Anyone have an idea of vet costs?

[abcdefghi]

One of our cats has been acting weird lately, and today we discovered he had consumed a large amount of paint. He is in a pretty poor shape at the vet at the moment

The vet told us there were things they could do if money was not an issue, but would not give us a ballpark figure. We asked if $2000 was realistic, and he just said "one step at a time" leading me to believe $2000 is going to be low.

Anyone have any ideas on the costs that might be involved?

 

[crimsonmoon]

wow, i have no clue, just wanted to say i hope your cat is ok i can't imagine what i would do if that was one of my cats

 

[Hebily]

they will pump the stomach, figure out what was in the paint, and treat for poisoning appropriately. It will probably be a combination of observation and home medication. I would expect a couple hundred (100-500) for the pump, ~100 for the meds, and the observation rates depend totally on the vet.

 

[snoopy65]

Vet costs are also geographic, so it will depend on where you are. My dog went in, was visually checked, determined to have a virus and ear infection.......$750 plus the cost of meds.

 

[BettaFishMommy]

i think that a vet that will not give you an estimated cost figure right off the bat is not a good vet. sure, he may know how to help the cat in a full recovery, but the practice of not letting you know what you may end up paying is not kosher in my books.

i know that kitty is sick and you probably don't have the option or the time for scouting out different vets, but i would ask the vet the cat is at now to give you a more clear and concise dollar figure, with the various treatments, etc itemized so you know what you are paying for.

 

[abcdefghi]

they will pump the stomach, figure out what was in the paint, and treat for poisoning appropriately. It will probably be a combination of observation and home medication. I would expect a couple hundred (100-500) for the pump, ~100 for the meds, and the observation rates depend totally on the vet.

Hmm hopefully a few hundred is all it will be, the paint is regular acrylic latex paint, I believe it has similar chemicals in it to anti freeze. Last I heard the cats nose was bleeding

 

[Hebily]

Yeah, my vet insists on giving an estimate before any non emergent work, and before you leave for emergency stuff. They should give you a worst case estimate.

 

[Hebily]

alcohol IV would be the treatment for a human, if it has ethylene glycol (antifreeze) poisoning. That probably won't work for a cat, because they process alcohol differently.

 

[Luvbugz]

Sorry about your cat. I agree with those saying that the vet shoulda given you some sorta ballpark figure. I had a puppy that contracted parvo and had to be in the doggie icu for a week while she fought for her life. When we took her in we were given a run down of what the estimated cost would be. Of course, they couldn't have forseen everything needed for her care, but we did get daily updates with rundowns of what was needed/done for her. We had pretty much a running tab of what it was going to cost and weren't shocked at the end bill.

 

[boostnbuds]

My cat gets into weird things as well. HAHA my friends cat, just the other day, was walking around funny. So im looking at and I noticed what appeared to be plastic sticking out of its butt. My buddy proceedes to glove up and pulls a large piece of what we believe to be a shopping bag from its butt. seriously like an 8"x3" piece. His cat is the worst. He has to buy it hypoallergenic food, and it has an inhaler. Thats right a cat inhaler...and the thing is still eating shopping bags. haha

Im sorry about your cat, and didnt mean to get to far off topic but I thought it was relevant. The cost at the vets seems to be a bit like throwing a dart at a price poster. except on the poster theres nothing cheap to hit. I bet your cat will be ok, and if they havent pumped his stomach yet, its probably out of the question. I was under the impression that was something done immediatley. What kind of paint was it i guess would be the deciding factor.