Veterinary costs

[grasswire]

A beloved cat in the extended family could not stand on its front leg a few days ago.

Goes to the vet: diagnosis horrible fracture that might require amputation.

Then this news: fracture due to weakness perhaps cancer.

Then: testing to determine what kind of cancer and likely metastasis.

Then: amputation and recovery.

He goes home today.

Cost: $4,000.

The question: would pet insurance have helped at all with this bill?

The owner is a single mom with few extra resources. She had to borrow the money. Maybe she should look into pet insurance now, or is the cat uninsurable because of the cancer?

[uncommon]

1. I didn't even know there was such a thing as pet insurance!

There should be of course, since too often we are forced to put our beloved companions to death due to the prohibitive expense of their care.

[PassingFair]

2. Shamefully, I am christian scientist when it comes to pet care.

Thankfully, I have never had to make
such a decision. My pets have all
died of old age or kidney probs.

I don't have 4,000 to spend on my KIDS,
I don't think I'd spend it on my dog.

:hide:

[flvegan]

3. Very well could have.

1. If your vet takes the particular insurance you have;

2. If the cat was covered by the insurance for this sort of malady/disease;

3. If the cat had been covered for a long enough time (benefits are often limited for the first x months/year)

Likely, as with people, pre-existing conditions often make the cat uninsurable for THAT particular issue. Worth looking into though.

Sorry to hear about both the kitty and the expense.

[Kali]

4. WTF

I'm sorry but I would have put the cat down.

Fine if you have plenty of money or no responsibilities, but a mother? of HUMAN children? "with few extra resources"? there are millions of cats out there, and while we all love our pets (to excess) and sometimes spending that kind of money is justifiable, it sure does NOT sound like it in this case. sorry to be insensitive but the thought of the kids actually being who pays for this lack of judgment PISSES me off.

[marzipanni]

6. I think a veterinarian should counsel on the advisability of treatment

but then, they need to make a living, I suppose. I hope that vet didn't put pressure on that young woman because, frankly, that cat sounds like it's on its last legs.
The last time I took my dog in to have a lump checked, that lump was deemed nothing to worry about, a fatty tumor. But a small pea-sized lump should be removed (it has since disappeared) and teeth should be cleaned, so that would be $600.00.
Sorry, doc, but first I think I'll get my own teeth cleaned, and my husband's and son's. Our teeth will have to last a lot longer than 3 or 4 years!

[Kali]

7. yeah the vet has some culpability here, I suspect

exam and euthanasia is a living, cancer surgery/treatment is luxury goods payments

[LisaL]

11. For an amputation, 4,000 $ seems rather excessive to me.

Why so much?

[grasswire]

12. well, the progression went like this

once they knew there was a weakness in the leg, they did lab testing to determine if it was cancer or an infection. And then once they knew it was cancer, more testing was done to see if there was metastasis -- which would determine the likelihood of survivability. It was like a ball rolling along, gathering momentum over more than two days. She says no one ever gave her a total as it went along, and she was not given any written summary of procedures with costs as it went along.

My vet gives me a printout in advance of treatments and asks for authorization of each thing. That didn't happen so precisely in this case.

[pitohui]

15. wow that vet sounds like a bit of a thief

if i were her if i had a lawyer friend i'd def try to get the bill reduced

no one takes a $40 cat to the vet expecting a $4k bill, if she wasn't given notice in advance, she should definitely take action

if this was a vet in new orleans i almost want to ask who it is so i can make sure i never ever stumble into that person's lair, you can PM me if you want to say who

several of my friends have multiple, multiple cats but their vets seem to be pretty honest

[grasswire]

16. not in N.O.

It's an urgent care clinic. The regular veterinarians she called said they don't accept emergencies. She is new to that city and didn't have an established relationship.

[grasswire]

17. come to think of it...

....I've experienced a similar experience at an emergency pet hospital. My kitty was obviously ill on a Friday night. Took him to the emergency hospital -- which incidentally is a non-profit funded by millions of dollars of donations but insists on payment in full up front. After the initial exam and chest x-ray, the vet told me that kitty would need this and that and asked me to sign a check right there for $2500. I said I can't do that. They pushed really really hard. Told me to get a relative to come and pay it. Etc. Etc.

I finally said "I'm just going to take kitty home to die." Then they did a couple of things and sent him home with me ($450 worth).

Two and a half years later, kitty is still with us, and doing very well. He just saw his regular vet the other day who was amazed at his condition. Of course I take really good care of him.

So maybe you need to beware of these emergency clinics.

[Gormy Cuss]

18. Some emergency vet clinics are great, some aren't.

There are two large emergency vet practices near me. I asked around long before we had an issue with our cat and when an emergency came up one Saturday evening we took him to the clinic that was further away because no one related anything negative about them except the cost.

Our cat got good care and the vets were very professional about laying out the treatment and care options and costs and about transferring him to the care of our vet as soon as the vet's office opened --- all consistent with the stories we had heard ahead of time. The other emergency vet in town is apparently more of the soak-them-while-they're-here variety.

Having said all of that, it still costs three times as much to have his care at the emergency vet but it was a real emergency --- the cat would've been dead or near death had we waited for our regular vet's office hours.

[grasswire]

8. I should clarify

The kids are 19 and almost 18. No little kids are going without food or shelter for this. Your point is well taken, though. This mom always said she would never do this kind of intervention, but when the rubber meets the road and the cat is particularly winsome and everyone in the household is crying their eyes out, well...judgment is affected.

[canoeist52]

5. My daughter works part time for minimum wage at Petco.

She has to listen all day to ads for their pet insurance on the intercom when she can't even afford the fake human insurance that Petco offers.

[riderinthestorm]

9. I don't know about pet insurance but my kids always come first.

And I have a LOT of animals, including some that are damn expensive. I would never borrow money to pay for care for the cat's care. I draw the line at borrowing that kind of cash for a pet when I won't even "borrow" (like charge to a credit card) for many items for my kids.

I know that many vet services are beginning to get into the same racket as regular human doctors. They get bonus' for extra testing procedures that they can talk pet owners into for example. It's terrible as many pet owners will do just about anything for their pet.

[LisaL]

10. Well if the cat were human then I presume he would not be

insurable due to pre-existing condition.
Not sure how that works with a cat but I would not be surprised if the same.

[sammytko]

13. She should have put the poor thing to sleep

Costs are just going to continue. Can't believe they didn't give her upfront estimates.

There is a card she can apply for called Care Credit. You can use it at the vet, dentist etc. I'm in the process of spaying/neutering a colony of strays. It helps out. So far I've taken in 3 and one had to be put down. That was 100 with the tests. Other 2 were about 265 each for spay.

[sammytko]

14. And think with pet insurance, you pay and they reimburse. n/t