Maybe see if you can adopt him back. Offer paying back in installments if that's the condition. You did what was right and anyone intentionally adopting will love the cat.
Our vet frowns on owners adopting them back. Apparently there were enough people doing this just to avoid the surgical bill that they put verbage in the surrender contract.
I understand why they would do that but if op offers to pay for the surgery in installments maybe they might consider it. The regret of giving up the fur baby has to be heart wrenching.
Call the vet pronto to see if the cat is still alive and available to you. Many vets work with finance companies to give loans to pay off over a certain number of months. Or charge to a credit card and pay off your own card. Hope you get your baby back. If you do - be prepared to give the cat a prescription diet to avoid future issues. Mine were on Hill's CD for just this reason. Encourage as much water as possible to keep system flushed - water fountains are great for this.
My cat's been on Royal Canin urinary SO for ~14 years and hasn't had another blockage.
He's ... food motivated ... so we just mix in 60ccs of water with his dry food and he drinks it all.
Last time he went to the vet he was diagnosed as being fat and old, so somehow his kidneys are still going.
Ours, too. He had two blockages in a three-year period and our vet recommended RC Urinary SO. He's been on it 8 years with no blockages -- bladder scans have been clear every time.
My vet told me that within the past 2 years he has been writing prescriptions for C/D for ALL male kittens once they’re neutered-even before they have issues-and he’s seen a drop in blockages in his practice. One of my male cats had PU surgery; other one didn’t have issues, and vet put them both on the urinary food. I would absolutely put any male cat on it asap-but always go by vet advice.
My male cat had a blockage in October last year - I was not given the option of the P.U surgery as its apparently not widely available in the UK yet and VERY expensive (they were talking about 10k with the surgery, and emergency costs etc) So we went with the more expensive option of the other 2 with the idea it would be less lilkly to reoccur which was a fluid flush and the catheter (better than just the medication hoping it would unblock) he's now on Cystaid to ensure its doesnt happen again and Hill's KD - not had any issues since and its been nearly a year. It obviously does make a difference!
If it's any consolation, PU should rarely be the first option. It's a salvage procedure and comes with increased risks of urinary infections. We usually do not offer it until there have been 3 obstructions
talk to your vet. There is KD for kidney problems. There are also veterinary nutrition specialists who can provide guidance ... My cats were on CD for years....then I had to switch them to another food by Royal Canin because my Frankie had pancreatic issues. The vet will know if your other cats can eat the specialized diet. If they can't - there are these new food dishes I've seen that the cat has a transponder for a particular bowl that will feed the special diet only to the cat that has the special collar.
Yes. My cat had this exact issue. I opted for the unblocking. He's on meds, doing well and I was advised to use a urinary care food for the rest of his life.
It costs me $70~ a month, food and meds. Small price to pay.
The problem is caused by struvites, tiny crystals in the urine. They block the urethra and stop urination which then causes a knock-on effect. The urinary diet reduces struvite production.
The prognosis is good with this option. I'd have gotten a second opinion.
mine had a urinary blockage and UTI once. was small enough that he could pass it on his own, so he was just put on some muscle relaxants for his bladder and antibiotics for a week or so. he has been on Hill's C/D since then with no issue and does not have any kidney issues. the urinary Hill's line just has ingredients in it to stop blockages from forming iirc
Our cat is on Hill’s c/d. He had multiple blockages and we did the PU surgery. He is still on the Hill’s c/d food for life. He hasn’t had a blockage since the surgery, thank goodness. He just turned 2 years old.
There is a lot here that doesn't really make sense to me. Is it the policy of this vet that if the pet owner can't afford the recommended procedure that they will do the procedure for no charge but you have to surrender your pet? So now they won't get paid anything and they have a homeless pet on their hands? I don't get it. If you approached them now and said you wanted your cat back why wouldn't they give it back? Obviously you cared enough to take your cat to the vet in the first place. Do they think you're not a responsible pet owner?
If I were in your shoes I would confirm they did the procedure and then do whatever I needed to do in order to him back. Payment plans, negotiate something less than 5k? I don't get it. If the vet did the procedure then he has already incurred the cost plus now he has to find a home for this cat. Please let us know how this turns out.
I'm pretty confused about this as well, they did not disclose to me who will be paying for the surgery. So I'm just left wondering, but they did tell me the procedure was done and he is doing great.
I got the feeling they didn't want to tell me too much information so I wouldn't try to adopt him again.
Talk to them. Surrender is a thing… i found an injured cat, took it in and the only way they would treat it without me paying was If I surrendered it… but it wasn’t MY cat so it lay there in agony while i tried to call the number on the tag, to get permission to “surrender” i finally surrendered it anyway, they did X-ray and said it needed to be put down. Why TF didn’t they address the animals needs first and not waste time making me find the owner?
They can't tell you much, they can only release information to the registered owner. If it was an employee who took ownership they definitely aren't going to tell you because they don't want you potentially harassing them.
Maybe if you said you could pay the $1800 but just couldn’t afford the $5000 and felt pressured in the moment (or another amount) and you love the cat so much. It is a bit confusing. (Why can’t they just give you financial assistance? Vets are weird.) Good luck!
Is it possible you send a friend or a family member they don't know to ask if they have cats to adopt?
It might be more complicated than this, otherwise all the people that can't afford would do this...
\^\^\^
This post - the OP makes no sense. Rescues can't find people to adopt cats, the vet is going to treat a sick one then give it to someone else? Who? Where do all these cats go? I am very suspicious.
I had this happen to me as a kid and my parents couldn’t afford an emergency vet bill and I had no way to help my cat. They were going to send my cat to the veterinary school to be some sort of experimental animal after the surgery. He was not going to be adopted out. My parents elected to put him to sleep and it’s one of my worst memories.
I wonder if this vet is doing something sketchy too.
It really depends on where you live. In my area cats and dogs are shipped in from other parts of the country. So most pets will get adopted.
The vets also know their clients, and who has successfully dealt with certain illnesses in the past.
Have a cat with a difficult to manage illness and vets will start offering you their medical twins.
Surrendering your cat so it can get the surgery or any pet is standard practice honestly, why I don't know but I think it's because if you don't have money they can't watch the cat die you can lose your vet licence for not treating an animal if it's an emergency, it doesn't make sense but I think it is the general consensus by vets that if you can't afford the bills you shouldnt have them unfortunately money is tight for everyone now so it's not fair
Not the case! Vets are not monsters. In cases like this, there is usually another party lined up who has offered to pay before the option is even presented to the owner.
What would generally happen is someone who works for the vet or a rescue they work with would take ownership of the pet and pay for treatment. If it's an employee, they would then keep the pet, a rescue would adopt it out. If the original owner tried to reclaim the pet from a rescue, they would absolutely make them pay the full amount.
can confirm, oftentimes it’s us technicians who will pay out of our own pockets for your pet to have its lifesaving surgery.. then we adopt it ourselves or find it a home.. (with our discount which in the US has to be 20% or less or it’s taxable income)
It's not that they don't charge after surrender, they find someone ASAP to adopt the animal or a rescue to take him in who then has to pay for it. They will do the bare minimum to keep the animal alive until they find someone willing to pay, and if they can't the animal will be euthanized if they're that sick.
I work in vet med. Many vets don't do payment plans because most people would not pay them. It sucks that so many people are in need, but on the flipside we have many clients who argue over a $10 medication or a $100 possibly life-saving lab work but come to their appointment in their Porsche holding a coach purse. These are the type of people that make vets not do payment plans. One bad apple spoils the bunch unfortunately.
A vet in my area is also a registered charity. So people can donate for them to treat homeless pets.
SPCA does this, too. But I don’t think SPCA suggests people to give up their pets. I also don’t think their staff adopts the pets.
But indeed very unusual. It’s also unusual to do surgery before trying diet change.
Hi I work in animal ER -15 years. If an employee adopts the cat we too have to still pay for the procedure. Likely with a discount & we typically do not have to pay right away (Perk of working in animal medicine). If the pet gets placed in a shelter or rescue - they pay the balance. The balance doesn’t magically disappear. We cannot just do payment plans for every unaffording owner. Especially for procedures. Most of the time they don’t get paid and we’re stuck with wasted supplies/time and unpaid balances. Hope this helps.
Bc op surrendered the cat they legally willingly gave up any rights to information about the animal. So they cannot call to confirm anything. They will likely get no info as animals fall under HIPPA and the animal is no longer theirs to receive updates for.
Edit I guess let me rephrase- vets FOLLOW HIPPA laws to protect animals and their families. They are still doctors writing legal documents and follow HIPPA laws to protect our patients. Regardless of what google says, this is pretty standard for almost all animal hospitals.
It is not uncommon that a clinic will *occasionally*, on very rare occasions, offer surrender as an option. We want to save the animal. We aren't just a bunch of money hungry monsters, as we are usually portrayed. Yeah, we end up doing a free surgery. Almost always, a staff member takes the pet in. At my current clinic, we also partner with several rescues, and usually we'll work to get the rescue to take the animal. They do end up paying us for the procedure (though they often are on special discounts). Or we will urge the client to surrender to the humane society, if it's one where the pet will get the surgery they need. We aren't trying to hurt anyone, we are just trying to give an option other than death of an animal that could survive and go on to live a good life. Would you rather the pet just be euthanized, when it has a very fixable issue?
We wouldn't just give the pet back to the owner because that's a *lot* of money we just lost. We start doing free surgeries for people and suddenly we're out of business. Now we have probably dozens of staff out of work and you no longer have a vet to go to, along with probably thousands of other clients. At my clinic, that's 15 vets and over 130 staff with tens of thousands of clients. You want to cost that many people their jobs and veterinary support? And there is a lot more that goes into the offer and the whole sutuation. It is *extremely* complicated, and no, you're not going to understand it from a random Reddit post. And no, I am not about to try to argue it with you, so don't bother coming at me. This is all I have to say.
I’m gonna apologize in advance if any of the following sounds harsh, but it’s to give a different point of view. When you adopt an animal, you’re responsible for its well being. This includes medical bills, which range on the low end for routine checkups to the high end, being procedures. $5k is a lot of money. But if that’s what it takes to get your baby healthy, then that’s part of the deal. If you go to a vet, and display that you can’t financially support your cat, why should they let you take it back home? What happens if there’s another medical emergency that will cost more money? They have a business to run and can’t support themselves by doing free work.
They likely partner with one, maybe a few, rescue agencies who can help with adoptions and can possibly help cover the medical bill. So yes, in the short term, the vet loses out on money, but by taking the animal a) they give it the care it needs and b) they can give it a chance to be adopted by someone who can better financially support them.
OP, I know it’s heart-wrenching, and my heart breaks for you. But you did the absolute right thing by getting your baby the care it needs. You’ve given the hardest kind of love, in that by saving your fur baby’s life you had to say goodbye.
