Looking for information

Does anyone know of a group or organization that would help a really poor person with their vet bill. I am waiting to get Social Security Disability after being physically disabled ( I am unable to walk) . About a week ago I rushed one of my cats to the vet with an abcess. I had no idea he had one until it burst. I had to leave him at the vetâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s office so they could flush the site and cut away any dead tissue and stitch him up. When I called to check on him I was told they would have to keep him overnight. When I picked him up the next day they hit me with a $400.00 bill. Maybe I am being stupid, but I would have thought they could have at least called me to let me know that the cost was adding up. I made arrangements to pay part this month and part next month. I had planned on trying to sell some personal things (old clothes, books, ect.) in a “Front Porch†sale. Well this morning one of my oldest cats who is a diabetic took a severe turn for the worse and I had to let her go. I have had her for 15 years and it hurt so much to let her go because I knew I could not pay for expensive treatment (her bowel became impacted) The bill for letting her go was over one hundred twenty dollars. I have no idea how I am going to pay for any of this if I do not sell enough things at the Front porch sale. I have zero dollars coming in. I am unable to work and my husband left me several months ago. I live in a rural area and I took both of them to the cheapest vet in the area. So if anyone knows of any organization that would help a really poor person with a vet bill, or if any one knows of a legal way I could raise some money I would appreciate the information. As it is I have already cut my own meals back to one a day and have not been able to refill any of my own prescriptions. I know I should find homes for my other cats, give them to someone who can afford to take care of them but at this point in my life they ARE all I have left. Thank you for any information that you can share with me.

The only suggestion I have is www.imom.org, although to be honest I'm not sure exactly how it works. I know one part of it is where people can sponsor a chronically ill animal, like one with diabetes, that requires ongoing medical treatment. But I think there is also a section for one-time expenses.

Best of luck! I wish I knew of another org that could help.

GENERAL:

The Animal Foundation: http://www.theanimalfund.com
Help-a-Pet: http://www.help-a-pet.org/index5.html
In Memory of Magic: http://www.imom.org/
United Animal Nations: http://www.uan.org/lifeline/index.html
The Pet Fund: http://www.thepetfund.com/
Cats: http://www.fveap.org/sys-tmpl/door/

AREA SPECIFIC:

California
Los Angeles area: http://www.actorsandothers.com/emergencyhelp.html
http://rescueguide.com/aid.html
Redwood City area: http://www.petsinneed.org/Services.html
Bay Cities area: http://www.narfrescue.org/services/v...ry_support.htm
Colorado: http://www.dreampower-arf.com/ffriends.cfm
http://www.hmah.org/pageinpage/whatwedo.cfm
New York: http://www.nysave.org/
North Carolina: http://www.ashleyfund.org/
Oregon: http://www.bearenfoundation.org/
Rhode Island: http://www.defendersofanimals.org/
http://www.rivma.org/financialaid.html
http://users.rcn.com/vsa/
Washington state:
http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/depts-prd/gsf.asp

BREED SPECIFIC:

Assistance dogs: http://www.iaadp.org/VCP.html
Bernese Mountain Dog: http://www.behaf.com/index.html
Corgi: http://www.corgiaid.org/
Doberman: http://www.doberman911.org/
Great Pyrenees: http://www.angelfire.com/bc2/pyramedic/summary.html
Labrador retriever: http://www.labmed.org/ http://www.labradorlifeline.org/
Pit Bulls: http://www.pbrc.net/fund/financial.html
Westies: http://www.westiemed.com/

DISEASE SPECIFIC:

Diabetic Pet Fund: http://www.petdiabetes.net/fund/
Special Needs cats: http://www.catsincrisis.org/crisisFund.html
Feline kidney disease: http://www.catsincrisis.org/mesaFund.html
Feline heart and thyroid: http://www.catsincrisis.org/stripesFund.html
Feline neurological disorder: http://www.catsincrisis.org/gillieFund.html

ADVICE:

HSUS: http://www.hsus.org/ace/11875
IMOM: http://www.imom.org/fa/others.htm

Wooowww... that's an amazing list. Did you come up with that on the fly or did you have it saved?

