One man can get the cat back...but can he do it in time?

corgic: Why haven't the pet owners owners, or the vet suggested a payment plan? The vet could take the $200 they have then get $50 a week until it's paid off.

They did.

This vet is a jerk.

Auto Mechanics do the same thing with cars.

It's a cat, not a person. It's just property, if you want it fixed you should pay for it

/I guess you libs think cat healthcare is a "right"

zabadu: corgic: Why haven't the pet owners owners, or the vet suggested a payment plan? The vet could take the $200 they have then get $50 a week until it's paid off.

They did.

Maybe the vet knows they are not good for it

Read the article, the Vet's office offered the owner a payment plan, which they refused as it "didn't meet their needs."

They should probably return the pet.

But it's not like the pet's owners are blameless. They were offered a payment plan. Why not take it?

Maybe the answer is that they cannot afford the cat. So the vet eats the treatment costs and the cat goes to a new family that can afford the care it needs.

eqtworld: Auto Mechanics do the same thing with cars.

It's a cat, not a person. It's just property, if you want it fixed you should pay for it

/I guess you libs think cat healthcare is a "right"

This. If you can't afford the vet bills, you can't afford the pet.

/Has two cats

I'm not sure how state laws vary, but here in California that'd be illegal. Regardless of the law though, that is just bad business as the negative publicity from this will cost much more than the bill. Give the cat back and send her bill to collections if you can't work something out.

Ya I'm afraid I can't back the vets up on this. For one it is someone's pet and that has to be considered. For two it costs to keep a cat since you have to care for it, so in the event they never pay all you've done is increase your costs.

However a bigger issue is this may actually count as theft. You can't just hold on to something because someone doesn't pay you. You find this with things like towing places. They'll act like you can't have your car back, they are wrong. It is theft. Now if you don't pay what you owe they can sue you, but they can't just hold your car. They don't like it and don't give that information out, but it is how it is.

I understand needing to get paid, but that doesn't give you the right to do as you please.

I'd be kicking the door in after hours and rescuing the cat. Then filing a lawsuit for wrongful imprisonment or theft of property or some shiat if they tried to press charges

eqtworld: zabadu: corgic: Why haven't the pet owners owners, or the vet suggested a payment plan? The vet could take the $200 they have then get $50 a week until it's paid off.

They did.

Maybe the vet knows they are not good for it

The vet offered a payment plan they could not afford.

Both are wrong. Don't get your pet services you can't afford without discussing it with the vet first.

Don't hold someones animal hostage.

I love it when people think the holidays = they should get a break on paying their bills.

Not impressed.

Beeblebrox: eqtworld: Auto Mechanics do the same thing with cars.

It's a cat, not a person. It's just property, if you want it fixed you should pay for it

/I guess you libs think cat healthcare is a "right"

This. If you can't afford the vet bills, you can't afford the pet.

/Has two cats

Or at least don't approve an estimate and then act shocked when they expect you to actually pay for services rendered.

From the comments, looks like the cat is back with the owners thanks to some donations.

Also... almost $700 for a UTI treatment?!? Holy crap! I recently had my puppy neutered (actual surgery), got him all of his shots, and chipped for less than $500. ~$700 seems a little pricey for a simpler and less invasive procedure.

nitefallz: I'd be kicking the door in after hours and rescuing the cat. Then filing a lawsuit for wrongful imprisonment or theft of property or some shiat if they tried to press charges

Or you could just pay your farking bill. You'll spring for an attorney and court costs but not your pet? You're a bad pet owner.

nitefallz: I'd be kicking the door in after hours and rescuing the cat. Then filing a lawsuit for wrongful imprisonment or theft of property or some shiat if they tried to press charges

Or instead you could agree to the payment plan the vet offered to set up.

I love animals as much as anyone, but a vet's office is not a charity.

Sounds like the vet is not really a decent person...

