The cats deserve better

[ladyjaneinmd]

This is why animal insurance exists. If you think you'd have difficulty paying vets' bills, get a policy for your pet!

That's not always an option. I looked into it. For the most part, once your animal is over 6 years old, they won't cover them.

[ladyjaneinmd]

People are the actual worst. My cat has been with me for over 10 years. If he got sick and had high vet bills I'd sell most of my belongings and go into debt to save him.

I got my cat from a shelter, 14 years ago. The last 2 years she got sick, very very sick, and is now in Stage 2 kidney failure. Giving her back is not even an option. I've paid out about $4000 in vet bills over the last 2 years, and I'll do anything I can to keep her happy and comfortable as long as possible.
She's my baby. (and she's doing very well right now, in case you were wondering.)

[Nunavut Pants]

I've just started volunteering at a shelter's facility in my local Petco. I used to volunteer at the one at the local Petsmart, but it really was tiny and the shelter decided it wasn't really worthwhile to stay in there.

We had two puppies this past weekend, plus eleven kittens. SUPER ADORABLE!!! How six or seven didn't wind up in my pockets going home, I'm not sure....

[klhanson]

i've adopted 2 cats personally.. both from a local shelter but it was through our local petsmart. Katie our 1 year old was adopted at 5 months and she looked like maybe 2 months old with her size. Found out later she was surrendered by a woman who had a cat hoarding situation. I found annie a few months ago at petsmart. She was the only cat they had and she looked really sad. Found out later that she had had kittens who were weaned and were all up for adoption at the same time as her but had been adopted. She was surrendered by someone who said she was attacking their dog.. probably to protect her babies.. but yeah.. they didn't get along at first but they're best friends now and i dont think I could ever get rid of them.

I got lucky with Annie. She's a russian blue mix and one of the sweetest temperments in a cat I have ever seen.

[Buzzard]

Is it wrong to wonder if the vet has specials? As in a group rate for the cat and the human?

[Ghel]

I hesitate to post this, but the way this thread is going it seems appropriate. I had to hide in my office when I heard this, or else I would have blown up at my coworker.

Last week, one of my coworkers was complaining that her cat came home pregnant. She was basically slut-shaming the cat, as if it was the cat's fault for not being spayed and being allowed to roam around outside. But the part that really pissed me off was her saying that she hopes the cat has the kittens outside and a hawk comes and carries off the kittens. People like that shouldn't have cats. Or dogs. Or kids.

[SailorMan]

When I lived in Northern California, I worked as a civilian for the Coast Guard. It was at the CG complex at the very top of Yerba Buena Island, which is next to Treasure Island, which itself is in the Middle of San Francisco Bay. Halfway across the San Francisco Bay Bridge.

We were surrounded by what used to be CG houses for military service members, but since the Navy base portion had been closed, the units started to be rented-out to civilians.

Many service members who had been 'base closured' out of a job here, had simply abandoned their cats. All of them then migrated to the top of the island, to our parking lot, and the surrounding bit of greenery. One of my fellow employees, Greg, made sure that there were two small 'doghouse' structures, in which they could shelter if needed. (I refrained from calling these 'cathouses,' for obvious reasons). When I left California, there were more than a dozen cats up there.

Greg installed a small, weather-tight bin just outside our unit's back door, where he kept cat food which he either bought himself, or which was donated. (I and the other employees sometimes donated).

Greg made sure that all of the critters were properly spayed. He would bring them to the San Francisco SPCA, who would do it for free.

People didn't realize that we had CCTV cameras all around the unit. Sometimes, in the dead of night, we'd see a car drive up to the parking lot, and someone would dump another cat there. We would then just zero-in on their license plate, and call the SFPD. The Police would then intercept them before they could get back down to the base of the island.

[LadyofArc]

People should consider things like this when they bring a little puppy or kitten home and expect to pay for nothing more than food and litter and squeaky toys and scratching posts.

Also to add onto that, getting the pet desexed.

