{"id":601590,"date":"2024-05-15T10:00:12","date_gmt":"2024-05-15T14:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/?p=601590"},"modified":"2024-05-15T10:04:23","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T14:04:23","slug":"somebody-to-lean-on-financial-resources-for-cat-owners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/felines-weekly\/somebody-to-lean-on-financial-resources-for-cat-owners\/","title":{"rendered":"Somebody to Lean On: Financial Help Resources for Cat (& Pet) Owners"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi, I\u2019m Dr. Lauren!\u00a0Read my introduction<\/a>\u00a0to learn more about me and my two adventurous cats, Pancake and Tiller.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We all need somebody to lean on, croons the famous earworm by Bill Withers. And it\u2019s true\u2014at some point, or at many points in life\u2014we all need somebody to lean on.<\/p>\n

If you turn on the TV or radio these days, common topics include the cost of living, which has now even been elevated by some news outlets to \u201cThe Cost of Living Crisis\u201d. And it\u2019s certainly undeniable that even the most basic of Maslow\u2019s Hierarchy of Needs<\/a> are becoming unattainable for many people, which makes achieving the upper strata such as happiness and self-actualization decidedly more difficult.<\/p>\n

Pets, and the veterinary profession, are no exception to these present-day concerns. As vets, this often leaves us embedded in the struggle as well. There are few things we vets like less than having to discuss the financial costs of veterinary care and treatment, especially when our patients\u2019 owners can sometimes barely afford to pay rent or for a car repair that month\u2026or worse.<\/p>\n

In vet school, we used to have scenarios discussing ethical dilemmas that we\u2019d run across in practice, and in small groups, we\u2019d try to come up with solutions.<\/p>\n

One that has always stuck with me is the dilemma of a retiree or pensioner who was himself eating cat food, because it was cheap and what he could afford. The ethical dilemma was then presented to us as students: if he brought a sick cat into the clinic who needed treatment he couldn\u2019t afford, how would we handle this situation, to achieve the best outcome for all involved? It was a tricky question, on many levels.<\/p>\n

\"Cats<\/p>\n

Sick Pet and Limited Resources: What Can You Do?<\/h2>\n

In one of my earlier articles, I wrote about the benefits of health insurance for animals, and I still think it is a fantastic option\u2014when it is an option<\/i>. Sometimes, it simply isn\u2019t: the cost may be too high for some pets, or simply not in the monthly household budget. In those cases, when a pet gets sick, what options do people have?<\/p>\n

A recent reader question for Catster led me down the road to find out, but they are not the first or last reader to ask that same question, so I thought it was time to write the answer from a veterinarian\u2019s perspective, and to make a practical resource for pets and owners who love them to best start the process of answering the question:<\/p>\n

Where or how do you find help when you have a sick pet and limited financial resources?<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Who<\/p>\n

Finding Help for a Pet in Need<\/h2>\n

As a vet, here\u2019s the way I\u2019d recommend approaching the question of what help and resources are available for a sick\/injured pet.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Start local. Do a web search to find out what public and private shelters and animal rescue groups<\/b> are within the local area. It is becoming more common for many groups to have funding set aside for the treatment of sick or injured pets, with the aim of keeping them in the home with their owner.
    \nPreviously, and less commonly these days, a group or shelter may require an owner to sign over ownership of their pet, and then treatment will occur, after which the pet will be rehomed. Even if a local group does not have funds themselves, they may know of other groups that do.<\/li>\n
  2. Do a web search as well for breed-specific rescue groups<\/b>, even though they may not be local. They may have other resources set aside specifically for these particular animals.<\/li>\n
  3. Call local veterinary hospitals.<\/b> They will often be well-placed to know what funding resources are available. Call multiple hospitals, as not all hospitals will have access to the same information. Individual clinics may also have their own benevolent-type funds, which may be available to certain pets in certain circumstances.<\/li>\n
  4. National options may also be available, but they may take more time to obtain funding, and not be appropriate for urgent situations. In the US, the following are a few websites that list synopses of many such options, to help begin a search:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    National Resources:<\/div>
    \n