Older cats

Hi I'm new to site. I am wondering how every one can afford to take their cat to the vet so much & have all those test run. My cat is 17 years old. Her name is cotton. All white with blue eyes. She is starting to show some decline. We are on Social Security & we can't afford to take our cats to the vet. We used to when we worked but are both not able to work anymore. We have 4 cats ( not by choice) my Grandaughter left two of her cats here & we have had them about 3 yrs now.
I guess my point is how does everyone afford to feed, buy flea meds, & litter. All the cats have been fixed & had shots up until 3 years ago when we retired.

Tell me about it, I just told a vet this morning "now that we are retired and have more time to spend with our pets, we can't afford them anymore"...this was after getting told about a $2,300 dental bill for our 15 year old cat...but to answer your question.... I have applied for Care Credit charge card and make sure the vets I use accept it. It is a credit card that you can use on medical bills that are not covered by insurance, for yourself and your pets. Any amount over $200 you have 6 months to pay it off with NO interest. If you don't by the end of the 6 months the rate is just as high as any other credit card. But it sure helps. Another thing to look into is Pet Insurance. It is getting better than it used to be and if you are retired and are AARP members look into the pet insurance they have on their website and you can get a discount as an AARP member. I looked into it and now I'm sorry I didn't get it...they have several levels of plans to choose from with various coverage and reimbursements and they give you good discounts on insuring multiple cats, any age. I know when your retired it's hard to think about another monthly bill, but better than emptying the savings account. I couldn't let my cat go on in pain over broken teeth especially when she was healthy in every other way so I'll fork the money over....no special anything for the humans for the next 6 months - it's not in the budget! But I'll be happy to see my kitty's toothless grin when she's feeling better!

jrharmon said:

Hi I'm new to site. I am wondering how every one can afford to take their cat to the vet so much & have all those test run. My cat is 17 years old. Her name is cotton. All white with blue eyes. She is starting to show some decline. We are on Social Security & we can't afford to take our cats to the vet. We used to when we worked but are both not able to work anymore. We have 4 cats ( not by choice) my Grandaughter left two of her cats here & we have had them about 3 yrs now.
I guess my point is how does everyone afford to feed, buy flea meds, & litter. All the cats have been fixed & had shots up until 3 years ago when we retired.

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Sometimes it's very difficult to pay the bills, that's for sure.  And I just read that Social Security MAY give us a COLA raise of 0.3%, yet there will be an increase in Medicare that I'll bet is higher than that.  It's almost an insult .  Well, I'm getting off topic. 

HOW do you do it?  Well, as Mrs TY mentioned, there is Care Credit, which is wonderful.  Or Pet Insurance, certainly another great option.  You can also call around to find the least expensive Vet, because, believe me, they run the gambit in fees.  Here, this article may be useful to you:
[article="32915"]No Money For Vet Care How To Find Help And Save Your Cats Life  [/article]
Now, what is happening with Cotton?  Is she drinking more, losing weight, sleeping more? 

Also, have you asked your granddaughter to help you with Veterinary bills for HER two cats?  After all, they were HERS, and she left them with you, apparently "dumped" them on you, so the least she can do is help with their expenses.  Can't hurt to ask .   Nothing lost, nothing gained. 

Look at applying for care credit or find a vet that does payments. A cat that old really needs to be see by a vet. 

Yes I know she needs to see a vet. It's just after bills we don't have much left to take us through the month.
Thank you for replying to my post. No cotton has actually gained weight but she does sleep a lot. Sometimes she will be a little playful. Yes she drinks quite a bit of water. She eats really good. I will check into Care but my credit is not Ver good so I'm not sure they would give it to me.

we use care credit, too.  not all vets or doctors take it, but our vet and my dentist do, which makes it very helpful, especially if you can pay it off within 6 months.  you can check online to see what vets accept it.

when jeep was still alive and having hs heart problems, we spent money we couldn't afford to keep him alive for a few more months.  i'd do it again, but paying for pet health care can be really daunting.

jrharmon said:

Yes I know she needs to see a vet. It's just after bills we don't have much left to take us through the month.
Thank you for replying to my post. No cotton has actually gained weight but she does sleep a lot. Sometimes she will be a little playful. Yes she drinks quite a bit of water. She eats really good. I will check into Care but my credit is not Ver good so I'm not sure they would give it to me.

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Hi there and welcome!

At 17, you can probably assume that she has kidney disease, at least to some degree.

Vets tell me that virtually all cats who live long enough will have at least some amt of kidney loss, it's that common. 

Her increased water consumption might be due to this, but early on because she has not lost weight, which is good.

Sleeping more, yes, I'm going through the same thing now with mine, 14 1/2 and 16+. I wonder sometimes, are they sleeping too much, or is it just me remembering how they used to sleep?.....

Gradual weight gain as she has aged and been sleeping more or sudden?

ANY other sudden changes, appetite, etc?

It's sort of like this, because funds are so tight, you watch that she eats and drinks the same daily, she doesn't vomit, doesn't lose weight, still has short spurts of play or spunk, no diarrhea, nothing unusual that might point to an issue specifically.

She needs flea meds, you can buy advantage 11 for extra lg dogs and dose it down for her, an adult cat needs 0.8 mls a month, and the big dog size has 4.0 mls in each tube, making it possible to treat one cat for 5 months.