At only $740.00 month disability income the $500.00 vet bill will be extremely challenging to pay off before the 28% interest kicks in through care credit. I’m having no luck finding programs, grants, forgiveness loans Ect…I’m considering GoFundMe type platform but know very little about those. My emergency fund was first to go, my credit score is 740. Any tips,advice, links, support, and prayers welcome. I have to take her back to hospital today if she holds out until I get a ride to emergency room pet hospital.
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I just want to say how much I feel your pain. I had several vet appointments last year that resulted in a $1,200 vet bill. Luckily I’ve since paid it off, but it was hard.
In terms of things that might help - if you’re a senior, maybe you can check with AARP or a senior resource alliance in your area. Maybe they have assistance for that. Also check with 211 (the number for United Way) and Catholic Charities (even if you’re not Catholic).
Check with the vet to see if they can work out a payment plan other than Care Credit. I just paid off my Care Credit account, and you are right, they are NOT cheap.
I wish you luck - I’m sure it’s nerve wracking to have a bill that big when you’re on disability. But my cats are my furry kids so I get it.
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Such a beautiful kitty and companion for you. I have learned from friends that have pets how expensive they can be, some have pet insurance and this provides for some coverage, I don’t know any details. Many vets take mercy on you and offer you payment plans, that is very generous of them, it serves both of you and the business well.
In the past we have had cats and enjoyed them, as they aged they required more and more vet visits at great expense…blood work, medication, special diet, x-rays… Since we were both working they visits were covered, as they sadly passed on, we did not replace them, our lives changed. Now if we need a cat fix, we can volunteer at animal shelters or visit a pet store. It is enough.
Since you love cats, is there some way you could offer your services for hire cat-sitting?
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ALISAK, I’m so sorry to hear about your vet bills and your difficulty in paying them. I would try to work with my vet to see if they could make an exception and let you make payments without interest. Have you asked them if there are any programs out there to help low income people with vet bills? Go-Fund-Me pages are pretty easy to set up from what I understand. They walk you through the steps. If you go that route, please let us know so that those of us who can help a little will know where to go.
I am praying for you and your precious kitty. I love my fur baby too and have spent a fortune keeping him healthy, so I also feel your financial pain.
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REDCATCEC, My cat is in good health presently, but we too have paid a fortune in vet bills for our now 15 year old cat. When his time comes, I had fully intended to get another especially since my grandson asked if he could pick out the next one. Though at 67, I wonder what would become of it when something happens to myself and my husband. My grandson is 10 and his mother would not have one and my other daughter lives a few states away and has had her share of sad cat illnesses and great expenses. ANYWAY, I think your suggestion to volunteer at the animal shelter is genius. I can get my cute cat and dog fix, without any pesky, outrageous vet bills. I think even my grandson will get onboard with that endeavor.
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DBOOTHE, we are in the same age group as you and have seen some of these cats at pet stores, fully grown and all alone-up for adoption, occasionally abandoned. Some of these kitties have a brief story explaining how they arrived there, usually the owner has died or moved to where they are not allowed to have pets and no one wants a mature cat.
On another note, my friend had an older kitty and the kitty developed diabetes, which is chronic. Many trips to the vet, special diet, daily injections, and she had to arrange her work schedule & life around the pet so she could be cared for. Then came the symptoms of urinary tract infections, diagnosing, then add in antibiotics and eventually stones and their treatment. The kitty was then on a downward spiral and she had to say goodbye after many years of love and companionship.
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I looked up a debt calculation app. If you can pay $57 per month, you’ll pay this off in about 10 months and pay about $68 in interest. Interest is something I don’t like to pay, but I accept it because it allowed me to make a purchase with borrowed money. Once this card is paid off, I would try to set aside some money for future pet expenses. I have a service dog and he gets a vet check up once a month. He is professionally groomed each week. These are just the “sunk” cost of having a service dog. A “sunk” cost is the inevitable cost of doing business. Think of an airline who has empty seats on a jet. They still have to get the sold tickets to where they paid to go. The fuel used for empty seats is a “sunk” cost.
dboothe posted:
REDCATCEC, My cat is in good health presently, but we too have paid a fortune in vet bills for our now 15 year old cat. When his time comes, I had fully intended to get another especially since my grandson asked if he could pick out the next one. Though at 67, I wonder what would become of it when something happens to myself and my husband. My grandson is 10 and his mother would not have one and my other daughter lives a few states away and has had her share of sad cat illnesses and great expenses. ANYWAY, I think your suggestion to volunteer at the animal shelter is genius. I can get my cute cat and dog fix, without any pesky, outrageous vet bills. I think even my grandson will get onboard with that endeavor.
