I have a 6 month old female that has SUDDENLY started going into heat. I knew it would happen, and my mom and I have had full intentions of getting her fixed; but this just slipped up on us! I have since read that cats can go into heat as early as 4 to 6 months -well, I've RECENTLY read that. But in my personal experience we've just never had this to happen before they were at least 8 months old! Anyway, I called the vet's office to discuss the situation, get an appointment and an estimate - if we didn't go through the Humane Society, which we had done for 3 females in Oct. 2008. We paid $40 per cat and they had already gotten their rabies shots. That vet clerk told me they HAD to do a blood panel (which they did NOT "have" to do for the 3 in 10/08, less than 5 months ago) on ALL females they spayed - no matter what! This would be $89. Spaying the animal (putting her to sleep and the surgery) would be $205. so...I say to her "you just cannot be serious. Around $300 for just the basic surgery, not counting shots or anything?" She hesitates, and says "Yeah, that's about right" (I swear I thought I could hear a smile in her voice.) She then adds, "and the first date we could do the surgery is March 11th". I reply that "I am flabbergasted at that cost. Plus you can't do her before March 11th? I'll discuss this with my mother"...knowing that was just so much bullshit, and we would have PLENTY of time to go through the Humane Society for - oh yeah, $40!!! Regardless, it was going to be a while that we were dealing with Fluffy and ME trying to keep her away from the many males we have...but they are outside, and she is currently (God help us) inside. You hear "get your animals spayed/neutered" from every street corner, and I am quite certain the surgery itself must be common for vets in this day and age. But to have such an exorbitant cost...That is just damn wrong!!! We love Fluffy but she is number 13 (cats LOVE to take up here and a couple had kittens before we were able to get them fixed but they Have Been fixed) and Everybody in this house is a realist. She'll get fixed - but it'll be through the Humane Society voucher. At the same time, I know a LOT of people wouldn't go through this trouble - and would have taken ALL the animals away to get killed at the animal shelter. Damned if you do and damned if you don't, huh?
If it were me, I would say to hell with the veterinarian who is trying to take advantage of you and your kitten. There is simply no reason to charge you such exorbitant fees, since it costs far less than that for the procedure. If I were you, I would contact your local humane society who should be able to help you with locating a low cost spay/neuter facility which cares more about you and your kitten and less about lining their pockets with money extorted from a loving guardian. Also, many counties provide spay/neuter assistance in the form of $20-$50 vouchers which upon presentation, are deducted from your veterinary/clinic bill too. It would be a good idea to contact your local county animal services department to see if any of these assistance coupons are available in your area. I hope the best for you and your kitten, since there is nothing worse in this world than someone trying to make money off those of us who want to do the right thing, since we truly love our animals and do not want to add to pet overpopulation.
Hey Tobias! My mom went today and got the form to fill out to apply for the voucher. Get this: The voucher HAS to be used where it says to go - like this voucher will give you a specific vet you have to take your animal to...I know ahead of time because of what we've already been through- that the vet we will HAVE to take Fluffy to is the same (damn) one that I called today! I'm serious. I hope the girl forgets about my call...but I'm really sort of rememberable. (word?) so I'm already thinking about how QUIET I will try to be when we wind up having to take Fluffy there. Mama will send in the form tomorrow, and we'll get it back by next week. They are pretty fast about it - the Humane Society. So, we'll be calling back to the Same Place...sheesh...probably by the end of the upcoming week. Still, I appreciate your response, and I'm especially glad to see you understand. Is that a little border collie puppy in your sig? We also have a 6-8 yr old border collie - that "Took Up Here" a little over 4 years ago - a Wonderful God sent animal, imho.
We have a BUNCH of males, and I Know that I'll wind up going through getting them neutered, too. Poor things, they can't help being made crazy anymore than Fluffy can help being crazy. I've even seen what looked like gay sex happening with the males, but since they are not fighting... (too bad anyway) I just know I've got to get them fixed. The Humane Society Voucher Plan is going to be put into use!
I am so sorry to hear that your Humane Society is not of more help to you since most of these organizations usually go out of their way to increase the number of animals altered at a reasonable cost. It is also hard to believe they would force you to use a specific veterinarian which is really unusual too. I would suggest contacting the SPCA to see if they have any suggestions or know of anyone in your area who can lend you a hand in addition to using the vouchers. Here in California, there are a number of veterinarians in my area who sponsor low cost spay/neuter clinics several times a year for 1/3 to 1/2 the usual price. I think you probably already know that it will always cost more for a female cat, since the surgery is far more difficult than for your male cats, whose cost should be much less. By the way, yes, that is a Border Collie puppy in my signature. The reason for this is that I have always had a BC by my side since the day I was born and always will have one or more watching out for me until the day I die. I currently have three rescued Border Collie's named Laurel, Dylan and DB Dog (short for Dylan's Brother, since he seemed to be Dylan's identical twin when I first saw him as a wayward puppy and brought him home). I am curious what the name of you BC is too?
Well, we are STILL waiting to hear back from the Humane Society/get the voucher for Fluffy. Sweet lord...what a trip this is - having Fluffy inside, keeping her away from the males and stopping her from worrying the border collie to death! Tobias, the BC's name is Jack - and I cannot imagine Not having him. He has some quirks but is simply a fine, wonderful animal who interacts amazingly well with the cats... He is an excellent guard dog/alarm system, too.
140?? 300?? jesus. it should not be more than 50 dollars. period! if a vet is trying to charge you that, go find a different vet!
