Our family cat is 8 years old. She's technically my sister's cat, but when my sister grew up and left home the case stayed with my mum (as she has a garden), and really we all see her as our family cat.
Our cat is poorly. The likely cost of specialist treatment is £3-4,000, but the vet says she could well lead a normal life after that. Without treatment, she would need to be put down.
We are hoping to claim £2,000 on pet insurance so that leaves potentially another £2,000 to find ourselves.
My mum can't afford to contribute at all. My sisters and I have some savings but I'm saving for a wedding, my sister is looking to buy a flat... we're not wealthy but not living in poverty either.
Some of our friends are saying we should just have our cat put down, because it's too much to spend, whether you have the money or not. I do understand some people literally do not have access to the money and would have no choice. In our case, it's more that it might mean a cheaper wedding. If we all put in a few hundred pounds each then with the insurance money too we could save our cat and she could have another 10 years of life!
It IS a huge amount of money, but I believe we have a moral obligation to use the money we do have to help our pet - I keep crying about it, I can't imagine one of us driving her to the vets and coming back without her simply because we're not prepared to spend the money. The attitudes and comments of some people (who would happily spend the same amount on a holiday) have made me feel quite sad about the world. Would be interested to know others' views - is it just my social circle or is the general consensus that other things are more important?