Warning: AVOID Dr. Burnett in Burgaw, NC My wife and I had to take our family Shih Tsu to the Pet ER in Wilmington, NC and after several tests and exams, we were recommended to take him to Dr. Burnett in Burgaw, NC near where we live. When my wife took our dog to this Vet, she was advised, after X-Rays were taken, that he had two stones in his penis and they needed to be removed by surgery. My nervous wife asked how much this surgery would cost and Dr. Burnett responded by saying that she had no idea really, somewhere around $800-$1200 dollars. My wife then asked why there was such a range there and the response was short and very nonchalant. She said it depends on how long it takes for the surgery, you can schedule it for tomorrow or go home and think about it. In other words, she showed zero concern for the animal. My wife called me to let me know the bad news and the cost that would be involved. So, I called to speak to Dr. Burnett and she was not available, then, I called another Vet in Wilmington, NC, not to get a second opinion, but to ease my mind as to whether or not this was a safe process for a 10 year old Shih Tsu and what was involved as far as recovery goes. The Vet that I called was Leonard-Sykes Hospital For Pets. The doctor there that I spoke to was extremely helpful and very polite, she explained, in detail, the entire surgery and recovery process. She then asked if the animal had been neutered or not and after I informed her that he had not, she immediately offered that surgery 50% off and then proceeded to tell me that my cost for BOTH surgeries would cost a little over half the price of what Dr. Burnett quoted (I did'nt even ask how much this would cost, it was offered). So, as any other intelligent human being would do, I immediately scheduled the surgery with this hospital. The Doctor that is to perform the surgery was out of town and the doctor that was discussing the procedures with me, gave me the personal cell phone of the surgeon and said that he would like to talk to me in person and help ease my concerns even more. He also asked me to bring him all of the records for the animal and the X-Rays that had been taken. My wife drove all the way back to Burgaw from Wilmington to get this info and was told that she had to pay for the doctors notes and records (which is very normal) BUT TOLD MY WIFE AND ME ON THE PHONE THAT THE X-RAYS WERE PROPERTY OF THE HOSPITAL AND WE PAID FOR THE INTERPRETAION OF THE X-RAYS NOT THE X-RAYS THEMSELVES!!! THEY SAID THAT THE COMPANY THAT USED TO COPY THEM FOR THEIR CUSTOMERS DO NO DO THAT ANY LONGER! I was told by my NEW Vet, that their procedure was to simply burn a copy of the X-Ray to a CD for a small fee. I am almost certain that they did not want to give them to us because we decided to have the procedure performed somewhere else. I am not certain, but I think that that information is due to me according to the Code of Veterinarians because second opinions are normal procedure. I am researching this further but MY WARNING TO YOU IS TO AVOID THIS DOCTOR AT ALL COSTS. SHE COULD CARELESS ABOUT YOU OR YOUR ANIMAL! CALL AROUND AND ASK QUESTIONS...FIND A VET THAT SHOWS YOU THAT THEY CARE AND IS WILLING TO INFORM YOU AND HELP KEEP YOU INFORMED!! This is part of the problem in our society today...lack of concern for what we do and the people that we live amongst. Less

I have an opinion on this!

Darwin's Prophet: Beeblebrox: eqtworld: Auto Mechanics do the same thing with cars.

It's a cat, not a person. It's just property, if you want it fixed you should pay for it

/I guess you libs think cat healthcare is a "right"

This. If you can't afford the vet bills, you can't afford the pet.

/Has two cats

Or at least don't approve an estimate and then act shocked when they expect you to actually pay for services rendered.

I deal with this shiat all the time, of course... It's computers, and not pets... But same general idea.

That vet just wants to make his buck, and he knows that it will be way easier to collect if the family has a constant reminder of debt. I am sure the cat is being well treated, and caused no harm on account of this, so whats the problem?

Having a healthy cat is not a right... Its a privilege and responsibility, and vet bills need to be taken into consideration.

Moral is... Deal with it, get your cat back when you have the money.