Of course you did the best thing you could do but this sort of thing about how this country works irritates the crap out of me. So hear me out.... your cat is getting the surgery anyway. It just won't be you he lives with anymore. It will be someone at the vet who's surgery was too expensive for you to pay for. How is this just? They were going to do the surgery because it was the humane thing to do. Having him live with the person who's cared for him all of his life was the best choice for the cat IMHO.
I'm really sorry you had to go through this and wish your buddy could have stayed with you after everything was said and done.
You're right. It doesn't seem just at all. I hope that the OP can work out an interest-free payment plan and get a discount on the services.
From the vets perspective, they would be overwhelmed with people claiming they can't pay. Nobody likes expensive vet bills and many would absolutely take advantage if possible. They have to pay their overhead, student debt, liability insurance and employees.
I used to volunteer at a non profit medical clinic. Over time, I observed more than half of our clients were driving nice cars, had the latest iPhones, went on vacations and complained about their cable TV. I had a very used car, old flip phone and couldn't afford a vacation or cable TV. I stopped volunteering because of this. I found a way to serve the clients who I already knew to be legitimately in need. If only all people were honest.
Yep, very true.
hospitals make major bank by grossly overcharging insurance. They can absorb losses on the uninsured.
My friend recently got a sinus surgery. Simple outpatient procedure. ENT estimated $4,500. Hospital estimated $130,000. Her insurance would have paid either.
Veterinary clinics are often individually owned. They don't have a massive influx of insurance payments.
But in cases like this, it would be great if each had a charitable fund to help.
I'm not saying the vet will wait days or weeks for someone to agree. As OP said, usually someone within the clinic steps up. If not they start reaching out to local rescues to see if anyone can take an emergency medical case.
It doesn't seem like it makes sense to have the pet stay with an owner that clearly doesn't have enough funds to support it's medical needs? It's not just the surgery that requires money. After care, rechecks, reoccurrence, complications it all costs money.
Stop it. Plenty of people love and care for animals but don't have 5k to spend all at once without notice.
He didn't surrender the cat over a $500 vet bill. I'd bet most pet owners would be thrown off by that large of a bill and it doesn't mean they shouldn't have pets.
Yeah it makes no sense to me. If anything if I was the vet I’d give that option to see how much Op cares about the cat and if they choose it do the surgery for free and give it back.
Hard choice that I wouldn’t want to have to make. Vets can be very expensive. Look into vet insurance for cats. Having a cat means saving up money for medical emergencies as well.
This is why I don't have a cat and instead have multiple cat pictures all over the place.
Everyone says I should get a cat since I love them, but respond I can't afford the cost that comes along with a pet. I wouldn't have the funds available at the first emergency that comes up.
My parents just spent over $10k shrinking a stomach tumor in their 13 y/o Maine Coon. They can afford that, I can't.
I'd feel bad if the cat had to be put down because I can't afford the treatment needed to save their life.
Good for you for being responsible and prioritizing the well-being of animals over your own happiness. You will be a loving pet owner someday for a lucky cat!
Some credit cards have a no interest option to pay off a charge over time, making automatic payments, you might look into that. I’m with Chase and they’ll do at least 4 equal payments. Hope you can figure something out.
I feel like if there was a payment plan, they would’ve mentioned it. When I went to the urgent care vet recently, they spent most of their time trying to get me to commit to spending money.
If their concern is that you will "harass" a prospective adopter then you should be allowed to see your buddy before he is adopted out🤔he might want to see you too.
Look into Scratchpay and Care Credit. Those are usually the “payment plans” that you can *typically* do. But like another person said, insurance. Trupanion is pretty common.
I am so sorry you had to make this decision. Keep communicating with the vet about your baby. Ask them if you qualify for one of the two things, if it can be applied to his account and you can take your baby back home when everything is better.
Honestly I haven’t seen anyone else suggest this but what I would do is have someone you know who’s close with you go up to the shelter to “adopt” a cat and have them look for your boy and adopt him and give him back to you. So the shelter won’t know/ think he’s going back to you. So sorry your going thru this.
The adopter was most likely a staff member that worked there and paid for the surgery to adopt the cat. Unless they have a friend who wants to fork over 5k as a gift, it isn't going to happen.
You did the right thing by putting his needs & wellbeing over your own desires. I know it hurts & is incredibly hard, but thank you.
My loved one is about to have to surrender several animals - at least one dog & half a dozen cats, possibly several farm animals as well - because they kept putting their emotional needs first, wouldn’t acknowledge that they could not provide adequate care for them, & the home has become dangerous. It’s heartbreaking, but I’m so relieved for the animals.
Nothing malevolent - they are simply unable to care for it. One dog (high-energy, untrained stray she took in) has repeatedly dug or chewed holes through the floor / walls & broken windows barking at strangers. They can’t keep up with the pet waste, struggle to buy enough food, & haven’t gotten them standard veterinary care but keep bringing in more animals. We’ve staged an intervention & are getting everyone into healthier environments.
I abandoned my boy…. Those words hurt so much. I’m praying that either you have found option 4 or that you are coming to peace with your decision. Clearly there is a lot of love and understanding here.
Vet tech here. PU surgey is not usually the first choice of treatment for cats on their first or second time of blockage, it is offered if the cat is chronically blocked over and over, and with good client compliance (hydration, on a prescription diet, etc).
However since I don't have information or history of the patient, they may have their reasons why it is offered.
Both options were given to me at the same time, I didn't want to run the risk of paying $1800 for a procedure that has a high risk of reoccurring in the future. It was traumatic for him, It didn't sit well with me. I wanted the best option for him not to have this happen again. He was treated very well by us and was healthy up until all this mess happened.
My boy had a blockage, I had to pay to get him unblocked and now he’s on a prescription diet and doing great. It’s very common, pu is only done if other options don’t work, not as a first option. I’m shocked they offered that first.
Option 2 would be far better and he can go on a special diet to prevent it happening again. Happened to my boy and he's been fine with a controlled diet since. Try get him back and finance the bill.
OP please so many good suggestions here. Please get your cat back. u/snazzydingo look into option 2 and insurance if he is eligible. It will help a lot in case of future blockages.
You can get interest free credit card for medical expenses related to pets using this card. I have one and used it when we had to do dental surgery for our cat. I had like 2 years to pay it off interest free.
https://www.carecredit.com/howcarecreditworks/prospective/
Care Credit has saved mine, and my pets, arse many times over the years! I paid off the first balance in monthly payments, then used it on a sporadic basis (just to keep it active) for flea meds, or a check up etc, paid it off again without taking the full time, etc etc. I'm glad I did because the last time it was *needed* (recently) I needed a substantial limit increase and got approved in less than 5 minutes
I had to surrender a kitten at one time. To the vet it broke my heart but it was necessary as I didn’t have money to fix him. His mama slashed his belly open. He lived and staff adopted him.
I adopted a cat with similar needs a long time ago and those surgeries don't always work. He basically had a sex change to make his urethra bigger. They may work for a few years but often times scar tissue will build up and if they don't drink enough water and eat a fancy diet they'll just keep needing a catheter to open it back up.
He lived for a few more good healthy years, but then the complications started to come back again. Usually the vet would be able to open them back up but it would cost a lot of money. Our vet would give us discounts because their interns had never seen the operation before because it doesn't usually get performed due to the expense (this was early to mid 2000s I don't know how it is now) eventually he started to get some kidney failure in the damage was done. But we gave him a good life
He was a big white half Persian who also lost the tip of his ears due to skin cancer.
Hey it was very loving and totally worth it, but we didn't pay for the initial surgery we adopted him after it was done.
https://preview.redd.it/e21cn11zlcbd1.jpeg?width=604&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=033af45b848530f42022fc77a8636939d7f86de0
My former, still greatly missed, kitty had that surgery years ago. You're right, it is a "urinary sex change" lol The price was $700.00 back then. He had the surgery when he was 4 and lived to be 21 with no other issues. Our vet told us to look for food with low ash(I think) content since that's a big cause of blockages.
Mine was a rescue that had a lot of other health issues as well as the urinary tract. They had to remove the tips of his ears because he had cancer as well but he was the best boy ever. Whenever we brought him in the interns love to give him a look over because it wasn't a procedure you saw very often back then
They told us to feed him hill science diet prescription for urinary tract which was expensive as hell and then he still kept having problems. This could have been because he insisted on going outside?
There was a fountain in our yard that he loved he would sit by it for hours. He would also love to be out there to greet us when we got home.
My heart hurts for you. My 1 year old cat had the same thing happen; we tried option 2, then ended up doing option 1 anyways. The fact that you loved him enough to give him the best chance possible-even if it wasn’t with you-says amazing things about who you are as a person. I know it hurts but he is healthy and safe and alive and loved because of you.
You can use a company that can give you a credit card for just medical expenses and vet. It called care card. I had to get one for my cat when she got sick.
Think of it this way: your beloved cat gets the surgery and a life. We once, long ago, had to put our cat to sleep because we just couldn't scrape up the money for this surgery and the only other option was to let him die in agony because he wasn't going to make it to Monday and a more affordable vet (it was a Saturday night at the ONLY emergency vet around). What a wonderful vet to give you, and him!, this option. I'm so sorry he couldn't live out his life with you. This was a difficult choice and you made the best one you could. The right one.
I'd call the vet asap and see if you can apply for care credit. If paid off in a certain amount of time, there is no interest. And with care credit, you can use it on yourself and other animals if you or others ever need medical treatment
Edit to add:
pu surgery healing process can be very hard and can come with complications. If you get your baby back, I'd suggest going online to
https://thecatsite.com/
And make an account it is free. You only have to have an account to comment and post. It is an amazing community with amazing people. If you don't want to comment or post, you can also look up pu surgery, and it will pull past conversations on the subject. The pictures can be a little brutal, but you will see if they had issues what helped. What others have offered and such..
It's okay. Our vet growing up was a family friend and she took in several animals that were surrendered. They are going to be okay and they're going to be loved. I'm sorry for your loss, though, even if the cat survived, you'll still be missing him dearly.
I'm so sorry to hear this. There may be a new alternative treatment!
My boy had a blockage, he was unblocked via catheter, and had his bladder cut open to remove stones. We put him on SO Index dry food but honestly we didn't really do a good job sticking to it. He also go a lot of regular wet food because our vet said wet food is less likely to cause stones to form.
Less than a year later he had a blockage again, there were no stones, it was mucus/debris/swelling, we unblocked him with a catheter. He's now on a full Royal Canin SO kidney diet wet food. It's been about 1-2 months, we're actually going in for a checkup tomorrow.
We were also told of a new procedure available, using a 1 time radiation treatment that early evidence is showing has a high likelihood of preventing blockages in the future. Last i checked the study had not yet been published, so I'm holding off until after the study results are out to consider this. But worth being aware of as an alternative to PU surgery. Of course i'd still consider it experimental at this stage, despite the very promising early clinical trial results.
https://news.cvm.ncsu.edu/studys-cystitis-remedy-so-effective-that-nc-state-ready-to-offer-treatment-to-cats/
This is why i'm a firm believer in pet insurance. Pet Insurance has it's issues, in a pets old age it can become unaffordable due to rate increases, but for a younger pet, it's a life saver if you need it. Don't feel bad abolut not having insurance, you didn't know! but it's something to consider for the future. Insurance doesn't cover pre-existing sadly.
