HELP WITH VETS BILLS

Savvy_Sue

MOVING THREADS FOR BETTER RESPONSES

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to the Pets board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

spankymonkey_2

we have just applied for help from the pdsa. due to unforseen circumstances our cat needed an emergency c section .i was asked to at least pay something towards the op then fill out the paperwork and wait to hear from pdsa. i think they pay up to £200 towards the bill.

doitall

hi there i just contacted pdsa and got details of the registration process then went to the only vet avail to me to be told that the pdsa discriminate against my dog and was advised that if i can pay for the dog a sharpei i can pay for the vet bills i then phoned the pdsa again and they said the registration was at the vets discrimination and that the pdsa dont discriminate against any breed so the vet lied by telling me the pdsa dont cover my dog i find this crazy the vets are supposed to care about animals and obvisly dont understand that peoples circamstances can change ps the vet is abbey vets in greenock and i have had my sharpei for 6 years and covered all vet bills mysellf because i was employed full time but have been paid off recently and am now in reciept of benifits.

UKTigerlily

spankymonkey wrote: »

we have just applied for help from the pdsa. due to unforseen circumstances our cat needed an emergency c section .i was asked to at least pay something towards the op then fill out the paperwork and wait to hear from pdsa. i think they pay up to £200 towards the bill.

Wow i'm suprised at them paying for that! Hope kitty will be spayed asap & will be ok. I don't think we have any practices here but we do have a hospital & so they do any treatment.

lowis

we have just applied for help from the pdsa. due to unforseen circumstances our cat needed an emergency c section .i was asked to at least pay something towards the op then fill out the paperwork and wait to hear from pdsa. i think they pay up to £200 towards the bill.

sorry to hear about your cat...but if you are on benefits and and can not afford vet care, why didn't you get your cat fixed (using the vouchers issued by CP for benefit claimants) before it got pregnant? surely you must have known that there would be a cost implication of a cat becoming pregnant?

spankymonkey_2

when kitty was 1 year old she had a car accident and broke her pelvis,luckily as she was young it healed without any ops and cost me £160 for treatment (which i paid!)
after this she was a house cat, and some time she must have got out and been caught by a tom ,we didnt realise till it was too late.... at the time i did have homes for the kittens when they were born.
when she went into labour her pelvis had fused too small to allow the kits to come out hence the c section....she was also spayed at the same time. my husband had just had an op for a shattered kneecap and wasnt working so we couldnt afford to pay. although i did pay £100 towards it and pdsa paid £200.
hope this explains it all......

foreign_correspondent

spankymonkey wrote: »

we have just applied for help from the pdsa. due to unforseen circumstances our cat needed an emergency c section .

A great reason to get all cats speyed at the earliest possible opportunity - C sections do not come cheap, and the cost and trauma (and risk to the cat) could have been avoided by a routine op, which can often get at a vastly reduced price anyway if you are on benefits.

I know what's done is done, but its a useful cautionary tale for anyone dithering about whether to spey or not!

suki1964

http://www.bluecross.org.uk/web/site/AboutUs/Veterinary/Veterinary_Care_Fund.asp

May be worth a look

LittleTinker

Most Vets will work in conjunction with the PDSA.....tell your regular vet if you want PDSA and they can sort it out for you if there isnt a dedicated PDSA hospital nearby

lazza_w

No, most vets don't work with the PDSA, but in areas where there isn't a PDSA hospital there is generally a vet's practice that is registered to do PDSA work.

From the vet's point of view it is a bit like being an insurance company - they get paid a fee each month by the PDSA for each animal registered under their care whose owners have registered for PDSA cover. Treatment costs come out of the practices own funds. It is only in a practice's interests to do PDSA work if they have enough animals registered to offset the costs of treatment and make a profit too.

You need to be registered with the PDSA BEFORE you require treatment - turning up at your local practice without having registered with the PDSA and saying to them 'if I show you my benefit papers and register for the PDSA then you ought to carry out this treatment which costs £xxx' won't happen. It may take them several years to recoup the cost of that one animal from the payments they will receive from the PDSA for that animal (assuming that it both lives long enough for the payments to offset it and that the animal doesn't cost the practice any more money in the future).

The PDSA is a good charity that helps those unable to afford treatment, but it is up to the pet's owner to register themselves and not just wait untill there is a problem. If there isn't a PDSA hospital nearby there will probably be a practice nearby that provides PDSA treatment, but it may not be the practice that you normally use. They won't provide treatment free of charge if you turn up without being already registered with PDSA and the correct practice.