A cursory investigation will tell you that dogs are taken to the vets much more than cats and cats are not taken to the vets enough. Cat owners resist taking their cat to the vet. I am one of those cat owners. It is not about money for me but the hassle. But vets are expensive and getting more expensive in the UK and probably elsewhere because independent vets are being bought up by equity funds, the masters of the universe. They are buying them because they see independent vets as being undervalued and not doing enough to squeeze more from clients.
This has encouraged more pet owners to take out pet health insurance which in turn inevitably leads to increase vet prices. It is a non-virtuous circle.
Basically, however you analyse it, vets provide a ‘private’ service as opposed to a ‘public service’ which means one supported by public funds; taxpayer dollars and pounds.
The provision of healthcare is a very fundamental service. It is the most important service from which humans benefit. It must be equitable if people are to have equal rights; another fundamental pillar of human society.
Pets are regarded as family members and they should have equal rights with respect to the provision of healthcare.
It is time for a change. A hybrid system, somewhere between private and public as we see in the most successful human healthcare systems such as seen in South Korea is required for pets.
Wikipedia describes South Korean human healthcare provision thus:
Healthcare in South Korea is universal, although a significant portion of healthcare is privately funded. South Korea’s healthcare system is based on the National Health Insurance Service, a public health insurance program run by the Ministry of Health and Welfare to which South Koreans of sufficient income must pay contributions to in order to insure themselves and their dependants, and the Medical Aid Program, a social welfare program run by the central government and local governments to insure those unable to pay National Health Insurance contributions.
Wikipedia
You see; it is a mixture of private and public funding – a HYBRID SYSTEM – which ensures that poorer people can receive the same health service as richer people which is the way it should be.
In the UK, the NHS is entirely funded by taxpayer pounds and it is out-of-date. It is broken. The hybrid model is far better and modern.
If it was extended to the healthcare for pets as well to humans many more cats would receive the veterinarian care they need and deserve.
Many cat caregivers don’t have enough money to care for cats properly. It is a failing in the cat world. It leads to unnecessary animal suffering. It is time for a change.