I'm not the OP, but this is really interesting and helpful btw - thank you for the link. I will be asking my vet about this in case my cat's blockage happens again.
Also wish I'd had pet insurance. I almost signed up for it like 6 months ago and I'm kicking myself now after a huge emergency bill and upcoming bladder stone surgery.
How did your cat do with the bladder surgery to remove the stone(s)? The emergency vet hospital where my cat is staying right now just told me today he needs this - and they said it would be an additional $3000-$4000, on top of the $2600 I had to pay yesterday.
They suggested that I bring him to our usual vet for the surgery, as it will be cheaper and they're close by. We're scheduled for tomorrow AM.
I'm super nervous about having our regular vet do it because they said on the phone they don't do the surgery often. The ER vet said any regular vet who is competent should be fine to do the surgery. I just can't imagine spending another $3-4K right now. These decisions are so hard.
He did fine with the surgery. The hardest thing was keeping him in isolation for recovery, and him being a menace with the cone. He couldn't eat well, we tried elevated food bowls and all sorts of stuff, But we just wound up with food all over the floor. He'd also knock his water bowl over repeatedly which in turn messed up the ceiling in the room below. I'd say don't hesitate to give him the pain medication a little bit longer than necessary rather than stopping it earlier than necessary.
That's a really hard choice. We had it done at the ER but having had pet insurance cost wasn't really a concern. At the end of the day it's a hard decision and you just have to do what you think is best and sometimes there's a financial consideration to that. I guess my question would be, sure your regular vet doesn't do the surgery often but how confident does your regular vet feel? I trust my vet if he said, I don't do this too often, but it's an easy procedure, I wouldn't worry.
Hydration is key. Now that your on the Royal Canin S/O diet you should see things level out. It tends to keep blockages away. Just don’t stop it.
I asked a couple vets about crystals and blockages and their first defence is always increased water intake. The food your cat is on will actually make them more thirsty, in addition it has certain minerals that impact the PH of your cats urine and also prevent irritation of the bladder wall/ crystal formation. In the absence of clinical signs of a blockage or irritation of the bladder (mucus/ shedding of the lining). Than hydration and enrichment to lower stress and provide more contentment in your cats life can be beneficial. Feliway plug ins can help too.
I am hopeful with this diet you are on, with encouraged water intake (water fountains for example), engagement/ play/ enrichment and low stress environments your cat with thrive without having to have another surgery or radiation. It’s more likely your cat will do well than not. Best wishes.
So happy you're holding off on the experimental radiation treatment. ❤️ Please do not ever allow them to use radiation on your precious boy. Radiation causes cancer. It's not worth it. It's important to find the cause of the symptom and remove the cause rather than just treat symptoms. Symptoms are the body's warning light that something is wrong and the root cause must be determined. Remove the cause and the body recovers / heals.
I would have gotten a second opinion.
My Shadow had the exact issue yours had. I opted for the unblocking. He's on meds and it could happen but if you use a urinary diet (Hills or similar) alongside a relatively inexpensive drug the vet can prescribe, your cat should thrive and live a normal life span.
Even if you cannot get your cat back, you made a decision to gove him the chance to live a wonderful life. Its very clear you love him he will know this and if you cannot get him back then i hope he always knows love. Good luck, this was not an easy decision
The comments have given you wonderful advice. May you find the answer you seek.
What a strange thing for the Vet to offer…. “Your cat can live but we’ll take him.” What a weird option especially to a pet owner under duress. I pray that you can somehow get the cat back - payment plan, etc or whatever. Have you reached out again?
To me it basically seems like you were coerced into a corner to give up your cat.
I worked at a vet; what most likely happened here is that they already had an adopter lined up and offering to pay for the surgery if the owner couldn't afford it.
CreditCare allows you to take out credit for vet care. It's a decent option when you are stuck in a tight spot. I would suggest squirreling away money from this point forward with a goal of $1k-$2k for vet emergencies. This amount with the credit card would have covered you and for multiple cat households it's a necessity.
I had to surrender our dog once. My husband and I each got new jobs where we were going to have to be in the office 5 days a week and my daughter was going to after-school care instead of staying home with her grandma after school. She was a Lab Pit mix and was not fully housebroken and she would jump our fences if not supervised when outside. If she stayed with us she would have to be in a crate for 8 hours a day 5 days a week. We couldn't do that to her. She needed to be with people and needed lots of exercise. So we reached out to a rescue and gave her to them. It was very hard and I still miss her a lot. I know she will never understand why she left us and that hurts. I take solace in the fact that she has a new family that can give her what she needs and I was able to give her that chance.
same thing happened to me in February . Thankfully I was able to get him back from the shelter . He hasn’t gotten the PU surgery yet bc I’m still saving up but with the c/d + hydra care and lots of water and anxiety meds . He’s hanging on and hasn’t blocked since .
Please dont feel guilty. You gave your cat the best chance and he will be loved by his new family. I have taken in few pets that owners have surrendered and I give them the best life possible. Pic of one of the guys I've taken in.
https://preview.redd.it/a5utv5q7xdbd1.jpeg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aeb6133c7810e2cb0e175df17ff1a48ba5c70945
I’m so sorry dear. I had to surrender my first cat during some big life transitions that left me broke about a decade ago. Still think about her to this day… guilt, shame, plus I miss her she was such a good kitty. It was the right thing to do though and she’s lived a life of love since then. You did the right thing.
I went through the exact same thing two months ago. My 3 yo boy was blocked and there was no way I could afford his treatment. I was unemployed at the time, so even a payment plan wouldn’t work for me. The only other option was to give him up. It meant the clinic would pay for the treatment and they’d make sure he’s going to a nice family who can afford to treat his condition. It was heartbreaking to give him up, especially since I got him together with his sister because they were inseparable and this would mean they’d both lose their best buddy. It was very sad, but it felt right. This way he gets to live and he’s getting the treatment he needs. I cried my eyes out and urged them over and over to take care of him. I immediately got insurance for my other cat.
It’s heartbreaking, but you I think you did the right thing for him. It’s messed up how expensive medical bills can be. You gave him all your love and care and now you chose what’s best for him, even if that means making a sacrifice. I hope you can look back on the good times and all the cuddles you had. ❤️
It's not as if they're doing the surgery for free so long as OP surrenders the cat. Usually the surgery isn't performed until they find an adopter who agrees to take on the bill.
If you have pretty good credit, ask the vet if they accept the Care Credit card, then apply for it. A lot of vets have applications in their offices. The card allows you to pay the balance off over a period of time without interest, and can be used for other medical needs. My German Shepherd needed hernia surgery, and it was a life saver. It's too late for you now, but I also had insurance on him, and used the payments from them to put towards the balance.
Lots of places have financing available for bigger costs like this. Look into that. I can't imagine the stress the cat will be going through with surgery and then not seeing its owner again and being moved to a new home.
I am so sorry - this is terrible and so sad to read.
My cat is at an emergency vet hospital right now with the same issue.
I'm wondering why they jumped straight to the PU surgery as option #1? Is this the cat's first blockage, or has it happened before? Why did they think he was high risk for recurring blockage? Might be a valid reason, but they also could have been wrong.
The vet who told me our options yesterday said that PU surgery would not be the first line of treatment, but mentioned it as sometimes being necessary in the future.
His plan, which we went with, was to unblock, place a catheter, xget rays, urine culture, blood work. They're keeping him on IV fluids and pain meds. Monitoring his creatinine and BUN to assess his kidneys (doing really well as of this afternoon, came down into the normal range.)
He estimated a two night stay and usual treatment would run $2600 total on the low end, $3800 on the high end. (This has increased as of today because they found a bladder stone and now he needs surgery to remove that - they said it would be an extra $3-4K - but we're having it done at our regular vet's office tomorrow AM because it will be much cheaper).
I had to pay the full low end quote yesterday and I used CareCredit. Many vets take CareCredit, but check on their website to see if your vet hospital participates. The promotional terms vary by facility too. My vet had a plan with 0% interest as long as it's paid in full in 6 months (beyond that, it jumps to a crazy rate of 32%, so always read the paperwork).
Is it possible to get the cat back at this point if you can arrange financing?! I would call them immediately and try to figure out what other options you might have.
I'm so sorry you're going through this.
I am so sorry you were put in that situation, my heart hurts for you. What you did is incredibly admirable, your selfless act gave him a longer life.
I’m not sure if this is an option for you, but I want to try to help you. Have you ever heard of Care Credit? It’s a credit card for pet bills. They usually have an introductory 0% interest rate. Maybe you could get that and buy yourself some time to save up? Or treat it like a payment plan? I’m sure there’s lots of other credit cards that have 0% apr at the beginning too.
Praying for you
This cat will need to be on prescription medication and food, which will become costly. You did the best thing. As a dog trainer, I see this often when people do not research breeds and get dogs they can't afford grooming or meds for and then abandon them or dump them at shelters.
If you can't afford the true cost of owning a pet responsibly, please do not get another one.
Honestly my 5 year old had it last November and I paid 2300 for him to get the blockage out. He then all of a sudden had another come on 6 weeks ago and his bladder burst and he had to be put down. It still hurts and my other cat is also having a hard time. So I know your pain
The most loving thing you can do for somebody who matters to you is what is best for them even if it means cutting yourself out of their life.
I know it hurts like anything to part with your sweet boy, but you put his health above your own emotions. He may never understand but he will *always* have been saved by you.
On his behalf, thank you for choosing your pain over his.
I had a female with the same issue and her surgery was $800, $5,000 seems a bit steep. I’ve kept her on wet food only since, no special vet diet stuff. I hope you can somehow adopt him back, have you tried applying for care credit, or even starting a gofundme? I would tell the vet you made your decision under duress and have had some time to process everything and come up with a plan. Good luck!
It may be too late if they already did the surgery but call around about the cost of the surgery elsewhere. If it’s a vet ER that’s quoting that price they are notorious about being a lot more than a standard clinic for procedures a regular practice can handle.
Yes. My father wanted to put our cat down because it was eliminating outside of the litterbox (and he refused to take any of my other 8 million suggestions). I obviously threw a fit and told him that if he was going to do that, he had to have a vet come to the house to do it.
The vet came, but she refused to do it, because the cat was healthy. Dad stormed off like the emotionally stunted toddler he is. The vet told me she would be willing to take the cat, and I jumped at it, because I knew dad would just find someone else to murder the cat.
And that's (one of the reasons) why, if my father gets sick, old, and inconvenient, he's going to have to figure it out himself. I'm not lifting a finger or giving him a penny.
*the cat had early stage kidney issues. Didn't even need medication get. He wasn't super old. There was nothing wrong with the cat.
I wish there were more options. You can provide a loving and stable home, you just can’t afford the treatment. This shouldn’t be a reason to surrender, but I get it both ways. So sorry you had to make this decision.
