This is one of my cats; Blue. He was recently attacked by something, or someone, while I was at work, last week. I’m currently fundraising for his treatment. It is going to be over $2000. 😞
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Those sounds like American prices…
Would be maybe 50 dollars in western Europe. Just a guess.
Vet bills can get nasty in Europe too. They’re not covered by universal healthcare policies, unsurprisingly. But also, like… don’t be a dickhead about someone’s pet getting hurt? They already know it’s costing them a lot of money
You are right actually, I should stop bringing it up. Doesn’t help anyone really.
Really? Please tell me where you live that offers lower cost veterinary care. Also, is it the same level of care? I do live in America. I love living in America. Life could be a lot worse. I can’t even imagine what animal health care is available in third world countries when they can’t even afford to give proper health care to their human occupants.
I’m not the person you are replying to, but I do wonder what “third world countries” you are thinking of when you hear “Western Europe”?
As someone who has lived in both the US and Germany (one of those “third world countries” with significantly lower health care cost, for both humans and animals) and who has seen the benefits and drawbacks of both countries - it’s completely delusional if you actually believe that someone who is supposedly living paycheck to paycheck is getting better health care in the US. The German system certainly has its flaws, but it beats the US in just about every sensible metric (accessibility, cost, life expectancy, infant mortality etc.), usually quite significantly so. The US does a solid number of things better than other countries, entrepreneurship and innovation for example, but health care absolutely isn’t among those things.
What’s new to me (I had no exposure to the veterinary health care system during my time in the US) is that the inflated fantasy prices aren’t limited to humans only, but extend to pets as well. Anesthesia and extensive wound care, antibiotics, aftercare etc. are pretty standard therapies and they should cost little over a tenth of what you were quoted for your typical house cat.
You honestly might want to shop around, because even within the US, those rates are almost certainly inflated.
Western Europe is quite different from a third world country. :)
Oh, I didn’t see the Western Europe part. I visited Ecuador around 2021, and saw a lot of stray cats on the streets. I don’t know if Ecuador is still considered third world, but it was truly heartbreaking to see all the strays foraging for food on the street. Yes, Western Europe is probably doing well, my apologies.
Yeah I can’t stand seeing cats foraging for food either. I was in Sicily and saw the same thing there, lots of cats, most of them damaged because of fights they had been in I assume… It’s a hard life for them.
That’s sad, because you know if they neutered the stray males, there wouldn’t be so many injured cats from cat fights. Pictures from Turkey make it look like stray cats are fine in communities like those, and maybe they are in some places, but whenever there are stray males in groups, they’re going to fight if they aren’t neutered. Our cat was neutered and something attacked him. I don’t even have an explanation for that, except that some stray, or something found its way into our neighborhood.
I understand you come from a place of wanting cats to not be hurt, but I think humans don’t have the moral right to do that to them. We think we help them, but isn’t it the same as if we would neuter fellow humans because we think they are aggressive?
I understand what you mean. I always feel guilty having an animal neutered, or spayed, but when it’s your animal and you can’t afford to have them litter, it’s another story. I once adopted a cat that as already pregnant with a litter of kittens that died in utero. I told the vet to just spay her after that. My fiancé, at the time, felt so bad that he went out to a rescue and bought a kitten to keep her company while we both worked during the day. It probably didn’t make it up to her entirely. I get that.
I don’t think the downvotes are warranted. That is an exorbitant amount for the planned vet procedure OP describes.
Vet rates in Germany, for example, are regulated and wound care under anesthesia is pretty standard treatment. Even with multiple, complicated wounds, a round of antibiotics, extensive after care, this would be a three digit bill - while likely more than 200€, it would still be far closer to that number than OP’s tenfold quote…
Heck, even surgery for a complicated fracture wouldn’t come close to the 2000€ mark and can often stay below 1000€.
We are all aware that the US healthcare system works with ridiculously inflated fantasy prices, but that this extends to veterinary care is news to me.
I think it was more a reaction to bringing it up when someone is already feeling sad over his pet being hurt.
Everyone probably agrees with the facts but it was just bad style to bring it up in that moment.
True. But if there’s anything to take away from all of this is that those prices aren’t natural, god-given or unavoidable. It’s probably a good idea for op to shop around - wound care, anesthesia and antibiotics shouldn’t be $2000 even in the US.
If your in the U.S, look into carecredit if you need additional funding.
I saw an ad for that! I was going to apply, but it mentioned qualifying based on your credit score. Mine has been awful since losing my home and having it sold in short sale.
If care credit is easy to as it was ten years ago you have nothing to worry about. Just make sure that the vet takes it first. Despite being a credit card, it doesn’t quite spend like one.
Here is how that just went.
Sorry to hear that they do have a different parent company now so it may not be the same. Though I would try calling and talking to someone. Again my experience is 10 years old but the person I talked to on the phone was very accommodating.
Also do you have a local shelter? Give them a call they always know if there is a low cost vet in the area. 2 grand for a sedation and wound cleaning seems really high. Even with antibiotics.
We do have a local shelter, but I don’t think they offer veterinary services. Our local shelters were also featured in the news paper recently for being so underfunded, that they are turning away new stray animals. One of our shelters even closed due to lack of funding. They had to hold a local adoption drive to clear their cages, after announcing they were turning away strays. I doubt they could help.
When mine was 600 I got $2500 with zero interest for six months. I was able to pay it off within the six months. I would try to apply to see.
they could sedate him, clean the wound, and administer antibiotics for just over $2000
OP I don’t know how long it will take you to get the money but please clean the wounds as best you can yourself in the meantime.
I remember someone in your other post said it’s probably dog bite abscess. I have cleaned those before. You will need warm water, put a little betadine iodine in it and use soaked cotton wool to very gently “lick” the wound as if you are another cat.
Wrapp the cat’s body securely in a towel first.
I would phone another vet and ask for a quote as what you have been quoted sounds insane to me especially since they didn’t even tell you what the wounds are.
I have been cleaning his wounds. He is really good about it. He doesn’t fight me, but I can tell it hurts him to have them cleaned.
I am so close to meeting the quote on the vet’s form. If it is met today, I can take him to the 24 hour vet today, and not make him wait until after I am done with work tomorrow. The local vet will be cheaper, but if I take time off to take him to the vet in the morning, I will be fired. I missed days this month when I was diagnosed with a positive TB test. The doctor later cleared me with a chest x-ray, so I don’t actually have TB, but I missed so many days that my employer warned me. If I miss any more time at work, I’ll be fired. The bad news is, the local vet closes at 4PM, and that is right before I am released from work. The best thing that could happen would be meeting the goal today, and taking him back to that 24 hour vet, even though it is expensive. I know it looks bad, but they could have this done today, and he wouldn’t be suffering.
That’s understandable. I wish you and Blue all the best.