Beeblebrox: eqtworld: Auto Mechanics do the same thing with cars.

It's a cat, not a person. It's just property, if you want it fixed you should pay for it

/I guess you libs think cat healthcare is a "right"

This. If you can't afford the vet bills, you can't afford the pet.

/Has two cats

As a person whose cat died of cancer this year, I am NOT getting a kick, etc.

One problem is that vetrinary medicine is getting to be quite as expensive as people medicine. Taking care of your animals if they are really sick can run you into tens of thousands of dollars. Heck, I spent almost two grand just getting my cat diagnosed.

Insurance is worthless too. Although you can get insurance for animals, they will stop covering them after 10 years old - which is usually when dogs or cats start running into trouble.

My cat died within a week of diagnosis. I was spared trying to figure out wether I could afford thousands and thousands in treatments to keep him going. But I sure feel for others who have to make that terrible choice.

I'm sorry. I know medical science has come a long way. I can't help but think that some of these treatments for animals might just be a bit overpriced.

fuhfuhfuh: From the comments, looks like the cat is back with the owners thanks to some donations.

Also... almost $700 for a UTI treatment?!? Holy crap! I recently had my puppy neutered (actual surgery), got him all of his shots, and chipped for less than $500. ~$700 seems a little pricey for a simpler and less invasive procedure.

Can't comment on this specific case but many blockages come with major electrolyte imbalances (hyperkalemia mainly) that have to be treated with IV fluids and monitoring. Bloodwork alone will generally run over 100-150.

nitefallz: I'd be kicking the door in after hours and rescuing the cat.

Sounds like cat burglary

Darwin's Prophet: I'm not sure how state laws vary, but here in California that'd be illegal. Regardless of the law though, that is just bad business as the negative publicity from this will cost much more than the bill. Give the cat back and send her bill to collections if you can't work something out.

I think even worse publicity is people telling their friends to take their pets to that vet because they won't have to pay their bills. The owners signed a doc saying they would pay, failed to pay, were offered a payment plan, and they turned it down. Fark em. Good business is not synonymous with letting people roll all over you just because the property in question is a living being. The vet should put the cat up for adoption. These folks cannot afford to have a cat.

So.......she never even planned to pay a penny? Even the $200 she "offered" was money they got from donations.

Vet was upfront with the costs, stated clearly monies had to be paid upfront.

Grass Hopper: Beeblebrox: eqtworld: Auto Mechanics do the same thing with cars.

It's a cat, not a person. It's just property, if you want it fixed you should pay for it

/I guess you libs think cat healthcare is a "right"

This. If you can't afford the vet bills, you can't afford the pet.

/Has two cats

As a person whose cat died of cancer this year, I am NOT getting a kick, etc.

One problem is that vetrinary medicine is getting to be quite as expensive as people medicine. Taking care of your animals if they are really sick can run you into tens of thousands of dollars. Heck, I spent almost two grand just getting my cat diagnosed.

Insurance is worthless too. Although you can get insurance for animals, they will stop covering them after 10 years old - which is usually when dogs or cats start running into trouble.

My cat died within a week of diagnosis. I was spared trying to figure out wether I could afford thousands and thousands in treatments to keep him going. But I sure feel for others who have to make that terrible choice.

I'm sorry. I know medical science has come a long way. I can't help but think that some of these treatments for animals might just be a bit overpriced.

You have no clue what human medicine actually costs. Take your costs for your cat and multiply by 100-1000 for similar treatment in human med.

Phase I) Take pet to vet and never plan to pay the bill.

Phase II) Get local paper to write sob article so others will foot the bill.

Phase III) Profit.

Grass Hopper: Beeblebrox: eqtworld: Auto Mechanics do the same thing with cars.

It's a cat, not a person. It's just property, if you want it fixed you should pay for it

/I guess you libs think cat healthcare is a "right"

This. If you can't afford the vet bills, you can't afford the pet.

