When You Can’t Afford A Veterinarian

Cat Health 7 Comments

The article that used to be on this page was put together over 15 years ago. We found that the tone in that article was not a good fit for our site in its current form.

If your cat needs medical help, we are here to help. We have a new resource for you if you can't afford a veterinarian.


No Money For Vet Care? How To Find Help And Save Your Cats Life

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7 comments on “When You Can’t Afford A Veterinarian”

Anne February 15, 2018
Sreypani said:
Signed up just to make this comment. If you want to educate people, you have to leave your ego, judgmentalism, and self-righteousness at the door. This article is offensive, people have been telling you it's offensive for years, and you continue to leave it up. Someone who can't afford vet care is going to read the first paragraph and they're going to feel ashamed. That shame might keep them from reaching out for help, and that could lead to pain and worsening health problems for their cats. You're the ones who should be ashamed. Take this horrible article off your site.
We appreciate the feedback. This is just one article in the website and it clearly reflects the writer's opinions. As stated in the article, we have a newer article on the topic which was actually produced by our team and offers a different angle. We will consider your suggestion but please note that while many did not appreciate the article, some did. Also note that the best way to bring out attention to any issue in the site is by flagging the content item. In this case, you could have flagged the article and a message would have gone out to all moderators right away. We don't actively monitor each and every one of the thousands of posts and comments made by our users every week, so flagging is the way to get the team's attention.
mreow613 December 13, 2017
moonrose777 said:
I agree with everything you say but my problem is that I rescue and always have more animals here than what I can afford. I am also a widow with a decent pension but I try to do too much so I'm always short of money. I do all my own shots except rabies and the vets do not appreciate me doing that. That's the gravy to them but I have to do what I can. I recently read about a woman breeder who does her own surgery! That's way over the line to anyone with any sense. She does it to make more money. I don't make money.....just spend it on thse cats and dogs. I have now sworn I will take in no more but some times you just do what you have to do. My adult children do not agree. LOL I have found a vet who makes house calls and will do as many vacinations as I need on one call. He is a great help as I can't physically handle taking in more than one at a time and most vets charge a office visit if I take one or ten. I have chronic illness and I just get too tired carrying more than one crate at a time. So I do what I can and now let the house call vet do the rest. Even my worst care is so much better than what they have come out of as I live in puppy mill country and take their throw aways. That means sick in one way or another......but usually just old and worn out. I clean up and try to socialize and find homes for them. I just do what I can and try to figure out how to do more. I'm happy when I get a call to take one born with a little problem that usually they kill at birth but if they know I'll take it and find it a home they do call some times. You have to admit that puppy or kitty breath is worth it all.
Having a rescue with no financing is really irresponsible. Not comparable to having one or two pets with financial hardship. Consider sending them to a rescue that has sponsors and financing or seek sponsors yourself. Big chain pet stores are a good place to start, they have to donate so much to charity a year.
mreow613 December 13, 2017
haze n blaze said:
As a conscientious cat adopter, I was going to immediately buy pet insurance right after adoption but was offered free pet insurance for 30 days through my adoption. Within 5 days my cat started with URI then urinary frequency, stress cystitis, then vomiting weeks later. I never even had a chance to apply for new insurance after the 30 days because all of the symptoms/diagnosis given by vet were now pre-existing under any new policy. I couldn't pay money monthly just to have claims denied. Which I was told they would be because the symptoms were non specific to a disease. Now I'm $1500 down the tube with a cat I love very much and have owned for only 10 weeks now. I wouldn't trade him for the world but no amount of responsible pet ownership can prepare you for that. And if animals waited around for people with copious amounts of money to adopt them, our adoption clinics would be worse off.
THANKYOU.
mreow613 December 13, 2017
deucedeuce said:
This article is not only poorly-written but down-right offensive. I've spent half an Hour trying to justify the author's wording and point of view, but she's just simply out of touch.
Out of touch with reality, spoiled, rich bitch with no empathy or compassion. She comes off as quite the narcissist in this article. Disgusting.
mreow613 December 13, 2017
Ilove my darnCAT said:
