Vets and Payment Plans for Injured or Sickly Dogs

[fabulous50]

It would be nice if one vet clinic in Kelowna or West Kelowna would do a payment plan. Yes, Pet owners should be able to afford vet bills, but many can't and the animal is their family member or solace. Today the headline about the broken jaw on that little dog was heartbreaking.
Not everyone has extra cash in this day and age, but a little compassion from a vet to do a payment plan would be nice.

We spent our mortgage payment, every cent we had one year to help save our sickly dog. Over 4 grand later we still lost our pet.
It was unexpected and we scratched for every cent. They wouldn't do anything for us until we kept putting down a deposit each step of the way or they wouldn't do anything more. Compassion sucked big time, it was a money grab to us.
After we looked at the insurance plans, but who can pay 90 per month just in case for the remaining dog. It came down to the decision that if the other dog came down with this disease as they were litter mates it would be euthanized since the first one
couldn't be saved anyways we found out afterwards.

Shots and the usual things for pets are to be expected and saved for.

[Catz]

I agree with a payment plan from the vet.
Not a lot of people have this extra cash laying around, and they should make it easier for people to help sick or injured animals.
This has always bothered me, but my vet has been very nice the last 2 times I brought my cat in, and made the payements as easy as she could.
It was still expensive, though, but I could tell she cared.

[doc2013]

Just tried. No answer. Will keep trying.

[SILENCE]

I'm a dog lover and have been my entire life. Having grown up on a farm it was pretty normal to have to "put the dog down" when they got hit by cars, gored by angry bovine, shot by neighbours etc.
I am stunned that people would willingly shell out thousands to buy a pure-bred whatever only to spend thousands more on keeping a sick/dying ANIMAL alive.
To those that would reply that the animal is "just like one ofe the family" and how could I be so cold - I ask where is your furry friend's health insurance - your kids have it don't they?

[arabrocket]

If you cannot afford unforseen circumstances for your pet, and you are unwilling to euth them for something you cannot afford, then you should be carrying health insurance on your pet. It's been around for at least 30 years (that was the last time I purchased it).

http://www.caapets.com/bcaa/benefits/faq.aspx

Here's another one:

http://www.vetinsurance.com/Shop.aspx

[fabulous50]

If you read the fine print on the insurance forms, you still must pay the vet upfront and then submit your receipts for reimbursement that can take up to 2 months to get back. Most people need the money right now. What my original post is about is how the vets' want the money up front, and then they take a look. Keep you going on the promise that the animal will be fine then test after test and drugs etc add up only to find there was no hope. That they could do payment plans for some people until the money comes through even on the insurance but they won't do it. I have had many dogs euthanized over the years instead of paying big bucks that wasn't my issue. Most of my dogs were mongrels and rescue dogs not high end purebreds as the one post noted.
For those that don't know it. Some homeowner policies have a liability rider for about 10 bucks that covers medical problems caused to a human or another animal by your animal. I had horses and if they stomped on anyone I was covered. 10 bucks is cheap to pay for a peace of mind.

Now that my kids are grown, the dogs are my 'kids' and I have seriously considered the insurance but why if this dog dies from the same thing his sibling had and we now know it was curable that the vets led us to believe.

[onestop67]

If you read the fine print on the insurance forms, you still must pay the vet upfront and then submit your receipts for reimbursement that can take up to 2 months to get back.

I think you'd find a lot more vets willing to put you on a payment plan IF you have the insurance. They can invoice you, you submit it and then pay the vet.

[sooperphreek]

why are vet bills so high you need to mortgage your house and make payments? crazy!!!!

[Catz]

I hear what you are saying...even with out the lab work, my vet bill was way over 500 dollars...I had to pay that up front.
She gave me another estimate of 'all included', but I could not come up with that.
If there was a payement plan offered, it would have been much easier.
Now I pay off my visa at stupis interest rate, but would do it all again.

[littleone13]

I have to dogs who are getting up there in age. I've been making regular visit to my vet for the past couple years for various health issues. My vet has been nice enough to treat my dogs and allow me to either pay in installments or come in when I have the money. I've been to loyal to the same vet and they treat me with great respect and understand that sometimes animals get sick and money is tight. They go above and beyong my expectation.

[motorhomebabe]

I get tired of people saying if you cant afford the vet bills you shouldnt have a dog.Unforseen things happen in life .maybe none of us should have dogs as circumstances beyond our control might change our finacial picture And before anyone throws flames , you should not get an animal if you presantly cant afford the vet bills.

[doc2013]

I second that.

[ImRight]

lots of good points here.

A vet is a business. They went thru many years of schooling. They have a huge overhead. If you can't come up with the money why should they do "their trade" for free? They are not a bank. Do you go to the store and ask them if you can take $400 worth of groceries home and you promise that you'll pay them back when you can?

Go get a bank loan. That's what they are there for. If you don't qualify for one, you expect a vet to work for free or actually go backwards in life to help you out. He won't be around for long if he does that, and where would I take my puppy then if he needs help?

[sooperphreek]

or make the overpriced vets a thing of the past and buy a gun, bullets, a shovel, tank of gas and get rid of unwanted or old animals the old fashioned way in the back 40!

[fabulous50]

For one thing I didn't mortgage the house...read it again. I said I used the payment for it, but I took it off the next check.
And how many have extra money at Xmas time when this happened to us. Three days before Xmas and it was sudden and something we had never heard of. We maxed our credit cards - everything and even borrowed money with the ongoing promise the dog would be fine. Then after the passing was told there was nothing that could be done.
Our own vet was great, but referred the dog to the BIG emergency hospital in Kelowna. Our vet has been great for over 20 years and knows us from all the dogs we've had and being responsible owners. All our dogs were mongrels. The vet still said no go if we had insurance on a payment plan as the plan can deny payment still.