Good news, bad news

[Rajah]

Ugh.

Okay, they got Blaze's results back and the pathologist reports not likely to be cancer, rather is an infection (absess, non-cancerous tumor), but there is still a small chance of it being cancerous. The specialist said we have two options -- do a biopsy to get a better reading (but she said usually with lymphoma she gets a much more definitive reading with the test already done so she's leaning away from lymphoma), or go straight to surgery, see what's there, and if it's something that can be removed, remove it. She recommends the surgery since the chances are very high that's where we'd be going next anyway.

That's the good news.

The bad news is the surgery is nearly $2000 and I'm not sure we can afford that. :/ My DH is in a meeting so I'm having to wait until he gets out before we can say for sure. I'm also calling around a couple of other *vets* rather than *specialists* to see if they'd also charge $2000 for the same surgery.

I'm sorry, I hope I don't offend any vets out there, but $2000 for surgery on a cat is totally, completely rediculous. I was expecting about $1000, not twice that.

So I don't know where we're going from here. I'll have to talk to DH to find out.

 

[JC2]

{{Hugs}} Rajah! This must be such a hard time for you.
I hope you can get a better price.
Let us know how it turns out.

 

[Mishetta]

That is totally absurd! $2000! But...you love your kitty...Bad spot you're in. I think I heard once of animal insurance (or was I dreaming?) I mean, if it also covered annual shots, I might be tempted to go for it. I know how much our beloved "Mishetta" (cat) cost us in the end & then they couldn't save her anyway.

Good luck....hope everything works out with a happy ending.

Rose

 

[Rajah]

The sad thing is, Mishetta -- we had the chance of putting Blaze, Skye, and Sienna on animal insurance in January. We opted not to do it this year because of so many other expenses that are new this year (2 cars, house, etc). Now I'm ready to kill myself (figuratively) that we didn't.

 

[Beauty]

$2,000!! Wow Tammi.....can you pay that over YEARS??? I agree thats high high!

I decided some years ago to try and breed my Persian ... Mindy....well to make a long story short, Mindy ended up being to small to have all the babies she was pregnant with. The babies ended up dying inside of her and the vet had to remove them. An infection also set up and she ended up having 2 different surgeries. I was told either she had the surgery or she would die. It was a cut and dry situation. I believe everything ended up being between $600 - $800 and it took us close to a year to pay it off. It was well worth it though, now Mindy is fixed and fat and a spoiled rotten baby! Shes only 5 years old so we have tons of time left with her!

We by far also couldn't afford that kind of surgery but surely the vet will let you pay it off as slowly as you need. Did he/she mention anything about when full payment was expected or what the possibilities are if she doesn't have the surgery??

{{{HUGS}}}

 

[Rajah]

Beth -- that's much more reasonable to me, and I can't see how what they're wanting to do on Blaze is more dangerous and invasive and difficult than what they had to do to your persian!

And no, they won't let you pay over a period of time. The most they'll do is accept a CC. Whereas our usual vet (whom I've got a call in to right now -- for the guy who did Sienna's spaying and we were impressed with the "quality of work" done with her spaying) *will* do a payment plan with you for as long as is necessary.

 

[Beauty]

Wow! Nothing but a CC thats ridiculous!

We don't have any specialists in our area but what impresses me is that our vet has taken in animals off the street that have been run over and done all types of surgery to save that animal and then find it a good home. I realize that there are great expenses in the vetinarian field as well as any field but here is a cat that is loved and adored, has a SUPER home and they will get their money over a period of time, it just makes no sense to me why they wouldn't work with you. Would they just let the baby die or suffer? Thats so sad!!

 

[robinb]

If it's an abcess (like your vet thinks it is), would you really need the surgury? Could you treat it another way?

My kitty broke his leg and it ended up costing us $800!

 

[Rajah]

Robin -- what I understand is that if the abcess isn't removed, it would continue to become more and more infected until it was either removed or kill the animal.

This has already cost us $600 and we haven't even gotten to the surgery part yet.

 

[cherylp3]

Rajah, There is a credit card that you can get that is specifically geared to helping with Pet bills .