I took the time to register with this site due to some of the downright offense issues I have with what I read...... I have a cat that needs some help, I've had her for ten years.... when I took this poor cat in that tried to follow me into a busy main street as I walked to the store I fully intended to care for her and give this cat a far better life than it would have had otherwise.... within a two months of having her she clawed through a window screen and fell (maybe jumped) out of a second story window. I paid nearly a thousand dollars to try to fix the bones she had broken to no avail.... I literally paid this money and got absolutely no result from trying to help her since the manner in which the bone was broken just couldn't be fixed. I had no issue or trouble paying these fees to help a cat I had not even owned two months. She has all her shots, vaccinations, and has received medical care her entire life. I've recently fallen on hard times and am forced to live on a budget currently (10 years later). To assume I am unwilling or irresponsible enough to care for her is outright despicable of another cat lover to accuse me of. In looking for a way to help her I find this rotten site that comes across as I should've been aware of my own medical issues ten years into the future in order to take this feline into my home. Even worse there's some "lackey" claiming the writer of this article is a great person instead of them defending themselves. I would suggest providing some help to those who need it instead of handing out ill-mannered lectures on proper pet care. You're doing a disservice to those who love and care for their pets but may be in a tough spot. This is truly the most offensive article I have come across after spending hours online to find a way to help my beloved cat during a hard time. Your attitude sickens me. I hope you never end up in my predicament. Good luck with such a narrow minded point of view if you do.
Comment above cont. (character limit) I’ve never had a pet require serious veterinary care until recently and being disabled on limited income has but a road block in the way of things. My pets have always been healthy loved and well taken care of, they eat better than some people do, but I cannot afford thousands in vet bills most people can’t these days these days most people live paycheque to paycheque now. Shame on the disgusting excuse for a human being that wrote this garbage.
mreow613 December 13, 2017
Ilove my darnCAT said:
I took the time to register with this site due to some of the downright offense issues I have with what I read...... I have a cat that needs some help, I've had her for ten years.... when I took this poor cat in that tried to follow me into a busy main street as I walked to the store I fully intended to care for her and give this cat a far better life than it would have had otherwise.... within a two months of having her she clawed through a window screen and fell (maybe jumped) out of a second story window. I paid nearly a thousand dollars to try to fix the bones she had broken to no avail.... I literally paid this money and got absolutely no result from trying to help her since the manner in which the bone was broken just couldn't be fixed. I had no issue or trouble paying these fees to help a cat I had not even owned two months. She has all her shots, vaccinations, and has received medical care her entire life. I've recently fallen on hard times and am forced to live on a budget currently (10 years later). To assume I am unwilling or irresponsible enough to care for her is outright despicable of another cat lover to accuse me of. In looking for a way to help her I find this rotten site that comes across as I should've been aware of my own medical issues ten years into the future in order to take this feline into my home. Even worse there's some "lackey" claiming the writer of this article is a great person instead of them defending themselves. I would suggest providing some help to those who need it instead of handing out ill-mannered lectures on proper pet care. You're doing a disservice to those who love and care for their pets but may be in a tough spot. This is truly the most offensive article I have come across after spending hours online to find a way to help my beloved cat during a hard time. Your attitude sickens me. I hope you never end up in my predicament. Good luck with such a narrow minded point of view if you do.
Thankyou for posting this. I joined so I could comment as well, I was disgusted reading this “article”. Nobody asks to fall on hard financial times or have their pet fall ill or injured and nothing stated in this article was helpful in any way. This was a direct attack on financially strained/“poor” people. You can’t just stop paying your bills, and most vet offices won’t do financing because of scammers, there are no low cost or free programs to help people in hard times. Nobody should have to surrender a furry member of their family because they are short on money. There should be financing available or programs that help pay for services for low income people. Whoever wrote this article was just being condescending and rude and just plain miserable. They clearly have no idea what the real world is like or what it’s like to have to work for your money or be fucking disabled so you cannot work and don’t get enough money to survive yourself..
Wackykat November 16, 2017
akirababe said:
I only disagree with one thing about this post; pet insurance.  Pet insurance is practically a scam.  They're worse than American health insurance policies with how tight-fisted they are about releasing funds to cover pet care.  They don't cover things like cancer treatments or anything that could be construed as "genetic" (such as a Manx having spine problems) and they don't even cover regular checkups, which can run you 200 bucks per pet, per year. To make things worse, they only cover a certain amount of emergencies every two years, or what have you.  You're better off getting a quote from a pet insurance company and putting the same monthly fee they would charge (anywhere from 20-50/mo, depending on breed/age/sex/etc) into a special savings account and using it to pay for your vet bills.  You can be saving up to $600 a year towards emergency treatments, and you'll always know your "insurance payments" are guaranteed to cover whatever it is you need covered.
What?? Not covering cancer treatments or even routine check-ups? That stinks! Those are some of the main reasons I would seek pet insurance for! Thanks for the heads up.

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