Their adoption cost is 100 dollars, plus 15 dollars registration fee (that’s set by the council, and they have nothing to do with it.)
My cat had been fostered, wormed, treated for fleas, feed, looked after, desexed, vaccinated and had a vet check. (making sure that she had no diseases, no major problem etc.) After I adopted her, I even had a free appointment to have her stitches removed/another vet check/etc. They also guarantee free treatment for things like cat flu etc for the next month.
There is absolutely no way all that cost them less than 100 dollars.
They were the shelter which I mentioned beforehand, that have vets that offered their services for 1/4th of the normal price.
The RSCPA, offers, straight from their website: 'Veterinary services are provided at subsidised rates to pensioners and low income earners. ’
So unless shelters in America are COMPLETELY different to Australia, yeah, they are about helping animals, not just raising money :dubious:
In the States it would, if it was done by a vet employed by the shelter, or one donating his services.
Shelters are completely different here, in that they are not run by nor affiliated in any way with the national corporations of the HSUS and the ASPCA, or any other national body for that matter. Most are run by local governments (city, county, whatever) and the rest are private. The way the economy is right now, there is no way any of them could afford thousands of dollars to fix up a cat - even if your RSPCA offers “subsidised rates to pensioners and low income earners” that would probably still be well beyond what the owner could possibly afford since the cat would need specialized care if it has a spinal injury. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the RSPCA would tell this owner, “sorry we just can’t help you with something that expensive”.
Absolutely incorrect. Especially if it’s pelvic, but even at that, unless it’s a displaced or open fracture, there’s no way to know for sure without xrays.
?? What do you think they do with that money they raise? They spend it on needy animals and helping people with needy animals get the care the animals need. Those low-cost clinics operated by the humane societies operate at a chronic loss and depend on donations to stay open.
As to the rest of what you said, we are talking to a friend of the owner, and I think everyone has been pretty careful not to completely berate either of them, but the point of all this is cats are extremely good at hiding pain. I’ve seen cats and dogs with injuries that would have a person howling and babbling incoherently from the pain, yet they purr and wag tails and act like nothing’s wrong. The problem I think some of us are having is that there appears to have been no attempt by three different people to get this cat appropriate care, not even phone calls to look for a low-cost clinic. Often, just getting the animal to the premises is enough incentive for staff to see what they can do off the books. Ask me how I know. But you have to show up in the first place.
4 week quarantine/Flea treatment/worm treatment/food/kitty litter/having 24/7 employers to care for animals would cost 100 dollars.
AWLQ (Animal welfare league of Queensland) has nothing to do with HS or RSPCA. They are a no-kill shelter that also runs the pound in certain councils, yet they can do it…
If unable to afford to help the cat, they’d at least be able to diagnose the cat and if need be, put it down. Instead of just letting it walk around in what could be a horrific and expensive injury or what could be an easily treated, cheap problem.
Even if they can’t do anything at all, what do you have to lose? What? the cost of a phone call and a few minutes?
If someone can’t spare a phonecall and a few minutes to look after their animal, they have to seriously ask themselves if they really should be caring for an animal.
Perhaps then I have had the good fortune to be involved with far better techs than you have.
Really? You honestly believe that these multi-billion $ organizations actually spend it on the needy? Start here, and then search some more. The problems with the ASPCA are new and maybe solvable, but the HSUS is affiliated with PETA and has no real interest in day to day shelter work, as their President says here.
The “animal rescue” part involves swooping in during high profile cases and taking animals to government run shelters to be dealt with. Or having ALF go bomb something.
OTOH, you could end up dragging the poor cat all over god’s half acre for no reason. I personally also have a very high pain tolerance and really wouldn’t want someone taking me someplace strange where I know nobody, on the off chance I might have broken something, when there is a very good chance that if something is broken, I’m going to die.
I just don’t think you understand poor. Low-cost clinics are not going to do anything for free other than the very basics, so the best she could hope for would be an exam and xrays for cost. If the cat has a serious injury, that clinic probably isn’t even going to be able to deal with it, much less cheaply. What would the purpose be?
You said the cat was in foster care, but even so here it doesn’t cost anything like that, unless they had to feed the cat for a very long time.
Oh, OK. The way you phrased it, sounded like the RSPCA was running the shelters.
Why do you all keep focusing on “horrific and expensive injury”? The cat is presenting with what sounds like injuries from a cat fight and is being treated for it. Why in the world are you insisting that the owner do more, right now, when she simply cannot afford it?
