Help with large vet bill?

helen81_2

Morning everyone,

My cat was hit by a car last night

We found him and took him straight to the vets who are almost certain he has a broken hip..They kept him in last night as they were going to xray him first thing this morning to see the exact damage.

Theyve said he is likley to need a hip operation which is gonna cost us £500!! Then £100 for him staying last night and having an xray!

He's not insured!!!!!!! :eek: I know it serves us right..we had insuring him written down on the 'to do' list but weve just moved house (so are COMPLETLEY skint!) so didn't get around to do it in time.

Anyone know if theres any help out there for situations like this? I donate money to the RSPCA every month by standing order,and have done for years..do u think they would help us out in our hour of need? We really cannot afford this amount of money but don't want to have him put down either

Anyone know anyway out of this?

Helen x

Dazzieboo

Sorry to hear about your cat, I hope he recovers soon.

As for the bill, I am in the same boat, but my cat is not insured because of her age, she is 16, but she has cancer and the removal of the tumours has cost me dearly, we are not having this latest one removed, for 2 reasons, her age and the cost involved.

Have you used this vet before ? and if so, are you on good terms with them ?. I have come to an agreement with mine that I will pay the bill off in 8 installments of £50 per month, that way, they know they will get the money, I know people who vets large amounts of money which they will never get, so breaking it down is a realistic option.

Another suggestion is the PDSA, but I am not sure how they work when a Vet has already started treatment, they work on a donation basis, but each area differs, give your local branch a ring to see if they can help.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

jacs76

Firstly i just want to say im so sorry and i hope he/she will be ok.

do you have a long/good relationship with your vet?

we had only just moved last year ,when my dog got caught in barbed wire we hadn't even registered with a vet so i sat with the yellow pages and rang round and explained and bit the bullet and explained i was also skint and they were wonderful and came to a repayment arrangement with us as long as i paid the initial consultation fee there and then.

explain, ask,beg.
im sure they wont refuse to treat.
good luck!!
please let us know how you get on!

helen81_2

Ive rung RSPCA and they gave me our local rspca phone number. I rung and the guy I spoke to was really nice about it..he rang the vets where our cat is to clarify the situation (to see if I was telling the truth!?) And he rang back and said he will pay for the xray and he's gonna pay to have him micro chipped...and when the xray results are in and he knows whats what he will work out a grant for us to put towards it.

Im so relieved..im sat in tears here. I hope its a fair chunk of the bill as to be honest..even paying a portion of it is gonna leave us in debt (even more)

Do you think its possible another organisation such as PDSA would put some towards it also or is this too cheeky?

Helen x

heatherw_01

The PDSA only treat animals for a donation if you are on certain benefits.

jacs76

Thats great:T
that must be a bit of a weight off your shoulders.
maybe its the wrong thing to say but i love my 2 doggies and if anything happened again i would just get them to the vets and worry about the cost later.
even a token payment of maybe £10-£20 a month?

maybe think about how much maximum you could afford towards payment and if they offer to pay more thats a bonus.

hope your cat gets well soon i really do.

TERIERI

heatherw_01 wrote:

The PDSA only treat animals for a donation if you are on certain benefits.

My dog recently needed an ear operation and my vet gave me a number to ring to apply to the PDSA for 'pet aid'.
They pay up to £100 of the bill if you receive housing benefit.
Not sure if its a national thing or just regional but could be worth asking about.

Good luck.

helen81_2

Hello

Just heard from the vet..he has a broken hip in 2 places..but won't need the op aslong as he has complete rest for 6 weeks..great news!
Rspca have said they will pay for his xray and possibly the anesthetic (sorry,can't spell!) that he was given.

Thanks to all who replied..anyone know of good pet insurance??

Helen x

ftbworried

Petplan is the best for my dog. They may not be the absolute cheapest but they don't argue about settling claims and have a 'covered for life' policy- which is handy cos my dog has reoccuring problems.

https://www.petplan.co.uk

Dazzieboo

I second that, Petplan are the best, they paid up promptly for a cat insurance (when billie was younger) and for my Pony. Please, please do not be tempted and go for a cheaper company like Entertainment & Leisure as they have small print on small print and I ended up in court as they wouldn't pay up on a claim. (I did win but E & L got slated in court)

Penny_Watcher

Definately PetPlan.

We'd only had the black dog for 3 months when she did what ended up being £4,000 of damage to her back leg. Car wheel, dogs leg, I'll go no further.:(

She had an external fixator (think hospital grade precision stainless steel scaffolding) on her leg for months, several operations at a specialist vet hospital. Now she's good as new.

PetPlan paid up, no questions asked (apart from all the claim form details obviously). And they'll keep insuring her even though they've had such a huge claim. That's their 'Insured for Life' unique selling point. Some companies, although they're cheaper, will refuse to keeping insuring an animal the following year if they've had to pay out a claim for a long term illness or condition.

And Get Well Soon Puss.:D