Kitty held at Vets till bills paid, 'interest' added daily. Help?

Soldato
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Shouldnt have to pay more than a fiver (kind donation) at PDSA. As they only ask for donations or pay a little for medication iirc when my dog had cancer.

They only charge for the drugs, but you're supposed to pay whatever you can afford. Unfortunately for the PDSA, which has fallen on increasingly hard times over the last couple of decades, people take this for granted - and they don't actually pay what they can afford, they just take.
 
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i can understand why the vet is keeping the cat, not like a garage will let you have the car back without paying for it to be fixed is it?
 
Soldato
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i can understand why the vet is keeping the cat, not like a garage will let you have the car back without paying for it to be fixed is it?

No, but most garages wont have a £20/day surcharge for late payments.

Yes, being unable to pay for the services provided is poor planning, but sometimes accidents happen when you can least afford them. People who deal in industries where they re required to act upon emergency (ie Vets, Mechanics, Plumbers and so on) will usually have an invoice system that allows at least a few days to pay. After they i'm sure they have ways of collecting unpaid bills through debt collectors or court proceedings or similar.

I've had emergency work done on my car that i couldnt afford, and when i told the guy (i'd never been to that garage before) he said "not a problem, sort us out what you can and we'll invoice you the rest for the end of the month". In fact, in a completely related example, I had to take my parent's dog to the vet whilst visiting them and didnt have any way to pay for it. they just gave me a "bill" that would need to be settled before the dog next went in for check-up/treatment.

£20/day is obtuse. I really would hunt around for a vet that offers an "account" system or similar. The ones based in Pets at Home (or whatever it's called these days) run something like that im sure.
 
Caporegime
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How can anyone who acts so unethically seriously call themselves a vet? Theft of animals and charging £20 a day for cat food, unbelievable.

It is not unethical, it is perfectly reasonable. Normally no required but I have a hunch this isn't the first time this has happened, maybe not with the cat in question but if the vet has had many non-payments before and lost money then they will be forced to use such measure as standard. Probably some good discussions with the vet would help such a situation.


It is not theft, it is legal possession. The £20 a day will be a standard rate for housing a cat for a day is pretty cheap in comparison.
 
Caporegime
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No, but most garages wont have a £20/day surcharge for late payments.

Yes, being unable to pay for the services provided is poor planning, but sometimes accidents happen when you can least afford them. People who deal in industries where they re required to act upon emergency (ie Vets, Mechanics, Plumbers and so on) will usually have an invoice system that allows at least a few days to pay. After they i'm sure they have ways of collecting unpaid bills through debt collectors or court proceedings or similar.

I've had emergency work done on my car that i couldnt afford, and when i told the guy (i'd never been to that garage before) he said "not a problem, sort us out what you can and we'll invoice you the rest for the end of the month". In fact, in a completely related example, I had to take my parent's dog to the vet whilst visiting them and didnt have any way to pay for it. they just gave me a "bill" that would need to be settled before the dog next went in for check-up/treatment.

£20/day is obtuse. I really would hunt around for a vet that offers an "account" system or similar. The ones based in Pets at Home (or whatever it's called these days) run something like that im sure.


Leaving a car in a garage is not the same as housing a cat, the car does need cleaning or taking care of. From my experience, £20 is damn cheap. It costs £12-15 just to leave a cat in a cattery. This £20 will include medical supervision by trained nurses and the availability of 24 hour access to the highly trained vets.
 
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Leaving a car in a garage is not the same as housing a cat, the car does need cleaning or taking care of. From my experience, £20 is damn cheap. It costs £12-15 just to leave a cat in a cattery. This £20 will include medical supervision by trained nurses and the availability of 24 hour access to the highly trained vets.

Surely that is the vet's problem though? They have confiscated it, the owner hasn't requested a service. I don't see how that could be legal.
 
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Surely that is the vet's problem though? They have confiscated it, the owner hasn't requested a service. I don't see how that could be legal.

So what you're effectively saying is that because the owner didn't request the cat be looked after, that the vet should put it down(/let it starve)?

I don't think that would go down too well!
 
Soldato
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Leaving a car in a garage is not the same as housing a cat, the car does need cleaning or taking care of. From my experience, £20 is damn cheap. It costs £12-15 just to leave a cat in a cattery. This £20 will include medical supervision by trained nurses and the availability of 24 hour access to the highly trained vets.

I didn't leave the car in the garage, i took it home with me, along with the invoice for the bill.

The £20/Day is in response to non-payment, not services required.

My point was it's not necessary to keep the cat at all, and most places i've been to (in both automotive and pet care) haven't required any form of ransom.
 
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No I was saying they cannot expect to confiscate it and charge the owner for the pleasure. I'm not sure how you read that I suggested they should murder the cat?
 
Soldato
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No I was saying they cannot expect to confiscate it and charge the owner for the pleasure. I'm not sure how you read that I suggested they should murder the cat?

Sorry, I was being a bit sensational.

Really, they should invoice the owner and hand the cat back. But if they've had previous issues with getting money off them for other services, then they're maybe right to be cautious in handing it back lest they not pay any time soon.

As long as the cat's in their care, then they should be able to charge for it. After all, it is taking time to care for, and taking up space that could be used for other animals.

On the face of it though, the whole situation is ridiculous.
 
Soldato
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Why can't they just give the cat back and then she can pay them back as soon as possible, surely you can't keep a cat hostage AND charge for it?
 
Caporegime
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Surely that is the vet's problem though? They have confiscated it, the owner hasn't requested a service. I don't see how that could be legal.

Well the alternative for the vet is quite simple and cheap, find all the out of date drugs and give the cat a massive overdose, kitty falls asleep and is placed in the disposal.

I think most owners would prefer the cat is properly looked after, even if there is a fee to cover costs.


I do agree that it is strange that this course of action is taken immediately. Normally a vet will only do this if the owner has previously failed to pay the bills.
 
Caporegime
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I didn't leave the car in the garage, i took it home with me, along with the invoice for the bill.

The £20/Day is in response to non-payment, not services required.

My point was it's not necessary to keep the cat at all, and most places i've been to (in both automotive and pet care) haven't required any form of ransom.

Large garages have the means to providing some form of financing, to track late payments, set up direct debits etc.

Most Vets don't have the infrastructure, staff or time to do that unless you are a regular customer like a farmer.
 
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Why can't they just give the cat back and then she can pay them back as soon as possible,
For whatever reason, they don;t think taht is likely.
Things like small claims courts are difficult and even if you wn, it is extremley difficult to get money back if they don't wont to pay.

surely you can't keep a cat hostage AND charge for it?

As quoted, yes you can. Many industries do it.

http://www.rcvs.ac.uk/Templates/Int...tNodeID=89642&int2ndParentNodeID=89737#unpaid
17. Although veterinary surgeons do have a right in law to hold an animal until outstanding fees are paid, the RCVS believes that it is not in the interests of the animal so to do, and can lead to the practice incurring additional costs which may not be recoverable. This right should therefore only be exercised in extreme cases and after discussion with the RCVS.
 
Soldato
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Whether it's legal or not it's not a nice thing to do. Sounds like money is far more important to the vet than the animals themselves. I know some people will say it's only a cat but it is a little life all the same.

If you get the animal back I would let as many people know about this guy as possible.
 
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