free vets? or "where do you take a dying cat?"

[ColJack]

my friend found a cat outside his door that looked like it had either been hit by a car or attacked by something.
it's leg was hanging off.
where do you take things like that if you find them?

obviously you can't just leave it there to die, but taking it to the local vet's got him a hefty bill for surgery or to have it put down..

 

[wreckedit]

Call the RSPCA straight away

 

[wotan]

Any vet should attend to a injured animal that has been found, free of charge, to end animals suffering.

Cant see RSPCA being much help in the case of a cat.

Wotan

 

[Donkmeister]

I used to do a lot of middle-of-the-night rural driving, so I would just carry a shovel in the boot. I was fortunate never to hit anything, but the plan was that if I ever did, I could use the shovel to dispatch the poor critter then bury it if conditions allowed. Nowadays I carry the number of my local (well, 30 miles or so!) animal hospitals in case I clip something and it looks recoverable.

I'm informed that if you hit a fox, muntjac or other small wild animal you can take it to an animal hospital and the RSPCA picks up the bill. I doubt that applies to domestic pets thought...

Your friend did a good deed though, some people would have left the poor kitty.

 

[Karinska]

If there's a PDSA (People's Dispensary for Sick Animals) near you that's probably the best place to take them. If not, I agree with wotan that the local vet should treat injured animals found by members of the public free of charge.

If nothing else, the vet can do a microchip scan to establish the owner and let them know.

I agree, what your friend did was a very good, kind act as the poor little thing must have been in agony

 

[joinerjohn]

PDSA will only treat animals if the person who takes it to them is in receipt of housing benefit, and produces written evidence towards this. Early last year, I was laid off work for a four week period,during which I had to claim housing benefit etc. The housing benefit took over six weeks to sort out. Meanwhile our old pet Collie was dying and they refused to treat her even though we could prove via phone calls that we would receive housing benefit. The PDSA would not accept a phone call from the council as proof.
Had to take our dog to a local vet's to be put down at a cost of over £50 which we could ill afford at the time.

Anyway's since being made redundant ( and in receipt of housing benefit) our new pet Collie was taken ill earlier this year and the PDSA did a wonderful job on him, all for a small donation. (we actually donated around £40 for treatment which would have cost double at the vet's).

 

[Mickymoody]

You used to travel late at night, with a shovel in the boot, burying things?

Is that not the statement of a serial killer?

HOW many other people that are here or people know actually DO that? DO YOU drive around in the middle of the night, with a shovel in your boot, WANTING to bury roadkill? Did I just involve myself in a court case?

That's like saying I walk around in the dead of night, with a stripey top on, with a bag, that says SWAG, and I break into peoples houses, and fill my bag of SWAG, but, I don't steal, I murder! But I never did..

 

[wreckedit]

Cant see RSPCA being much help in the case of a cat.

http://www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/faq/-/question/ENQFindingInjuredAnimal

Take this as a qualified answer.

I have used there service for a sick cat and they are excellent.

They are for you to use for all animals.

 

[AndrewSchofield]

Any vet should attend to a injured animal that has been found, free of charge, to end animals suffering.

Wotan

I can confirm this. A friend of mine is a Vet and when they qualify they take an oath that they will always tend to an injured animal and will always do what is best in the interests of the animal. I was travelling to a wedding with him earlier this year when the car in front hit a pheasant. That driver didn't stop and, already being late for the wedding (it wasn't my wedding, nor his for that matter), my instinct was to leave it, but he insisted we stopped and he checked it over before continuing to the wedding.

He always carries a few basic 'tools' with him in the car - as he explained when I asked why he'd packed a stethoscope for a stag weekend?!?

 

[joe-90]

as he explained when I asked why he'd packed a stethoscope for a stag weekend?!?

In case he meets a sick stag?


(Oh deer).

 

[Mw Roofline]

You used to travel late at night, with a shovel in the boot, burying things?

Is that not the statement of a serial killer?

HOW many other people that are here or people know actually DO that? DO YOU drive around in the middle of the night, with a shovel in your boot, WANTING to bury roadkill? Did I just involve myself in a court case?

That's like saying I walk around in the dead of night, with a stripey top on, with a bag, that says SWAG, and I break into peoples houses, and fill my bag of SWAG, but, I don't steal, I murder! But I never did..

 

[libby lou lou]

Donk, if you come across an injured fox, be very careful, you need long thick gaunlets, been there.

I actually saw this fox get hit, i picked it up with a landing net x2, which it shredded, as were where going fishing, then eventually got it rolled up in a mat, in the car, left it with food and water.
8 hours later, got home phoned the rspca, and they accused me of letting it suffer for 12 hours.

We lost 60 quid for new nets.

I know what will happen next time.

 

[ColJack]

ok, quick update..
it turns out that it was HIS cat , something that he neglected to mention when he phoned the boss to tell him why he wasn't going to college yesterday, and it had broken it's leg when it missed a jump and fell from a cabinet, trapping it's leg as it fell.
The bone was poking out of the skin..
He was after a cheap vet as he's fairly broke at the moment and is on a tight budget with his missus as her kid to support too..
The cat had to have it's leg amputated and he's got a £300+ bill to pay that he's paying off at £100 a month.

 

[joe-90]

That's what pet insurance is for.

 

[ColJack]

ah thanks for jogging my memory, I thought of a load of questions about that but couldn't remember them..

he didn't have insurance as he couldn't really afford it, but he has it now..

so now for the questions ( some serious, some not, you decide.. )

1. how long do you have to have it before you can claim?
obviously they won't cover the current bill, but if it gets an infection or needs any follow up treatment will they cover that?
2. does pet insurance pay out for terminating a pet? after all there's a good chance that you're going to cancel the insurance soon after that.
3. do they have a "replacement" policy like they do for car insurance?
if your pet is killed or injured or falls ill to the point where you have to put it down? after all, if they pay for a new pet then you'll likely keep the insurance for the new one, otherwise there's no guarantee that you're going to get a new pet.