pet care debt any advice would be appreciated

traybro

My family think I am crazy and so does my husband, here is what I have done.
My neighbours were a polish couple who only lived there for a few months before returning back to poland. When they left, they also left there cat behind.
My husband doesn't like cats so there was no chance of us giving it a home. I kept putting scraps of left over food out for it, this went on for around 3 weeks.
Last week it turned up at my door and it was bleeding from its mouth, I had no choice but to take it to the vets because I didn't want to leave it ... not when it was clearly in need of help.
I went to the vets at 10pm and they said that due to it being 'out of hours' the check up would cost more. I was prepared to pay for a check up. The vet said the cat needed an xray which would cost £75. I don't have that kind of money but after thinking about it I decided that I would put the cost of it on my credit card and pay it off in bits.
Here is what's happened
The vet asked me if I owned the cat and I explained who's i belonged to etc and he asked me if I was willing to be responsible for it, I was on the spot and wasn't thinking straight so I said yes.
When he came back from the xray he said that the cat was female and she was very ill. He said that she had a dead litter of kittens inside her he said an hysterectomy was needed and the 3 kittens needed removing, they was poisoning the cat. The vet said it was 50/50. I could either have the cat put to sleep or take the chance of the operation, but i needed to be made aware that it wasn't guaranteed that she would pull through the op.
I am a softy and it was an awful situation to be placed in. I didn't have the heart to say put her to sleep. I agreed to the operation. The cat had the operation, the kittens were removed, she had an hysterectomy and was diagnosed with cat flu and the vet said the cat flu is what will have killed the kittens
Here is the shock She stayed in cat hospital for 5 days before being released. I told my husband who had agreed what I had done for the cat , he said that we can look after her but I must find her an home. I went to collect the cat and was given a bill. The bill was £1173
The cat stay in hopsital was £250, the hysterectomy and removal of the litter was £500, the xray and check up was £110 and the rest was treatments for the cat plus tax.
I was very upset and asked to speak to the manager. He said that I agreed to take responisbility and that I didn't have to agree to her having the operation. Of course I didn't no but at the same time, how could I say no??
I have charged the bill to my credit card but we simply don't have that type of money to be able to repay it
I asked the manager if he could revise the bill to try and help me. He said the best he could do was give me 5 tins of cat food for free
I now have to rehome the cat because my husband doesn't like cats.
The polish family who were responisble for her are gone.
I have a bill that I can't afford to repay

akin_drum

I am sorry you have such a big bill but am really at a loss as to why you agreed to pay for such expensive treatment without discussing it with your (cat hating!) husband. Such an op is bound to be hideously expensive - and it wasn't even your cat. Unfortunately, you agreed to take responsibility for the cat and therefore have to pay the bill. You should have called the RSPCA and let them deal with it. How is the cat now?

Snap-ant

Do ring the RSPCA - explain everything - they maybe able to help

♥

bagginslover

I'm afraid I agree, when you agreed to take responsibility, that included the bill.

However, practicalities.... Do you have a local cats protection branch? Would they help out, could you have a bit of a clear out and do some car boot sales or ebaying? Do you have any cat loving friends who'd have a bit of a whip round?

One thing is for sure, that'll be one grateful kitty!

traybro

I didn't discuss it with my cat hating husband because there was nothing to discuss. His mind was made up, no cat's allowed. I don't try change his decision, i respect it.

I do like cats and I have been very angry about the neighbours leaving without a care in the world about what happened to their cat.
I care about animals so I did give it scraps of food that would have been otherwise wasted.
If it had have been a small bill then I could have afforded the repayments. My husband wouldn't have been any wiser. I did agree to take responisibilty for the cat in order that she got the help that she clearly needed. I have never had pets in the past so I have no idea how much vets cost. I expected it to be around £200 max, the vet never gave me an estimation and in fairness i never asked. It was 11pm, I was tired,upset and I wanted to go home.
The bill is simply unaffordable. I charged it to the credit card but I know I can't afford to repay that amount.

The cat is okay. She's got a collar on so she can't scratch the stitches. She needs flu treatment which is injections and steam treatment (because he breathing is bad).
My husband's allowed her to stay here in the warmth until I can find another home for her.

I never thought about the RSPCA.The cat was bleeding and was laying down (which is unusual). She usually hangs around at the bottom of the garden until i go out with scraps then dissappears. Last week she came right up to the door and laid down.
I knew she was in a bad way. At the time the only thought was to get her to the nearest vets to me.The vet said that she wouldn't have lived much longer, she was dying when I arrived at the vets, he said the dead kittens had poisoned her system
It feels great that I have saved her life and that she doesn't need to wander around homeless anymore, she's in the warmth and recovering and hopefully I will find her a loving home for life.

