Do I tell the vet plainly about my budget?

[AphroditesSeashell]

16 year old moggy, much loved. Getting old and seemingly not in the best of health

To demonstrate that I'm not a cold-hearted demon, I'll mention that when he was 18 months old he came home with a terrible injury - not sure what happened, possibly hit with a car. He needed emergency surgery on a broken pelvis, had horrible external pins and needed to live in a dog-crate for 8 months to recover, with sponge baths, helping with the toilet etc etc. Cost a fortune at the time. Had the funds and time and was happy to do it, we rallied as a family as it was a big investment in time and money. As I say, much loved.

Anyway, on to now. He is 16.Getting old and a bit blithery. Forgets he's been fed, sleeps in odd places he never would have before. But importantly not in any pain, shiny coat, still loves a cuddle, eats plenty and generally is a happy mog. I have a vet appointment on Thursday as we've noticed he's lost some weight, is very thirsty and has started peeing on things in the house - something he has never done.

Google says it's possible diabetes or a kidney issue. Hopefully we can get him sorted.

Issue is, I no longer have a limitless budget for his treatment. If he needs medicine that will cost £150 per month to help him, that's fine. But I can't afford £1000 for tests AND £150 pcm. Is it reasonable to tell the vet this? I could get a loan or a credit card but really, I'd rather not get into debt if I could avoid it. I could probably mange £500 for tests but over that, the money just isn't there.

No pet insurance for him. By the time he turned 10 the price was huge and it wasn't economic. Besides his injury at a young age, he's never really had to visit the vet, he's always been a hardy wee thing. (And no, I didn't put the insurance payment money in a life-saving pot for this eventuality because COL crisis and funds needed elsewhere)

Maybe I'm catastrophising and he only needs a wee antibiotic but all I read these days is that vet fees are astronomical and not always very well explained before they start wracking up the charges.

Just a thought with the urinating round the house - have you changed the type of litter recently? Or any cleaning products you use on the tray or the flooring around it, or the things he is peeing on? Cats can be very fussy, especially some scents like citrus can really upset some cats.

Is his litter uncomfortable to stand on - could be irritating him more if he's older so he may be choosing a soft place to pee instead. Does the tray have high sides - could he be a bit stiff or arthritic (especially considering the injury when he was young) and maybe finding getting in and out uncomfortable?

Regarding the peeing around the house: he may have problems getting into the litter tray due to some arthritis- which is not unusual for an old cat. Maybe get a litter tray with lower sides so that he can get into it more easily.

Thanks all for the suggestions but we dont have litter trays. They are outside cats and have a forever-accessible cat flap to come and go as they please. Possibly a wee UTI or something? Hopefully the antibiotics help either way. We had three weeing incidents over 2 weeks before taking him to the vet. No more accidents since, which I'll take as a positive.

Even with a cat flap OP, it’s received wisdom, that you have one indoor litter tray per cat, plus one.

With my elderly old boy , spent few thousands on drips and tests over a few weeks but no diagnosis. So ill had to go to the overnight hospital, where competent vet immediately founds a massive tumour and was pts. I felt we spoiled his last week and wasted thousands. If own vet had found it , we could have saved the poor boy trauma. So hard when you love them so much, but will be more wary when current boy gets old.

My dd has a new puppy and unfortunately it had to go to vets recently after eating a stick of chewing gum. The first question they were asked was 'do you struggle for money? I don't know if it is that particular vets or if the cost of living is making them ask as they are aware that a lot of people are struggling for spare money.