[Superminion]

Not me.

A friend of mine has a cat that is having problems using the bathroom without the help of a catheter. He needs surgery to make his man parts into female parts. Those are all the details that I know of.

The problem is that they can't afford the surgery and the vet has given them until Monday.

Personally, I think that they should just put the poor thing down. They refuse to turn him over to the shelter because "He gets depressed when I'm not around."

They don't qualify for the care credit (or whatever it's called). Do they have any other resources?

I really don't want this to turn into a trainwreck(which is why I'm biting my tounge), just trying to see if there is anything else that they can do.

TIA

[dacasodivine]

Sorry, no ideas for paying if the vet won't allow payments.

You hear of this happening way too often when males are neutered young.

So sad for the poor fellow.

[ken]

I have a friend who was in this situation - while she was scrambling for the funds, the condition improved. She stabilized the cat with a special diet. I assume they have tried non surgical treatments. Can they contact another vet - many have flexible payment arrangements - and many have different pricing!

A shelter would put him down. Personally, I would cough up the $$ to euthanize myself before I put an animal through the anxiety of a trip to the shelter, especially if he's in pain.

Hope they get a miracle.

[BuddyRoo]

Well, if he's been obstructed due to crystals and such because of food, even if he has the surgery, if they can't put him on better food, he'll continue to have issues.

I guess in my mind, if we can't do it, we can't do it. Euth. That's what I would do. Else, they have to beg and borrow from friends and family.

[SquishTheBunny]

Its called a "PU" surgery or Perineal Urethrostomy. Usually recommended for cats with chronic blocking. It doesnt make them female,it just bypasses the distal urethera.

Can they call another clinic to see if they accept payment plans? If they want to save the cat, can they increase their credit card? Usually the surgery only runs $2-3,000.

So sad when finances limit what we can do for our pets

[Superminion]

That's exactly it, Squish.

They aren't well off at all, they have a LO and both are struggling to find jobs. They can hardly afford to feed themselves. They have a family member who has been paying for as much as they can for the cat. The vet offered to do the surgery at cost, so $1,800. Nobody around here will allow you to do a payment plan without being an established customer or having good credit, I've been calling around all day.

I would take the cat to my vet as ours and do the surgery, but we really can't afford to be out $1,800 + for an animal that's not ours. Their re-payment ability would probably be non-existent. I offered to pay to euth him.

They've been dealing with it for a few months now, and he's just not getting better.

[SquishTheBunny]

So sad. Unless there is a good, reputable humane society that would pay for his surgery and take him (or give him back to the owners), then euthanasia is sounding like the best option. Most shelters turn cats miserable. Some humane societies are ok (cat rooms instead of kennels etc), but you would know the area better than me. I really hope your friends can help the kitty out, but putting themselves into a very stressful financial situation isnt something advisable. No one will judge them.

[LauraKY]

That's just sad. It really does sound like the only option is to euth.