you shouldnt have it - so i have no sympathy for the whole "but i was going to take it to the free clinic" bullshit - cos that smacks of sponging in my book.

I just get sooooo angry when people get pets and expect the vets to work like the bloody NHS!

would it be better if the animals were homeless strays or being taken care off by shelters then LEM?

better to be taken care of by someone who can't afford vacs and neutering than not to be cared for at all imo.

thats not really how it works though tulips - i daresay that the OP bought this cat as a kitten, so, she could have either left the cat for someone who could afford to take care of it. The people who allowed their cat to get pregnant and not then not check that prospective owners understood the commitment they were taking on were out of order too. There could potentially be even MORE homeless strays about due to the OPs reluctance to get her animal speyed until she is ready.

Of course, it could be that she has fallen on hard times since purchasing the cat - that is quite different. But unless you are willing to have an INITIAL outlay of up to £300 please leave that fluffy little kitten for someone who is.

or even neutered when HE is ready! Vets are not charities, they are a business and charge accordingly. There ARE charities out there for people in genuine need. There are also cats in homes such as battersea screaming out for homes, who come pre vaccinated and pre neutered.

So, WTF are these free clinics for if not to help people who can't otherwise afford vet bills?

Your talk of "sponging" is a really foul attitude LEM. Do you file everyone who needs financial help a sponger?

The free clinics are for those in GENUINE need of help. Not those who get pets they cannot afford - if you cannot afford to get an animal neutered and expect it to be done for free then yes, its sponging.

Absolutely i do not file everyone who needs financial help as a sponger. I have been on benefits myself. Have never used free vet clinics as to me, they are for people like the elderly who benefit greatly from having animals in their lives and otherwise might not be able to afford to keep them. People who are disabled or sick too - but not because you just feel that you shouldnt have to pay. This is sooo prevelant - maybe i am being a little harsh to the OP, i don't know her, but i have seen this attitude over and over again - its like they think, well, we get free medical care (and bloody privaliged we are too and its actually not free is it) so why shouldnt our animals. I have always dreamed of having a horse - i could probably afford to go and buy one (just) but i couldnt afford to house it, keep it up to date with vaccinations, shoeing etc etc - so guess what - i don't have one!!

Thats just my opinion, if you don't like it, you can file me under wanker - i wont lose any sleep.

I should say that the free clinics are getting fewer and further between, charities like the PDSA simply cannot cope with the demand, which is a shame. So, really, please don't get animals you can't afford and then expect to be subsidised by CHARITY!!

Hmmmm.

Well cat is acting eprfectly normally IMO. he's just ahd a mjor op; let him be FGS.

The mroe I think about this the more I want to revise my opinion from yesterday.

I still think it'slikely the man was overcharged, not unusual sadly.

You should have had your cat done, absolutely. But you should also have had the choice to shopa round for a good price, a vet you were happy with.

So.... I wold call a few vets, explain the op, get a quote and give the man the price of the quote you'd have gone with. he deprived you of the right to get a cost that you wanted, but it needed to be done.

'they are for people like the elderly who benefit greatly from having animals in their lives and otherwise might not be able to afford to keep them'

children benefit greatly from pets in their lives, both in terms of health as it has been proven that having pets makes childrens immune systems stronger and protects against allergies, and in terms of emotional growth.

having pets helps children learn about caring for other living creatures and provides them with comfort and play.

is the benefit to an old lady really ranked higher than the benefit to a child?

The 'free' clinics are for those owners who can no longer afford medical care for existing pets. Due to age, illness or being made redundant etc.

If you are a young family and can not afford a cat/dog, there are many other options which doesn't require talking handouts from the 'free clinics'.

1. Get a cheaper pet. A fish, hamster etc
2. Foster a cat/dog from your local shelter. In return for taking in an animal, the charity will pay all costs food and vet bills. An older pet you could keep for the rest of their natural life, the cute kittens you'll only hold on to for a few weeks...but at NO cost.
3. Volunteer to train a hearing/seeing dog, they live in volunteers homes for the first years whilst undergoing treatment.
4. If you HAVE to have a cat/dog of your own, get a pre-altered, chiped, vaccinated animal from the shelter not a 'free' kitten/puppy which needs hundred of pounds of vet bills from the start.

treatment training

excellent post babieseverywhere. SEts off LEM thnking about training a hearing/seeing dog.

tulips - its mostly because the elderly often have elderly pets that require medical treatment. They have had them for a while. This is NOT the same as a young family going out and acquiring an animal they can't afford. THAT is selfish and irresponsible. But that quite possibly is a different thread.

I think it's a bit harsh to say people shouldnt have pets unless they are sure they can financially afford all the costs although neuturing is a given of a tom cat so not sure what to think.

Leaving the free clinic out of this, you think it is perfectly acceptable for someone to take an animal which is clearly cared for and have it neutered without the owner's consent? I would have been f-ing livid had someone done that to my car because she wasn't ready to be done. And yes, I let her roam free whilst "intact".

It is NOT harsh to say don't have a pet if you can't afford it !!!

Pets are living creatures not toys. They deserve a basic level of caring and that includes neutering and either vaccinations (or being inside pets) to ensure they don't contract painful or life shortening illness.

true

i think my issue with all of this is that astronomical vets fees have made it prohibitive for poorer families to be a responsible pet owner these days, and i still stand by my statement that if this kitten hadn't been taken in by the op it would probably have ended up in a shelter or stray as lets face it there are more kittens than homes for them.

to presume the owners of the parent cat were irresponsible for it being uneutered and allowed to breed may not be true either, i was feeding a stray last summer, she had kittens in a shed down the road which i knew about and one day she turned up on my doorstep with them in tow and moved herself in.... i was left to rehome the kittens and as she was already pregnant again also the next lot of kittens. i went to great lengths to find loving homes for them and did my best to ensure they'd be well cared for but asking prospective owners if they were planning to neuter and vaccinate wasn't a priority when faced with having to ring the ispca to take them if i couldn't home them

An entire cat left to roam, breed and fight outside is a stray and is clearly NOT being looked after.

Babieseverywhere, that is utter bollocks.

LOL, When logical fails, turn to insults why don't you

Soupy (19.18 post) you let your CAR roam free? . If I take it to the garage to have its handbrake installed would you refund the mechanics fees please?

Entire cats that roam are at risk from fight damage etc so really I wouldn't recommend it.

I have done enough rescue work with cats inclusing dealing with feral cats, to have a decent understanding of basic level of cat care.