Cats come home injured, can't afford vets fees!

[Ohb0llocks]

DCat has just come home from being out, and will not weight bear on his front right leg ☹️ he also seems to have cut between his claw and skin on another foot, however this isn’t bothering him much.

Obviously I’m going to call the vets when they open in 15 min, but at the minute we haven’t a pot to piss in. New baby due in a few weeks, DP hasn’t been working as much due to weather (self employed outside job).

I’m in bits. We don’t live in an area where PDSA etc can help. What are the chances of the vets allowing a payment plan without a huge deposit? We can probably afford around £30 at the most.

And please please no one lecture me re insurance. Bloody stupid mistake on my part and I feel bad enough already.

@redthunder123 yes, I am skint, due to the fact my partner is a builder and it’s done nothing but piss down for weeks where we live. Unfortunately not all of us can whip a few £100’s out of our ass at any given time. Since you know nothing of my circumstances and my family I suggest you pull your head from up your ass. People fall on hard times, that’s life.

I never wanted him to be seen for free, just to pay on a payment plan, which most vets do actually offer.

Hope he is okay

And correct, I did choose to get a cat (well it could be argued I didn’t but that’s by the by) and at the time I could afford him. Peoples circumstances change all the time.

I wasn’t skint a few weeks ago and I won’t be in a few weeks time.

How down right nasty to judge someone based on the amount of money they are able to pull together in that moment.

He is fine, she gave him a good check over, he has been bitten by what she thinks must be another cat.

He’s got a weeks worth of antibiotics and painkillers.

The vets are trying to run a business, many don't offer payment plans any longer as people would just skip off and not pay. It's tough, but it's one of those things.

Please get insurance, it takes all the stress out and means you can get your cat the treatment it needs if it is injured.

Let us know how you get on at the vets, I hope it's nothing serious.

Glad he's ok and it was nothing serious. Cat bites do happen a fair amount and aren't really something worth claiming on insurance as mostly the cost of treatment would be less than the excess

Glad he is okay, it's horrible when they seem unwell and you're not sure why.

If you're referring to me, I wasn't judging you

I've been there with the no insurance and the cat who got sick. Unfortunately it cost me over 1k and wasn't something as "simple" as a bite that just needed antibiotics.

That's why I was advising you to get insurance. Animals can get sick really quickly and insurance doesn't have to be expensive. I pay £12.84 a month for two cats on Tesco Premier. It just means I don't have to worry if one of them gets sick or injured, so it's a big weight off my mind. If one of them is unwell, I know I can afford to get them treated. One of mine had an eye ulcer recently - it was treated with antibiotic cream, anti-inflammatories and steroids, but if that didn't work, I was looking at surgery at a specialist vet, or surgery to remove the eye, both of which would have cost £500 minimum without insurance.

His treatment came to just over £30. If I’d have known it would be that much there wouldn’t have been any worries.

What I was panicking about was having to find a couple of hundred/thousand, today.

@RonSwansonsMoustache definitely not you. The poster who felt the need to question my choice to have children because I can’t pull an unknown amount of money from somewhere at such short notice.

What type of cover is best? I don’t understand the time limited/max benefit etc. I just want to be covered for illness or injury but it’s seeming like it’s either one or the other?

Oh, okay haha. I think we must have cross-posted somewhere! :)

I have the highest Tesco cover there is - it's worth doing some research on price-comparison sites and seeing what's the best for you. It depends on how much excess you're willing/able to pay, whether your cat has any pre-existing conditions, whether they're neutered, whether they go outdoors, whether they're spayed and whether they're pedigree or not.

I have two moggies who live indoors, and I live in a relatively cheap area. That, plus the fact that I'm willing to pay a high excess, means my monthly payments are pretty low.

Glad he's ok.

My cats are with animal friend insurance, it costs £3.68 per month each. Used once and had no issues. You do have to pay the bet and claim back though although my vets just wait and are very good like that. Dog is with petplan, they pay direct. Worth looking around and going via cash back sites as doing this paid for most of the first year for us.

Glad you got sorted. I was v impressed with our local vets for pets too. Our old vet closed our practice down and didn't even tell us, I only found out when I called round to order some flea stuff. They wrote to us to remind us re her boosters which I ignored obviously and had taken her to vets for pets which is closer to our house anyway. Then they had the nerve to send me a stroppy reminder!

