A week ago we had to take my fluffy little cat to the vet because she kept closing her right eye, so we brought her to the vet. It was about $75 bucks, $42 for the initial visit and the rest for medication for her eye. Her eye is doing better, but somehow she hurt her left paw. I’ve looked at it as close as possible to find out what’s wrong but I don’t see anything. She’s an indoor cat so there’s not much she could hurt herself on… I’m afraid it could be a tiny shard of glass (our other rambunctious little girl kitten knocked over a snow globe and I thought I got all the glass, but who knows…) – anyhow, the rent is due and we don’t make a lot of money, do you think the vet would see her for free? What would you do? I think it’ll end up being expensive. :\
I spend a lot on vet bills (2 dogs, 3 cats, a horse) and I can understand how expensive it can be. In the case of sore paws I usually give the animal a day to see if it works out, especially if you can’t see anything. In my experience animals will sometimes step wrong and get a bit of soreness, much like we do if we stub our toes or something. If she is still sensitive (is she putting weight on it at all?) tomorrow then a vet visit is probably best.
I don’t know any vets that will see animals for free, but if you explain your financial situation they may be able to work somethig out.
They won’t see her for free, but if you’ve seen this vet a few times and always paid your bills they may be able to work with you on payments. Just call and ask in advance.
I concur. Vets are good people and know that animal injuries don’t always miss rent payments. Also, if your credit cards are in good shape, you could use one of those to pay. Whatever you do, try to get the kitty seen unless the problem resolves soon. Delay in care can make the bill increase exponentially. I usually have a 2 day waiting period during which I monitor the pet. Worse=take kittie in ASAP, the same=take kittie in at the end of 2 days, better=Yay kittie’s OK! Also, phone consultations are usually free (and if they aren’t, I’d shop for a new vet). Call your vet and explain the whole situation and see what they say. Usually the answer is if pet is eating and drinking and still active, you can wait to see if it resolves. If your vet isn’t willing to work with you, call around. The vet I used to work for would let first time clients charge an urgent care type bill (or part of it, if it was large) to poach clients from other vets in the area. Once a client and their pet were treated well at our clinic, they rarely went back to the old clinic.
Happy thoughts for your kitty!
I’d give it a week.
I have two dogs, and not a week goes by that one of them isn’t limping. Glass, sprains, twists, arthritis. Animals existed for millions of years without seeing vets for ankle sprains.
They hurt their feet and legs just like we do. You don’t have to see a doctor over it.
Both of them have gashed their paws before. You know what I do? (I’m totally serious here) wrap a maxipad around it and then use medical tape to hold it in place.
You’re WAY overreacting for wanting to bring a cat in because it’s limping.
One of our cats has just recovered from limping, too. I was debating taking her in to have it looked at, but when she went burning around the house chasing the other cat, I decided that it can’t have been that serious. She seems perfectly fine now, anyway - like boscibo said, I think she just twisted it a little.
If you ever have a situation that can’t wait a few days–severe vomiting/diarrhea, eye problems, etc.–call your vet and explain the situation to them. Sometimes they can let you run a bill, or the vet will waive the exam fee, or they can find some free samples to give you, or they take Care Credit and can help you with the application. Most vets will do what they can for urgent cases, to try and keep the animal from suffering.
Editorial note: If they can’t help you out, please don’t give them a guilt trip about it. Trust me, they already feel shitty about not being able to help you, and especially about not being able to help your pet. If I had a dollar for every time I had to listen to someone accuse me of caring about money more than about helping animals, I could take a couple extra days off work each year. But the bottom line is that this is a business, and if you ignore the bottom line and go out of business, then you can’t help anybody’s pets.
Sorry, I’ll get off my soapbox now. It’s just one of my hotbutton issues, and it’s getting to be that time of year.
Minor hijack
What makes this time of year particularly bad for guilt trips?
Just a WAG, but I’d say it’s because all the kittens born about February and March will be needing shots that they won’t get, or will be the victims of Stupid Pet Owners who don’t have a clue how to see to it that a kitten (or puppy) grows up safe from harm. I’d guess that with Summer comes a lot of car accidents etc. (Not to mention euthinazations for shelter workers.) Warm weather means a lot of accidents that could have been avoided altogether, though I don’t know if it’s worse than Christmas time accidents with holly, mistletoe, tinsle or lights. 
I’m not sure, but it’s my guess. Am I close CCL?
Business picks up in general as the weather gets nicer. Pets are out and about more, getting into altercations with the wildlife and other pets, tapdancing in traffic, all that sort of stuff. Lots more unexpected expenses cropping up for people who can’t necessarily afford it.
And, of course, summer is parvo season. Parvo is horribly expensive to treat, especially when you land at the emergency/specialty clinic. It tends to strike people who don’t have a whole lot of money in the first place, since they’re the ones most likely to not vaccinate, or to get vaccines at the farm store. It’s a really cruel situation, because if the owners can afford aggressive care long enough, we can pull about 85% of them through. Without treatment, though, they almost invariably die a really ugly death.
This is not much help for remisser but please let me mention the PDSA for any UK Dopers who are in a similar situation. Highly recommended.