I think it's terrible that vets make somebody choose between medical care cat and giving thier furbaby up when they really do care about their cat and the cat cares for them. It's not like you were not taking care of the cat or mistreating it so it bothers me that that's not more willing to work with people as far as the financial end of things to help them retain their pets because pets are like family members. You wouldn't take a child away from someone because they couldn't afford a surgery.. with humans you help them raise money to afford the surgery or you give them options to pay it off. You don't just take the child away from people for something like that so why they do this with pets really bothers me...
It's not like rehoming the cat is benefiting the cat in this scenario .If the vet can afford to do the surgery and give it to someone else why can't they just offer to help with the surgery at a discount and give the cat back to you?
Vets need to do better in terms of helping their clients keep their families together.
The person who would end up adopting the animal would incur the hospital bill upon adoption. They won't do surgery until they have someone who can pay for it.
People in vet med are already underpaid enough as it is. They can't afford to do surgeries at a discount for every person who claims to have financial struggles, as unfortunately that is many if not most pet owners.
Vets do not need to do better. Vets are not causing this problem. Vets are literally killing themselves at rates 3x the rate of the average population because they are dealing with accusations like this on top of doing their extremely stressful jobs, which they are not well-compensated for at all, regardless of what people seem to think. What most likely happened here is that some other party heard about the situation and offered to adopt the cat and pay for the surgery. It is not suddenly becoming a free surgery.
There are programs and safety nets in place for human children. There are not for pets. Vets do not have the resources to subsidize pet care.
What do you want vets to do? The surgeries aren't free and it costs a ton to become a vet. People shouldn't get pets if they cannot afford to care for them.
What a childishly misplaced comment.
Vets are a business practice and not a charity. Why should the vets do things for cheap? Vets should work for the same amount as someone flipping burgers? Why bother training to be a vet for years just so you can work minimum wage?
I had a cat had the same problem. It is caused by too much magnesium in certain cat foods. Usually after surgery they are on a special food and cooked chicken, rice, etc. hope you can find a way to get your baby back. Maybe you could have someone go adopt her and pay them back.
Oh my gosh. My heart is breaking for you. I hope you find some peace and comfort. Your baby is being taken care of and you made the best decision you could.
I never heard of that 3rd option from where im from..First time I heard this. Normally the 3rd choice is euthanasia here in Canada. Im heartbroken for you, its for sure better than euthanasia but I think I would struggle mightily from that decision too.
If he has a chance to live a healthy life again, your choice wasnt so bad my reddit friend
Note : like some said, try calling to know if you could re-adopt him or maybe if you can afford a 24-36 months loan it could be a solution 😬
I'm so sorry. I can't even imagine. We're facing having to rehome a kitten we've only had for 2 weeks (looooong story involving stray kittens, an unsafe environmentin which they couldn't remain and Felv) and I'm devastated and praying for confimation labwork to be (unlikely) good news.
I can't imagine how you must feel after 5 years. I hope you can figure out a way to get him back.
So long as the cats are on a prescription urinary diet, reoccurance is extremely low. However after the initial treatment it's not uncommon for them to partially block again after a week requiring additional treatment. Once you get past that and they are on urinary prescription food, they are usually fine going forward.
Please don’t give up on your cat. There are still ways for you to keep your family. Don’t let money take that away from you. Start a gofund me. I’m sure there are also websites and programs that will help pay for the costs and or set up payments arrangements!!
If you can please call the vet and talk to them, they might be able to help you figure out a way to pay that vet bill and get your baby back, if you can't ask if you could see home one more time and bring his favorite toy, it will help him adjust to a new home, talk to him, cats understand more than you think, give that baby all the love you can
Thank you for being so responsible for your cat, noticing when he wasn't feeling well, bringing him to the vet right away, staying strong for him throughout all of this and making the decision for him to have the perineal urethrostomy. You did the right thing for him to advocate his medical needs and choosing the perineal urethrostomy over the other option with the catheter because although it was financially less it would have been more likely he would experience another blockage. You advocated and made the decision to give your cat a better quality of life and I wanted to say thank you for doing so. I can't imagine how stressful all of this has been for you, and the feelings you have been experiencing throughout this. I don't have the words to make you feel better, although I wish I did. I also wish I knew of any other options that could have made a difference to allow you a payment plan. What you did was so strong of you and you deserve good things OP. I wish more cat owners, especially of male cats were like yourself and knew the signs and symptoms to look out for and to promptly get treatment.
FWIW: In my experience (as a VetTech student & volunteer in rescue) what the CVT told you is right, I've seen this happen IRL and not only the VeTMed staff but sometimes admin/clerical staff too. I don't know if that is consoling or not, but do know in my experience, the surrendered animals who are immediately adopted by staff, get treated very well and receive the best veterinary care.
My cat lived to be almost 22. But he had one blockage at age 2, and a second one between ages 3-4. Both times, the vet unblocked him. The second time was in 2005 and all it cost me was the $300 for the emergency vet on night shift. Then we put him on Royal Canin SO for the rest of his life and literally NEVER had another blockage. Now, even if the price of clearing a blockage on an emergency basis had more than doubled, $1800 seems much too high of a price for that service.
Not a kidney issue, but my (now senior) orange boy broke his leg on christmas eve more than 11 years ago (clumsiest cat I ever knew...). Gross: >! His metatarsal bones sticking out of his fur... !
I've never been in this situation but I'd probably try to find out who (later on) adopted your lil boy and make friends with them so that you can still be around him and maybe later on, get him back
My cat has been blocked twice and the surgery is very difficult to get in the UK. But I changed his food to the Costco Kirkland one and he hasn't had an issue since and it's been three years.
I went through the same thing probably 10 years ago. I adopted a cat from the vet that had previously been surrendered for his urinary issues. I wasn't really briefed thoroughly about what his issue could entail. We spent a couple thousand for a couple emergency visits. Then at some point he had a bad episode where we ended up surrendering him. He didn't end up making it though.
Since then I haven't owned my own cat. We have been fostering. I'm just too concerned about something like this happening again. How are normal people supposed to handle emergency pet care that can send you into financial insecurity?
I think you made the right decision even though it hurts.
Is there any way you can come up $5,000 or half of it within a couple weeks? I only ask because maybe your vet would allow you to readopt him if you can repay the surgical bill. I would at least call the vet to get updates and fo know hes okay
My Mom suffered for 5 years, when she could remember what was going on. The last year she stopped getting any nutrition from food no matter how well she ate every bite. She could no longer speak. She got lots of drugs and became a skeleton with an enormous bed sore. Four days before she died her doctor decided her trouble breathing was worse and required she sit on a metal stool, on the bed sore at her tail bone, and took an x-ray. Then he decided she was dying. Her oldest child was her guardian and POA. There are 6 of us born in 3 different decades.
Pets we love do not need to put up with that shit.
I
How terrible to hold someone’s cat hostage like this… either you pay an exorbitant price or your cat potentially belongs to the vets? Poor cat :( I’m sorry you had to do that. I just hope he can have an equally good, loving life with the new owners.
My boy cat got blocked maybe a year and a half ago. He was cathed and has since been on prescription food with 0 issues. Hopefully you can get your cat back.
You made the best decision for your cat. You surrendered the kitty out of love n concern for their well-being. You were selfless. That's genuine love, because your heart hurts w this decision. Animals understand love n our vibrations whether they be happy or sad. But they understand there's no malice intent by your vibration/energy. When you think of kitty you are sending love to them. Take care of yourselves...I understand the loss of a pet. 🥰
Awe man I would have been in a similar situation had it not been for the humain society and another not for profit organization. We could only unblock and do meds and every day I'm on edge watching him making sure it doesn't happen again because If it does I only have one option left. We are on a Royal Canin urinary Saitey because my boy is a big boy at 25 lbs. He mostly gets wet food (royal canin urinary) and stress doesn't help and my 2 babies (almost 1 and almost 4) makes this a high stress environment in our 2 bedroom apartment. Hunting for a larger place but anything could happen between now and then and all I can do is try to make safe and quiet spaces for him. If this doesn't work then I have to find a new home for him :-( it isn't ideal but we do what we can out of love.
I’m so very sorry! This really upsets me. The whole industry is a scam to the extent the veterinary practice is a franchise of big corporate operatives. Most are. And you can be assured THEY don’t give a FUCK about you and your pet is merely a point of emotional leverage for them to exploit. It’s all about laundering their filthy ass money and they truly don’t give a flying rat’s ass about anything else.
I'm sorry friend but they should not have pressured you into the PU surgery. The unblocking is often very successful, but they love to prey on people when they are vulnerable.
My cat had this issue when he was a year old. We did not do surgery nor was it recommended. He’s on a prescription diet now and has not had any issues since. I would have asked for a second opinion tbh.
Does this vet take Care Credit? I’ve used it for my eye surgery, my teeth work. It’s all 0% interest. I know I’ve seen on the pamphlet that you can use for veterinary care. Good luck I’m so so sorry that this has happened to you 😭😢
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Maybe see if you can adopt him back. Offer paying back in installments if that's the condition. You did what was right and anyone intentionally adopting will love the cat.
Our vet frowns on owners adopting them back. Apparently there were enough people doing this just to avoid the surgical bill that they put verbage in the surrender contract.
I understand why they would do that but if op offers to pay for the surgery in installments maybe they might consider it. The regret of giving up the fur baby has to be heart wrenching.
Have a friend adopt him back
Call the vet pronto to see if the cat is still alive and available to you. Many vets work with finance companies to give loans to pay off over a certain number of months. Or charge to a credit card and pay off your own card. Hope you get your baby back. If you do - be prepared to give the cat a prescription diet to avoid future issues. Mine were on Hill's CD for just this reason. Encourage as much water as possible to keep system flushed - water fountains are great for this.
My cat's been on Royal Canin urinary SO for ~14 years and hasn't had another blockage. He's ... food motivated ... so we just mix in 60ccs of water with his dry food and he drinks it all. Last time he went to the vet he was diagnosed as being fat and old, so somehow his kidneys are still going.
Ours, too. He had two blockages in a three-year period and our vet recommended RC Urinary SO. He's been on it 8 years with no blockages -- bladder scans have been clear every time.
Royal Canin makes great food.
Did your cat have kidney problems? If a cat doesn't have kidney problems, is it advisable for them to be on Hill's CD?
My vet told me that within the past 2 years he has been writing prescriptions for C/D for ALL male kittens once they’re neutered-even before they have issues-and he’s seen a drop in blockages in his practice. One of my male cats had PU surgery; other one didn’t have issues, and vet put them both on the urinary food. I would absolutely put any male cat on it asap-but always go by vet advice.
My male cat had a blockage in October last year - I was not given the option of the P.U surgery as its apparently not widely available in the UK yet and VERY expensive (they were talking about 10k with the surgery, and emergency costs etc) So we went with the more expensive option of the other 2 with the idea it would be less lilkly to reoccur which was a fluid flush and the catheter (better than just the medication hoping it would unblock) he's now on Cystaid to ensure its doesnt happen again and Hill's KD - not had any issues since and its been nearly a year. It obviously does make a difference!
