Vet's bills
Oct 19th 2012 | 3:30 am
#31
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 300
Re: Vet's bills
My sincere condolences to you too Jericho. The costs do seem extraordinary, whether the treatment was successful or not, and it must be especially difficult to think of challenging them over the bill when you are that upset.
Oct 19th 2012 | 3:40 am
#32
half a century
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 10,222
From: Sarf Lundun to East Van :)
Re: Vet's bills
Sorry to hear your news Jericho 
I always think it would be a nice move if Vets waived bills if your pet dies in surgery.
But I suppose it is a business .
I always think it would be a nice move if Vets waived bills if your pet dies in surgery.
But I suppose it is a business .
Oct 20th 2012 | 11:13 am
#33
Thread Starter
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 2,327
From: Nusajaya
Re: Vet's bills
Jericho, sorry to hear your news. I can guess how you might be feeling.
We too had some bad news. The cat with the bad leg that caused the large vet bill passed away on Tuesday. When we were at the vets, we would have paid anything to have saved him.... but it was too late.
We were totally shocked that a cat with a bad leg, checked over by a vet on Friday, could suddenly die on the following Tuesday. He'd had a "sniffle" and occasional wheezing, but we thought nothing of it. He was lethargic, but we thought that was down to the bad leg. He had a seizure early Tuesday morning, a second one at the vet, and died 5 minutes after being placed in an oxygen tent. He supposedly had fluid on his lungs, but we're all mystified about how he died. We wouldn't go along with an autopsy. He was only 10.
It was a lesson learned... though vet's bills might be high, consider the alternative.
We too had some bad news. The cat with the bad leg that caused the large vet bill passed away on Tuesday. When we were at the vets, we would have paid anything to have saved him.... but it was too late.
We were totally shocked that a cat with a bad leg, checked over by a vet on Friday, could suddenly die on the following Tuesday. He'd had a "sniffle" and occasional wheezing, but we thought nothing of it. He was lethargic, but we thought that was down to the bad leg. He had a seizure early Tuesday morning, a second one at the vet, and died 5 minutes after being placed in an oxygen tent. He supposedly had fluid on his lungs, but we're all mystified about how he died. We wouldn't go along with an autopsy. He was only 10.
It was a lesson learned... though vet's bills might be high, consider the alternative.
Oct 20th 2012 | 12:03 pm
#34
limey party pooper
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 10,000
Re: Vet's bills
My dog, my best mate, was sick last week. He'd eaten a bone and had a blockage in his bowel. They gave him an x-ray and 2 enemas, which cost almost $500. He got worse over night, and I took him back in first thing in the morning. They said surgery was needed asap, so I agreed.
A few hours later I got a call to say he'd died following a complication, but they handed me another bill for $1200.
A few hours later I got a call to say he'd died following a complication, but they handed me another bill for $1200.
Oct 23rd 2012 | 12:35 pm
#35
Island life at last
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,715
From: BC
Re: Vet's bills
My dog, my best mate, was sick last week. He'd eaten a bone and had a blockage in his bowel. They gave him an x-ray and 2 enemas, which cost almost $500. He got worse over night, and I took him back in first thing in the morning. They said surgery was needed asap, so I agreed.
A few hours later I got a call to say he'd died following a complication, but they handed me another bill for $1200.
A few hours later I got a call to say he'd died following a complication, but they handed me another bill for $1200.
OH and I have had a recent bereavement as well.
We had to have our friend Hendrix put to sleep last week after he apparently had a stroke.
He had been with us since he was born and lived for sixteen and a half years, which is old for a cat, with never a sick day in his life until this event.
We have only been living in our new home for a few weeks - I had only registered us humans with a doctor the week before!
Hendrix woke up in the morning and couldn't use his left side at all.
Luckily, a neighbour works for an animal charity and has a collection of animals, many of them older, so we rushed over and asked where we could take him.
At the surgery they couldn't see him right away (as the vet was going to be late in after a late-night emergency case) but as he seemed to be in no pain, the veterinary nurse said they would keep him under observation at the practice until the vet arrived so that we could go to work and they would call us later with a diagnosis.
I was so glad about that, not because I wanted to go to work but because I wanted him to have some time under proper care to recover from the problem if that was at all possible.
After the vet saw him, it was clear that the decision had to be made to put him to sleep.
The vet was kind and considerate and afterwards we took Hendrix home to be buried.
They didn't charge us for the day of care at the practice, as they would have in the UK.
Cost $90.
