Cat broke his leg - cant afford the vet

emilymemily

My cat was in a hit and run and now has a broken leg. I brought him into the vet and as it was out of hours he charged me 91 euro for a quick check up and shot of pain relief. I have to bring him back in on Monday for scans and then again for possible surgery, its going to cost over a thousand euro, im on social welfare and dont know how i'm going to pay for this. The poor thing is in so much pain, I cant leave him like this. Does anyone know of any services or tax relief on vet bills?

strandroad

There is a Blue Cross vet clinic in Inchicore in Dublin that does low cost procedures if you can document that you are on welfare:
http://www.bluecross.ie/mobileclinic.html

Or look up Blue Cross in your locality.

Cherry Blossom

I'm sorry about your cat OP but this is exactly what pet insurance is for. I really hope you find someway of finding the money but if not you may have no other option than to have your cat put to sleep because you are right, you can't just leave him like that.

uck51js9zml2yt

If it requires surgery I can't see th blue cross being able to do it.

You really need to think of the cat and have it put asleep.

emilymemily

strandroad wrote: »

There is a Blue Cross vet clinic in Inchicore in Dublin that does low cost procedures if you can document that you are on welfare:
http://www.bluecross.ie/mobileclinic.html

Or look up Blue Cross in your locality.

Thanks so much Strandroad, unfortunately Inichcore is too far for me, I dont drive (cant afford that either) and I dont think it will work bringing cat on public transport, it was hard enough getting him to the vet 10 minutes drive away. Theres no Blue cross in my area but thanks for your help. x

Tar.Aldarion

Near blue cross is always st francis dispensary. Surgery for my cat there cost a lot less than what you are quoting.

http://stfrancis.ie/

St Francis Dispensary is an indigenous Independent Irish Registered charity, established in 1926 to provide professional veterinary care to the domestic pets of persons of limited means at affordable rates, with “open” clinics, not requiring appointments.

Tar.Aldarion

If its too far for you you could check with some of the animal/cat rescues in dublin and they may assist you, even to give you a lift to the vet etc.

strandroad

emilymemily wrote: »

Thanks so much Strandroad, unfortunately Inichcore is too far for me, I dont drive (cant afford that either) and I dont think it will work bringing cat on public transport, it was hard enough getting him to the vet 10 minutes drive away. Theres no Blue cross in my area but thanks for your help. x

Give them a ring, or St Francis as advised above, and ask for advice. Your cat would probably prefer a trip on public transport to being put down! Or ask for lifts to Dublin on your local Facebook page.

TheAnalyst_

Pet insurance for a cat would work out at about 8 euro per month. It's really something all owners should consider particularly if they cannot afford large vet bills.

elperello

If it does come to the worst don't be too stressed.
The cat won't feel a thing, he will be there one second and gone the next, out of pain.
Take care of yourself and try to get someone to go with you.

emilymemily

To the other posters, im not putting my cat to sleep over a broken leg. Its not an option. Any vet that puts an animal to sleep over a treatable injury because theyre not getting paid should be shut down and license removed. If ive to borrow the money I will. I would appreciate answers from anyone who knows of anyway I can lessen the cost. Thanks x

strandroad

First of all shop around, ring several vets in the morning. A broken leg is not a huge procedure, what you're being quoted sounds high... Second some vets will take installments (but you need to ask in advance).

Heres Johnny

Not the best advice I'll ever give someone but if the traditional lenders like banks and credit unions won't lend to you and family/friends can't help then try <snip> personal credit. It's a high cost loan and you pay 30% extra over 6 months. They lend to anybody and everybody.

You will pay 1300 over 26 weeks which is 50 a week if you borrow 1000. Not the end of the world really if it's an emergency. Can't believe posters were so quick to say put the cat down

Hunchback

This exact situation happened to a friend of mine.

She had a cat who was injured badly and she did not have pet insurance and the bills were due to be in excess of €1,000.00


She actually did a crowd-funder and put it up on her facebook page, along with photos of her cat and description of her cat and how much he meant to her.

She reached her target in two days - I threw 20 quid into the kitty myself

Cherry Blossom

Just a gentle reminder folks, you can't recommend rescues in this forum. Please do so by PM only.