/Has two cats

As a person whose cat died of cancer this year, I am NOT getting a kick, etc.

One problem is that vetrinary medicine is getting to be quite as expensive as people medicine. Taking care of your animals if they are really sick can run you into tens of thousands of dollars. Heck, I spent almost two grand just getting my cat diagnosed.

Insurance is worthless too. Although you can get insurance for animals, they will stop covering them after 10 years old - which is usually when dogs or cats start running into trouble.

My cat died within a week of diagnosis. I was spared trying to figure out wether I could afford thousands and thousands in treatments to keep him going. But I sure feel for others who have to make that terrible choice.

I'm sorry. I know medical science has come a long way. I can't help but think that some of these treatments for animals might just be a bit overpriced.

I'm in the exact same situation. We had to put our old cat down because of cancer that was discovered a week before. It sucked but we paid every bill at the time of treatment. We did adopt two cats a week later.

That said, the cost is not overpriced. Take a look at how much you are billed (before insurance) for your own medical costs. Hell, look at how much your prescriptions are before insurance.

Most vets and medical providers just sell their accounts receivables to bill collectors.

If they can't afford the vet bill why do they even have a cat?

Put the cat up for adoption to a family that can afford it. Pets are living breathing creatures. They're not toys or conveniences. If you can't afford the food, medical care and expenses of owning them you don't deserve to have them.

Its also not like the vet didn't give them an accurate estimate.

Poor kitty.

Sounds shiatty, but it also seems like common sense.

The Vet at the ER makes you sign a waiver agreeing to pay all charges or forgo collection of the pet before they will even look at the thing.

/paid 3+K to get my kitty back this summer
//worth every penny

The pet owners were told when they dropped off the cat what the price would be. Did they mention at that point that they couldn't pay the whole thing off right away, or try arrange a payment plan?

"Now that you've fixed out kitty we'll pay what we can and hopefully you'll get the rest of your money through the collection agency you'll no doubt end up using"

Something tells me they'll get the money together.

Yeah, we're not really allowed to do this.

OTOH, when she's there for discharge, the vet is free to have her arrested for non-payment of services.

CommanderApaul: Read the article, the Vet's office offered the owner a payment plan, which they refused as it "didn't meet their needs."

I have a feeling this family's needs were "free".

As a former cat owner, I sympathize with the family, but they signed an agreement to pay the estimated costs before treatment started, which is pretty standard for emergency vet care.
I did the same for my cat, and he didn't make it. My costs were almost double theirs, but I still paid up. I had a feeling he wouldn't make it and could have had him just put down instead, but wanted to give him a chance.
A good chunk of that cost is probably from having someone stay at the clinic with the cat outside of normal hours.

Grass Hopper: One problem is that vetrinary medicine is getting to be quite as expensive as people medicine. Taking care of your animals if they are really sick can run you into tens of thousands of dollars. Heck, I spent almost two grand just getting my cat diagnosed.

It's a cat.

It's not a human.

Withholding chemotherapy for a cat and letting it die is not cruel. your cat does not need an insurance policy

However, spending thousands of dollars that could have been donated to give an uninsured human heath care... on a cat... may be unethical

sycraft: Ya I'm afraid I can't back the vets up on this. For one it is someone's pet and that has to be considered. For two it costs to keep a cat since you have to care for it, so in the event they never pay all you've done is increase your costs.

However a bigger issue is this may actually count as theft. You can't just hold on to something because someone doesn't pay you. You find this with things like towing places. They'll act like you can't have your car back, they are wrong. It is theft. Now if you don't pay what you owe they can sue you, but they can't just hold your car. They don't like it and don't give that information out, but it is how it is.

I understand needing to get paid, but that doesn't give you the right to do as you please.

What world do you live in? YES, the tow truck guy can keep your car. YES, the TV repairman can keep your stuff until you pay. YES the vet can keep "tiger" until you pay. How about this, PAY YOUR BILLS!