What happens if you can't afford vet bill?

[witchycat2]

Not happening to me, but a scenario of someone else has got me wondering.

What happens if your dog is injured and the treatment would cost say, £5k, and you literally can't pay it and have no insurance?

Does the vet put the dog to sleep? Do they seize the dog? Do you have the debt collectors round?

In my understanding, not from any personal experience though, vets will set up a payment plan

Depends on the vets. I imagine most would at least put the dog down on credit, or some charities will have dogs surrendered to them and take over treatment.
But there is no obligation for a vet to treat, ultimately if you can't pay then your pet may not get the treatment they need.

My personal vets that we have been with for decades would set up a payment plan. I doubt many would do multiple thousands of pound work on credit from a random person, they'd be so unlikely to ever get it, pursuing debt via small claims would be difficult and if they genuinely don't have it then they'd just not get paid.

If you can't afford it euthanasia will be offered. Payment plans can be agreed with the vets discretion but it usually means euthanasia. A lot of people say they will pay and then don't, but it's such a problem that vets ask for the money or insurance details up front. This is why my cats are insured, as a vet nurse I helped so many animals be put to sleep because people couldn't afford it and it's awful for everyone involved

This is why I honestly believe there should be an NHS type system for vets (including ambulance services) where taxes are allocated to all pets and animals found injured.
I know people will say it will cost too much to run but in an ideal world no animal should suffer or lose their life, it’s incredibly sad.

Just to say I have insurance for my dog and always have done. We used it one year to pay for his cruciate ligament surgery, a couple of years later he required the same surgery but on a different leg - insurance wouldn’t cover it as it was considered to be a pre-existing condition (even though a different leg!) the surgery was £3.5k, vet carried out the surgery and we took out a payment plan with the vets. The full amount had to repaid over 10 months which we managed (was a stretch). Even if you have insurance it doesn’t always cover everything unfortunately.

No. Pets are optional. Farm animals should be covered by farmers. There are charities for animals if necessary.

Err? No. Pet owners are responsible for pets. I was responsible for mine. Not other tax payers. If you cannot afford a pet, don’t have one. Be realistic about possible costs.

NHS type system… I have really heard everything now! Paid by whom? After all our current NHS works so well!

Whilst I agree that animals shouldn't suffer... This is absolutely mental!

I'd suggest a more sensible starting point would be a system that stops people having animals that they can't afford to care for.

I would genuinely rather ban all domestic pets than pay for an NHS type system for animals.

That's absolutely ridiculous.

Pets are a lifestyle choice.

Compulsory pet insurance would be a more proportionate solution to the problem.

I think the difference is that insurance generally only pay for a year's worth of treatment and don't cover pre-existing conditions. People's circumstances can and do change unfortunately, which then makes it harder to afford. If all pet owners paid in to a system it might make sense, rather than to profiteering insurance companies!

I'm not expecting this to be a popular opinion but it's mine ,
if you don't have pet insurance or you can't afford a substantial bill then in my opinion you probably shouldn't have a pet. Too many people rely on PDSA or gofundme, it's your animal , your responsibility. They're not like children, the state won't financially support them if you don't .
It's not fair on the animal to suffer , everyone knows there is no NHS for pets .
Utterly heartbreaking to lose your beloved pet because you can't afford to treat them .
I get life happens , and circumstances change ,but all too often people don't think things through and don't understand the huge responsibility that comes with having an animal

@bugalugs45 i think quite a few people would actually agree with you! I must admit, I didn’t realise quite how expensive a dog costs.

I completely agree. Pet insurance should be compulsory.

A woman in our street's dog got sick. I don't know if it was a ligament injury, broken leg or other illness, but it would have been £8000. She put the dog down, as couldn't afford it even if offered a payment plan 😔

I honestly don't think many new pet owners realise either that vets can do so much more these days, or that insurance companies stop paying out for the same conditions after a year. In my youth, most pets would be pts because there simply was no viable option, and it was a slightly easier pill to swallow that you were just putting them out of their misery. So many more conditions are treatable these days, but the expense can be vast even for small animals.

In the ideal world, there would be tighter regulations over the cost of surgery and ongoing treatment, with insurers under a legal obligation to pay out for claims (though perhaps with exemption applied to pre-existing conditions).

I've heard many stories of people agreeing to surgery based on an initial 'quote', only for the actual cost to be double or even triple what was originally stated. My DM was quoted £450 for the removal of three of her cat's teeth (including the general anaesthetic), the total cost came to almost £800. My own cat has recently started on gabapentin (for the rest of his life) for his arthritis, the same vets quoted £120 a bottle. I was able to find the same bottle for almost £30 less online, so can now pay a smaller amount for the prescription. I think there is too much profiteering at the owner's expense.

Not sure of the progress but am aware there has been an investigation into the more corporate vet organisations, where it certainly looked like something iffy was going on. My vet's are ace - they've largely saved me money with a lot of their advice. Quite a rarity sadly.

Agree. I completely understand sometimes life hits the fan as it were but charities like PDSA / blue cross etc would be able to provide more to those truly in need if people were generally more responsible- I am horrified by the amount of go fund me type pages we have for pets on our local community noticeboard.

PTS is rarely a terrible choice. We have a dog who is adored, and indeed pet insurance but, from the dogs point of view, they go to sleep and are out of pain.
Humans have the emotional part of the relationship.

Don’t be ridiculous , there would be a revolt and people would refuse to pay their taxes !
Hopefully the vet would allow a payment plan . A few dogs local to us have been signed over to a rescue who were prepared to pick up the bill .
Compulsory insurance isn’t the answer because with older dogs many people wouldn’t be able to afford the premiums .

You put them to sleep so they aren't suffering and agree a payment plan to pay the cost of that with the vet.

Often all the expensive treatment is more for the owner's benefit than the animal.

No vets by mine have done payment plans for years. Ours would give you the choice to pts. Alternatively you can try the pdsa if you’re on certain benefits, though I don’t know if there’s a limit or what the criteria is. Alternatively some rescues will take the dog, pay for its care but then rehome it, you don’t get it back. I know of two people who have to give their husky and a French bulldog to rescues as they couldn’t pay for their care. Though rescues are so full and underfunded now you’d be lucky to find one willing to take on a dog with huge vet bills attached