Unless they are a breeder, they really should be aiming to get it desexed when it's old enough. There are thankfully programs in my hometown where desexing for cats at least can be made affordable (a little more for females due to the process though).

[Monterey Jack]

This is why I could never have a pet...the financial obligations if they got injured/sick would be way too much to handle. Three THOUSAND to put a pin in a cat's leg...?!

People should consider things like this when they bring a little puppy or kitten home and expect to pay for nothing more than food and litter and squeaky toys and scratching posts. Then again, too many people have a half-dozen kids and just assume the gov'mint will take care of all their needs.

[Sparklyturtle]

I had to have my tux cat put down last October because he was 16 and suffering with a heart condition that he wasn't going to recover from. I didn't want to do it because I loved him, but it was time. Of the ones I have right now, they're both approaching 14 and both are healthier than I am, except that one is diabetic. I pay for the insulin for her and give her two shots per day because I love her, and she's otherwise doing just fine. Some people don't realize or don't believe that a pet is a lifetime obligation, but it is.

[depechemodefan]

I typed this post and realized it was depressing. Heads up. And people suck.

I have a cat that broke his leg. luckily i had the money to afford the operation where he gets a pin to fix the leg, which was $3000. If I didn't have the money at least I would have his leg amputated. Or start selling stuff. I've seen a lot of Animal Cops on Animal Planet and I do feel for people who try to do the best for their pets but sometimes the poor animals are miserable and the best isn't good at all. Like the time a dog had a bone down his throat and didn't eat for a whole month and starved to death. The owner said she was feeding him broth, but the prosecutor had a vet testify that if she took the dog to the bet he would have easily taken the bone out and the dog would have been able to eat again.

Taking a cat to the vet cost me at least $129. So people who come to us to get their cat treatment expect to spend maybe $20 instead at the vet even though when they adopted the cat were told it will cost more than $60 just for a vet visit, not counting any price for treatment. I can imagine a person falling on hard times and come to us and at least get some type of treatment for the cat, but most of the people who do this didn't have a change of fortune. Some people act like the shelter owe them treatment since they paid the $95 adoption fee a year ago.

But like most have said, people suck.

Yeah, I won't tell the stories of people leaving behind cats in carriers or cardboard boxes instead of coming in. Or the bully who found a kitten, and we told him we had no room, and he said, "then I ll just dump him back where I found him" so the manager of course said she would take in the kitten. Or the twit who came in, said she found a kitten, we told her we were full, then came back latter and when no one was looking just flung the kitten through the doors, even though there is a big notice on our doors about animal abandonment and the fines and jail times for that.

Or our dead kitten storage.

[RealUnimportant]

This is why animal insurance exists. If you think you'd have difficulty paying vets' bills, get a policy for your pet!

[Aria]

That is so sad. I agree with Ana though... there are definite limits and it depends on the situation. I love my cat dearly but she's sixteen. If she developed something expensive and chronic, or something with poor odds of success... well, it's time. Something like a broken leg, though, I would still shell out because I KNOW that can be fixed and I do love her. Still, people who adopt a cat then return it for things that are definitely treatable would grind my gears.

[Android Kaeli]

And this is a reason why I don't like humans and like animals instead. Like others have said, I would find ways to get the money needed to get the animal the needed care. It's the same way with other things, it cost money to keep everything in good health.

[AnaKhouri]

While I will (and have) spent a lot on vet bills for my cats (as none of Buddy's previous owners ever bothered to have his teeth cleaned, last year I had to pay $400 to have four of them extracted as they were broken to the gum line). BUT there is a limit. I have two small kids, I have to provide for them and their futures. I can't afford thousands of dollars if my cats were to get cancer, say, or some other disease that is expensive to treat. I love them dearly but I have to be pragmatic. I adopted one of them 12 years ago though and I would hardly expect to go dump her on the shelter if she got sick. I wouldn't send her away to strangers just to avoid making a hard decision. I owe her that.