If you can't pay the vet, don't get the pet!

This is an expression I heard from one of my coworkers at the pet clinic on Saturday when I was bitching about owners treating their pets as disposable.

Last Saturday, a woman calls the clinic around 11 am and tells me that her cat is acting a bit strange. The only thing she could tell me was that he was laying around by his food bowl and meowing strangely. I asked her if her cat had used the litter box today and she couldn't tell me because she was gone all morning and she has two cats. Well, we close at 1:00 but I thought I'd check with the vet to see if she could squeeze her in at the end of the day. A good friend (you know who you are) lost her male cat to a blockage years ago and I always worry about this when someone with a male cat calls. The vet agreed to see her.

The woman comes in and is not overly concerned. The vet is now behind with another emergency that came in so we decide to have our head vet tech check the cat over to see if there is a possible blockage (this is when the urine can't get out of the penis). Guess what, not only is there a blockage but this 3.75 year old cat is approaching death's door. His temperature has dropped and he is struggling to breathe.
The owner has three options:

• Take him to the emergency clinic to remove blockage - it will be pricier but they are staffed around the clock
• Do the surgery here and pay around $1500
• Euthanize

While the owner makes her decision I am asked to watch over the dying cat. He's a beautiful boy and it's hard to see him struggle. The owner decides on option 3 due to financial reasons. Not only that, but she says a tearful goodbye and then leaves the cat to die alone.

Anyone see my problem with this? I know the economy is bad. This woman did not look like she was on the verge of being homeless. She was well-dressed and coiffed. I always wonder if these people that can't afford treatment go out and buy new appliances or expensive gifts shortly thereafter. There are credit cards people. I should know, I have a few. I just finished paying off a $2500 dental bill. Here was a cat in the prime of it's life and just like that, gone. When people buy pets, don't they realize the cost that goes into keeping them healthy? It makes my blood boil to think that when that little guy was a kitty, someone else could have adopted him and he would still be alive today.

These are the times I really wish I was rich, so I could jump in and say, "Your pet doesn't have to die, I will be paying for his/her surgery." The worst part is she didn't even stay with the cat while he was put down. I am sorry if I am offending anyone but we owe it to our pets to be there until they take their last breath - if possible. Yes it is hard to watch them be put down but that is the least we can do for them. Pets crave comfort and their people and to leave them alone at a vet's office to die is pretty cruel in my book. I've seen this happen so many times.

So the moral of the story is, If you can't pay the vet, don't get the pet!

One last thing, the mall have these little stores now called Furry Babies or something. They are selling puppies out of cribs and they offer financing options for the pups. If you can't afford to buy a puppy outright, how will you afford the vetcare that this puppy will require????????????????????????????