We may lose our cat over the vet bills that we can no longer afford

trace_567

We have a real big problem. My b/f's cat, who I love as my own has some bad medical problems. He has developed a bowel problem which is requiring constant medication and very frequent trips to the vets to have enemas done, this will be a life long condition. These vet trips result in him having to stay there over night as he has to have more than one enema done. This is costing the earth and we just don't have the money for it.

The cat came from a local animal rescue place about 3 ish years ago. They couldn't home him before my b/f took him on as he was so vicious and terrified of humans. He is still very frightened of strangers. They did re-home him before we had him only for them to send him back to them because of his violent behavior. He has become very attached to us, as we have to him. He loves us and sits on our laps, follows us everywhere etc.

The vet bills in the last 2 months just for this bowel condition alone have cost over £200. This is at a reduced priced vets that we have locally for people on benefits. But we just don't have the money for £200 bills every two months, without factoring in any other medical problem he might have at any time.

My b/f contacted the place he came from and explained the situation and all they said was we'll take him back. Basically to go and live in a cage for the rest of his life. I fear that if this happens they may never find him a home. I can't bare the thought of him going back there to live in a cage. I also will feel that I have let him down as we are the only people he trusts in the world. And that trust took all this time to build. My b/f still has scars on his legs from where he used to be attacked by the cat just for walking round the flat.

We have looked into insurance for him, we did this prior to the bowel problem but as we have no idea of his age, as the cat rescue place didn't know, no insurer seems to want to know. I think he is probably a middle age cat. He's not young but far from being old.

The nearest PDSA to us is about a 30 minute or so drive away. But neither me or my b/f drive (we can't afford to). We would qualify for the PDSA as we both get housing benefit. But we just can't get the cat there with no transport. Also this would have to be a case of take him there, him stay there over night and then be collected the next day, so two trips.

Basically does anyone have any suggestions of what we can do to stop him having to go back to living in a cage. I can't bare the thought of losing him to this. We need to find some way of cutting the costs down to something we can afford.

sandy2_2

I think I'd call PDSA and ask their advice, they might have volunteers who could give you a lift or have other suggestions. Would the cat charity be prepared to support the fees if you kept the cat with you (as i t's an ongoing problem, they presumably would have to continue with medication etc until he was rehomed) have you explained your predicament to your vet has he offered any alternative or cheaper treatment or given you any other helpful advice
Our old cat only has poo about once every 2 weeks but our vet seems to be OK with that and we give our cat 2mls of laxative a day.

dmg24

The nearest PDSA to us is about a 30 minute or so drive away. But neither me or my b/f drive (we can't afford to). We would qualify for the PDSA as we both get housing benefit. But we just can't get the cat there with no transport. Also this would have to be a case of take him there, him stay there over night and then be collected the next day, so two trips.

Surely you could get public transport there?

trace_567

The cat place he came from flatly refuse to help with the vet costs. They said they will take him back, but thats it. This to me is silly as they will still have to pay the vet fee's if they take him back. Even if he is rehomed by them they still will be paying for his bowel problem as they pay for any pre-existing condtion an animal has.

I will try contacting the PDSA and see if they have any suggestions.

As for the public transport there are reasons why this is not an option. Its not an easy journey for starter. It a bus to the station, (20 mins), then a train to brighton, then change at brighton to get another train to the vets.
The journey to brighton is a good 20 mins on the train, before the change.
I have very big problems with traveling as I have a bladder condition. I find traveling on the bus just to the town centre very difficult.
My b/f would also find this very hard as he works, would have to take the time off work (likely a whole day), as the pdsa is a very very busy place with long waits. So that would be a days pay out the window. He is on a very low wage and so gets some housing benefit.
He also has arthritis in his wrists so carrying the big 6kg cat that much wouldn't do him any good. He already wears wrist straps for it.

eira

This doesn't seem cost effective for the rescue quite frankly. If they intend to keep the cat for life (and most rescues do) then they'll have to foot the bill for litter/food etc as well as the vet's bills. One idea might be to find out whete the charity's head/office/administrator is point out the problems and suggest that you keep the cat (and all associated daily costs) but would they pay the bills direct to the vet. Most charities who home an animal with health problems will foot the vet bills anyway-because the animal gets a home

if this doesn't work consider informing the local press

WeirdoMagnet

eira wrote: »

Most charities who home an animal with health problems will foot the vet bills anyway-because the animal gets a home

if this doesn't work consider informing the local press

But from what the OP says it seems that the cat has developed the condition recently, rather than it being a pre-existing one that the rescue knew about. They generally only pay for veterinary treatment for illnesses that they are already aware of when they rehome the animal, e.g. epilepsy.

