Cat's tail needs to be amputated

[chotr1]

I have had my cat for less than two months, and (go figure) he has a fracture in his tail, and needs a partial amputation. I cant find a quote for less that £1.5k which seems really high? Anyone got a recommendation for an affordable vet in north/east london because even with insurance it seems crazy and I am not sure how I'll manage!

So how does it work with the insurance. Is the problem the excess? If that's the case then even if you find cheaper the excess will still apply. Or is it that you need to pay upfront and reimbursed later? In which case some vets will I'm sure be happy to be paid direct by the insurers.

If the insurance are paying I wouldn't worry too much. Ours claim back from the insurance company (I believe they had their fingers burned in the past) but they send off the claims forms quickly.
Vets I would recommend are Hornsey Vets (N19) or Arc Veterinary Centre (N10).

Completely unrelated to the money but I know the loveliest cat who had his tail amputated - he sits up so straight!

My insurance is excess of £100 which is manageable, but then up to £4,000 (each injury or illness limited to £1,000 of vet treatment) per year. which still means I would be £500 out of pocket and that's at the low end of the estimates I've got so far! I guess I just didn't realise tail amputation would cost that much, I found an old thread on here (www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_litter_tray/1480377-When-do-you-draw-the-line-and-put-your-cat-to-sleep-huge-vets-bills) that made me think it would be much less!

Thanks Vinorosso74!

And LittleLongDog that's adorable

Ah about the insurance. After this I would be looking at better insurance cover-we also learnt the hard way!

Vets for Pets in Pets at Home tend to be reasonably priced. There's a good one in Beckton.

Where is the tail broken? Be very careful if the break is close the body-end/base of the tail [IYSWIM] because if there is spinal damage the cat might have mobility issues, or worse, become incontinent.
A friend's cat lost half its tail in a cat-flap accident and was absolutely fine. Our previous cat had his tail badly bruised, although not broken. We think out then toddler might have trodden on it.
Our vet very kindly warned me about the dangers of the spinal damage but also assured me that she would not expect me to take home an incontinent cat to a house with young kids, and also that the cat would hate to be unclean all the time.

Sorry to sound grim, hope your cat is OK!

Just gone through the same myself after I trapped our 7month old kittens tail in the kitchen door and degloved the end of it, he wasn't insured(he is now!) and he had just over a third of his tail removed on Monday, it only cost ud £215 for the surgery but then we're not in London/SE so that's probably a factor.

@Vinorosso74 I think this is my learning moment!!!
@thecatneuterer thanks!
@jenthelibrarian it's about half way - will hopefully be fine!

I realised the vets I recommended you likely aren't the cheapest but they are practises I would recommend. If you ask they should give you a breakdown of all the costs.

@Vinorosso74 actually they were both well under what I was quoted. Nearly half the cost. My wallet thanks you!

Ah good!