Vets care more about money than pets?

Question

Last night I lost a little kitten(my lil Boo) it took it's last breath and I had to bury it , I gave it CPR for an hour trying to call the VETS office but there was no one there and the only places that were open were the EMERGENCY hospitals that can take care of your animal, but they want at least 500 up front don't you think there should be places that can take your pet and let you have payments very low, I mean we have Ambulances for us and people pay for that but a helpless little kitty lost it's life last night because no one was willing to help, My fiancee asked a question last night on here and some people were very MEAN! about the situation! I know there will be those %$#^@^# kind of answers probably with this one too! Because it seems that some people in this world have lousy hearts in certain situations, What can I do to help our pets get the medical attention they deserve at the time they need it?

ps. Before that one died the runt was found dead, it was so small and helpless also!

Answer 1

i am so sorry to hear about your kitties, and the trouble your fiance had on here also, it burns me to no end when people need help and answers to a legitimate question and get these idiots who can only give a hateful answer... i agree with the vet thing, i am a vet tech for 25 yrs and have seen this happen many times over the years, and then on the same hand i have seen vets that will help no matter what and are very upset to lose an animal . i am an animal lover and am in the field because i want to help as do most of your vet techs and a lot of your vets, but there are those just like in the human medical field that are in it for a paycheck no matter what. ...and money is always the issue. i worked under a vet that never refused anyone and traded things if a person could not pay all the time... some people dont have hearts and yes i know they have to make a living too, but i know what some of these things cost and it is not that exspensive, most of the bill is for their time which i agree is to much.......i beleive in animals in heaven so take comfort that your kitties are fine.....good luck....

Answer 2

Unfortunately vets are faced with these types of situations all the time. Vets DO care about their patients. I'm sure the vet in question was quite disgusted with you for breeding your cat and then not being responsible enough to make sure you could afford potential emergency care. An emergency c-section is a surgical procedure. And it does cost close to $1000. You have anesthesia, radiographs, emergency personnel, monitoring and aftercare. There are costs associated with this. Do you have any idea how expensive sonogram equipment is? Xray equipment? How about malpractice insurance? And there's rent and salaries of the employees of the vet practice. Most vets are not wealthy like human physicians. On the contrary. They take charity cases ALL THE TIME. But they are not going to do so indiscriminately. If you brought in a stray cat off the street that was suffering through kitten birth, I would bet the farm you'd have encountered a different situation. Don't be so hard on the vets. You have no idea the suffering they see and the irresponsible pet owners they deal with on a daily basis.

Answer 3

I know 500 sounds like a lot, but consider what it would cost for a human to visit an emergency room. There is pet insurance available to help you cover costs, so you might want to look into it--that way you CAN afford to take a pet to the pet emergency room when you have to.

As to why veterinarians charge so much, it's because they have almost the same overhead as any physician would have, especially in an emergency room. An emergency veterinarian would have anaesthesia equipment, an x-ray machine, a diagnostic lab set-up, a surgery room and tools, a sterilizer (autoclave), medications, exam tools, and nearly everything else you might expect to find in a human emergency room. Unfortunately, all that stuff costs a LOT of money.

Add to that the need for an emergency veterinarian (and any other veterinarian, really) to have at least one full-time vet tech/receptionist/general helper to answer the phone in the middle of surgery, take notes, hold animals, assist with surgeries and exams, help clean the place up, help with putting away deliveries and ordering supplies, and it just isn't cheap.

One more thing young veterinarians face is needing to pay off HUGE student loans from veterinary school--veterinary school costs just as much as people medical school in most cases, and that's AFTER getting a bachelor's degree.

Finally, the veterinarian, after paying all the bills for equipment, supplies, an assistant's salary, power/electric/licenses/building rent/general overhead, has to be left with a little bit for his or her own salary. The veterinarian has to eat and pay rent/mortgage and pay utilities and pay for a vehicle and all those other things we all need, too.

