I have a friend that lives near Buffalo NY, and her adult daughter had an elderly cat named Annablle. Annabelle has been ‘fading’ (for lack of a better term) for some time now, and last night began moaning in pain. She decided to take her to an emergency vet clinic to be euthanized.
The clinic charged her ***$50 EXTRA ***to stay with Annabelle through the euthanasia. I have never, ever heard of this and find it thoroughly heartless. HER MUCH LOVED PET IS DYING… Yeah, let’s charge her 50 bucks to comfort the cat in her final moments.
Have any of you heard of this? Thoughts?
I personally would contact the media-that is heartless, cold, and uncalled for.
Yeah, vets have to make money, I get that, and emergency clinics are always more expensive, but that…that is the lowest blow I can imagine.
Hummm - were you there during? The $50 seems really odd - in Nov. Of last year I had to take my sweet kitty in user similar circumstances and there were no fees like that.
Frankly, I’ve never seen an emergency vet that seemed concerned with anything but the bottom line. I love that my vet will allow me to call them after hours, although I’ve only done it once.
Yes, contact the media and put those pricks in the spotlight.
Lifelong cat lover here. In my 60 years I’ve had several elderly/terminally ill cats put down to end their suffering. There has never been any issue whatsoever about my being there with comforting sounds and caresses at the end. Most recently eight years ago, at an off-hours Emergency Animal Clinic in San Diego.
Hummm… no, since I am in Indiana and they are in New York, I was not there during. But why do you immidiately assume that they are lying to me? Or that I am making this up? My friend called me this morning to tell me of Annabell’s passing and told me what happened.
Oh for Pete’s sake I wasn’t suggesting that you were lying I thought maybe your friend misunderstood one of the charges because I’ve never heard of such a thing.:rolleyes:
If I misread, I apologize, but that’s how it came across to me. No, she didn’t misunderstand, it was right there on her bill in black & white. I have never heard of it, either, I know MY vet doesn’t charge extra. I am just curious if anyone else had ever heard of it, if it is becoming a nre ‘thing’ to charge fo.
If you decide in the middle of the night, or on a weekend, that a cat that has been fading for months suddenly can’t wait until morning, you are going to pay more, no matter how they label it.
Oh, I agree on that as well. I would have had the cat put down long before this. But that isn’t the issue.
And I don’t know what the exact wording was on the bill. My friend’s daughter doesn’t live with her, and even if she did, it’s too late right now for me to call her.
They wouldn’t even let me in the room, for love or money. Our emergency vet clinic saved our dog’s life and gave her one extra happy doggie year she wouldn’t have otherwise had, so I’m grateful and everything, …but I swear, there was an itemized charge for breathing in the waiting room.
I’m surprised by this weird charge, but not by much.
I recently (3 weeks ago) had to put down my 12 yo German Shepherd who had DM (degenerative myelopathy ). She couldn’t walk on slick suraces at all the last few months of her life, and had reached a point where she had lost most control of her back end.
My vet came out to my SUV and put her down in the back while I held her head, at no extra charge, to save her the indignity and fear of having to be carried in.
When she was gone, they shooed me away and wrapped her back end in case of leakage and wrapped her in her favorite blanket for the ride home to be buried.
I cannot imagine a vet charging for you to be in the room, nor not allowing an owner to be with their pet. Unthinkable.
The only “extra” charge clients will encounter at the ER where I work is a line item called “catheter for euthanasia” for $23. If owners want to be with their pet for the procedure, we put a catheter in first. Reason being that sick animals with system/organ failures going on can be very difficult to get a good “stick” and get a patent venipuncture for the duration of the injection. The solution used for euthanasias stings like hell if it goes outside the vein and under the skin instead. A catheter makes for a smooth procedure, and allows for a sedation injection to be given first, too.
I’m really interested to find out what the exact line item reads on the OP’s friend’s invoice. I’ve never heard of a premium charge for being present with the pet for the procedure. I guess you could call the catheter charge that, but I really feel it’s necessary and not extraneous.
I wonder if this was it - maybe she was told the exact rate and then when she said she wanted to be in the room, they said “that’ll cost extra” or “because of blah blah blah (crying owner not really hearing why) you’ll have to pay another $50” and the owner automatically translated to “charging me $50 to be in the room.”
I’ve had many animals euthanized (both my own and through rescues I volunteer with) and have never heard of a charge like this; I’d also be curious about the wording on the bill.
I always stay with the animal during the procedure. The only optional charges I’ve ever encountered were for the disposal of the body…individual cremation, group cremation, or no charge if the owner takes the body home.