Hospitalization Check-In'ers

[TimmyHate]

Our boys (dogs) 'Names' are Jax and Opie (Sons of Anarchy Fans)

Full names:
Jackson Yogi Howler *surname redacted* (He's a chocolate lab, hence Yogi, and I'm a coyotes fan so Howler (mascot))
Opie Wilbur *Surname Redacted* (He's a Bitsa, and my wife is a U of Arizona alum)

Nicknames:
Poosy - From Jaxsy Poosy (I blame my wife)
Dopie - From Opie Dopie (and he is a bit of a dope at times)

[notalwaysright]

When I was in high school a friend told me how these punk/stoner type classmates showed up at her door before school one day. There were on the way to school, driving on this scary one lane road with a high speed limit, which is notorious for accidents... They slow to go around a corner, and see a kitten on the side of the road. So, they risk death (because there are basically no shoulders to pull over on) to stop and save the kitten. But now they have a quandary. They can't bring a cat home, or to school. And that's how they end up at my friends. Because they knew she'll take it in.

And if we're listing cat names,

-Spitter (guess why?) Mostly my mom's cat. Lived to be 21
-Yawnie and Clawser (again, more descriptions than names...) Brothers who lived to be 15
-Charlie (I didn't name him, as you can see, I'm terrible at naming) Currently age 7.

[morgana]

Pookah is the real cat breed of Schrödinger according to "The Unadulterated Cat" by Terry Pratchett.

(snip)

Quite a funny book.

I'll have to look for this. Sounds fun. Thanks!

[AccountingDrone]

As a receptionist at a regular vet's office, I am curious. Who pays for the care if the owners are unable to? Or do you guys euthanize and write it off?

Good question. Our vet is wonderful when we are absolutely broke - makes arrangements for payments, figures out the least expensive treatment that will work. Only had euthanize cat once because putting her back together after the dog attack would have ended up being around a thousand bucks between surgery, boarding and meds.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

It depends; by law we are required to attempt to stabilize the pet. If the owners cannot pay we set up a payment plan (the only time we will do payment plans.)

The owners are warned when they bring the pet in (and sign a consent form) that immediate treatment to save the pet could cost up to $500, anything higher than that they have to sign an estimate agreeing to pay.

At which point they will make the decision etc. and so forth.

So basically it is at a loss for the hospital if they cannot pay immediately (and a lot of people just won't pay even though they sign the estimate -legally binding- and the payment plan... lot of people get sent to collections over it.)