It is called Care Credit the link is http://www.carecredit.com/index.htm

Cheryl

 

[Rajah]

Thanks Cheryl -- I'll look into that.

 

[luvwinnie]

my cat Tigger might need an MRI if she continues to have seizures. It's about $1000....and may not tell us ANYTHING. I feel like saying "well, we'll pay you IF you find out what is wrong!"

Best of luck with your kitty. Hope it all works out.

 

[Boots]

{{{{{HUGS}}}}} That does sound expensive, but I am a kitty lover too so.............

 

[Dodie]

Rajah:

I don't know if you remember my story, but my cat, Abby, had to have exploratory surgery a couple of weeks ago because they thought she had a mass that wasn't showing up in the x-rays or that she had eaten something that wasn't making its way through her system.

It ended up being an infection that we treated with antibiotics and she's fine.

My point here though is that that entire episode, including the exploratory surgery, was about $600. I cannot imagine why the surgery you describe should cost $2,000. Is it because the vet is a "specialist?" Could you get a 2nd, 3rd opinion and perhaps a more reasonable quote?

 

[Toby'sFriend]

My guess is that a regular vet might be able to perform the surgery more cheaply. Just like with people doctors, when you go to a specialist you are also paying for a higher level of expertise and advanced education and training, more advanced equipment, more support staff, and as always higher malpractice insurance premiums.

I hope that Blaze is back on his feet soon.

 

[helenabear]

Tammi, I wish I had some good advice for you but every where I have taken my pets for things, if it got to be too expensive, they would accept some sort of payment plan. Are there any other specialists in your area or maybe a college that might have a vet school associated with it? I have found that for the 'tough' things, the vet school at my alma mater is very very good and very inexpensive by comparison. I could actually use them as my vet only, but I am willing to pay the extra money for a person I get on a continual basis and love. Hopefully you can find a more reasonable alternative or even a 0% finance credit card would help for a while I am sure. Good luck, but it sounds very hopeful for Blaze

 

[Rajah]

Well, we're ready to kill someone over the cost, and will kill even more if Blaze doesn't make it through the surgery (though honestly that's fear more than anything to really base it on, because his "spirit" is strong right now), but we've got him scheduled at the specialist. They have 24 hour nurse attendence at the specialist, and our regular vet strongly recommended we let the specialist do it -- says that particular office is one of the best if not *the* best in the area for surgery. The regular vets we talked to would charge just $400 cheaper for the same thing due to his situation, and for that $400 we're getting 24 hour nurse care -- and I'm worried enough about him that the extra $400 for 24 hour nurse care (which is not offered at the normal vets) is worth it.

 

[Disney Ella]

Some humane societies have veterinary clinics that charge people half (or less) the fees that independent vets do. I don't know if you would have any of those where you are or not. Veterinary schools also have clinics, which may or may not be cheaper.

You are in a very tough position and it is obvious that you care so much for your cats. I hope you can find a good solution for everyone.

 

[damo]

Oh Rajah, what an awful situation to be put in. In your heart I'm sure you know what you will do. Our little one year old dog had cataracts in both eyes. It was $1200/eye to get it done. We couldn't let her be blind so of course we did the surgery. When I look back on it, I wouldn't have done it any other way. She is such a sweety and such a big part of our family. You may have to sacrifice a few things but in the end, I'm sure you will do what is best for Blaze.

 

[DonnaS]

$2000 doesn't seem outrageous to me. I had a cat who had breast surgery over 15 years ago and at that time it was about $600 and I'm pretty sure the breast surgery was less invasive than abdominal surgery. This was just one of Sabrina's surgeries.

I know you are hurting and all, but it kind of concerns me when people insist that their pets be treated like human babies and then balk at the cost of care. That kind of surgery on a baby would be much more (albeit you would have most likely insured a baby).

Vet schools are in many ways more competitive than medical schools. The costs are high. If you can't afford it, you can't afford it, but it just doesn't seem unreasonably high to me.

I do think you are making the right choice with going with the specialist care though. I'll be thinking good thoughts for Blaze.