vet crisis!!

[tigermoth]

our elderly cat is costing a fortune in vet bills. Due to her age and muscle tone, she has difficulty passing stools, gets constipated, has to have the vets intervention increasingly often and each time we are faced with a bill of £70.00.

There is nothing the vet can do to make the obstruction and constipation go away permanently. She has atheritis in her back legs, this affects her muscles and she just siezes up, despite liberal dosings with liquid parafin and other cat laxitives.

She has so much life in her still, I really don't want to have her put down, but we just cannot afford to go on this way. The vet won't let us pay in installments, and our cat is too old to insure. I don't think we are allowed to use the PDSA as we are employed. I would be ok paying some money (ie £20.00 a time) but these regular £70.00 bills are seriously eating into our finances.

Any suggestions?

I would try an animal charity Tigermoth. There used to be one called the Animal Samaritans (I am not sure if it is still going) that used to contribute to vet bills for people that genuinuly couldn't afford them. I remember that it helped my mum once with her dog. It was a local charity (South London) but there may be a similar one locally to where you live. It is worth a try.

thanks - I am contacting the PDSA this morning but don't expect much luck. Our cat needs treatment urgently as well. Suspect it will be the vet again. Due to school visits, 11+ exams and everything else, I am having to miss some time at work for the 5th day in a row! I am so fed up with this!

no luck with the PDSA. They only treat the pets of those in receipt of benefit, so I am taking our cat to a new vet who is possibly cheaper. I hope so. I don't think we'd qualify for charity help, sadly, but that doens't mean the constant bills don't hurt our bank balance! I wish I wasn't so money- orientated about this, but our cat is having to be locked up in our kitchen with cat flap, so isn't having a good time of things either - she's used to sleeping on our sofa.

we are in the same situation. Our cat has just been found to be diabetic and is weeing all round the house. We were quoted 50p to a £1 a day for the insulin- but it is proving to be far more expensive (£30 a week for the last 2 weeks) - plus she's weeing right where ds1 is always eating off the floor (don't ask!) I've phoned every animal shelter going- they all have huge waiting lists and in reality she's going to be difficult to re-home. She's not actually our cat either- was left behind when the previous house owners moved to Spain. All in all it's proving to be too much. We don;t have a spare £30 quid a week and if we did I'd rather save it up and use it to pay for extra ABA for ds1 during school holidays. So I think she's going to have to be put down. The vet's made us feel guilty by saying that she's basically a healthy animal- but I don't call a cat who wees in the house 4 times a day (all over the house) and requires daily shots of insulin (and her wee still seems to have sugar in it!) a particularly healthy animal.

She's lying in a sun patch next to me as I write this! We're uhmming and ahhing but I think we're just putting off the inevitable.

Out of interest, Jimjams, did you try the Cats Protection League?

Would your vet not let you set up a direct debit to pay a bit at a time, but they would know it was coming regularly?

Did indeed soupy- we had an insane cat from them a few years ago (died of kidney disease- he was quite poorly when we got him). They're all full and one of the local branches has closed down so they have extra mogies coming in soon. I was sure the CPL would have her actually as the people who run it are all crazy old ladies but no luck

Sorry to hear about your cat problems, jimjams. I agree about vets making you feel so guilty too. I am sure they see many people who are so devoted to their pets that money is no object. Mine forgets that not all people can be like that so they'll suggest blood tests and injections and surgery, no cure promised, just a slight improvement perhaphs if we are lucky, if not there's something else they can try ..... and every suggestion costs yet more money. I have already had this problem with three other elderly cats and have yet to find a charity, cats home or vet arrangement that will reduce the financial sting. Oh well, this time our cat has a fairly clearcut problem I think. Off to a new vet this morning who is meant to be good. But this might be the last time we get her treated. She is too old for a cats home, so next time we might have to have her put down

How did you get on tigermoth?

Actually not too badly,a part from getting lost in the wilds of Thamesmeade on the way there. The new vet just gave her an esaminations and an enima, charged us £20.00, and it seems to have worked. don't know if 100% successful. She is looking perkier and we will make a fuss of her and see how it goes. We have decided not to get her treated again unless it's with another enima. The vet said the alternative course of treatment (no cure at the end of it) would cost £100.00 or more every time she needs it. If this solution is not working then we will put her to sleep.

I might sound heartless, but I cannot carry on. It is costing too much time and money. Dh and I originally had 4 cats between us (all strays in some sort of crisis needing a home - none that we acturally chose to own). We never knew their ages when we got them. Next time round I will definitely insure any pet I have against illness while they are still young enought to insure.