Unexpected Vet bill... Emergency loan...

rtho782

So, just gotten back from the Vets after taking my cat there on an emergency callout with suspected antifreeze/ethylene glycol poisoning.

The "estimated cost" for this is to be about £600, and there is about a 50/50 chance she will live I'm told.



Anyway, I have utterly crap credit. A Vanquis card with a £500 limit on it and a JD Williams account at a £900 limit (but less than £20 balance iirc.)

VQ card is currently sat at about £150 outstanding, the payment for this month has gone out but this was spending between the last statement and the payment date.

Criticise me all you want for taking my cat to the vet without knowing how I'm going to pay for it, I had to do it fast and will skip paying rent before I let my cat die.

Returning to the matter in hand....

Mainstream lenders are not an option, Luckily I've just been paid so I can probably take this hit if I skip paying rent for a month but my landlords (Housing Association) may not be too impressed.... I guess I'll call them and try explaining the situation tomorrow. Just cancelled my Council Tax standing order with Natwest, hopefully before it has gone out, again they can send me pink letters for a month.

Other than Payday loans (which is probably what it is going to come to) can anyone think of anywhere else I could obtain this sum of money, even if it is at a stupid APR... I have the disposable income to clear it in a couple of months.

Details in case they are relevant:

£22k gross income (~£1450 pcm net)
£350 rent
£400 other bills (elec, council tax, car insurance, phone, internet, etc etc)

Plus food, petrol etc.

Aged 25.


Are there any sort of charitable emergency loan type things or anything I could consider?

sharpy2010

Pdsa? .

Jimby509

If you do a payday loan (I know these loans are very debatable), make sure you can pay it off asap. Also go through quidco to get cash back (£50 from paydayuk via quidco), this will offset their high cost as a loan of £400 will meen you have to payback £500 by the next payday!

otherwise as sharpy says, check PDSA website.

Let us know how the cat does!

wannabedebtfree_2

Speak to the Vet, our vet allows people to pay it off in managable amounts, they would rather do that than see you end up in debt.

Joseph_Bloggs_2

Talk to the vet about spreading payment?

snap WBDF!

iolanthe07

I agree with the above. My vet lets people pay in instalments interest free - you can only ask.

immoral_angeluk

DON'T miss any priority bills/debts, you'll end up in a worse situation. Talk to the vet about spreading the payments or ask friends/family.

If you're on housing benefit/council tax benefit you will be eligible for free PDSA vet care BUT it won't cover bills already existing before you register with them, but for the future you should contact them to find out where your local hospital/vet care centre is.

PS wishing your cat well.. I lost my cat last year and it was like losing a member of the family.

rainy12345

Sorry for your predicament and your poorly cat. Where the PDSA scheme is concerned they will only take on healthy animals. Once you are able to get your cat better you can apply for the PDSA scheme but there are qualifying criteria such as certain typres of benefit (Housing benefit and Council Tax benefit being just two of these). When you apply for the PDSA scheme it will cost you the payment of £5.00 (postal order) and the vets will be able to give you all the necessary forms needed. (we have just been in this situation with a very poorly cat, who sadly had to be put to sleep, but have just managed to get our dog onto the PDSA scheme.
Your best bet really is to speak to the vet as they are generally very helpful and will let you pay the amount of over a few months.
I really hope this helps in some small way and I hope that your cat recovers very soon.

magic57

I can't offer any advice other than what others have said about spreding the cost.
I would have done exactly the same as you and taken a sick pet to the vet. I hope your cat recovers.

Good luck.

immoral_angeluk

rainy12345 wrote: »

Sorry for your predicament and your poorly cat. Where the PDSA scheme is concerned they will only take on healthy animals. Once you are able to get your cat better you can apply for the PDSA scheme but there are qualifying criteria such as certain typres of benefit (Housing benefit and Council Tax benefit being just two of these). When you apply for the PDSA scheme it will cost you the payment of £5.00 (postal order) and the vets will be able to give you all the necessary forms needed. (we have just been in this situation with a very poorly cat, who sadly had to be put to sleep, but have just managed to get our dog onto the PDSA scheme.
Your best bet really is to speak to the vet as they are generally very helpful and will let you pay the amount of over a few months.
I really hope this helps in some small way and I hope that your cat recovers very soon.

My local PDSA takes on pets with ongoing health problems and emergencies, and they only ever ask for a donation, not a registration fee, so I'd imagine it varies by area by the sound of it.

rtho782

Thanks all, the original post was last night while rather stressed!

The cat is doing ok, the vet tells me this is actually the first time she has known a cat survive antifreeze poisoning, and its probably because she was caught so quickly....

I didn't have much time to think about things last night so PDSA didn't occour to me, and I'm not in reciept of benefits so wouldn't have been eligible anyway....

The problem isnt really that I can't afford it, it's more of a cashflow issue - with little to no access to credit, large unexpected bills like this have a huge knock on effect, with exciting reprocussions like me paying back smaller and smaller payday loans for 3-4 months.

Here was me thinking I didn't need pet insurance as they are indoor-only cats!

Anyway, I've spoken to my landlord (whom I have a really good relationship with) and will be paying them half rent this month and making it up next month, which should be enough that I have a tight month but am OK. I've also had a couple of friends offer to help me (put it on my credit card, you pay the bill). I absolutely abhor the idea of owing friends money, but I guess needs must.

Thanks for the reassurance that I did the right thing... I expected to get utterly slated for running up a bill I didn't know how to pay!