The debt I have run up is my upset. I simply can't afford to pay for it. In hindsight I was stupid but at the time I just wanted to do the right thing for the cat, not me.

If i hadn't agreed to take responsibilty for her and because the vet said it was 50/50, I feared that he wouldn't have taken a chance and that he would have put her to sleep

thegirlintheattic

I agree with what was said above. Vet bills are expensive, that was quite low considering what she needed done in my experience.

The vet sounds like they explained the options and most of the time they also explain the cost of each, you agreed to pay. If they did not fully explain the costs when discussing treatment you may be able to complain that you couldn't make an informed decision but don't expect much.

DebiT

Traybro,
I really sympathise as I would have done exactly the same thing. Unfortunately vets charges tend to be outrageous, and its no good me telling you you should have called the RSPCA, because I know you just dont have time to think in such a situation, but it might be worth contacting them now, ask them if they can take the cat, explain about its owners and your debt to the vet, and see if they would be prepared to help.
It might also be worth writing to the head offfice of the vets, explain the situation more fully and ask them if they would consider reducing their bill as you were just trying to help & didnt realise how much it would cost. If they refuse, just offer to pay what you can every week.
At the end of the day, you tried to help a poor animal. Good for you.:A

Froglet

traybro,i think you have done a wonderful thing for that poor cat,and it is very unfair of peoople to come on here and say you should have thought about it first,and so on.Hindsight is a wonderful thing but none of us have the luxury of it.All you wantd to do was stop the poor animal from suffering and it is awful that you now have a huge bill you cannot afford.Ask the Cat's Protection,the RSPCA,and any local animal charities that will admire you for what you have done.Maybe they could help rehome the cat,though i know many are full to bursting.

Is there a slim chance that your husband's stance might soften,after all he is already allowing the cat to get better inside your house ?
I do hope she gets better very soon,god,she must have been in agony.You did the right and kindest thing,and i do hope you can get something sorted out soon.I assume your husband doesn't know the extent of the bill,what will his reaction be if he finds out?

rising_from_the_ashes

akin_drum wrote: »

Your naivety as to the cost is breathtaking - £200 for an operation and hospital stay??

That's a bit harsh - the OP has said she's never had pets so how on earth would she know how much it would cost.

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

I agree with what was said above. Vet bills are expensive, that was quite low considering what she needed done in my experience.

The vet sounds like they explained the options and most of the time they also explain the cost of each, you agreed to pay. If they did not fully explain the costs when discussing treatment you may be able to complain that you couldn't make an informed decision but don't expect much.

Agree with this - the costs aren't beyond what I'd expect, esp out of hours but they should've told you the costs before going ahead.


What a terrible situation to find yourself in - you've done your best for the poor wee mite ... sorry no useful advice apart from speaking to the Senior Partner in the practice - the vet should've given you an estimate.

traybro

Yes I agree I am naive. I have never owned a pet though so I was making a guess, a complete guess!
Breathtaking it may be but it's like putting a price on a car and not knowing nothing about cars.
Friends have got pets and have spoken to me about vet bills but they have only ever been for injections or neutering.
The vet never gave me an indication of how much it would be and I never asked.

Yes, of course my husband now knows about the bill. I couldn't hide that from him, he's seen the amount of stress it's caused me. He is stressed also because he knows there is no chance of us being able to afford the repayments.

I also feel that the vet's have taken advantage of the situation.
Can anybody confirm if this next bit is correct?

I paid for the obvious things.
An out of hours charge.
5 day pet hospital stay
£500 for the operation
x-ray
Injections
Care of the kittens that passed away
And the remainder is medication & tax
I have also been charged £2 for 2 pairs of rubber gloves used and 17 for suturing (stitches material). I would have thought that the stitches & rubber gloves were part of the 'operation' and wouldn't be charged in addition to the £500 for the operation, seems strange that they have been charged additionally, or am I just being naive again?

spookylukey

I feel for you OP, you tried to do a good thing and help a defenceless animal that a heartless human had let down and you're the one saddled with a massive vets bill In hindsight you should have checked how much the op was likely to cost but you didn't and now you're the one paying for someone elses cruelty.

How about asking your local paper to run an article on how you, as a good samartitan, have been left with a huge bill and appealing for donations (direct to the vet) to help pay for her care. If they haven't got much else going on they might go for it, there's often a pic of sad looking kids with injured animals (cats that have been shot etc) in my paper - not appealing for funds normally but if you ask for donations to go direct to the vet people would know it's not a scam.

You're a very kind person and I hope karrma catches up with her previous owners.