I have two 16 year old cats (from the same litter) that predate my 11 year marriage, three sons and a dog. They are really starting to show their age (incontinence, hairballs, etc.) They have been inside all their lives. Corrina (the girl cat) has developed a benign growth on her front leg (about the size of a large marble). I took her into the vet when it first showed up about a year ago and they said it looked benign, but they would have to remove it and biopsy it to be sure, and while she was under, they may as well clean her teeth, etc. ... Well, the bill was going to be over $1,000. I talked them into just the removal, but even that was going to run appr. $800. I put a quick call in to my best friend for advice and she asked two questions: How much? How old is the cat? I decided to pay my mortgage and skip the procedure. Fast forward one year later and she is still fine, but she has bumped the growth on something and it periodically bleeds. Not alot, just little bits on our sheets, comforter, clothes, etc. (totally gross). Does anyone have any ideas on how this growth could be removed economically? I don't intend to do it myself, I'm just looking for a really good deal.
Hi Darcy, have you called around to other vets?? Try Animal Clinic of Sterling Hgts. or Eastpointe Animal Clinc. Both are very reasonable. L. S.
Look for a local teaching vet hospital. they usually do things much cheaper as long as you are willing to have a supervised veterinary student work on your cat. Also, you may want to look into a thing called care credit.
http://www.carecredit.com/vetmed/whycc.html
you can use this special credit card basically to pay for the doctor dentist, and even vet bills. they have no interest plans for up to 18 months. If you choose the 18 month no interest you will only be paying $44 a month. much more affordable if you can spread out payments and not pay interest.
hope this helps
We take all of our little furry family to an excellent Vet on the east side/Sterling Heights. He is very very good and very inexpensive Vet Wilson ###-###-####. Good Luck.
I went to Dr DeWeerd in wayland. I got Rabbies shots for $10 and he will fix a pet for $35!!!! He is an old time vet and knows his stuff. My dogs head caved in on one side. I took him to our regular vet and they didn't know what it was. They were going to charge me $250 just for x-rays.(he is 13yrs old) Then I would have to pay for a treatment!! I took my dog to Dr DeWeerd to get a cheap rabbies shot and asked him about my dogs head. He looked at him and told me exactly what was wrong with him, no charge!!
Take her to Patterson Vet. hospital in Mason. They are VERY reasonably priced and I'll bet the removal of the lump would cost around $100 there.
We had the same thing happen with our dog (a crazy $1,000 bill for removal of a cyst and teeth cleaning). We called around and found that we had been overpaying like crazy for years at the clinic we use -- we found a much more affordable vet by asking friends for references and then calling those vets and asking about their fees.
You might also want to call MSU. They have a great Veterinary Medicine program and I believe they have a clinic -- which would be much more affordable than a traditional vet.
Def. call around.
We took our cat to Salem Veterinary to get fixed... Something that was going to cost about $400.- for all of the "nessisary" shots and visits THEN the fixing on top of that... They only charged $100.- for the fixing and shots he needed. Its an old time vets office in an old house so low over head. We drove over an hour to them and saved tons of $$$. The Humaine society refered us to them as a "cheaper than us" option...
So call around get different quotes for the procedure. BUT in reality your cat is 16? It will cost more because of the age of the cat and more care needed...
Call around, don't mention what the $1000 vet said or the $800 vet said. But it does get expensive. Might want to try and find out if any will accept payment plans. Or call the Humane Society for direction.
An emergency vet might work; hard to say. But I wouldn't leave it unattended. I had surgery on my setter a few years ago to remove a wicked looking cyst on her neck. Doing a biopsy seemed costly and at her age...she also went through a radical mastectomy. Again I didn't do a biopsy because she was already up in years and what would she have gained from it?, right? Depending on where you live, but in Plymouth, there's Sheldon Vet clinic. They're your typical vet practice, but the vet there also is into alternatives. You might be dealing with an abscess.
D. ~
You can always take her to the Humane Society for routine labs and stuff, and I think they'll do surgery, too. I know years ago I took my cat to them to be fixed and it was alot cheaper than a regular vet.
But, at her age, she will need labs before she goes under anesthesia ~ to make sure that her kidneys and liver are funtioning right to filter the medications. And the older they are, the riskier it is for them to undergo anesthesia. That's part of why it's so expensive. Plus, if they were planning on doing a biopsy of it ... you can have it removed without a biopsy, because, at that age, what will you do if it is cancer? Probably not chemo ....
good luck!
D.
Hi,
I take my dog to the Humane Society in Rochester Hills. It is less there, I think, but call and be sure.
Good luck, I know it's hard to have a sick pet that you love.
L.
I had a dog that had a similar growth that leaked. I would sterilize an exacto knife and put the littlest lance (poke basically) and drain it and use peroxide after. It would put the swelling down a bit and keep it stable for awhile. Our vet was all for that and said it wouldnt hurt the pet :)
Depending where you are my vet on Hayes and Canal is so wonderful and reasonably priced. When he went on vacation I had to take my dog in for a scratched eye and about fainted at the bill!! He charges almost half of any other vet I have ever checked. If you want his # send me a message and I will look it up.
I'm not sure how close you are to Saline, but there is a vet there. The name is Bridgewater Vetrenarian. He is GREAT and very very very cheap. The last time I had my cat in there, b/c he had blood in his urine, the dr. did all the test from basic to advanced, and gave me 2 different meds. for my cat, and all I had to pay was $60. Any where else wanted like $150-$200 for the same thing he did!! It's worth a shot....He's a really good vet, and takes walk-in's. Hope your cat gets better!!
I have an old dog that has a similar growth on her head. We let it go for 2 years and it just kept getting bigger and would open up and bleed. Very gross. One day when we had her to the vet for a nail trim (which she has to be put under to do) the vet asked if we wanted the growth removed and she did it for $80. Her name is Dr. Susan Ransom and she owns North Oaks Animal Hospital on the corner of Baldwin and Clarkston Rd. They have always been very good with out high maintence dog. Hope this helps.
H. S
