The kindness of strangers

I believe something like that happened on the Supervet programme. A stranger took care of the bill for a little family. Brilliant! I am a firm believer in the old saying" "Cast your bread upon the waters......"

Vets' fees have certainly gone up and I am sure this is why so many animals are being abandoned. Neighbour with Maine Coon cats once had a bill for £15000. Fortunately she had insurance!!!

Wow! That was some bill! The Super Vet's practice is in Godalming, Surrey, where I live. I have often wondered if the TV company puts anything towards the cases that they film?

It was the SuperVet who saved the life of Monty Don’s dog, Nigel, after another vet had been going to put the dog down.

It seems the vet would have let the cat suffer because nobody was able to pay the bill. That is not kindness to me. I would expect better than that from a vet who is supposed to be an animal lover.

I wonder if the PDSA would have helped in a case where the owner was not able to afford the payment.

It was luck that the rich person overheard the conversation or the cat would not have been treated and would have been left to suffer.

I wondered that too Hywel, but someone took it to this vet.
I don't know anything about this vet, as it is not the one I use.

Difficult to know how to treat any animal that is nervous.
I think a large dog pen in the living room, so that it can be popped in when visitors come , and represent no harm, would be helpful.
Every animal has a memory, same as we have, and is affected by the way it is treated by humans or other animals.
When serving as a CTC Cllr I advocated all cyclists should fit a bell. Horses have hearing 200 times stronger than humans. When approaching from behind we see their ears go up, listening to identify the sound of spinning wheels.
I always rang my bell, called out 'Good morning' and often saw the ears go down as it recognised a human being.
This statement was dismissed by the men. Bells were not made compulsory.
Incidentally, a horse should not be approached from behind as its eyes are in the front of its head. It will kick out because its frightened.

Interesting. I'm sure when I was younger bells were compulsory. Can anybody confirm this? If so I wonder why the law changed?

Stera, I remember being stopped by a policeman when I was a child to have my bell tested to see that it was working. I don't know when they stopped being compulsory but I wish they still were. When walking on tow paths & other places cyclists often speed up behind me & then shout," excuse me " loudly in my ear, making me jump out of my skin. If only they rang a bell loudly,one would know they were coming. Also why is it always the walker who has to jump into the nettles etc. Why are they completely unable to dismount, to let someone pass? I think they glue their bottoms to the saddle when they set out & they have to remain stuck there until they get home!

That was really kind of the stranger. People can be so kind. Talking to my old Vet one time when Ben had to have one of his quite a few operations, his 1st question was did I have insurance. We got talking and he said that the trend of getting Pet insurance has driven up the costs. Vets can charge more since insurances are paying. I can't any longer insure Ben as he is an old boy now and has had too many health issues like cancer aged 2 in one of his back toes and the premium is too high and not cover much.

Feverfew thanks fr the giggle - love the idea of bottoms glued to saddles...

Sorry to hear about the cat's sad ending, but it does make you happy to see such kindness in the World. From you neighbour rescuing it to the wonderful lady who foot the sizeable bill.