I don't know about help with your vet bills, except to explain to the vet what is going on and hope for a break on the fee.

But if you cannot afford your meds, you should let your doctor know. Maybe he or she can give you samples. Also check out this site:
http://www.needymeds.com/
They have forms for various drug companies. You will need to complete the form, attach proof of income, and have your doctor sign the form and attach a script. If your income meets the guidelines, you can qualify for free medication!

And once you get social security I think you will have Medicare, they now have a drug card to fill scripts at reduced fees. Check the medicare website for more info.

Sorry for the loss of your cat. If you do go ahead with the "Front Porch" sale, you could give out flyers noting you are raising funds for your vet bill. The only time I helped a stranger with a vet bill, it was sent directly to the vet. You might find people at the yard sale are more willing to give in this manner. Good luck!

Thank you all for the information. I have been visiting the web sites that everyone was so kind to give me info on.

The www.imom.org site sounded great but I don't think I will qualify for it because they will not consider any pre existing bills. But there is a link to contact them to try to post my story on their community board.

There were 2 other sites that sounded promising. I have down loaded the applications. I have to find out how to get proof that I have applied for Soc. Sec. Disability. The other option is last years tax information, but I can't use it because I was not in this mess this bad last year. Since the surgery I had that left me disabled I have had to use all of my savings to pay for hospital bills, doctor bills.

I did want to clarify that I am not asking for people to send me any money. I am just trying to find a way to get money paid to my vet only. I am having a front porch sale 3 days this week, and I plan to hand out flyers about the vet bills. I am unable to get around with out assistance at this time so I am limited on how I can spread the word. Right now even having a front porch sale is going to be hard because I do not even have the cash to have change on hand in case someone buys something and needs change.

I will offer advise to others, save as much money as you can while you work. It only takes one major medical crisis to wipe out every thing you have saved all your lives for. Do not depend on if the doctor makes a medical mistake that you will be able to sue him or the hospital. I have found out the hard way that it is almost impossible to find an lawyer to take the case unless they can make a huge amount of money. (more than $250,000.) Most of them also get 40% of any settlement and any and all bills they incur paid. Also remember if you have medical insurance they would also have to be paid back for their expenses if you do manage to win a law suit. Even then, if it is because you contacted a infection from the surgery all the lawyers I talked to will not take the case because it is to hard to prove you got the infection from the hospital. Also check state laws in your area. In my case in Missouri if you have surgery done at a county funded hospital they have an agreement with the state that they can not be sued for any mistakes they make. Because they do give service to the poor in the county they are protected against law suits. I only had the surgery at my county hospital because that is where my doctor had his practice at.

Again THANK YOU so much for all the info and leads you have sent me. I deeply appreciate all of it and hope I can find some help.

Update! I had my garage sale and raised $78.00.

I also had a wonderful lady from this site call my vet and she sent him some money to help pay for my existing bill. I CAN NOT THANK her enough. She did it in memory of her cat that was killed.

I have applied at two of the web sites that help out with vet bills.

I also thought of a way to try to raise some money. I had my a few of my friends post some flyers around town. I came up with the idea to copy pictures, photo albums and camcorder VHS tapes to CD's or DVD's. I got the idea when I copied some of my own home video's of my mother to DVD. I lost her in Dec. 2004. While I was copying my VHS tapes of her I wondered how many people just do not have the time to copy their pictures and video's to a disk. I have plenty of time to do something like this. My computer , printer, and cd/dvd burners are the only things that I have not tried to sell because I kept thinking there would be a way to earn some money with them. I am hoping to hear something from all the flyers. (I have my fingers crossed) So please wish me luck. This might be an idea for others hurting for money due to unemployment, ect. It is not hard to do just takes a lot of time if you want to do a good job.

Again I wanted to say a HUGE THANK YOU to the angel that helped me from this site. I will never forget you or your cat.