You could always delegate me in your will as caretaker and new steward of your kitty and/or cats or sole beneficiary then That way you wouldn’t have to worry about what would become of your beloved pets I would do that for you. I would love them.
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dboothe posted:
ALISAK, I’m so sorry to hear about your vet bills and your difficulty in paying them. I would try to work with my vet to see if they could make an exception and let you make payments without interest. Have you asked them if there are any programs out there to help low income people with vet bills? Go-Fund-Me pages are pretty easy to set up from what I understand. They walk you through the steps. If you go that route, please let us know so that those of us who can help a little will know where to go.
I am praying for you and your precious kitty. I love my fur baby too and have spent a fortune keeping him healthy, so I also feel your financial pain.
Thank you for info , prayers and suggestions. I’m going to check out GoFundMe. Had to take her to dove Lewis emergency $800.00iah maxing care credit out and still she’s so sick. Will be taking her to vet where I adopted her this morning. I’ll keep you updated.
hello , I love penny hoarder , I learn a lot on this page,2016 I tried to settle out medical bill with debit collector, I agreed to there payment terms I had autopay around middle of month , like they asked they all spoke Asian or Spanish, but they claimed, they were going to come arrest me,these guys were persistent until I waived white flag, I kind of laughed cause my hubby said they can not arrest u this is tacktic they use when collecting a debit ………. I don’t trust any debeit collector my case being investigating all 3 creditors they have fraud alert thank god . I am not afraid to talk to any of these creditors god send ,
I kind of laughed , so I settled with them they even called my employer , so when I settled with these folks they were in a agreement I pay em on auto pay , made out a written contract I took the names of person I talk to I kept all records of my payments, 6 months later all of sudden they declined me, after all that mess they would not except any payments so,I refused this is not the first time , 2 yrs ago I made amends to my on going credit issues, caused by long over due medical bills, now thank the Lord for Transunion . I was so happy to talk to real person how much they listen to my concern , now there investigating my back ground I been getting numerus credit bills for the same thing I owed em $1500 this last credit collector lied they never gave me any credit towards my creditors, after all I paid in to . Mean while Transunion has put a block on all my account for year they will get with me in next 30 days the lady said don’t make any payments, yet until they get with me, this is hard lesson to learn I made amends to my debits, I started taken baby steps, I started with Fingerhut . now I got discover, my credit score is now 690 I think I am working toward my goal to get up to 780 I pray I can dissolve this on going issue, thank you for all the feed back on how to deal with bad credit 2016 this I on going issue not completed, i learn alot on penny hoarder, god bless
Redcatcec, We have owned cats for years and have had all kinds of emergencies. Anywhere from hubby giving wrong medicine to our cat Max, which cost us $1000 to our present thyroid problem cat that cost us $1600 for a radio cat treatment. We’ve also had diabetic cats (piece of cake compared to the radio cat fiasco and incorrect meds ordeal. We just can’t afford these emergency financial set backs any more. We’re having our own health tests and problems. So, maybe foster or volunteer at the shelter sounds good.
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Hi DBOOTHE, I had never heard of a radio cat treatment, so I looked it up. It is a treatment for a cat that has hyperthyroidism, the cat is given Radioactive iodine therapy to return the level of thyroid function to normal. Hyperthyroidism affects every organ in the body, you know this treatment is expensive, but sources say it is cheaper than surgery to remove the thyroid.
One good thing about animal shelters is they have access to veterinarians, so they can be treated to some extent, they must have some limitations.