If it's any consolation, PU should rarely be the first option. It's a salvage procedure and comes with increased risks of urinary infections. We usually do not offer it until there have been 3 obstructions
It’s a small fortune
talk to your vet. There is KD for kidney problems. There are also veterinary nutrition specialists who can provide guidance ... My cats were on CD for years....then I had to switch them to another food by Royal Canin because my Frankie had pancreatic issues. The vet will know if your other cats can eat the specialized diet. If they can't - there are these new food dishes I've seen that the cat has a transponder for a particular bowl that will feed the special diet only to the cat that has the special collar.
Yes. My cat had this exact issue. I opted for the unblocking. He's on meds, doing well and I was advised to use a urinary care food for the rest of his life. It costs me $70~ a month, food and meds. Small price to pay. The problem is caused by struvites, tiny crystals in the urine. They block the urethra and stop urination which then causes a knock-on effect. The urinary diet reduces struvite production. The prognosis is good with this option. I'd have gotten a second opinion.
c/d is for bladder issues, not indicated for kidney disease
C/D is not for kidney problems. Urinary problems are a different thing.
honestly, a lot of uninary problems can be fixed by a wet food diet. urinary dry food only helps so much.
Agree, I put mine on all wet after her surgery and she’s been good since, the dry food was creating the problem.
mine had a urinary blockage and UTI once. was small enough that he could pass it on his own, so he was just put on some muscle relaxants for his bladder and antibiotics for a week or so. he has been on Hill's C/D since then with no issue and does not have any kidney issues. the urinary Hill's line just has ingredients in it to stop blockages from forming iirc
Our cat is on Hill’s c/d. He had multiple blockages and we did the PU surgery. He is still on the Hill’s c/d food for life. He hasn’t had a blockage since the surgery, thank goodness. He just turned 2 years old.
Let’s clarify. Most vets do NOT offer loans. It’s on the owner to get one through a service like care credit or scratch pay.
I think the best for the cat is stay with someone that can afford any vet bill and the food he might need
There is a lot here that doesn't really make sense to me. Is it the policy of this vet that if the pet owner can't afford the recommended procedure that they will do the procedure for no charge but you have to surrender your pet? So now they won't get paid anything and they have a homeless pet on their hands? I don't get it. If you approached them now and said you wanted your cat back why wouldn't they give it back? Obviously you cared enough to take your cat to the vet in the first place. Do they think you're not a responsible pet owner? If I were in your shoes I would confirm they did the procedure and then do whatever I needed to do in order to him back. Payment plans, negotiate something less than 5k? I don't get it. If the vet did the procedure then he has already incurred the cost plus now he has to find a home for this cat. Please let us know how this turns out.
I'm pretty confused about this as well, they did not disclose to me who will be paying for the surgery. So I'm just left wondering, but they did tell me the procedure was done and he is doing great. I got the feeling they didn't want to tell me too much information so I wouldn't try to adopt him again.
Can you ask them what it will take to get your cat back? Maybe start a discussion?
That is the plan as of now. They are closed for today though.
Please give us an update 🙏
Good luck I hope things work out for you and your kitty.
Talk to them. Surrender is a thing… i found an injured cat, took it in and the only way they would treat it without me paying was If I surrendered it… but it wasn’t MY cat so it lay there in agony while i tried to call the number on the tag, to get permission to “surrender” i finally surrendered it anyway, they did X-ray and said it needed to be put down. Why TF didn’t they address the animals needs first and not waste time making me find the owner?
They can't tell you much, they can only release information to the registered owner. If it was an employee who took ownership they definitely aren't going to tell you because they don't want you potentially harassing them.
Right, I figured so. It just sucks okay.
Ask anyway. Money talks
Maybe if you said you could pay the $1800 but just couldn’t afford the $5000 and felt pressured in the moment (or another amount) and you love the cat so much. It is a bit confusing. (Why can’t they just give you financial assistance? Vets are weird.) Good luck!
Is it possible you send a friend or a family member they don't know to ask if they have cats to adopt? It might be more complicated than this, otherwise all the people that can't afford would do this...
\^\^\^ This post - the OP makes no sense. Rescues can't find people to adopt cats, the vet is going to treat a sick one then give it to someone else? Who? Where do all these cats go? I am very suspicious.
I had this happen to me as a kid and my parents couldn’t afford an emergency vet bill and I had no way to help my cat. They were going to send my cat to the veterinary school to be some sort of experimental animal after the surgery. He was not going to be adopted out. My parents elected to put him to sleep and it’s one of my worst memories. I wonder if this vet is doing something sketchy too.
I’m so sorry. What a hard memory to have. Your cat was so loved by you clearly and that matters.
Thank you so much for your kind words
It really depends on where you live. In my area cats and dogs are shipped in from other parts of the country. So most pets will get adopted. The vets also know their clients, and who has successfully dealt with certain illnesses in the past. Have a cat with a difficult to manage illness and vets will start offering you their medical twins.
Surrendering your cat so it can get the surgery or any pet is standard practice honestly, why I don't know but I think it's because if you don't have money they can't watch the cat die you can lose your vet licence for not treating an animal if it's an emergency, it doesn't make sense but I think it is the general consensus by vets that if you can't afford the bills you shouldnt have them unfortunately money is tight for everyone now so it's not fair
Not the case! Vets are not monsters. In cases like this, there is usually another party lined up who has offered to pay before the option is even presented to the owner.
.. Fosters. Did you forget a lot of shelters have ppl.who foster that are available and donate money and work with the shelters..
What would generally happen is someone who works for the vet or a rescue they work with would take ownership of the pet and pay for treatment. If it's an employee, they would then keep the pet, a rescue would adopt it out. If the original owner tried to reclaim the pet from a rescue, they would absolutely make them pay the full amount.
can confirm, oftentimes it’s us technicians who will pay out of our own pockets for your pet to have its lifesaving surgery.. then we adopt it ourselves or find it a home.. (with our discount which in the US has to be 20% or less or it’s taxable income)
It's not that they don't charge after surrender, they find someone ASAP to adopt the animal or a rescue to take him in who then has to pay for it. They will do the bare minimum to keep the animal alive until they find someone willing to pay, and if they can't the animal will be euthanized if they're that sick. I work in vet med. Many vets don't do payment plans because most people would not pay them. It sucks that so many people are in need, but on the flipside we have many clients who argue over a $10 medication or a $100 possibly life-saving lab work but come to their appointment in their Porsche holding a coach purse. These are the type of people that make vets not do payment plans. One bad apple spoils the bunch unfortunately.
A vet in my area is also a registered charity. So people can donate for them to treat homeless pets. SPCA does this, too. But I don’t think SPCA suggests people to give up their pets. I also don’t think their staff adopts the pets. But indeed very unusual. It’s also unusual to do surgery before trying diet change.
It's not no charge. They charge the person adopting the pet. Often time they get rescues to step in to help the pet.
Hi I work in animal ER -15 years. If an employee adopts the cat we too have to still pay for the procedure. Likely with a discount & we typically do not have to pay right away (Perk of working in animal medicine). If the pet gets placed in a shelter or rescue - they pay the balance. The balance doesn’t magically disappear. We cannot just do payment plans for every unaffording owner. Especially for procedures. Most of the time they don’t get paid and we’re stuck with wasted supplies/time and unpaid balances. Hope this helps. Bc op surrendered the cat they legally willingly gave up any rights to information about the animal. So they cannot call to confirm anything. They will likely get no info as animals fall under HIPPA and the animal is no longer theirs to receive updates for. Edit I guess let me rephrase- vets FOLLOW HIPPA laws to protect animals and their families. They are still doctors writing legal documents and follow HIPPA laws to protect our patients. Regardless of what google says, this is pretty standard for almost all animal hospitals.
The vet will not recommend euthanasia. The vet does nothing for free.
It is not uncommon that a clinic will *occasionally*, on very rare occasions, offer surrender as an option. We want to save the animal. We aren't just a bunch of money hungry monsters, as we are usually portrayed. Yeah, we end up doing a free surgery. Almost always, a staff member takes the pet in. At my current clinic, we also partner with several rescues, and usually we'll work to get the rescue to take the animal. They do end up paying us for the procedure (though they often are on special discounts). Or we will urge the client to surrender to the humane society, if it's one where the pet will get the surgery they need. We aren't trying to hurt anyone, we are just trying to give an option other than death of an animal that could survive and go on to live a good life. Would you rather the pet just be euthanized, when it has a very fixable issue? We wouldn't just give the pet back to the owner because that's a *lot* of money we just lost. We start doing free surgeries for people and suddenly we're out of business. Now we have probably dozens of staff out of work and you no longer have a vet to go to, along with probably thousands of other clients. At my clinic, that's 15 vets and over 130 staff with tens of thousands of clients. You want to cost that many people their jobs and veterinary support? And there is a lot more that goes into the offer and the whole sutuation. It is *extremely* complicated, and no, you're not going to understand it from a random Reddit post. And no, I am not about to try to argue it with you, so don't bother coming at me. This is all I have to say.
I’m gonna apologize in advance if any of the following sounds harsh, but it’s to give a different point of view. When you adopt an animal, you’re responsible for its well being. This includes medical bills, which range on the low end for routine checkups to the high end, being procedures. $5k is a lot of money. But if that’s what it takes to get your baby healthy, then that’s part of the deal. If you go to a vet, and display that you can’t financially support your cat, why should they let you take it back home? What happens if there’s another medical emergency that will cost more money? They have a business to run and can’t support themselves by doing free work. They likely partner with one, maybe a few, rescue agencies who can help with adoptions and can possibly help cover the medical bill. So yes, in the short term, the vet loses out on money, but by taking the animal a) they give it the care it needs and b) they can give it a chance to be adopted by someone who can better financially support them. OP, I know it’s heart-wrenching, and my heart breaks for you. But you did the absolute right thing by getting your baby the care it needs. You’ve given the hardest kind of love, in that by saving your fur baby’s life you had to say goodbye.
Of course you did the best thing you could do but this sort of thing about how this country works irritates the crap out of me. So hear me out.... your cat is getting the surgery anyway. It just won't be you he lives with anymore. It will be someone at the vet who's surgery was too expensive for you to pay for. How is this just? They were going to do the surgery because it was the humane thing to do. Having him live with the person who's cared for him all of his life was the best choice for the cat IMHO. I'm really sorry you had to go through this and wish your buddy could have stayed with you after everything was said and done.
You're right. It doesn't seem just at all. I hope that the OP can work out an interest-free payment plan and get a discount on the services. From the vets perspective, they would be overwhelmed with people claiming they can't pay. Nobody likes expensive vet bills and many would absolutely take advantage if possible. They have to pay their overhead, student debt, liability insurance and employees. I used to volunteer at a non profit medical clinic. Over time, I observed more than half of our clients were driving nice cars, had the latest iPhones, went on vacations and complained about their cable TV. I had a very used car, old flip phone and couldn't afford a vacation or cable TV. I stopped volunteering because of this. I found a way to serve the clients who I already knew to be legitimately in need. If only all people were honest.
