Seriously, £10k for a cat?

[PermanentTemporary]

I suppose I'm deliberately putting myself out there for a pummelling. Feel free.

Cat was hit by something yesterday (presumably a car but the injury is very localised). Currently at the vet's. Serious situation but probably a treatable injury with surgery, maybe a couple of weeks to heal. Some quite technically complex care in the meantime and they will want him to come home for that, quite reasonably.

Right now, he's suffering. Not in pain I hope, but broken bones, unable to do what cats should do, not at home etc. Realistically it will be a couple of weeks minimum before he feels good again. But he's a young cat, only 6, every prospect of a good future.

He's not insured. And the reason I took that chance is because I know that I don't have a problem with asking a vet to put a cat that needs major treatment or is suffering in any way to sleep. To me, a short healthy life is as good as a long life. Animals live in the present. And also, I think it is incredibly self indulgent to spend what will probably be the thick end of £10k on a cat. I don't really agree with pet insurance which has hugely inflated what we do to pet animals (this is the opinion of a vet friend of mine as well so it's not purely my bee in bonnet).

Complicating this is the fact I am surrounded by sentimental family members who won't contemplate what to me seems not a very hard decision. I'm going to be the one paying the bill. It's going to mean not doing a lot of other things, holidays etc. I am confronted with the reality that I am a hard bitch.

Re the discussion about insurance covering you or not, you are offered options when you take it out. Mine are insured for £6.5k per single event. None of my claims have got near that, but they could in the future.

Cats are born to roam - it's in their DNA. While some are happy enough indoors, there are some cats who become so stressed that they make themselves sick.

I have one - when he was kept indoors, he licked himself bald, ended up at the vets with multiple stress-related UTI's, would urinate outside the litter box or in the bath and was terrified of his own shadow.

I used to be the same as you and thought letting cats outside was cruel due to the risk of the roads, but ultimately it's no life for them if they spend their days hiding or becoming so anxious that they're sick. You have to weigh up the pros and cons for each individual.

Since letting our cat out (on veterinary advice) he has blossomed. His fur has grown back, he's had no more UTI's, he's not peed outside of the box - he's more confident, will greet guests at the door and is just generally so much happier. At his last vet appointment, he was patrolling round the place demanding head rubs - on previous visits he was so scared he would sit in his own pee.

I know there's a risk of him dying on the roads, but honestly, seeing how happy he is, it's a risk I'm willing to take. He has no idea of his life expectancy and I personally think it would be cruel to keep him locked indoors for my benefit.

I think that's pretty much why I have insurance. For the immediate costs which can be a lot. I wouldn't put mine though treatments or operations.

I haven't read every reply, but the first few agreed with OP, while I very much disagree.

When we got our rescue cat as a kitten I took out basic insurance for him straight away, and I've thanked my lucky stars many many times that I did so over the last few years. When he was less than a year old he started to show signs of illness which turned out to be immune mediated anemia. He is under the specialist care of a veterinary hospital - which is extremely expensive - but is not suffering or in pain at all. He is now 5, and every year I've only had to pay the minor excess to the hospital (less than €200 a year).

Had we not had the insurance i genuinely don't know what we would have done, we would probably have had to have him put to sleep simply because we couldn't afford treatment. We're in the ROI, maybe that makes some difference, but I can't fault our insurance, and I'd never go without it.

We had our gorgeous girl PTS earlier this year - she was 10 and diagnosed with aggressive intestinal cancer. We could have done chemotherapy which might have extended her life, but not cured it, and despite insurance chose not to put her through that and let her go. If the treatment was to cure then I think we would have done differently, but of course we will never know.

With a good prognosis I would treat a six year old cat rather than PTS if I could.

We now have an 18 month old boy and I had insurance in place for him immediately. We paid almost £3,000 (which we then claimed back) for testing, scans etc with our girl, and I am so glad the insurance was there.

I don't insure my cats because I can afford to pay for any treatment they might need and I've known people who had insurance but either it wasn't enough or their pet wasn't covered. However I'd always take the age of the cat into account and if it would be properly healed. If I was told one of my cats could be made better for £9 or 10k I'd pay it because they are only 6 years old and I love them both dearly and have no young DC to consider if the money spent would have an impact on them. Any money spent on my cats would only impact me and I'd put both my cats above a holiday. Partly because I have a pair of siblings and I'd worry about how the remaining cat would cope without its sibling. They are very close cats spending almost all their time together. If my cat was 16 I'd probably decide to PTS. I know my DH would spend whatever it cost for his 2 dogs if one of them needed treatment. They are both young dogs too. As they got older I think he'd consider how many years they might have left. If only a couple of years were likely left I think he'd PTS but I'm not sure he'd do that.

Yes I do think that (if affordable) you should pay more on insurance to get a higher max payout as otherwise it's not worth it.

However, as soon as our dog had a joint issue requiring surgery in one leg, after we got the payout we cancelled. The insurance went sky high, even though we now wouldn't be covered for the same issue in any leg.

This turned out to be a good choice, as we put into savings the amount we would've spent in insurance, and low and behold the dog needed surgery for the same thing in a different leg, and the savings that wouldn't have been there otherwise, helped.