Because it isn’t a phone call and a few minutes - no clinic is going to dx the cat over the phone. The owner may not live in an area that has 24 hour clinics, so she would be out work time to drive the cat to a clinic to spend money to find out that the care the cat is getting already is fine, or that it is badly injured and going to have to be put down.
Whether or not someone who can’t really afford that should have a pet is immaterial here. Especially since in the case of cats, you sometimes just end up with them adopting you!
I AM a tech, I have worked in emergency care and shelter care for more than 10 years. Yes I know what I’m talking about, and you clearly don’t have a clue. If there’s a pelvic problem which the OP’s description sounds like, there is absolutely no way to know without xrays unless it’s completely displaced, or open, which are the only ways to see a fracture from the outside. Unless you’re suggesting it’s a transparent cat.
This. Exactly. All I would want them to do as a minimum is get an exam and xrays - rule out anything being broken and go from there. The purpose would be to determine if there’s an untreatable break that, even if the bone heals to some degree, will cause the cat to be in constant and chronic pain. Some pelvic fractures never heal, especially if not put on cage rest for at least 6 weeks. The cat should be put down in that case, and should have been put down a week ago if that’s the case. But we don’t know that, because they haven’t had it seen by a doctor.
I work at a shelter and at an ER. I deal every day with people who don’t have a dime in their pocket. The ER will never tell you over the phone and will never tell you up front that they will eventually bill you if they can’t get any cash out of you at the time of service. What they won’t do is turn away a pet that appears to need medical attention. They may do the minimum, and they may do procedures that don’t get entered into the invoicing system, but what has to happen is the showing up part - because they won’t resort to billing without making absolutely sure they can’t get any money from a poor client any other way. The important thing is the animal gets some medical attention, no matter how minimal.
As to the HSUS and whatnot - I refer to these generically, as in “call your local humane society” which is likely not affiliated with the two you’re talking about. So you and I are comparing apples to oranges there. Low cost clinics that see the public, no matter which local humane society is running them, do operate at a chronic loss, and will at least do the exam, xrays, and maybe euthanasia if necessary.
OK, I give. You just aren’t getting what I am saying.
Huh. Well, I was a tech many years ago and I’m still heavily involved in dogs so I’d say one of us is wrong. Since I tend to know exactly what is wrong with any dog I take to the vet, I’ll believe my abilities.
No, I am saying that a competent tech could manipulate the pelvis and legs and find all but the more minor injuries. If the cat has a more minor injury, it isn’t likely to cause it to not be able to walk at all, no?
I’m not addressing the poor person part of it again.
OTOH, here in sunny S Cal, the shelters and the ER clinics will turn you away if you don’t have money to take care of an injured animal, unless you get lucky and someone wants it and will foot the bill themselves. The very first thing they do here is ask for a credit card before they go any further. I have no idea where the OP lives so I don’t know if that is the situation where they are, but since they aren’t going this route it seems somewhat likely.
You should probably break the habit of referring to local shelters, which usually do good work, as anything else since the HSUS are anti-animal.
Our low cost clinics are not run by our shelters here (or if they are there is no obvious connection) so most of them are trying to make some sort of living. And again, I’m not going to get into how expensive an exam, xrays and euth would be for someone with little to no money.
Why do you have so little faith in the OP’s vet tech and the car being provided to the cat already?
So if one of your dogs were to fall off a balcony or porch or (Og knows I’ve seen it) a roof, you would know what was broken and whether it just needs a splint or surgery?
What I’m trying to tell you, and whoever else might be reading this, is the cat could be walking around even with a major injury. I’ve seen cats walk around with their pelvis fractured in three places. You can’t palpate a pelvic fracture. You might feel bone rubbing on bone - there’s still no way to know the severity of the fractures without xrays. Depending on where the breaks are and if the cat’s otherwise eliminating without trouble, often cage rest is enough. But, again, nobody knows that.
I haven’t clicked the links you provided, that stuff makes me depressed. I’ll remember that though, next time someone mentions them, to not reply back with a generic assumption in mind.
I’ve sorta been trying to avoid that, I was trying not to nitpick the OP, but that ship has clearly sailed. The scenario of a vet tech visiting at a home, and then acquiring antibiotics without a doctor examining the pet doesn’t sit well with me. I don’t know any doctors who would risk losing their license that way, and scripting out/dispensing antibiotics for a patient they haven’t laid hands on is a huge no-no. But maybe they aren’t in the States? The OP hasn’t come back to clarify much.
OK, so I give up here too since you are determined to think the worst - fall off a balcony, really? I’m not surprised the OP hasn’t come back since you keep insisting that she is some evil cat abuser or something.
