need low cost amputation or donations

Our daughter found our cat when it was a few weeks old next to its dead sibling and no mama cat around. Wicket, as my daughter named her, had an injury to her left rear leg which we treated superficially and it healed fine. She is now 4 years old and though the leg has never been normal or fully functional, it never seemed to be a problem for Wicket.....until yesterday, when she suddenly began screaming in pain. We took her to the vet and x-rays showed an old fractured femur (the original injury) which had fused to the knee and lower leg. Amputation is the only option other than the unthinkable. We got estimates of $3000-$5000, which seems really outrageous. My wife is disabled and as I am at work most of the time, the cat is her best friend and losing Wicket would be devestating. We need to find low cost surgeon/clinic in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, or, and I'm not too proud to ask, some sort of financial assistance possibly in the form of donations. thanks for listening.

Call around to all the vets in the area. Prices can vary wildly. Also contact all cat rescues and shelters, and low-cost spay/neuter programs (the spaymobile that goes to the reservations also does simple surgeries like amputations and eye removals, so I'm sure others do as well). That does seem ridiculous for such a simple amputation, but some areas are more expensive than others. It might also be worth it to travel to a vet that's in a more affordable area, the gas must cost less than that! that you can find help!

The customary message from TCS:

From the Mod Team Regarding Pleas for money:

Cats are a huge responsibility. Anyone who thinks otherwise, should not have one in their life. They are dependent on us for everything from providing a place to eat, to also providing vet care.

Anyone who has cats knows that they can and do get ill. Your best defense is to plan for that to happen before it does, and store monies away in preparation.

If you read about a plight of an animal on the internet and your heart is drawn to help. Check out the story thoroughly. Google the vet's name or call Directory Assistance in the city and be sure this is a legitimate claim.

Do not blindly send money into a paypal account no matter how heart-wrenching the story. Instead reach out to the member and ask for the vet's name and phone number, and arrange to send the money there for the specific needs of the cat in question.

If that information cannot be provided- you have your answer. Report the post to a moderator so that it can be removed for not being on the level.

jcat,

We appreciate yor comment and umderstand why you put this warning out. It seemed a little insensitve considering what we are going through. It never even crossed our minds that people would try to scam money in that way. No surgeon has been decided on as of yet, we are hopefully going to find one we can afford. If not, we will gladly provide the name, address and phone number of the vet to anyone that is willing to help us with costs.

Another idea (maybe far fetched) is we could find some one who can afford the surgery that would adopt her. That would be really sad but better than euthanasia.

That disclaimer is posted in all threads requesting financial assistance, so you weren't being "targeted". Scammers are unfortunately all over the web.

Willowy said:

Call around to all the vets in the area. Prices can vary wildly. Also contact all cat rescues and shelters, and low-cost spay/neuter programs (the spaymobile that goes to the reservations also does simple surgeries like amputations and eye removals, so I'm sure others do as well). That does seem ridiculous for such a simple amputation, but some areas are more expensive than others. It might also be worth it to travel to a vet that's in a more affordable area, the gas must cost less than that! that you can find help!

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That does sound like an outrageous estimate. There are some listings for the San Fernando Valley here, but it's from 2009:
Finding Free or Low Cost Pet Clinics in California

This is even older (1996), but some of those clinics/vets are probably still around: Valley Offers Options to High Vet Bills

This one advertises as being affordable: Mission Animal Clinic
They mention that they accept CareCredit


that you manage to find her some help!