charities for help with vet bills?

shelovestobuystuff

rev_henry wrote: »

What I find most unfair about vet bills is the fact that you must pay your 15% VAT on them. There was recently a petition on the downing street website, but the response was that EU laws forbid any further VAT exemptions. This seems utterly preposterous to me, just goes to show that the EU believes its bureacracy is more important than sick animals.
Furthermore the Government could at least help by reducing the VAT payable to the lowest rate allowed by the EU, 5%, but still no sign.

If someone can explain to me how having a sick animal treated is a luxury expense please come forward. The only instance I could think of would be problems caused by excessive breeding of pedigrees etc, e.g. heart murmurs in Cavalier KCs, hip problems in alsatians and the like.

I think its a fact that owning an animal in the first place is a luxury so can see why treatment incurs that level of tax.
Pets should incur that 15% but farm /working animals shouldn't(do they?)

talulahbeige_2

If you have a pet you should be able to pay to afford to look after it! Full stop!

People who own pets and can't afford to pay what it needs to be cared for correctly are just as guilty of animal cruelty as those who are violent to animals.

Fair enough there may be people out there who can no longer afford to due to the current climate but I also bet those people took out a mortgage and didn't give a thought to how they would pay it if the current climate cropped up!

I have a cat, she is insured, her food is always at the top of my shopping list.
I would love a dog and have wanted one for years, i can't afford another pet so guess what, i dont have one!

I agree wholeheartedly with charities paying for neutering / spaying as there are so many unwanted pets in this world, that would also stop them being in shelters.

So why should I miss out on an animal i would love to have because i cant afford it so that someone who can't afford it but claims benefits can have the pet they want becasue the charities i choose to donate too (when I can afford to) pays?

rev_henry

shelovestobuystuff wrote: »

I think its a fact that owning an animal in the first place is a luxury so can see why treatment incurs that level of tax.
Pets should incur that 15% but farm /working animals shouldn't(do they?)

I guess that's a fair point you make, but surely animal shelters etc should be exempt. Owning a pet is a luxury, but the pet's life itself is not a luxury. You choose to own a pet, but a pet does not choose to be born so should not suffer ill health because its owners can't afford treatment. Does that make sense to anyone?!

shelovestobuystuff

rev_henry wrote: »

I guess that's a fair point you make, but surely animal shelters etc should be exempt. Owning a pet is a luxury, but the pet's life itself is not a luxury. You choose to own a pet, but a pet does not choose to be born so should not suffer ill health because its owners can't afford treatment. Does that make sense to anyone?!

Well that does sound reasonable at first reading but you are applying HUMAN rights to other animals.Although I do consider our dogs to be part of our family and refer to them as my hairy children(lots of people in this country treat their pets as if they are human),they are not the same,animals are a commodity,livestock,they are bred and their breeding is managed(in most cases) for sale or consumption.We use animals for our our work,our consumption or our pleasure and as such they attract vat at the same rate as a new coat or handbag in a store does.
It doesnt sound nice but its true.:o
I just realised that Animal shelters and farmers etc will be able to claim back the vat anyway as they are run as a business.The only people having to pay this then really are pet owners who have their pets for their pleasure,so a luxury.

screamer

OK, I have a cat and a dog. The dog is 2 and a half years old. He's healthy, happy and insured.

My cat on the other hand is a different matter. I stole her off my ex boyfriend because he wasn't feeding her. I asked the RSPCA for help, and the cats protection league, but because she technically had an owner who treated his kids the same way as he treated the cat they were unprepared to help. At the beginning of this year she started losing a lot of weight. I took her to the vet who said there was nothing wrong, but advised a blood test to check. it was discovered that she had an overactive thyroid, quite common in older cats. There were 3 courses of action that could be taken but to decide what to do we had to find out how old she was. My ex didn't have a clue, even though he'd had her since she was a kitten.

It seems that my poor little kitty is about 15 years old, therefore too old for surgery. She now has to take tablets for the rest of her life, however long that may be, and until recently I couldn't give her the care she needed. I tried to save money by buying medication off the internet but the vet put the fear of god into me by telling me I'd been irresponsible by buying "counterfeit" medication off the internet and if I cared about my pet then I wouldn't do it again.

As it stands, she has to have extensive blood tests once every 4 weeks, and on top of that she has to have medication. I spend over a fifth of my annual income on the cat, and all because not one animal charity in the country was prepared to help this little cat.

You wonder why I took her in knowing she would kill me financially? Because I have a mouth in my head and I can ask for help if I need it. My cat had an owner who didn't care so someone had to, and I'm proud it was me.

Am I irresponsible for taking on a dog too, considering the dog costs me about £50 a year in vets bills, flea treatment, worming treatment. Cat food is also twice the price of dog food.

I class my dog as an essential not a luxury. I was miserable and depressed before this little dog came into my life, and within a month I was off medication because I had a reason to get up in a morning. I would pay £100 a day for the laughs I get out of my pooch. Is laughing a luxury? Or would I have been a nicer person by allowing his previous owners to murder him as they had done with his siblings??

Maybe people have pets to help cope. maybe they have them because in the case of the cat no one else will take care of them? The country needs more people like me and less millionnaire vets!!!

selecta

talulahbeige wrote: »

If you have a pet you should be able to pay to afford to look after it! Full stop!