I'm glad they don't do this with children. Can't afford a surgery, fine... we'll take little Timmy off your hands for you :o
Yep, very true. hospitals make major bank by grossly overcharging insurance. They can absorb losses on the uninsured. My friend recently got a sinus surgery. Simple outpatient procedure. ENT estimated $4,500. Hospital estimated $130,000. Her insurance would have paid either. Veterinary clinics are often individually owned. They don't have a massive influx of insurance payments. But in cases like this, it would be great if each had a charitable fund to help.
> we'll take little Timmy off your hands for you Then Little Timmy fucking died.
I was thinking the same thing
Usually the surgery isn't performed until they find an adopter who is able/willing to take on the bill.
Urinary blockages are fatal in a matter of hours.
I'm not saying the vet will wait days or weeks for someone to agree. As OP said, usually someone within the clinic steps up. If not they start reaching out to local rescues to see if anyone can take an emergency medical case.
If it was offered as an option, they probably already had someone lined up willing to pay.
It doesn't seem like it makes sense to have the pet stay with an owner that clearly doesn't have enough funds to support it's medical needs? It's not just the surgery that requires money. After care, rechecks, reoccurrence, complications it all costs money.
Stop it. Plenty of people love and care for animals but don't have 5k to spend all at once without notice. He didn't surrender the cat over a $500 vet bill. I'd bet most pet owners would be thrown off by that large of a bill and it doesn't mean they shouldn't have pets.
Are you serious? How many people can pull 5k out of nowhere?
Yeah it makes no sense to me. If anything if I was the vet I’d give that option to see how much Op cares about the cat and if they choose it do the surgery for free and give it back.
Hard choice that I wouldn’t want to have to make. Vets can be very expensive. Look into vet insurance for cats. Having a cat means saving up money for medical emergencies as well.
This is why I don't have a cat and instead have multiple cat pictures all over the place. Everyone says I should get a cat since I love them, but respond I can't afford the cost that comes along with a pet. I wouldn't have the funds available at the first emergency that comes up. My parents just spent over $10k shrinking a stomach tumor in their 13 y/o Maine Coon. They can afford that, I can't. I'd feel bad if the cat had to be put down because I can't afford the treatment needed to save their life.
Maybe you could foster! Many rescues provide all the financial support and you just take care of the kitties...just a thought! :)
You could look into fostering. The system could always use more fostering.
Try fostering as someone else suggested. The shelter pays the costs and as long as the foster is "working" many of them are long term.
Good for you for being responsible and prioritizing the well-being of animals over your own happiness. You will be a loving pet owner someday for a lucky cat!
The tragedy is you obviously would be a great cat caretaker.
Did they have payment plans at your vet?
It was not brought up to me, and it did not enter my mind at the time to ask. I was very upset and not in my right mind.
Some credit cards have a no interest option to pay off a charge over time, making automatic payments, you might look into that. I’m with Chase and they’ll do at least 4 equal payments. Hope you can figure something out.
Care credit.
I feel like if there was a payment plan, they would’ve mentioned it. When I went to the urgent care vet recently, they spent most of their time trying to get me to commit to spending money.
They were likely trying to get you to commit to diagnostics, not because they make a huge profit off of your cat's procedures.
If their concern is that you will "harass" a prospective adopter then you should be allowed to see your buddy before he is adopted out🤔he might want to see you too.
Look into Scratchpay and Care Credit. Those are usually the “payment plans” that you can *typically* do. But like another person said, insurance. Trupanion is pretty common. I am so sorry you had to make this decision. Keep communicating with the vet about your baby. Ask them if you qualify for one of the two things, if it can be applied to his account and you can take your baby back home when everything is better.
Trupanion is amazing. I'm practically a commercial for them at this point.
I’m so sorry you had to make this choice. Of your options you did what was best for him.
This is the saddest thing I’ve ever heard and makes no sense to me. GET THAT CAT BACK!! Start a go fund me!!!
Give us all the name of the vet and we will pay to get your cat back.
I will help best I can. Get your baby back
Me too. I can help. u/snazzydingo OP
Honestly I haven’t seen anyone else suggest this but what I would do is have someone you know who’s close with you go up to the shelter to “adopt” a cat and have them look for your boy and adopt him and give him back to you. So the shelter won’t know/ think he’s going back to you. So sorry your going thru this.
They may have to use a new vet though lol
The adopter was most likely a staff member that worked there and paid for the surgery to adopt the cat. Unless they have a friend who wants to fork over 5k as a gift, it isn't going to happen.
You did the right thing by putting his needs & wellbeing over your own desires. I know it hurts & is incredibly hard, but thank you. My loved one is about to have to surrender several animals - at least one dog & half a dozen cats, possibly several farm animals as well - because they kept putting their emotional needs first, wouldn’t acknowledge that they could not provide adequate care for them, & the home has become dangerous. It’s heartbreaking, but I’m so relieved for the animals.
What do you mean the house has become dangerous?
Nothing malevolent - they are simply unable to care for it. One dog (high-energy, untrained stray she took in) has repeatedly dug or chewed holes through the floor / walls & broken windows barking at strangers. They can’t keep up with the pet waste, struggle to buy enough food, & haven’t gotten them standard veterinary care but keep bringing in more animals. We’ve staged an intervention & are getting everyone into healthier environments.
Oh I see. Things get overwhelming sometimes.
I abandoned my boy…. Those words hurt so much. I’m praying that either you have found option 4 or that you are coming to peace with your decision. Clearly there is a lot of love and understanding here.
Vet tech here. PU surgey is not usually the first choice of treatment for cats on their first or second time of blockage, it is offered if the cat is chronically blocked over and over, and with good client compliance (hydration, on a prescription diet, etc). However since I don't have information or history of the patient, they may have their reasons why it is offered.
Both options were given to me at the same time, I didn't want to run the risk of paying $1800 for a procedure that has a high risk of reoccurring in the future. It was traumatic for him, It didn't sit well with me. I wanted the best option for him not to have this happen again. He was treated very well by us and was healthy up until all this mess happened.
My boy had a blockage, I had to pay to get him unblocked and now he’s on a prescription diet and doing great. It’s very common, pu is only done if other options don’t work, not as a first option. I’m shocked they offered that first.
Option 2 would be far better and he can go on a special diet to prevent it happening again. Happened to my boy and he's been fine with a controlled diet since. Try get him back and finance the bill.
Get a friend to readopt the cat & give it back to you.
OP please so many good suggestions here. Please get your cat back. u/snazzydingo look into option 2 and insurance if he is eligible. It will help a lot in case of future blockages.
You can get interest free credit card for medical expenses related to pets using this card. I have one and used it when we had to do dental surgery for our cat. I had like 2 years to pay it off interest free. https://www.carecredit.com/howcarecreditworks/prospective/
Care Credit has saved mine, and my pets, arse many times over the years! I paid off the first balance in monthly payments, then used it on a sporadic basis (just to keep it active) for flea meds, or a check up etc, paid it off again without taking the full time, etc etc. I'm glad I did because the last time it was *needed* (recently) I needed a substantial limit increase and got approved in less than 5 minutes
If you can get the cat back, maybe start a go fund me for donations. I don't know the rules behind go fund me, but it's just a suggestion.
I had to surrender a kitten at one time. To the vet it broke my heart but it was necessary as I didn’t have money to fix him. His mama slashed his belly open. He lived and staff adopted him.
I adopted a cat with similar needs a long time ago and those surgeries don't always work. He basically had a sex change to make his urethra bigger. They may work for a few years but often times scar tissue will build up and if they don't drink enough water and eat a fancy diet they'll just keep needing a catheter to open it back up. He lived for a few more good healthy years, but then the complications started to come back again. Usually the vet would be able to open them back up but it would cost a lot of money. Our vet would give us discounts because their interns had never seen the operation before because it doesn't usually get performed due to the expense (this was early to mid 2000s I don't know how it is now) eventually he started to get some kidney failure in the damage was done. But we gave him a good life He was a big white half Persian who also lost the tip of his ears due to skin cancer. Hey it was very loving and totally worth it, but we didn't pay for the initial surgery we adopted him after it was done. https://preview.redd.it/e21cn11zlcbd1.jpeg?width=604&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=033af45b848530f42022fc77a8636939d7f86de0
My former, still greatly missed, kitty had that surgery years ago. You're right, it is a "urinary sex change" lol The price was $700.00 back then. He had the surgery when he was 4 and lived to be 21 with no other issues. Our vet told us to look for food with low ash(I think) content since that's a big cause of blockages.
Mine was a rescue that had a lot of other health issues as well as the urinary tract. They had to remove the tips of his ears because he had cancer as well but he was the best boy ever. Whenever we brought him in the interns love to give him a look over because it wasn't a procedure you saw very often back then They told us to feed him hill science diet prescription for urinary tract which was expensive as hell and then he still kept having problems. This could have been because he insisted on going outside? There was a fountain in our yard that he loved he would sit by it for hours. He would also love to be out there to greet us when we got home.
I sometimes wonder if it was a litter I used because it had dust in it? This was before all of the other alternatives were easy to obtain
My heart hurts for you. My 1 year old cat had the same thing happen; we tried option 2, then ended up doing option 1 anyways. The fact that you loved him enough to give him the best chance possible-even if it wasn’t with you-says amazing things about who you are as a person. I know it hurts but he is healthy and safe and alive and loved because of you.
You can use a company that can give you a credit card for just medical expenses and vet. It called care card. I had to get one for my cat when she got sick.
Think of it this way: your beloved cat gets the surgery and a life. We once, long ago, had to put our cat to sleep because we just couldn't scrape up the money for this surgery and the only other option was to let him die in agony because he wasn't going to make it to Monday and a more affordable vet (it was a Saturday night at the ONLY emergency vet around). What a wonderful vet to give you, and him!, this option. I'm so sorry he couldn't live out his life with you. This was a difficult choice and you made the best one you could. The right one.
You had no choice. That is the problem
I'd call the vet asap and see if you can apply for care credit. If paid off in a certain amount of time, there is no interest. And with care credit, you can use it on yourself and other animals if you or others ever need medical treatment Edit to add: pu surgery healing process can be very hard and can come with complications. If you get your baby back, I'd suggest going online to https://thecatsite.com/ And make an account it is free. You only have to have an account to comment and post. It is an amazing community with amazing people. If you don't want to comment or post, you can also look up pu surgery, and it will pull past conversations on the subject. The pictures can be a little brutal, but you will see if they had issues what helped. What others have offered and such..
It's okay. Our vet growing up was a family friend and she took in several animals that were surrendered. They are going to be okay and they're going to be loved. I'm sorry for your loss, though, even if the cat survived, you'll still be missing him dearly.
