The folks charging $60 are admirable, but even if they cut some corners, they’re losing money on every spay. I expect they’re doing this with a public service mindset.
17 Likes
I just paid over $800 for a neuter on a dog that weighs less than 20lbs.
Not one price on the itemized bill seemed over expensive for what it was for, just lots of things added up, because care is now so much more thorough than it used to be, with pain management and blood work.
I love my vet and I totally get that the cost of having an office with nice equipment leads to higher prices and all that.
This made me giggle. I had a similar experience with a feral, but not about appointments.
At my regular vet, when I made the appointment they knew it was for a feral that I was going to trap (I confirmed they were willing to do it since the local shelter was over booked).
At drop off time the person checking me in kept asking me all those question - last meal, vaccine status, etc. I kept answering - it is feral, I trapped it last night, I have no idea what time it ate the food in the trap. But they kept asking the questions.
10 Likes
yikes, normally I defend the costs of veterinary procedures. But $600 for an ultrasound is outrageous.
I’m a cardiac sonographer (human) and we bill the province just under $400 CAD for an echocardiogram. As far as ultrasounds go, it doesn’t get much more complicated than the heart. We’re a specialist clinic, so not much different overhead than a small animal veterinary clinic. The office, the equipment, admin staff, the doctors salaries, salaries for specialized techs, insurance, continuing education, etc.
As for your pup, I can’t imagine you’ll get a ton of pushback when it’s time. Degenerative valve disease will likely result in congestive heart failure and there are only so many ways to mitigate the symptoms that come along with that. Especially in an elderly dog that may have comorbidities.
4 Likes
There are a couple of shelters that I know of that will let an elderly person foster a cat or dog, with the shelter paying the vet care and providing food, for a long as the person or pet lives. That way someone on a small, fixed budget can enjoy a pet and the animal is out of the shelter. It’s costly in the long run for the shelter but the human and animal benefits are good.
15 Likes
For some reason I read this as “I mentioned this to my horse when we were looking at a cut on my gray’s knee” as if you and your other horse were looking at the gray horse.
“And her mouth dropped open…”
I need some afternoon coffee!
8 Likes
Not my personal experience but in dealing with animal rescue I’ve been hearing from people that are surrendering their pets that the vets refuse to euthanize. Older, somewhat unhealthy pets that could get by with medical intervention but… the owners don’t have the money or the resources to do it.
It’s a hard situation. The rescues will start the health care and then put the animal up for adoption. Not many people want to take on a health problem. Some will, they especially look for aged or ill pets, but not many.
7 Likes
this is terrible. What should you do if you cannot afford $1,000 treatment on a cat or dog? In my mind, of the vet wouldn’t euthanise such a pet I would give them the pet. I had to do this once and I still grieve for that cat. I had run up a vet bill on another cat to the end of my credit limit and he died anyway. My cash limits are much lower that most of you here.
4 Likes
I picked up two older cats (siblings, I think they were 13 or 14 yo) that the owner couldn’t care for. The vet wouldn’t euthanize, both cats needed dental work and added health care, so the owner left them at the vet clinic. The rescue called me to pick them up.
I felt so bad for the owner. I wished we could have got the owners info so the rescue could pay for the work and let the older woman keep her cats.
12 Likes
I ended up getting a cat from a rescue that I think fits this scenario. We went to a “open house” at the rescue and told them we were looking for an older cat for my mom. They steered us to this poor car that was obviously NQR and feeling poor. He never should’ve been out for adoption in that condition. They said he was getting over a “kitty cold.” I could not leave him so stupid me adopted him. Long story short, we never were able to get the poor cat 100% right and we tried (many tests and vet visits/meds/the works) he stumped the vets. He got over the cold, but never really thrived and it was one thing after another with him. We lost him about a year and a half later. I think he was dumped at the rescue either because the owners didn’t have the heart to euth or vet refused.
The thing that really hurt was the judgement I received from the rescue for having him PTS when it became obvious it was his time. That sucked.
RIP Timmy. We loved you.
13 Likes
That rescue sucks. They didn’t do right by Timmy. Unfortunately it seems a bit too common for shelters and rescues to ‘make up’ stories about animals that are NQR. You are so wonderful to have not left him behind. 
You gave him not only healthcare, but the loving home he needed.
14 Likes
Thank you Aussie, your words mean a lot. After I posted about him I had a good cry, missing him and feeling guilty cause we just couldn’t sort out his health problems. I do think he was contented to be here, just wish it had been for a longer time.
10 Likes
Hugs to you, cayuse. You did your best for him and gave him a soft landing. That should not make you feel guilty! He was lucky to have you and you were lucky to be able to have him and give him love.
A couple of years ago we adopted an emaciated, elderly street cat from our local shelter who needed a lot of vet care. Our shelter is great- they were very upfront about all of her issues and made sure we knew what we were getting ourselves into. We live in a medium-large city and they are a no-kill shelter and almost always over-full, so we went in looking for a cat who wouldn’t get adopted easily and found this one. She had so many health problems! We sorted through most of them, got her fat and happy, and then had to let her go only a few months on because the rest of her issues finally caught up with her.
I adored that little girl. I used to hear her purring to herself in her little box behind my computer, her chosen place, snugged up in a fuzzy blanket. She was such a sweet little soul and I’m so sorry we didn’t have her longer, like you, but also really glad we could give her such a happy life while we had her.
Right now we have an absolute monster of a tortico (also adopted from the shelter) and I’m a little reluctant to rock her spicy boat. But…I think pretty soon we will probably find ourselves down there again, looking for a little old lady/gentleman cat who needs some love (and a jerky younger sister).
16 Likes
I’m sorry to hear about the loss of your “street kitty.” We had a wonderful shelter here that just had to close it’s doors. We adopted 3 from them, all special needs in their own way, and the shelter, like the one you write of, was very transparent about the quirks and health issues they have. One is sleeping on my feet right now!
Good luck on your search for another oldie but goody!
4 Likes
For those who may not know
Care credit is a great resource to cover vet bills, especially unexpected ones.
It’s no interest up to 6 months, or you can choose other parameters when you sign up.
You can also request a particular credit limit (mine is $10k)
You can also choose what you want the card to be used for. You can get it for vet, human Dr bills, dental etc.
I just had to use mine over the weekend at the horse hospital and was very grateful to have it .
3 Likes
One small word of caution about CareCredit: if you don’t pay off the entire amount by the end of the 0% interest period, they may/will/? charge you retroactively for all of the interest that accrued during the 0% period. I found this out when we used CC for a large emergency bill, and then didn’t pay it off due to another emergency that came up. It was a shockingly large amount of money suddenly tacked onto the original bill.
This was many years ago so things may have changed, but definitely read the fine print!
8 Likes
That is true if that’s the plan you choose. They have a few different time periods and interest rate parameters to choose from.
1 Like
Absolutely. And honestly, if you don’t have $10,000 at the present time, are you really gonna have it six months from then? And I believe, depending on your credit, the interest rate can be quite high. For people already strapped in these hard times it might be a prison
5 Likes
I found out the hard way not to take a cash advance on a cc. 
I guess that is how some of us learn. It doesn’t get paid off till the WHOLE card is paid off. And the interest is even higher than sky high.
The interest rates are INSANE! I got sucked into that, wound up paying 50% more than the original bill when everything was due.
It’s quite the nifty little scam.
1 Like
