A close family friend just relocated here to florida and on Xmas night after coming home we found his 3 y/o male cat lying in the litter box and in pain. He was moaning and obviously in distress. We observed him trying twice to urinate and was unable to so as my vet and every other was closed for the holiday we had no alternative but to use the only emergency vet clinic located in Volusia County. We waited to be seen over an hour to start with then once examined they explained he would need to be anesthesized and a cather inserted to clear out crystals. Total cost $375.00 and we could make a "deposit" until morning. Little guy was in immediate need as vomiting and disorientation had set in. As they started the procedure we were waiting at the desk to make our "deposit" of which he had $250.00 cash and no credit cards. The desk person made us wait as she was busy on the phone. By this time Winston was under ansthesia. When she finished to accept our payment she then informed us "Our deposits are the full amount, if you dont have it then you have to decide now to either come up with it or put the cat down". I didnt have my credit card with me as didnt expect to need it as was my friends pet but offered to have my son get the # and security code by phone for me. I have used this method many times at the 3 different vets I use for my pets and exotics with never a problem as I generally dont carry my credit cards with me. They indicated there was "no way they could do this" and the end result was putting Winston down because he didnt have the "cash" immediately. With nothing open and my other son who could have brought the money to us was busy as his best friend had just been killed in a motorcycle accident not 2 hours before this, was unavailable and assisting in locating his friends family out of state. This was an otherwise healthy animal and it seems so unfair. I have written to the director of the clinic and have yet to recieve a response. Anyway just venting but it just appalls me how some can be so insensitive over $ in an emergency and on a holiday. They wouldnt even accept a check!!

Oh my that is sad. I am so sorry for your friend and his dear kitty.

I don't know the policies of the clinic, but I would think they would have allowed you to go get your cc or something.

That's appalling, they are supposed to save lives, why work with animals when they don't really care about them? They would've got their money eventually.
I don't know what else to say except that I'm very angry.

That's awful. I would make sure the whole world knows what a heartless careless practice this emergency vet is. Really how many people remember to grab all their cash in an EMERGENCY. May all their bad Karma come back 10 fold.

If i were you I would report them to the better business bureau and to the ASPCA to have something passed. There are emergency situations and the cat should have been taken care of properly and not put down. I think taking the cat home and found another place later on that day. I would check into complaints about this hospital and if you find others who had bad experiences also, get in contact and get this place closed down or changed.

I'd also seek the advice of a lawyer. If they only accepted certain payment types, you should have been informed BEFORE the cat was under anesthesia...

The BBB, ASPCA, ...and local paper and television stations would also be on my list of places to notify.

Write up a concise, not overly emotional couple of paragraphs, ...not unlike what you posted here, and send it off to all the local news outlets in the area, ...and for about 50 miles around. If you catch someone on a slow news day, you can get heard pretty well.

Sorry for your experience....

bob

That is just awful.
A am in agreeance with everyone else, the community needs to be aware of this!

I'm so sorry you and your family had to go through something like this, it's disgusting.

when my dog broke his paw, I had to take him to the emegency clinic here in my town, and I had only 50 with me in cash (cash only) and they tried that with me as well (they had already started a IV for pain and fluids) but man did I pitch one heck of a fit...and then I sat in the room with Puppers till someone could be reached to get me the money, needless to say I went to all kinds of measures to get this place busted for that practice...took it to the news and the ASPCA and anyone else who would listen...people who run emergency care vet clinics for the wrong reasons should be ....ughhhh stopped (thought of alot of nasty things right then)

I am so so so sorry this happend to your friend, I hope they have to pay some sort of price for this...I am so sorry

I know I would be making a very bad scene if it were my cat... no way they are putting my cat down if it is not necessary.

I would definately start reporting to every agency that will listen and start speaking to a lawyer...

I'm going to do a thorough investigation of the vets I decide to use in Florida... I'm sorry this had to happen to your friend. It must be so hard... I can't even imagine.

wow, I couldn't even imagine that happening. My vet here is extremely helpful with money problems. When Millie had Ring worm and I broke down crying because I couldn't pay, he didn't make me pay a thing that day and I paid him back when I could. I don't know what I would've done if he would not have taken it in payments. I guess Millie probably would've ended up back at the humane society.
I would go after that vet with all that you can. That is horrible for them to put the cat down because you were $100 short. Why couldn't one of you stay with the cat and the other go get the rest? And what's with not taking a check?!?! People like that should pay.

Oh my GOSH! That is the most horrible thing I've ever heard. I'm so sorry for your friend and his kitty. I am in disbelief! I would definately contact someone and let everyone know what a horrible, heartless vet facility this is. I live in Orlando actually, sounds like you live in or near central FL, also? We just took our Snuggles to the ER vet here where we live for a UTI and that is so scary to think what just happened with your friend, again I'm so sorry.

Wow, that's just ridiculous and I work for an ER clinic! You had more than half the estimate, that should be plenty of a deposit! Not to mention I'm absolutely floored they made you wait an hour to be seen with a blocked cat! Any blocked cat that comes into our clinic immediately goes back to see the Dr. and the owners get bumped above the other less critical cases to speak with the Dr. That's a life threatening thing, that's just ridiculous!

I'd totally follow Mygala's advice on this one.

Thank you all for your responses and yes I definitely plan on making a stink with letters, etc to those you have all suggested. I live in the Daytona Beach area and after hours or holidays all the vet clinics are closed. If you call they all give the same message to contact this emergency clinic as it is the only one available short of going to Orlando. The situation was dire as Winston had started vomiting and was very disoriented with his eyes rolling back by the time he was being examined so waiting for any additional time to do the procedure may have also resulted in his death. It was obvious that Uremia was now a big issue I'm sure. But there was no reason in the world they couldnt have allowed me to get the credit card number with a security code (on the back) and punch the dang thing in. My regular vets do it all the time for me with my birds, cats, dogs and prairie dogs, as I just call in my info to them when I forget to bring it. Not only that is there was no issue in having the balance in cash by the time of picking him up in the a.m. As I told my regular vet it was incorrect to tell us "Deposit" then after the animal was being anesthsized to demand more. At this point I had even suggested getting my card and the lady flat out said " They are already in the procedure and you have to have it now before they go any further". I am furious!! If anyone lives in this area be very aware of this type situation. My personal vets are wonderful and would have gone out of thier way to help with this if it had been in thier own offices. Just makes me wonder how many others had to endure this same issue here now.

I completely agree with getting it on the news in and around your area and finding a lawyer of some sort to help with this. If stated to the ASPCA they also may be able to help get a law passed about helping animals even if their owners don't have much at that time, animals are like humans...If everyone on here writes a simple letter to their local government about it it could be possible, they usually do care about their citizens. Get people involved, neighbors, family, friends etc. it usually helps, esspecially spreading the word around. Good luck with that.

I wish you the best of luck with it. It should have never happened in teh first place but hopefully you can convince them to change the policies.