I'm so sorry to hear this. There may be a new alternative treatment! My boy had a blockage, he was unblocked via catheter, and had his bladder cut open to remove stones. We put him on SO Index dry food but honestly we didn't really do a good job sticking to it. He also go a lot of regular wet food because our vet said wet food is less likely to cause stones to form. Less than a year later he had a blockage again, there were no stones, it was mucus/debris/swelling, we unblocked him with a catheter. He's now on a full Royal Canin SO kidney diet wet food. It's been about 1-2 months, we're actually going in for a checkup tomorrow. We were also told of a new procedure available, using a 1 time radiation treatment that early evidence is showing has a high likelihood of preventing blockages in the future. Last i checked the study had not yet been published, so I'm holding off until after the study results are out to consider this. But worth being aware of as an alternative to PU surgery. Of course i'd still consider it experimental at this stage, despite the very promising early clinical trial results. https://news.cvm.ncsu.edu/studys-cystitis-remedy-so-effective-that-nc-state-ready-to-offer-treatment-to-cats/ This is why i'm a firm believer in pet insurance. Pet Insurance has it's issues, in a pets old age it can become unaffordable due to rate increases, but for a younger pet, it's a life saver if you need it. Don't feel bad abolut not having insurance, you didn't know! but it's something to consider for the future. Insurance doesn't cover pre-existing sadly.
I'm not the OP, but this is really interesting and helpful btw - thank you for the link. I will be asking my vet about this in case my cat's blockage happens again. Also wish I'd had pet insurance. I almost signed up for it like 6 months ago and I'm kicking myself now after a huge emergency bill and upcoming bladder stone surgery. How did your cat do with the bladder surgery to remove the stone(s)? The emergency vet hospital where my cat is staying right now just told me today he needs this - and they said it would be an additional $3000-$4000, on top of the $2600 I had to pay yesterday. They suggested that I bring him to our usual vet for the surgery, as it will be cheaper and they're close by. We're scheduled for tomorrow AM. I'm super nervous about having our regular vet do it because they said on the phone they don't do the surgery often. The ER vet said any regular vet who is competent should be fine to do the surgery. I just can't imagine spending another $3-4K right now. These decisions are so hard.
He did fine with the surgery. The hardest thing was keeping him in isolation for recovery, and him being a menace with the cone. He couldn't eat well, we tried elevated food bowls and all sorts of stuff, But we just wound up with food all over the floor. He'd also knock his water bowl over repeatedly which in turn messed up the ceiling in the room below. I'd say don't hesitate to give him the pain medication a little bit longer than necessary rather than stopping it earlier than necessary. That's a really hard choice. We had it done at the ER but having had pet insurance cost wasn't really a concern. At the end of the day it's a hard decision and you just have to do what you think is best and sometimes there's a financial consideration to that. I guess my question would be, sure your regular vet doesn't do the surgery often but how confident does your regular vet feel? I trust my vet if he said, I don't do this too often, but it's an easy procedure, I wouldn't worry.
Hydration is key. Now that your on the Royal Canin S/O diet you should see things level out. It tends to keep blockages away. Just don’t stop it. I asked a couple vets about crystals and blockages and their first defence is always increased water intake. The food your cat is on will actually make them more thirsty, in addition it has certain minerals that impact the PH of your cats urine and also prevent irritation of the bladder wall/ crystal formation. In the absence of clinical signs of a blockage or irritation of the bladder (mucus/ shedding of the lining). Than hydration and enrichment to lower stress and provide more contentment in your cats life can be beneficial. Feliway plug ins can help too. I am hopeful with this diet you are on, with encouraged water intake (water fountains for example), engagement/ play/ enrichment and low stress environments your cat with thrive without having to have another surgery or radiation. It’s more likely your cat will do well than not. Best wishes.
So happy you're holding off on the experimental radiation treatment. ❤️ Please do not ever allow them to use radiation on your precious boy. Radiation causes cancer. It's not worth it. It's important to find the cause of the symptom and remove the cause rather than just treat symptoms. Symptoms are the body's warning light that something is wrong and the root cause must be determined. Remove the cause and the body recovers / heals.
I would have gotten a second opinion. My Shadow had the exact issue yours had. I opted for the unblocking. He's on meds and it could happen but if you use a urinary diet (Hills or similar) alongside a relatively inexpensive drug the vet can prescribe, your cat should thrive and live a normal life span.
Even if you cannot get your cat back, you made a decision to gove him the chance to live a wonderful life. Its very clear you love him he will know this and if you cannot get him back then i hope he always knows love. Good luck, this was not an easy decision The comments have given you wonderful advice. May you find the answer you seek.
What a strange thing for the Vet to offer…. “Your cat can live but we’ll take him.” What a weird option especially to a pet owner under duress. I pray that you can somehow get the cat back - payment plan, etc or whatever. Have you reached out again? To me it basically seems like you were coerced into a corner to give up your cat.
I worked at a vet; what most likely happened here is that they already had an adopter lined up and offering to pay for the surgery if the owner couldn't afford it.
CreditCare allows you to take out credit for vet care. It's a decent option when you are stuck in a tight spot. I would suggest squirreling away money from this point forward with a goal of $1k-$2k for vet emergencies. This amount with the credit card would have covered you and for multiple cat households it's a necessity.
I had to surrender our dog once. My husband and I each got new jobs where we were going to have to be in the office 5 days a week and my daughter was going to after-school care instead of staying home with her grandma after school. She was a Lab Pit mix and was not fully housebroken and she would jump our fences if not supervised when outside. If she stayed with us she would have to be in a crate for 8 hours a day 5 days a week. We couldn't do that to her. She needed to be with people and needed lots of exercise. So we reached out to a rescue and gave her to them. It was very hard and I still miss her a lot. I know she will never understand why she left us and that hurts. I take solace in the fact that she has a new family that can give her what she needs and I was able to give her that chance.
I do care credit and bought pet insurance through them, so I pay less.
same thing happened to me in February . Thankfully I was able to get him back from the shelter . He hasn’t gotten the PU surgery yet bc I’m still saving up but with the c/d + hydra care and lots of water and anxiety meds . He’s hanging on and hasn’t blocked since .
Please dont feel guilty. You gave your cat the best chance and he will be loved by his new family. I have taken in few pets that owners have surrendered and I give them the best life possible. Pic of one of the guys I've taken in. https://preview.redd.it/a5utv5q7xdbd1.jpeg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aeb6133c7810e2cb0e175df17ff1a48ba5c70945
Oh my goodness so adorable !!!
I’m so sorry dear. I had to surrender my first cat during some big life transitions that left me broke about a decade ago. Still think about her to this day… guilt, shame, plus I miss her she was such a good kitty. It was the right thing to do though and she’s lived a life of love since then. You did the right thing.
I'm sorry and I pray for healing for you both ❤️
I went through the exact same thing two months ago. My 3 yo boy was blocked and there was no way I could afford his treatment. I was unemployed at the time, so even a payment plan wouldn’t work for me. The only other option was to give him up. It meant the clinic would pay for the treatment and they’d make sure he’s going to a nice family who can afford to treat his condition. It was heartbreaking to give him up, especially since I got him together with his sister because they were inseparable and this would mean they’d both lose their best buddy. It was very sad, but it felt right. This way he gets to live and he’s getting the treatment he needs. I cried my eyes out and urged them over and over to take care of him. I immediately got insurance for my other cat. It’s heartbreaking, but you I think you did the right thing for him. It’s messed up how expensive medical bills can be. You gave him all your love and care and now you chose what’s best for him, even if that means making a sacrifice. I hope you can look back on the good times and all the cuddles you had. ❤️
So they’ll do the surgery, just not if you’re the caretaker. Even our animal health care system is fucked.
It's not as if they're doing the surgery for free so long as OP surrenders the cat. Usually the surgery isn't performed until they find an adopter who agrees to take on the bill.
If you have pretty good credit, ask the vet if they accept the Care Credit card, then apply for it. A lot of vets have applications in their offices. The card allows you to pay the balance off over a period of time without interest, and can be used for other medical needs. My German Shepherd needed hernia surgery, and it was a life saver. It's too late for you now, but I also had insurance on him, and used the payments from them to put towards the balance.
Lots of places have financing available for bigger costs like this. Look into that. I can't imagine the stress the cat will be going through with surgery and then not seeing its owner again and being moved to a new home.
I am so sorry - this is terrible and so sad to read. My cat is at an emergency vet hospital right now with the same issue. I'm wondering why they jumped straight to the PU surgery as option #1? Is this the cat's first blockage, or has it happened before? Why did they think he was high risk for recurring blockage? Might be a valid reason, but they also could have been wrong. The vet who told me our options yesterday said that PU surgery would not be the first line of treatment, but mentioned it as sometimes being necessary in the future. His plan, which we went with, was to unblock, place a catheter, xget rays, urine culture, blood work. They're keeping him on IV fluids and pain meds. Monitoring his creatinine and BUN to assess his kidneys (doing really well as of this afternoon, came down into the normal range.) He estimated a two night stay and usual treatment would run $2600 total on the low end, $3800 on the high end. (This has increased as of today because they found a bladder stone and now he needs surgery to remove that - they said it would be an extra $3-4K - but we're having it done at our regular vet's office tomorrow AM because it will be much cheaper). I had to pay the full low end quote yesterday and I used CareCredit. Many vets take CareCredit, but check on their website to see if your vet hospital participates. The promotional terms vary by facility too. My vet had a plan with 0% interest as long as it's paid in full in 6 months (beyond that, it jumps to a crazy rate of 32%, so always read the paperwork). Is it possible to get the cat back at this point if you can arrange financing?! I would call them immediately and try to figure out what other options you might have. I'm so sorry you're going through this.
I am so sorry you were put in that situation, my heart hurts for you. What you did is incredibly admirable, your selfless act gave him a longer life. I’m not sure if this is an option for you, but I want to try to help you. Have you ever heard of Care Credit? It’s a credit card for pet bills. They usually have an introductory 0% interest rate. Maybe you could get that and buy yourself some time to save up? Or treat it like a payment plan? I’m sure there’s lots of other credit cards that have 0% apr at the beginning too. Praying for you
This cat will need to be on prescription medication and food, which will become costly. You did the best thing. As a dog trainer, I see this often when people do not research breeds and get dogs they can't afford grooming or meds for and then abandon them or dump them at shelters. If you can't afford the true cost of owning a pet responsibly, please do not get another one.
This is really heartbreaking and I’m sorry you had to be in a position to make such a decision.
Honestly my 5 year old had it last November and I paid 2300 for him to get the blockage out. He then all of a sudden had another come on 6 weeks ago and his bladder burst and he had to be put down. It still hurts and my other cat is also having a hard time. So I know your pain
Had the same thing happen. I am sorry.
The most loving thing you can do for somebody who matters to you is what is best for them even if it means cutting yourself out of their life. I know it hurts like anything to part with your sweet boy, but you put his health above your own emotions. He may never understand but he will *always* have been saved by you. On his behalf, thank you for choosing your pain over his.
