Unexpected Vet Bills:Pet Loss & Emergency Surgery

Hi. I’m Tina.

I’ve got three little Chihuahuas as comfort and therapy dogs for my autistic son. We also had two cats who he loved dearly.

Last month (March 24) we had to take our little Chi to the vets for what we thought was either hayfever or an eye infection. After three visits and no improvement we were referred to a specialist Vet Hospital in Cheadle. After an examination they told us that they needed to keep her and operate that day to save her eye. We had no idea that she had infected ulcers that had clearly been missed at the regular vets. By this time I had already paid out £280 for treatment.

There was no question that we had to leave her. My son wouldn’t cope without her. The sadness didn’t end there. When we got home, our beautiful ginger puss wasn’t looking well so we had to visit our local vets with her. Unfortunately, the vet said there was nothing they could do to help her.

The pain of losing an animal is nothing compared to the pain of seeing your autistic child trying to understand why she can’t come home. At this point his dog was at a different vets having surgery, so you can imagine how a typical child would have felt.

We eventually got a call to collect his pup and were given a bill for £2500. I checked her insurance and it covered the first £1000, minus her excess, minus the money I had already paid out.

I don’t work as I am the sole carer for my son, there’s just us and the animals. This was quite a shock, I knew it was going to be expensive but hadn’t processed it. On top of this there will be a bill from the other vets for the euthanasia of our beautiful cat.

We returned for several check ups with our pup, but her eye carried on watering and we have now been advised that she needs further surgery in three weeks that is going to cost at least another £1000.

I’ve never reached out like this before, but I always try and help others when I see a just giving post for animals, children or fundraising. Last year my son managed to raise almost £200 for cancer doing squats.

I guess I’m just hoping for any donations to help, no matter how small. I’ll pay what I can but have been advised that they don’t do service plans, so for now I have had to put it on a credit card, that now needs paying off. I can’t transfer to a zero interest one because I’m not working.

Thanks for reading this far if you did.

Nya and her daddy

Migi, age 18 and a half