I don't think informing the press would help either the cat or animal rescues as a whole. At the end of the day when a person rehomes an animal, they're not doing the charity a favour by looking after it for them; the adopter should make sure that they are able to afford to look after the animal, which includes veterinary treatment. I apologise in advance if this sounds judgemental - it's not meant to be.

It's odd that the OP couldn't get insurance for him - there must be lots of people with rescue animals who don't know their exact DOB but can still get insurance.

The other thing to consider is the cats quality of life whilst he is living with this condition. Is there any other way it could be managed? Change of diet etc? Have you had a second opinion from a different vet?

I hope you get his condition sorted out one way or another.

Georgie

eira

Agree with you-I'd missed the bit about the condition developing afterwards. My daughter moved into a ground floor flat which had an outside toilet. a stray cat gave birth in the lav and brought the kittens into their flat. One kitten had what seemed like epilepsy. The CPL re-homed the mother and the other kittens and offered to help with medical costs for the 'poorly' kitten which my daughter took on. Turned out she was ok and grew out of it.

We've had an assortment of rescue animals -all insured but there can often be initial arguments about 'existing conditions'.One rescue dog was anemic and weak and insurers wanted to exclude blood conditions. The vet confirmed that his condition was due to severe flea and worm infestation-so he was covered. One of our cats had a bad skin condition -but that again was due to having been on the streets and there was no exclusion. You could get insurance that excluded existing conditions but--

Another vet could have a different approach- and don't some of them have payment plans ??

trace_567

Firstly I'd like to thank everyone for there replies.
Its really a very difficult situation we are in. Firstly I will be the first to say that I think my b/f should have thought more carefully about the costs of vet bills when he took the cat on. I was not in the picture at the time, and believe me it has been a cause of arguments between us. He had had cats all of his life, and basically till now has got off very lightly when it comes to long term illnesses of a cat. He said none of his other cats had ever needed long term treatment so hadn't really thought about this. He had attempted to get him insured, but with no known age (the vets some how have him down as 2! which he certainly is not as my b/f's has had him longer than this anyway.) plus the fact he has another long term problem with a skin allergy, which effects what cat food he can eat. I only posted the other day about the meat and fish derivatives that he is allergic to. The animal place has paid for the treatment connected to the allergy as he already had this when he took him on. Its really difficult will insuring a cat when you really have no real clue on their age. Insurers base their figures on what age the cat is, and the payments increase when the cat gets older.
I do understand that the animal place do not want to pay the costs, however it does seem silly that they will happily take him back, cage him up, and still have to pay the cost of this condition for the remainder of his life whether or not he gets re homed. Its their policy to pay for pre-existing conditions the animal has when they are re-homed.
The cat has seen about 3 different vets, all at the same vet practice, so I really don't think a second opinion would change anything, just cost more. I cannot get him put down over a condition that the vets can do something about. It would be different if the cat was in a lot of pain all the time and the vets could do nothing for him. You wouldn't get a human put down for having long term constipation.
Maybe I'm stupid, but I really love the cat something stupid. I'm even allergic to him myself, but just can't bare the thought of him being caged up, possibly for life. He's already been through enough.

anniestar

Please please contact Cats Protection. (they have an email address where you can contact your local branch) thye will be able to help. Also there is a publication called Your Cat(haven't got the address to hand but I can get it for you) They may be able to help. As someone with 7 cats most of whom have health problems my heart goes out to you. Good luck.

eira

Might be worth trying another practice just for an opinion-there is also an organisation called the Feline Advisory Bureau.It is concerned with cat welfare-principally illnesses -but they might have resources on a website that might give you some advice.

nealallen

Get to your local PDSA. They will sort your cat for you at less than nothing. As I've not used them in years I'm not sure if they still only take people on benifits. Someone here will clear that up though.