I had a female with the same issue and her surgery was $800, $5,000 seems a bit steep. I’ve kept her on wet food only since, no special vet diet stuff. I hope you can somehow adopt him back, have you tried applying for care credit, or even starting a gofundme? I would tell the vet you made your decision under duress and have had some time to process everything and come up with a plan. Good luck!
It may be too late if they already did the surgery but call around about the cost of the surgery elsewhere. If it’s a vet ER that’s quoting that price they are notorious about being a lot more than a standard clinic for procedures a regular practice can handle.
Yes. My father wanted to put our cat down because it was eliminating outside of the litterbox (and he refused to take any of my other 8 million suggestions). I obviously threw a fit and told him that if he was going to do that, he had to have a vet come to the house to do it. The vet came, but she refused to do it, because the cat was healthy. Dad stormed off like the emotionally stunted toddler he is. The vet told me she would be willing to take the cat, and I jumped at it, because I knew dad would just find someone else to murder the cat. And that's (one of the reasons) why, if my father gets sick, old, and inconvenient, he's going to have to figure it out himself. I'm not lifting a finger or giving him a penny. *the cat had early stage kidney issues. Didn't even need medication get. He wasn't super old. There was nothing wrong with the cat.
Pay the 5k. Money isn't everything . Even if you have to pay in installments . The money won't harm you but the guilt and sadness will
I wish there were more options. You can provide a loving and stable home, you just can’t afford the treatment. This shouldn’t be a reason to surrender, but I get it both ways. So sorry you had to make this decision.
Oh no, I am really sorry. I just want to give you a hug right now. You did the right thing, but what a terrible choice to be forced into.
I think it's terrible that vets make somebody choose between medical care cat and giving thier furbaby up when they really do care about their cat and the cat cares for them. It's not like you were not taking care of the cat or mistreating it so it bothers me that that's not more willing to work with people as far as the financial end of things to help them retain their pets because pets are like family members. You wouldn't take a child away from someone because they couldn't afford a surgery.. with humans you help them raise money to afford the surgery or you give them options to pay it off. You don't just take the child away from people for something like that so why they do this with pets really bothers me... It's not like rehoming the cat is benefiting the cat in this scenario .If the vet can afford to do the surgery and give it to someone else why can't they just offer to help with the surgery at a discount and give the cat back to you? Vets need to do better in terms of helping their clients keep their families together.
The person who would end up adopting the animal would incur the hospital bill upon adoption. They won't do surgery until they have someone who can pay for it. People in vet med are already underpaid enough as it is. They can't afford to do surgeries at a discount for every person who claims to have financial struggles, as unfortunately that is many if not most pet owners.
Vets do not need to do better. Vets are not causing this problem. Vets are literally killing themselves at rates 3x the rate of the average population because they are dealing with accusations like this on top of doing their extremely stressful jobs, which they are not well-compensated for at all, regardless of what people seem to think. What most likely happened here is that some other party heard about the situation and offered to adopt the cat and pay for the surgery. It is not suddenly becoming a free surgery. There are programs and safety nets in place for human children. There are not for pets. Vets do not have the resources to subsidize pet care.
What do you want vets to do? The surgeries aren't free and it costs a ton to become a vet. People shouldn't get pets if they cannot afford to care for them.
What a childishly misplaced comment. Vets are a business practice and not a charity. Why should the vets do things for cheap? Vets should work for the same amount as someone flipping burgers? Why bother training to be a vet for years just so you can work minimum wage?
I had a cat had the same problem. It is caused by too much magnesium in certain cat foods. Usually after surgery they are on a special food and cooked chicken, rice, etc. hope you can find a way to get your baby back. Maybe you could have someone go adopt her and pay them back.
Oh my gosh. My heart is breaking for you. I hope you find some peace and comfort. Your baby is being taken care of and you made the best decision you could.
I never heard of that 3rd option from where im from..First time I heard this. Normally the 3rd choice is euthanasia here in Canada. Im heartbroken for you, its for sure better than euthanasia but I think I would struggle mightily from that decision too. If he has a chance to live a healthy life again, your choice wasnt so bad my reddit friend Note : like some said, try calling to know if you could re-adopt him or maybe if you can afford a 24-36 months loan it could be a solution 😬
This brought tears to my eyes. I’m so sorry you had to go through this 🥺
I'm so sorry. I can't even imagine. We're facing having to rehome a kitten we've only had for 2 weeks (looooong story involving stray kittens, an unsafe environmentin which they couldn't remain and Felv) and I'm devastated and praying for confimation labwork to be (unlikely) good news. I can't imagine how you must feel after 5 years. I hope you can figure out a way to get him back.
So long as the cats are on a prescription urinary diet, reoccurance is extremely low. However after the initial treatment it's not uncommon for them to partially block again after a week requiring additional treatment. Once you get past that and they are on urinary prescription food, they are usually fine going forward.
Please don’t give up on your cat. There are still ways for you to keep your family. Don’t let money take that away from you. Start a gofund me. I’m sure there are also websites and programs that will help pay for the costs and or set up payments arrangements!!
If you can please call the vet and talk to them, they might be able to help you figure out a way to pay that vet bill and get your baby back, if you can't ask if you could see home one more time and bring his favorite toy, it will help him adjust to a new home, talk to him, cats understand more than you think, give that baby all the love you can
Thank you for being so responsible for your cat, noticing when he wasn't feeling well, bringing him to the vet right away, staying strong for him throughout all of this and making the decision for him to have the perineal urethrostomy. You did the right thing for him to advocate his medical needs and choosing the perineal urethrostomy over the other option with the catheter because although it was financially less it would have been more likely he would experience another blockage. You advocated and made the decision to give your cat a better quality of life and I wanted to say thank you for doing so. I can't imagine how stressful all of this has been for you, and the feelings you have been experiencing throughout this. I don't have the words to make you feel better, although I wish I did. I also wish I knew of any other options that could have made a difference to allow you a payment plan. What you did was so strong of you and you deserve good things OP. I wish more cat owners, especially of male cats were like yourself and knew the signs and symptoms to look out for and to promptly get treatment. FWIW: In my experience (as a VetTech student & volunteer in rescue) what the CVT told you is right, I've seen this happen IRL and not only the VeTMed staff but sometimes admin/clerical staff too. I don't know if that is consoling or not, but do know in my experience, the surrendered animals who are immediately adopted by staff, get treated very well and receive the best veterinary care.
My cat lived to be almost 22. But he had one blockage at age 2, and a second one between ages 3-4. Both times, the vet unblocked him. The second time was in 2005 and all it cost me was the $300 for the emergency vet on night shift. Then we put him on Royal Canin SO for the rest of his life and literally NEVER had another blockage. Now, even if the price of clearing a blockage on an emergency basis had more than doubled, $1800 seems much too high of a price for that service.
Not a kidney issue, but my (now senior) orange boy broke his leg on christmas eve more than 11 years ago (clumsiest cat I ever knew...). Gross: >! His metatarsal bones sticking out of his fur... !
I've never been in this situation but I'd probably try to find out who (later on) adopted your lil boy and make friends with them so that you can still be around him and maybe later on, get him back
My cat has been blocked twice and the surgery is very difficult to get in the UK. But I changed his food to the Costco Kirkland one and he hasn't had an issue since and it's been three years.
I'm so sorry that must be incredibly hard to do i can't even imagine. Is there any way you can visit?
I am do sorry you are going through this. I cant imagine. Sending love.
Jesus what pos vets. So they fucking prove they can afford to do a surgery for free but choose not to. Ugh. I'm never going to give them money.
I went through the same thing probably 10 years ago. I adopted a cat from the vet that had previously been surrendered for his urinary issues. I wasn't really briefed thoroughly about what his issue could entail. We spent a couple thousand for a couple emergency visits. Then at some point he had a bad episode where we ended up surrendering him. He didn't end up making it though. Since then I haven't owned my own cat. We have been fostering. I'm just too concerned about something like this happening again. How are normal people supposed to handle emergency pet care that can send you into financial insecurity?
I think you made the right decision even though it hurts. Is there any way you can come up $5,000 or half of it within a couple weeks? I only ask because maybe your vet would allow you to readopt him if you can repay the surgical bill. I would at least call the vet to get updates and fo know hes okay
My Mom suffered for 5 years, when she could remember what was going on. The last year she stopped getting any nutrition from food no matter how well she ate every bite. She could no longer speak. She got lots of drugs and became a skeleton with an enormous bed sore. Four days before she died her doctor decided her trouble breathing was worse and required she sit on a metal stool, on the bed sore at her tail bone, and took an x-ray. Then he decided she was dying. Her oldest child was her guardian and POA. There are 6 of us born in 3 different decades. Pets we love do not need to put up with that shit. I
How terrible to hold someone’s cat hostage like this… either you pay an exorbitant price or your cat potentially belongs to the vets? Poor cat :( I’m sorry you had to do that. I just hope he can have an equally good, loving life with the new owners.
My boy cat got blocked maybe a year and a half ago. He was cathed and has since been on prescription food with 0 issues. Hopefully you can get your cat back.
You made the best decision for your cat. You surrendered the kitty out of love n concern for their well-being. You were selfless. That's genuine love, because your heart hurts w this decision. Animals understand love n our vibrations whether they be happy or sad. But they understand there's no malice intent by your vibration/energy. When you think of kitty you are sending love to them. Take care of yourselves...I understand the loss of a pet. 🥰
Awe man I would have been in a similar situation had it not been for the humain society and another not for profit organization. We could only unblock and do meds and every day I'm on edge watching him making sure it doesn't happen again because If it does I only have one option left. We are on a Royal Canin urinary Saitey because my boy is a big boy at 25 lbs. He mostly gets wet food (royal canin urinary) and stress doesn't help and my 2 babies (almost 1 and almost 4) makes this a high stress environment in our 2 bedroom apartment. Hunting for a larger place but anything could happen between now and then and all I can do is try to make safe and quiet spaces for him. If this doesn't work then I have to find a new home for him :-( it isn't ideal but we do what we can out of love.
keeeping you in my thoughts and prayers. The heartache you face is terrible. You made the right choice.
I’m so very sorry! This really upsets me. The whole industry is a scam to the extent the veterinary practice is a franchise of big corporate operatives. Most are. And you can be assured THEY don’t give a FUCK about you and your pet is merely a point of emotional leverage for them to exploit. It’s all about laundering their filthy ass money and they truly don’t give a flying rat’s ass about anything else.
I'm sorry friend but they should not have pressured you into the PU surgery. The unblocking is often very successful, but they love to prey on people when they are vulnerable.
My cat had this issue when he was a year old. We did not do surgery nor was it recommended. He’s on a prescription diet now and has not had any issues since. I would have asked for a second opinion tbh.
Shame on you
Why didn’t you get a care credit card and pay for it?
Does this vet take Care Credit? I’ve used it for my eye surgery, my teeth work. It’s all 0% interest. I know I’ve seen on the pamphlet that you can use for veterinary care. Good luck I’m so so sorry that this has happened to you 😭😢
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From someone who works with cats & dogs, their options are very weird and make no sense. Please do your best to get your cat back. Do option #2