Go for whole of life cover so that long term illnesses are covered. It is more expensive but worth it

How lovely to see that once again we're 'money-grabbing bastards' because we're trying to earn a living.

Mumsnet at its finest

Fundamentally pets are a luxury. I'm a vet. I have two dogs - they are both insured, because I'm aware of exactly how expensive private medical care is and have made it a priority to ensure I can care for them adequately.

It's all very well feeling entitled to a payment plan, but how often do you think vets are left with clients who never complete that payment plan? Yes, rather a lot. Then it's the 'money-grabbing-bastards' who have to bear the brunt of keeping a small business running, covering salary costs and ensuring our employees are paid. And are expected to do it because clients feel entitled to veterinary care even when they can't adequately pay for it. We're arseholes because you expect us to take on your responsibilities, and we aren't always able to. But obviously that's our fault isn't it?

Do you expect Tesco to offer a payment plan for your food shop?
What about the dentist for energency dental treatment?
Or your local locksmith, plumber or electrician (most of them will earn much more than your average vet and I doubt they offer payment plans either).

No, it's just the 'money grabbing vets' that clients expect to take on their responsibilities, because somehow caring for animals means absolving owners of basic responsibilities.

I am skint, due to the fact my partner is a builder and it’s done nothing but piss down for weeks where we live. Unfortunately not all of us can whip a few £100’s out of our ass at any given time. Since you know nothing of my circumstances and my family I suggest you pull your head from up your ass. People fall on hard times, that’s life.

I'm sorry that things are tough for you, but fundamentally your financial concerns are not your vets responsibility and it's unreasonable to feel entitled to services that you cannot pay for. The responsibility is yours.

How many other service providers would you expect to cover your costs over a period of weeks-months via a payment plan? I know it sounds harsh but vets have their own bills to pay - they cannot afford to take on the financial responsibilities of every client that's a bit short at the moment. It is YOUR responsibility, not theirs.

Just for the record, the vets did offer a payment plan, just they wouldn’t offer one in my circs as I mentioned upthread.

Which is not unreasonable.

Glad you got the cat sorted OP

It's sad to see a thread where so many pet owners feel entitled to bail-outs when it comes to meeting their own legal pet ownership obligations.

I absolutely love my vet. Seriously. He's gone above and beyond quite a few times over the years with various dogs. Ringing me late at night to let me know how one dog was, he'd come down with some mystery illness and the vet thought we'd lose him.

Glad you got your cat sorted OP.

The vast majority of vets are owned by huge corporations.
If we see animals for nothing and the owners don't pay (which is the vast majority of the time by the way) we get in trouble by the powers that be. One of our branches alone has over £40k of debt from situations like this that has to be sucked up by the company, out of staff wages probably.
If got honestly think the vet is pocketing from your misfortune think again, it does not matter what it costs to us as we don't see any of the money, a salary is a salary.
Much as the man is Asda does not care if you do a £100 shop or spend £1 as it makes no difference to him

Why should irresponsible people get treatment for free when everyone else pays? There is no such thing as the NHS for pets and why should there be. Even the Pdsa are cracking down on people having loads of pets they can't provide for and expecting handouts on a plate.

I don't think anyone of the 'money grabbing bastards' bridage has a clue how much the medication, supplies and training actually costs and how much it costs to keep a vets open.

Why should a vet who has trained for 5 years give up their time for free because some people have pets they can't afford. I wouldn't expect an electrician to do the same so why are the veterinary profession so hated by so many people.

Sorry OP, not aimed at you but really some people really spout some shit. Hope your car feels better soon

Oh fgs.

I don't think anyone on here has said they don't want to pay vets.

I have lots of personal examples where my small animal vet was irritatingly costly. Insisting I leave a dog overnight to be treated in the morning when he could have been at home. One vet referred me to a consultant when my dog was run over. He demanded 3k up front, my alternative was to take the dog home and hope his smashed shoulder would mend. he was a truly horrible man. However, all the equine vets I've used bill you, do their best to keep costs down (even though they know I'm. Fully insured) and are generally sensible. My vet would actually recommend that he doesn't come out, to watch and wait. Small animal vets NEVER do that.

Agree with @Greyhorses

And yes plenty of people have said the vet should treat for free "not to see an animal suffer". It's irresponsible owners that cause suffering not vets!

Actually noone has said the vets should treat for free, that has come from people getting all het up and not reading the comments properly.