Toots

AFAIK some vets will do reduced price treatments in conjunction with the Blue Cross, so it would definitely be worth getting in touch with Blue Cross and seeing what they say.

njs030

Heres Johnny wrote: »

Not the best advice I'll ever give someone but if the traditional lenders like banks and credit unions won't lend to you and family/friends can't help then try Provident personal credit. It's a high cost loan and you pay 30% extra over 6 months. They lend to anybody and everybody.

You will pay 1300 over 26 weeks which is 50 a week if you borrow 1000. Not the end of the world really if it's an emergency. Can't believe posters were so quick to say put the cat down

I don't think you can get loans of that amount from them on sw though?

This Fat Girl Runs

I know of two cat sitting services who also do cat taxi service. They transport cats to and from vets and it's exactly for this kind of situation where a cat owner doesn't drive. I will PM you the details.

DBB

OP, roughly whereabouts in the country are you please? There are people who use this forum that are heavily involved in rescue, and would have good contacts with merciful vets! But we need to know what area you're in before we can suggest vets that may be able to fix that leg without putting you on beans and toast for the next year!

Heres Johnny

notjustsweet wrote: »

Heres Johnny wrote: »

Not the best advice I'll ever give someone but if the traditional lenders like banks and credit unions won't lend to you and family/friends can't help then try Provident personal credit. It's a high cost loan and you pay 30% extra over 6 months. They lend to anybody and everybody.

You will pay 1300 over 26 weeks which is 50 a week if you borrow 1000. Not the end of the world really if it's an emergency. Can't believe posters were so quick to say put the cat down

I don't think you can get loans of that amount from them on sw though?

Not too sure. A friend of mine used them to replace a boiler before he was very very stuck think he got 1500 but he worked. Anyway OP, it's a last resort and maybe a few hundred might help the poor cat.

TheAnalyst_

emilymemily wrote: »

To the other posters, im not putting my cat to sleep over a broken leg. Its not an option. Any vet that puts an animal to sleep over a treatable injury because theyre not getting paid should be shut down and license removed. If ive to borrow the money I will. I would appreciate answers from anyone who knows of anyway I can lessen the cost. Thanks x

Hold on a second. A cat would be living an absolute miserable life having an untreated broken leg. A vet is not a charity just because you never bothered to think about the responsibilities of owning a pet. Insurance is there for that reason and you didn't bother with it.

DBB

Folks, there's a rather bitchy tone from some posts here. Please tone it down and try to help the op, huh?
Thanks,
DBB

Elliot192

Some good advice already been posted. I'd say definitely ring around a couple of vets in the morning. You would be amazed at the price differences. See if you can pay in installments. You can try a gofundme page. Then there is always the credit union. Some of them are offering microfinance loans to people on social welfare up to €2,000. You can check it out on citizensinformation or the website: http://itmakessenseloan.ie.
It's to help people avoid the loan shark trap. Hope you and your cat get sorted.

peasant

ring around..get a few quotes.
Try some country vets, the ones that also do farm animals as well as pets.
Unless your cat has a really complicated fracture and needs just an x-ray and a resection, you should be able to get that done for well under a 1000.

Some of the pet-vet-fancy-waiting-room types charge exorbitant money.

Good luck

(Our 10st lump of a dog had an injury on his paw that took a year to heal. He had several treatments of antibiotics, 2 x-rays, 2 operations and lots of visits...all in all that cost us about 500 quid with our country vet...and half of that was just the antibiotics)

Bells21

First of all I would ring round some vets and get some quotes on Monday morning. I would also speak to them about the possibility of a reduction in cost/payment plan due to your circumstances.
I would also advise you to speak to your local welfare officer and explain the situation. They may be more in a position to help or advise where would be the best place to sort finance etc rather than approaching unscrupulous lenders.

omicron

If it's a complicated fracture and you can't afford the surgery and it's a young cat ask about amputation, costs a lot less and the cat will do very well if it's not overweight or too old.

If it's a simple fracture it shouldn't cost anything near 1000 even including X-rays meds and hospitalisation.

emilymemily

Thanks everyone for your replies, its lovely to know so many people care. I have contacted local animal rescue centre, message says seen but ive had no reply. Ive sorted a lift for tomorrow morning to vet and ill run down to the credit union, I had a small savings account there so im hoping i can get a loan. I'm actually beginning to question the vets diagnosis, my cat is currently snoozing beside me, he got out of the room I had him in, hopped up the stairs and jumped up on the bed by himself, he was also whining to go outside earlier and I couldnt get him to lie flat, he's clearly got some pain but he's coping well...i'll see what the vet says tomorrow but it may not be as bad as I had originally thought..

emilymemily

omicron wrote: »

If it's a complicated fracture and you can't afford the surgery and it's a young cat ask about amputation, costs a lot less and the cat will do very well if it's not overweight or too old.

