1984 , 2 months ago

Those sounds like American prices....

Would be maybe 50 dollars in western Europe. Just a guess.

Skua , 2 months ago

Vet bills can get nasty in Europe too. They're not covered by universal healthcare policies, unsurprisingly. But also, like... don't be a dickhead about someone's pet getting hurt? They already know it's costing them a lot of money

1984 , 2 months ago

You are right actually, I should stop bringing it up. Doesn't help anyone really.

DacoTaco , 2 months ago

This. What happened could easily be a 500 euro bill as they would stay at the vet for at least a day + the procedures to help cure the wounds

ParabolicMotion OP , 2 months ago

Really? Please tell me where you live that offers lower cost veterinary care. Also, is it the same level of care? I do live in America. I love living in America. Life could be a lot worse. I can’t even imagine what animal health care is available in third world countries when they can’t even afford to give proper health care to their human occupants.

1984 , 2 months ago

Western Europe is quite different from a third world country. :)

ParabolicMotion OP , 2 months ago

Oh, I didn’t see the Western Europe part. I visited Ecuador around 2021, and saw a lot of stray cats on the streets. I don’t know if Ecuador is still considered third world, but it was truly heartbreaking to see all the strays foraging for food on the street. Yes, Western Europe is probably doing well, my apologies.

1984 , 2 months ago

Yeah I can't stand seeing cats foraging for food either. I was in Sicily and saw the same thing there, lots of cats, most of them damaged because of fights they had been in I assume.... It's a hard life for them.

ParabolicMotion OP , 2 months ago

That’s sad, because you know if they neutered the stray males, there wouldn’t be so many injured cats from cat fights. Pictures from Turkey make it look like stray cats are fine in communities like those, and maybe they are in some places, but whenever there are stray males in groups, they’re going to fight if they aren’t neutered. Our cat was neutered and something attacked him. I don’t even have an explanation for that, except that some stray, or something found its way into our neighborhood.

1984 , 2 months ago

I understand you come from a place of wanting cats to not be hurt, but I think humans don't have the moral right to do that to them. We think we help them, but isn't it the same as if we would neuter fellow humans because we think they are aggressive?

ParabolicMotion OP , 2 months ago

I understand what you mean. I always feel guilty having an animal neutered, or spayed, but when it’s your animal and you can’t afford to have them litter, it’s another story. I once adopted a cat that as already pregnant with a litter of kittens that died in utero. I told the vet to just spay her after that. My fiancé, at the time, felt so bad that he went out to a rescue and bought a kitten to keep her company while we both worked during the day. It probably didn’t make it up to her entirely. I get that.

1984 , 2 months ago

Yeah. I understand... I wish humans would always have enough money to not be forced into things they don't want to do. Specially since money is just a made up concept, like monopoly money. But we all are forced to gather this resource that is not limited by nature at all. It's just limited so our own human economic systems won't break down.

So much things are based on money and it's not even a real limitation by the real world.

PurpleTentacle , 2 months ago

I'm not the person you are replying to, but I do wonder what "third world countries" you are thinking of when you hear "Western Europe"?

As someone who has lived in both the US and Germany (one of those "third world countries" with significantly lower health care cost, for both humans and animals) and who has seen the benefits and drawbacks of both countries - it's completely delusional if you actually believe that someone who is supposedly living paycheck to paycheck is getting better health care in the US. The German system certainly has its flaws, but it beats the US in just about every sensible metric (accessibility, cost, life expectancy, infant mortality etc.), usually quite significantly so. The US does a solid number of things better than other countries, entrepreneurship and innovation for example, but health care absolutely isn't among those things.

What's new to me (I had no exposure to the veterinary health care system during my time in the US) is that the inflated fantasy prices aren't limited to humans only, but extend to pets as well. Anesthesia and extensive wound care, antibiotics, aftercare etc. are pretty standard therapies and they should cost little over a tenth of what you were quoted for your typical house cat.

You honestly might want to shop around, because even within the US, those rates are almost certainly inflated.

ParabolicMotion OP , 2 months ago

I didn’t see the Western Europe part of the comment.

PurpleTentacle , 2 months ago

I don't think the downvotes are warranted. That is an exorbitant amount for the planned vet procedure OP describes.

Vet rates in Germany, for example, are regulated and wound care under anesthesia is pretty standard treatment. Even with multiple, complicated wounds, a round of antibiotics, extensive after care, this would be a three digit bill - while likely more than 200€, it would still be far closer to that number than OP's tenfold quote..

Heck, even surgery for a complicated fracture wouldn't come close to the 2000€ mark and can often stay below 1000€.

We are all aware that the US healthcare system works with ridiculously inflated fantasy prices, but that this extends to veterinary care is news to me.

1984 , 2 months ago

I think it was more a reaction to bringing it up when someone is already feeling sad over his pet being hurt.

Everyone probably agrees with the facts but it was just bad style to bring it up in that moment.

PurpleTentacle , 2 months ago

True. But if there's anything to take away from all of this is that those prices aren't natural, god-given or unavoidable. It's probably a good idea for op to shop around - wound care, anesthesia and antibiotics shouldn't be $2000 even in the US.