REDCATCEC, Sorry I was so cavalier to throw “radio cat” out there like anybody would know what that was. We certainly didn’t until our cat got sick. The reason we went with the radio cat treatment was for the health of our cat, of course, but also it was the economical way to treat it. Otherwise, he would have had to be on medication the rest of his life. The vet recommended it and said that in a few years it would pay for itself versus meds the rest of his life.There is a 90-95% (can’t remember which) chance the cat will be cured, and thank heavens he was. I think that was about 5 years ago.
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dboothe posted:
ALISAK, I’m so sorry to hear about your vet bills and your difficulty in paying them. I would try to work with my vet to see if they could make an exception and let you make payments without interest. Have you asked them if there are any programs out there to help low income people with vet bills? Go-Fund-Me pages are pretty easy to set up from what I understand. They walk you through the steps. If you go that route, please let us know so that those of us who can help a little will know where to go.
I am praying for you and your precious kitty. I love my fur baby too and have spent a fortune keeping him healthy, so I also feel your financial pain.
Thank you 
my total bill came to $6,100.00. I already did what things you and others suggested but still have 100% of the bill. I’m researching crowd funding options now. Thanks again ?
redcatcec posted:
DBOOTHE, we are in the same age group as you and have seen some of these cats at pet stores, fully grown and all alone-up for adoption, occasionally abandoned. Some of these kitties have a brief story explaining how they arrived there, usually the owner has died or moved to where they are not allowed to have pets and no one wants a mature cat.
On another note, my friend had an older kitty and the kitty developed diabetes, which is chronic. Many trips to the vet, special diet, daily injections, and she had to arrange her work schedule & life around the pet so she could be cared for. Then came the symptoms of urinary tract infections, diagnosing, then add in antibiotics and eventually stones And their treatment. The kitty was then on a downward spiral and she had to say goodbye after many years of love and companionship.
Yes thank you for responding. I can empathize with your friend as I had a blind diabetic service cat with whom I had to give insulin shots to twice a day every day for 17 1/2 years
talk about commitment! I wouldn’t have traded it for the world because in the end she saved me from a house fire by alerting me way before any smoke alarm went off.
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Evelyn Orourke posted:
hello , I love penny hoarder , I learn a lot on this page,2016 I tried to settle out medical bill with debit collector, I agreed to there payment terms I had autopay around middle of month , like they asked they all spoke Asian or Spanish, but they claimed, they were going to come arrest me,these guys were persistent until I waived white flag, I kind of laughed cause my hubby said they can not arrest u this is tacktic they use when collecting a debit ………. I don’t trust any debeit collector my case being investigating all 3 creditors they have fraud alert thank god . I am not afraid to talk to any of these creditors god send ,
I kind of laughed , so I settled with them they even called my employer , so when I settled with these folks they were in a agreement I pay em on auto pay , made out a written contract I took the names of person I talk to I kept all records of my payments, 6 months later all of sudden they declined me, after all that mess they would not except any payments so,I refused this is not the first time , 2 yrs ago I made amends to my on going credit issues, caused by long over due medical bills, now thank the Lord for Transunion . I was so happy to talk to real person how much they listen to my concern , now there investigating my back ground I been getting numerus credit bills for the same thing I owed em $1500 this last credit collector lied they never gave me any credit towards my creditors, after all I paid in to . Mean while Transunion has put a block on all my account for year they will get with me in next 30 days the lady said don’t make any payments, yet until they get with me, this is hard lesson to learn I made amends to my debits, I started taken baby steps, I started with Fingerhut . now I got discover, my credit score is now 690 I think I am working toward my goal to get up to 780 I pray I can dissolve this on going issue, thank you for all the feed back on how to deal with bad credit 2016 this I on going issue not completed, i learn alot on penny hoarder, god bless
Haha yes those bill collectors are the scum of the world and your husband is right they cannot arrest you for not paying your vet bill. Not paying your income taxes is a different story.
take care
@alisak I’m just now seeing this post. Try CareCredit (your vet should have suggested it). You can use it for pet emergencies and anything over $200 can be extended for up to 12 months or more with no interest. I first heard about it at an emergency clinic back in 2013 when I rushed my cat in one night. Also, in 2003, I received help from an organization called FVEAP (a 501 (c) (3) for one of my cats with cancer. Here is a resource link: http://www.felineoutreach.org/Organizations.html
Good luck.
