So….how big of a veterinary clinic bill did your outside cat run up when he came home injured?

This article is part news and part discussion on how large a veterinary clinic bill your outside cat ran up when he came home injured. Be sure to read this story by Telegraph.co.uk as a woman shares her experience when her cat disappeared and she was afraid it was taken by the Croydon cat killer. The investigators later announced the Croydon killer was animal related (as in coyote).

Billy before his tail amputation (Anne Gulland)
Two useful tags. Click either to see the articles: Toxic to cats | Dangers to cats

Anne Gulland, along with her family, were fortunate because her cat Billy wandered back home six days after he went missing with his tail between his legs. An x-ray showed Billy had a broken tail and it needed to be amputated. It was broken in two places and the vet was unsure whether Billy had been hit by a car or whether someone yanked his tail hard enough to break it.

Billy ran up a bill at the clinic for £600. In an interview with Telegraph.co.uk Anne told of another family with an even higher bill.

“Having shared my story of Billy with other pet owners, we came off quite lightly. Someone told me of a dog who needed £5,500-worth of surgery and when his owners checked their insurance policy, it turned out that it would only pay out £1,000.”

Our cat Sealy was injured by a car fan blade/belt before we adopted him in 2012. His veterinary and surgical bills during the first six months exceeded $1,600. I’ve learned from experience that veterinarians are going up on their prices the same as every other business out to make a profit. Someone has to pay for all of the diagnostic equipment and it’s usually the pet owner.

I’ve followed injured cats and dogs as I snoop around on Facebook looking for articles to write on. Some have been seriously injured with expenses totaling more than $10,000! Especially an animal shot or hit by a vehicle.

Sure, cats can get hurt inside the home almost as easily as they can outside. Outside accidents tend to be bloody (for lack of a better term). Between x-rays and surgery and medication to help the cat heal when injured, veterinary care can drain a bank account in only a few days.

Have any of you been hit with a high veterinary bill after your cat was injured outside? Please share the amount and what happened in the comments.

I think it’s very important for people to realize just how empty their wallet will be after an injury. A lot of cats and dogs are euthanized simply because their owner can’t afford lifesaving treatment.

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4 thoughts on “So….how big of a veterinary clinic bill did your outside cat run up when he came home injured?”

  1. Don’t worry folks, Europe will become just like the USA in a few years. We’ll all be declawing our cats, dressing them up in gawdy pastiche human costumes, feeding them the rendered down remains of euthenaised cats full of sodium pentobarbitol, like it was going out of fashion. We’ll probably import some bears, wolves and mountain lions too, not forgetting rabies.

    The future does looks bright….

    Reply
  2. I adopted senior Nellie from GCAC needing a spay and enucleation aka eye removal. The primary visit and surgery totaled over $400. She was a stray and we don’t know what happened to her eye.

    Kitties are safer indoors.

    Reply
  3. My most recent experience involves a colony kitty. I’m not sure what his initial vet visit was, but he’s had two others totaling about $240. $140 for one at Care and another about $100 at his new and current vet. He has a leg wound from a bite and the infection made its way to the bone. Him being FIV and Felv pos. makes it harder (not impossible to heal). He’s on two antibiotics (just came off one) and will do two rounds of one of them. On top of vet care, there’s food, litter, litterbox, beds, gas to drive and care for it. With helping colony cats there’s shelter, food, straw, water, gas to go help them, trapping efforts, etc. All of these things add up and are why community help is so imperative. We continue to help, regardless. Working together makes a difference though. Even $1 donated will add up. It seems small, but so does a grain of sand on the beach or a single rock on a mountain. Nothing is too small.

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