For reference, dog was 7 and 8 for the surgeries and vet gave good prognosis for both. If she was over 10, I would've thought about it more.

Just to add it i think it also depends on the personality of the cat.

Our last cat was older (history of being a rescue and we rehomed from friends when they had to emigrate) and we insured just basically. He was however a rather cantankerous, fearless cat who happily fought dogs (and dogwalkers) and made Scarface McClaw look like a baby. He barely tolerated being fleaed so we knew he wouldn't cope with much medical intervention.

Our current cat went blind in one eye at 18 months old and we did have it investigated thoroughly leading to removal. But she was coping with one eye anyway and has been fine since and still catches mice. Biopsy showed early signs of cancer (quite unusual in a cat so young) again though she was not happy at being indoors recuperating and it would make us think twice about anything in the future that impacted on her being able to go out in the longer term.

Personally, I wouldn't be able to enjoy a holiday knowing that if I'd have sacrificed it and a few other things, my cat would still be alive. A life is worth more than anything else imo.

We have always had insurance but have paid £8k on top for a dog and £6k on top for them to give them a chance of many happy years ahead, which they've both had.

I love my cats and I have always had them insured, however I am fortunate enough that when I consider what treatment they should shouldn't have finances do not come into it
If there is no quality of life then I would PTS

I think it’s perfectly reasonable to not aggressively treat cancers in animals .I do not think it’s reasonable to not treat an animal that has been run over and has a broken leg and if that is your attitude then IMO you shouldn’t have pets in the first place .

If one of my (insured) cats was injured and the vet told me it would be 8k on top of what insurance would cover, I would have no choice but to have him PTS. I just don't have that kind of money and I wouldn't be able to justify spending the best part of a decade paying off a credit card for it.

You're very, very fortunate that you have the ability to spend 8k on top of insurance for your animals, but most people simply aren't in that position even if they did cancel holidays and sacrifice other things.

I just don't think it's that straightforward.

Would I pay to repair the broken leg of a six year old cat? Yes, no doubt - but if they were 16 and frail? No, likely I wouldn't because the stress of the operation and the recovery just wouldn't be worth it to me in terms of quality of life (and risk of dying on the table).

I personally don't agree with all these invasive surgeries on animals a la Noel Fitzpatrick, but there are people who would happily spend 20k+ to try and save their animals - it's all so personal.

If one of my (insured) cats was injured and the vet told me it would be 8k on top of what insurance would cover, I would have no choice but to have him PTS. I just don't have that kind of money and I wouldn't be able to justify spending the best part of a decade paying off a credit card for it.

You're very, very fortunate that you have the ability to spend 8k on top of insurance for your animals, but most people simply aren't in that position even if they did cancel holidays and sacrifice other things.

No, you're wrong. At the time that it happened to our cat, we were not fortunate (understatement!) at all and did spend many years paying it back. When our cat died 6 years later, we didn't have another animal for years until we were in a better financial position so when our dog needed money to save her life, we could afford it easier.

But there are millions of people out there who have absolutely no means of accessing 8k in the first place - they don't have savings, or credit cards, or loans, or overdrafts, or family who can help - it just would never be an option for them in the first place.

Anyone who has access to 8k, even if they have to spend years paying it off, is incredibly fortunate. It's not necessary to judge those who can't (or won't) do the same.

@ricecrispiecakes

Where have I judged anyone else? I said 'personally' and 'imo' and e planned what we did. Stop making things up.

*explained

I'm in complete agreement. These same people who'd drop 10k on a cat wouldn't dream of doing the same for their own children. That's what I never understood 🤷

It was the comment about "life comes before anything else" that came across a bit judgemental - sorry if you didn't mean in that way, it's just how it came across to me.

Not everyone has the luxury of prioritising 8k on their animals, unfortunately.

And also, we didn't have access to it from a credit card or family etc. My partner increased his hours (at a second job he already had to have for us to make ends meet), which meant he got very little sleep most nights for years. But yeah, super fortunate. 🙄

Thankfully, our circumstances are very different now but back the, we were very, very poor.

It was the comment about "life comes before anything else" that came across a bit judgemental - sorry if you didn't mean in that way, it's just how it came across to me.

What I wrote was 'A life is worth more than anything else imo'. At no point did I say everyone has to think like me or judge the OP.

I also wrote 'personally....'

I'm glad you're sorry because it's not my problem if you're over sensitive, make things up, have a chip on your shoulder or have poor comprehension skills.

Well, I obviously don't know your circumstances - but if you were really struggling, surely you would have empathy for others who wouldn't be able to do the same as you?

I can’t believe what I’m reading - people generally agree this is acceptable? You’ll end the life of your young cat who has a perfectly treatable injury so you can go on holiday? Ffs get your pets insured or don’t have them.

lol, okay then.

If this happened to my dcat, I'd sadly have no choice but to put him to sleep. I simply don't have that kind of money. I don't think most people do. Please don't feel guilty that it's just not financially viable.
I'll be honest, if it wasn't for the NHS I'd still be lying in the road with a broken hip and shoulder from two years ago. So it's really sad, but the poor fella probably had such a traumatic experience and the surgery and recovery etc, he wouldn't necessarily have a decent quality of life afterwards.