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?

Well yes, sometimes it is that - there some modern veterinary procedures I'm not sanguine about. I had a young cat PTS because he was paralyzed - there are sort of bionic apparatuses that some people try but I always remember the wise words of the best vet I ever knew, one of the old school who may have been a bit lacking in niceties but excellent at his job and really quite compassionate once you got to know him. He said that the time to put an animal to sleep is "when it can no longer live as a cat/dog/insert other animal should live'. Which of course has a degree of subjectivity, but I've used it as my guiding principle ever since. I think climbing, running and jumping is so integral to being a young cat, so I made the call. But then you have other cases like I've mentioned in this thread, where an otherwise healthy animal needed one, expensive, surgery and then recovered with no problems. Reading above, it seems that if I hadn't had cat insurance they'd have offered to amputate the leg rather than repair the ankle. That would have been a really hard call to make. I feel like it would have been much harder for her to recover from and it definitely would have knocked onto her quality of life now. The repaired ankle doesn't bend inwards quite as far, but it doesn't hamper her in the slightest, she can still jump from the floor to the counter no problem. And she needs her physical confidence, because I also have a younger cat who annoys her sometimes, and she needs to either jump out the way or give her a slap to keep her in line (she doesn't hurt her: the little one actually thinks this is great, and they're going to play a slap game, which they are not).

Sorry but this is ridiculous and very naive when we can hardly afford the NHS.
I don't want my taxes going to treat someone's pet. Pets are not people and public services to focus on people.
There are charities that help fund treatment for pets and people such as PDSA if people choose to contribute to those they can

No they aren't . If we want the human race to continue we need people to have children. Just as we need people to have children to be the workforce of the future, the doctors, nurses, plumbers and vets.
We don't need more dogs, cats or guinea pigs to ensure the survival.of society

It depends how old the pet is etc as well, doesn't it? I recently cancelled the insurance for our very healthy 15yo cat as it was costing a ridiculous amount every month, the excess was enormous and the list of exclusions had become massive. It was basically pointless.

If he needed non invasive treatment with a good prognosis of up to a couple of thousand we'd pay it, anything more at his age and he'd be put to sleep I'm afraid. He's already had a good innings.

At his age I'd not expect a responsible vet to propose long term expensive treatment. Unfortunately our last indy vet closed down and has been replaced by a corporate one which I am sure would propose it. I grew up in the countryside though and am a lot less sentimental about animals than a lot of people. My first Saturday job was in a vet stashing the euthanased animals in the freezer...

The beauty of having insurance is that often you can make a decision without the worry of paying the bill.

We have insurance and are many thousands 'up' compared to the premiums but I have opted for cheaper options because untimely I can decide based on what I think is right for my dog rather than what I can afford.

I also have good vets who give me all the options and costs from a wait and see to referring to a specialist hospital despite having insurance.

But if people can't pay that limits options and ultimately operations or investigations can reach thousands very quickly.

@Dinnerplease Yes, that's how we feel about our elderly dog. If we can get something dealt with so he can continue a happy, pain-free life, we'll do it. But we're not prepared to put him through a difficult operation or have him medicated up to the gills in order to keep going for a few more months.

My SIL did this with her dog, she had him doped up on (expensive) painkillers for several months, because she couldn't bear to part with him. It was heartbreaking to witness, he could barely move and had no quality of life. She did eventually have him pts, but that experience convinced DH and I not to prolong our dog's life if he ever becomes that unwell.

My dog is 12 1/2 he’s been taken to a vet following an accident
i have insurance but it’s only up to £3,000 and because of his age, I have to pay 20% of treatment up to £3,000 and all of cost over that.
the vets think nothing of wracking up the cost, seeking external opinions of x rays and no thought of his life expectancy and condition afterwards
I feel under pressure to get into debt for surgery for a dog that may not live longer and already has advanced arthritis and cognitive decline.
its awful
the insurance is rubbish

Payment plan or the basics via blue Cross or PDSA if you are on benefits.

I’m not in benefits, I have a mortgage and bills and can’t suddenly find thousands of pounds that the insurance won’t cover, blunty for a dog already in decline and elderly

I totally agree. That’s why we don’t have insurance.

My premiums for our cats, dogs, horses and bunnies were well over £200 a month. As my horse got to late middle age the company doubled her premiums and reduced the cover, despite her not having ever been ill in the decade I’d owned her. So we stopped insurance 14 years ago. In those 14 years one of the horses needed an operation as did a dog, and we’ve spent a fair bit on a few other scans, blood tests and X-rays investigating some of the other animals. We’ve probably spent £15k all in all (we initially had £10k in savings and always had empty credit cards). But had we paid that £200 a month (which would have probably gone up) we’d have spent over £30k - without excesses…. The only thing now is we’ve had a lot of big, unexpected changes in our circumstances over the last five years. My husband has had three summers in hospital, on statutory sick pay. Then I lost my long term job during covid and now earn a lot less. Then my dad died, and we had to pay a percentage of the inheritance tax for the first two years despite not being able to sell the property as probate was difficult, which has drained every bit of savings we had. During that time all our animals have become geriatric and started needing more care. We are at the point where they’re all too old to put through anything big, so after initial treatment and diagnosis we will probably pts.