If it's a simple fracture it shouldn't cost anything near 1000 even including X-rays meds and hospitalisation.

I dont care how much it costs, he's not having his leg amputated. Hopefully it wont be too expensive, seems to be a small fracture or maybe a sprain.

Stheno

emilymemily wrote: »

I dont care how much it costs, he's not having his leg amputated. Hopefully it wont be too expensive, seems to be a small fracture or maybe a sprain.

I'd a German shepherd with three legs it's not as bad as you may think

Where are you based?

Muas Tenek

PM sent
I hope this helps

endacl

emilymemily wrote: »

Any vet that puts an animal to sleep over a treatable injury because theyre not getting paid should be shut down and license removed.

Respectfully disagree. Veterinary training takes a long time, and is expensive. People don't train in a very specialised field so they can go and work for free treating animals because their owners don't have the means to pay for treatment. Euthanasia may be the best worst option in the case of available options within the means of the owner. If your choices are very expensive treatment, ending of pain, or do nothing, you may have no choice.

The blue cross is staffed by volunteers. This is where you have access to vets who give a few hours per week pro bono, and who would otherwise (very reasonably) expect you to pay for access to their expertise. It's unfair to have a go at them because you didn't make provision for emergency treatment.

Cakerbaker

emilymemily wrote: »

I dont care how much it costs, he's not having his leg amputated. Hopefully it wont be too expensive, seems to be a small fracture or maybe a sprain.

My sisters cat had a leg amputated at 4 years old. She happily ruled the house and our other cats until she died at 10. The lack of leg didn’t hold her back one bit, she remained a prolific hunter (much to my mothers delight as she would always try to bring her kills into the house to present to us).

Cherry Blossom

Guys, Boards does not facilitate crowd funding so can we have no more suggestions of asking posters for donations or of posters offering donations. If the OP wants to go down that road they need to find another medium of getting their story out there. Its not happening on Boards.

Thanks,
CB.

emilymemily

Thanks to everyone for your kind messages and those who PM'ed me offering donations. Its so lovely to receive your messages but I wouldnt feel right accepting money from people. Cat will be taken good care of tomorrow one way or the other. Thanks again for your kind gestures. x

emilymemily

endacl wrote: »

Respectfully disagree. Veterinary training takes a long time, and is expensive. People don't train in a very specialised field so they can go and work for free treating animals because their owners don't have the means to pay for treatment. Euthanasia may be the best worst option in the case of available options within the means of the owner. If your choices are very expensive treatment, ending of pain, or do nothing, you may have no choice.

The blue cross is staffed by volunteers. This is where you have access to vets who give a few hours per week pro bono, and who would otherwise (very reasonably) expect you to pay for access to their expertise. It's unfair to have a go at them because you didn't make provision for emergency treatment.

And I respectfully dont care! if you have nothing helpful to contribute, leave the thread. Thanks x

strandroad

emilymemily wrote: »

I dont care how much it costs, he's not having his leg amputated. Hopefully it wont be too expensive, seems to be a small fracture or maybe a sprain.

I really hope that it's something very manageable OP but in the unlikely case of complicated damage I would seriously consider amputation - not at all because of your budget! From my experience with three legged pets, it actually turns out easier for them than having a lifelong limp or a "bad" leg that would affect their balance, get arthritic with age etc. They are not self-conscious like we are and with cats or small dogs especially it's not such a big deal.

emilymemily

His leg doesnt need to be amputated. In the unlikely event that it does, ill cross that bridge if I come to it. If an amputation meant a happier, healthier cat id do it. If its a case of amputating a fixable leg to save money, its not an option for me.

DBB

emilymemily wrote: »

And I respectfully dont care! if you have nothing helpful to contribute, leave the thread. Thanks x

Please report posts you have an issue with, rather than backseat moderate and try to control who can or can't post.
Thanks,
DBB

AvonEnniskerry

I second ringing around. Your quote does seem exceptionally high. We'd a cat who broke his jaw and punctured his lungs. He required oxygen and numerous operations along with heavy sedatives and all in it only cost me about €400. I'm sorry I can't be of further help. But I agree the animal should not be put down for something treatable.

myshirt

This happened a cat belonging to a friend in Limerick and the vet done them a deal as she was on low money. He wanted a grand all in, but done it for 600 in the end. She paid 200, and is now paying it off weekly with a year to do it.