People who own pets and can't afford to pay what it needs to be cared for correctly are just as guilty of animal cruelty as those who are violent to animals.

Fair enough there may be people out there who can no longer afford to due to the current climate but I also bet those people took out a mortgage and didn't give a thought to how they would pay it if the current climate cropped up!

I have a cat, she is insured, her food is always at the top of my shopping list.
I would love a dog and have wanted one for years, i can't afford another pet so guess what, i dont have one!

I agree wholeheartedly with charities paying for neutering / spaying as there are so many unwanted pets in this world, that would also stop them being in shelters.

So why should I miss out on an animal i would love to have because i cant afford it so that someone who can't afford it but claims benefits can have the pet they want becasue the charities i choose to donate too (when I can afford to) pays?

Utter rubbish!

I got made redundant at the start of the year and there is nothing jobwise in my area. i have had a morgage for 4 years now living with my girlfriend who is in full time employment. i can claim £60.50p a week which runs out in August, from then i can claim £0. Absolutly nothing, even though we are short every month.This is because i am over 25 and my girlfriend is under 25. If it was the other way round and i was still in work, than some sort or help would have been availible ( justice in that????)

I have been brought up with cats all my life and have 5 of the little monsters (4 female 1 male). i look after these better than i look after myself. Unfortunatly the male cat was diagnosed last week with a blocked bladder which had a cost of £500, then 3 days later he had to be taken to a 24hr vet to have his bladder drained costing another £200. thats a months worth or morgage and council tax payments. Due to the way the benefits system works i cant even get help with vet bills off a charity even though people who are handed houses and money etc can happily apply!

For u to say i pretty much should have seen this coming is out of order, plain and simple!. Im not sure what options i have left. We have already used 1 out of 2 morgage payment holidays to pay the £700 bill we got, what do we do after that?? let his bladder explode..... not an option really is it. Iv been told that insurance companies wouldnt insure him as he has already started to have problems by the vet so if anyone has any advice it would be much appreciated. thx .

UKTigerlily

selecta wrote: »

Utter rubbish!

I got made redundant at the start of the year and there is nothing jobwise in my area. i have had a morgage for 4 years now living with my girlfriend who is in full time employment. i can claim £60.50p a week which runs out in August, from then i can claim £0. Absolutly nothing, even though we are short every month.This is because i am over 25 and my girlfriend is under 25. If it was the other way round and i was still in work, than some sort or help would have been availible ( justice in that????)

I have been brought up with cats all my life and have 5 of the little monsters (4 female 1 male). i look after these better than i look after myself. Unfortunatly the male cat was diagnosed last week with a blocked bladder which had a cost of £500, then 3 days later he had to be taken to a 24hr vet to have his bladder drained costing another £200. thats a months worth or morgage and council tax payments. Due to the way the benefits system works i cant even get help with vet bills off a charity even though people who are handed houses and money etc can happily apply!

For u to say i pretty much should have seen this coming is out of order, plain and simple!. Im not sure what options i have left. We have already used 1 out of 2 morgage payment holidays to pay the £700 bill we got, what do we do after that?? let his bladder explode..... not an option really is it. Iv been told that insurance companies wouldnt insure him as he has already started to have problems by the vet so if anyone has any advice it would be much appreciated. thx .

It's definitely worth getting them insured, they won't cover pre-existing conditions, but will cover anything they get in the future. (You may already know, but I wasn't sure if you thought you couldn't get any insurance)

Anyway, what I wanted to say is i'm so sorry about your Cat, I remember once thinking mine had that problem & how scared I was & I hope he's ok soon x

molly_mandy_2

Selecta - I'm not sure which part of the country you come from but there are small charities out there, run by true animal lovers, who may be able to help you. One I'm thinking of in Kent is run by a wonderful lady who would come to your aid straight away- they provide veterinary care to those with low incomes. I understand the large charities have to have state benefit rules but she will put the animal's welfare as top priority. (If you live there and need her name, please pm me). I think if you approach your local small animal rescue, tell them everything you have written here, you may find they can help or give you some advice as to where to turn.
It's so nice to know you are doing everything to help your cat and not just opting for 'having it put down as it is too expensive to look after'.
Good luck. I hope your cat makes a good recovery.

Foxymoron

Here here Selecta! :T

I think it's a narrowminded view to paint everything so black and white so as to say it's simple to just not have animals you cannot afford.
I had 2 cats and a job and a husband. My husband and I separated, I fell ill and could no longer work and am left raising my daughter alone.
Add to that that my kitten fell pregnant while waiting for her to be spayed and I have 3 kittens that I am left with as I could only manage to home a couple and I would not let them terminate the healthy pregnancy.
Now I am left with 5 cats 3 of which need spaying and 2 of which need vaccinating.
My cat had difficulty in birth and required a c-section that cost me over £300.
Although all care so far has been paid for I am struggling to find the money in time for all the neutering and vacs. Not to mention that to insure them all would cost me around £50 a month!
I love my cats and they are well fed, cleaned and cared for.
I'm now looking into help with the vet costs and I am eternally grateful for their sake that it's there!

samdanabiwyatt

What benefits do i need to be on to get help with my vet bill