I feel for you. I know what you’re saying. At 12 1/2 it’s old to put him through lots of treatment anyway. It wouldn’t be wrong to call time and let him go, it’s only painful for us, not them. I certainly wouldn’t judge you.

We had similar with our cat recently. He was diagnosed with diabetes and put on a medication that was supposed to be fabulous, but I didn’t think it was suiting him, plus it was expensive. The vets were all for it (he saw two) because his levels were good on it, but he looked uncomfortable. The vets were suggesting more bloods and tests, which had been £500 the previous month. I ended up calling out a holistic vet and having him looked at at home. He thought he looked tired and sore, suspected a possible tumour. He was pts quietly at home. Same for my horse, she was on and off lame, aged 24. The vet kept pushing us to try x/y/z, but one day it dawned on me that all this treatment wasn’t the happy retirement I’d hoped for her, and I had her quietly pts. Sometimes medicines can extend their life, but I don’t always think it’s right to.

@Emknewbest , having your lovely dog put to sleep sounds like a completely reasonable and realistic decision, especially given all his other conditions. I don't understand why any vet would object to euthanasia in this case.

I'm so sorry to hear that. For some breeds 12 1/2 is pretty much life expectancy and it sounds like your dog has age-related decline, its bad of the vets to pressure you. Personally I have a (flexible) policy that once pets have reached around life expectancy we don't do major, painful, or stressful treatments. I don't think I would want them at 85, and I would know the reason. The last cat I lost had a reduced life expectancy due to surviving a serious kitten illness. She had a weakened heart, and was not as active and fast as other cats, but she very much enjoyed her life and had a good 12 years, which was 10 years longer than predicted. One day last year, she went rapidly downhill, I took her in, they said it was her heart and it was serious and that we could, theoretically, admit to hospital and run all manner of tests/try drugs/etc. I said no, and we let her go. The vet didn't pressure me. We had a lovely 12 years together, I always knew she was not a cat that would make 18, and I wasn't about to make the end of her life stressful and painful. I have a 14 year old cat on my lap right now, who is still fit as a fiddle, and part of me of course feels like "its not fair", but at the end of the day, its not the time they live, its how they live it. You know best.

You see if you can find a charity to pay, you extend your mortgage or you put the dog to sleep. And next time don't get a dog if you haven't got the savings to cover this.

That’s ridiculous, not many people would have pets and he’s had a good life for a long time. A vet told me at 9 that his breed’s life expectancy is 10, he’s gone beyond that.
life circumstances change from when you get a dog, divorce and other things happen. My
ex isn’t offering to pay anything

If he was younger, I would do. He’s had treatment for accidents twice in his life. The insurance cover is not good for older dogs. Obviously for a reason. He has an advanced degenerative disease and ops will likely accelerate that. You’re being entirely sentimental

My friend has 3 elderly dogs, 12, 14 and 15 and she’s already decided that she won’t be spending 1000’s just to see what how the dogs are doing in their later years, at every check up, vets advise x rays, blood tests etc., There’s no point her having insurance at their age, she did have it when they were younger. The dogs are ok, the eldest only potters on her walk, but she’s happy, plays a little, enjoys her food. For my dog I have a policy that only pays £4000 per condition, but I do put money in separate account each month, he’s nearly 7 and there’s a nice amount in there should I need it.

Then PTS,as I said

You have to watch the insurance renewals as they get older. It says cover up to a certain amount but actually you pay excess and 20% of that amount.
i wasn’t really aware of

Our cat is 14 years old. We got her from a shelter when she was 9 and since then her monthly insurance payments have increased from £18 to £77. She's on thyroid medication now and we have a very good policy. She seems happy and healthy at the moment. Fortunately we can afford payments so I'll keep paying it as we've had some expensive vet bills. I can see why it's a struggle for some. I wouldn't bother with treatments like chemotherapy if it came to it. You need to know when it's kinder to let go.

You can't drive a car without insurance, it does seem strange you can have a dog without insurance.

Problem is, we have a low cost service with the PDSA that actually runs for people who cannot afford to cover veterinary fees for their pets. The issue with the service is that it is underfunded, overabused by clients who take it for granted and it is severely underfunded because of the fact it is a charity organisation. You’d be surprised at the amount of owners who would walk in, with all the right paperwork to qualify for treatment, nice cars/expensive puppies (designer mixes, frenchies, “rare coloured” dachshunds etc) and would snub at paying £20 for a consultation with medication included. Same goes for the people who use the service fraudulently under other peoples benefits/signing up “household” pets to other people to get free treatment. Doesn’t discount what incredible work the PDSA can do for people and those that actually are greatful, but unfortunately it would 100% get ruined for the majority if there was a pet nhs.