Negotiate.

The cat is looking at a 3 month recovery period where you can't let them out of the house.

dashoonage

I've nothing to add, but let us know how the little fella/girl gets on!

emilymemily

Thanks everyone, ill ring around in the morning and update in a few days. x

Gerrup Outta Dat!

Emily my heart is bleeding for you I love my dog to bits and my other dog passed way to cancer only a couple of months ago. I know what it's like to have a sick pet. Your cat is part of your family

I hope that putting him to sleep isn't being considered. Would he be able to walk with a missing leg if amputation is considered? Endacl, this isn't the time to be trying to take the moral high ground. Someone's family member is sick and needs surgery.

emilymemily

Gerrup Outta Dat! wrote: »

Emily my heart is bleeding for you I love my dog to bits and my other dog passed way to cancer only a couple of months ago. I know what it's like to have a sick pet. Your cat is part of your family

I hope that putting him to sleep isn't being considered. Would he be able to walk with a missing leg if amputation is considered? Endacl, this isn't the time to be trying to take the moral high ground. Someone's family member is sick and needs surgery.

Thanks for this. I know to most people he's just a cat but he's my little buddy, never leaves my side and has been with me through thick and thin the last number of years.
Putting him to sleep doesnt even come into question. Its not happening. I dont think he'll need an amputation, he seems to be doing ok.

So sorry to hear of your dog, thats awful. xx

Thanks

freedominacup

peasant wrote: »

half of that was just the antibiotics)

And you still got ridden sideways. Extremely expensive antibiotics retail at €100 per 100ml bottle. The type used for serious infections of resistant bacteria. Your more common antibiotics would be less than €20 per bottle. Pet vets take the pi$$.

T-Maxx

With respect OP I think you need to try and be less emotional and do what's best for your pet and within your means. It's unreasonable to expect people to take care of your cat for free. I also think that if you're on social welfare it'll be irresponsible to borrow and downright selfish to spend that kind of money on your pet.

Gerrup Outta Dat!

T-Maxx wrote: »

With respect OP I think you need to try and be less emotional and do what's best for your pet and within your means. It's unreasonable to expect people to take care of your cat for free. I also think that if you're on social welfare it'll be irresponsible to borrow and downright selfish to spend that kind of money on your pet.

The "pet" is a family member though. Why can't anyone get this. I take it you don't have a dog or a cat. €1000 to fix a cat's let is astronomical.

Would <snip> help? I doubt they'd see a healthy animal put to sleep.

DBB

Right.
My mind is boggling at some of the posts here.
The op has indicated that they've got this... They're just looking for a way to keep costs down.
I don't see a problem with that.
I'm getting pretty peed off with posts berating the op for not having pet insurance, or for not being able to afford care... Op has clearly stated that the cat will get the care he needs. It's nobody else's business how op gets the money to do so.
So. This thread is within a thread of being closed now. I'll leave it open so that op can update, but I don't want to see any more posts that berate op on the above issues.
Thanks,
DBB

endacl

Gerrup Outta Dat! wrote: »

Endacl, this isn't the time to be trying to take the moral high ground. Someone's family member is sick and needs surgery.

There is no moral high ground here. There are only facts.

Ms Doubtfire1

AB isn't that expensive. And with a broken leg and NO open wounds a shot of Convenia (14 a shot) will be enough plus painkillers.I'd love to see that quote. Either way Emily, I take you don't have a regular vet? Mine allows me to pay in installments if I have a big op (like removing socks from my Malamutes stomach). If you do have a regular vet, simply ask for it. If not, ring around, a go fund me page will help. I would also very much reccomand to keep kitty as still as possible.Cats don't show pain very quickly as they are a flight or fight animal but with the emphasis on flight. They make themselves vulnerable if they show pain.

peasant

freedominacup wrote: »

And you still got ridden sideways. Extremely expensive antibiotics retail at €100 per 100ml bottle. The type used for serious infections of resistant bacteria. Your more common antibiotics would be less than €20 per bottle. Pet vets take the pi$$.

Slightly OT...but you missed the bit about the lumps weight. Pets get dosed by weight...he's heavy...meds get expensive.
You could have dosed about 12-20 cats for the price of one lump-sized dosis.