That's why it costs so much to visit any veterinarian, especially an emergency veterinarian: Equipment/supplies, an assistant, general overhead, killer student loan debt and having to make a living just like the rest of us.

Veterinarians aren't getting rich at their jobs--trust me on this.

Answer 4

It's such a sad situation to lose two precious babies so close together. Believe me, there was nothing you could do or maybe even a vet could have done to save the kitten. My condolences to you and your fiance.

With almost 44 million people and children not having any health insurance in the US I'm afraid low-cost medical treatment for our pets is a long way off. We have come a long way in getting the message out about animal abuse and spay/neutering for animals and shelters are making great efforts to save all the animals they can and take care of them till they find new homes. This is real progress in just the last ten years.

I do have one vet whom I know works twelve hours a day, six days a week, who put himself through vet school while working as a vet tech. He has a wife, children, a mortgage as many of us do. The practice I use takes in many animals and tries to find them homes. Not all vets are in it for the money alone and they do have to meet some basic expenses so "free" treatment out of humanity is not really feasible.

Answer 5

I'm sorry your fiancee had a bad experience on here last night. I've had a few myself.

It's sad that this happens, but not uncommon....unfortunately. Human medical care is often the same way. Sure, you may not have to pay $500 up front, but sitting in an ER waiting room with a possibly fatal condition isn't right, either. It's sad. I'm so sorry you lost your kitten.

Answer 6

I'm so sorry about your kitty. If we use the local 24 hour clinic, it's $75 up front. But they are limited in what they can do. They are open 24 hours, and they can handle the basic stuff. But if you need life support due to organ failure, for example, you have to go to Indianapolis. In Indy, it's like you said, $500-1000 up front. I've watched people walk out with very sick pets because they just didn't have the money. It's heartbreaking. We have pet insurance now which is also very helpful, although those claims are reimbursed, so you still have to have the money to begin with. My heart goes out to you.

Answer 7

Very sorry for your loss. I sympathize with your situation.

In a perfect world there would be such places. However, I believe your idea of a small-multiple-payment-emergency-care plan for pets has been proven financially unsound in the past.

I would suggest that if your credit situation allows you to, that for a future pet ownership, you try and keep an emergency credit card (that would also allow cash advances) as an insurance card for you next pet.

If you haven't read the Rainbow Bridge before, click on the following link or do a search for it. It'll make you cry, but it might also make you feel warm with the memories.

http://cats.about.com/library/weekly/blmemorials.htm

ps
I just wanted to share that when my dog died on the vet's table, my veterinarian also had tears in his eyes as he explained to me that he couldn't save him. They're not all cold.

Answer 8

First of all, I am so very sorry for your loss of your kitten! I had to respond to this, because I feel the same way as you do, vets should be more into the helping of the animals, than the money.I had a very similar experience, my cat Tiger got a blockage in his bladder, well the vet said it would be a 50/50 chance.Ok, but first he needed $350.00 dollars up front, before he could even consider saving my beloved cat.At that time, I did not have that kind of money, so I was forced to put my cat to sleep.And the same vet charged me $70.00 dollars for that.And than he had the nerve to say, your cat does not have any feelings about dying.Here during the procedure my cat was staring up at me, licking my hand and purring at me.I wanted to harm this so called protector of animals.He was so cold and heartless.I have yet to meet a vet, who is worried about the animals he/she saves, rather than the money!

Answer 9

Some probably care more about the money, but remember they have to make a living too. I personally couldn't let a pet die when I could do something about it. I'm sorry but the only thing you can do to make sure pets get medical attention is to become a veterinarian or earn a lot of money. Sorry about your Kitten, but remember there is another one out there that needs you.

Answer 10

I'm so sorry to hear that your baby kitty passed away. And yes Vet's should have it so that you can just go in to their office and get billed later just like any other place you would go. It's so stupid that they ask for all that money up front(as if people have that kind of money just laying around)! And they wonder why more people don't seek help for their animals!