Vets Duty of care for cats found and brought in not by their owner

[Mark]

I found a pigeon injured outside my door recently and I asked a neighbour to take it to the vet next door. She came back later and said the receptionist said the patient number is *** if we want to know how it is getting on. I guess there are a lot of good vets around. Hopefully most of them went into it in the 1st place for the love of animals   

[Liz]

Our old vets always treated the cats and then worried about contacting rescues etc, as one vet said it might be my cat and money is not an issue when it comes to helping them - she was up to 6 cats just before we moved all strays and accident victims the other vets were as bad and thats how we got our late Hissy Holly - she had been trapped and they neutered her, flea treatment, worming and called us to see if we could helpm this hisy lady - I cheeckily asked for full boosters and Program and got all this for free and had 8 wonderful months of her hissiness before her previous life issues caught up with her.

My new vets are pretty much the same and will treat the animal and try to recoup some cost back but do advise they will treat as they can't put a price on the animal it may be a stray or someones pet and all should be treated equally.

I know after Puma's vets bill last christmas £1500) saved his leg and he did his "time" in the kitten pen for 10 weeks - we were lucky he was a hand reared domestic and did his time but if it had been one of my ferals then the leg would have come off as I know in my own heart they couldn't have done the cage rest or the almost daily visits we had with Puma.

[tammy]

all the vets I have ever had dealings with were always more than happy to give emergency treatments to animals bought in by strangers, some practices offer to rehome some will pass onto places like RSPCA once the animal is stabilised....

[Mark]

Hi Nick

Thanks for asking. His gums seem a bit better - it has taken ages and it's only in the last couple of days he has stopped yelping and running away from the bowl. He has finally accepted senior food but will not touch the prescription diet, even if I mix a tiny amount in his regular food he won't touch it. As his problem is "moderate", I am hoping that a combination of meds & senior food is enough to get his levels normalised. 

[Nick (Peanut & Boo)]

yes you are probably right Tan it doesn't take much to disuade some folk to try DIY treatment.

Mark I forgot to ask after poor Clapton. How are his teeth and gums?  Is he still getting pain when he eats ? poor muppet

[Tan]

The vet section could be a good idea but i would be worried that new peeps would end up posting here instead of getting their cat or stray to a vet straight away.
We could have a recomended vet practice section with vet addresses and hours and comments etc. We can do this already within the vet catagory of the links where you can all (from full members) add links to your vets and recomend them.

My vets are very good where they would treat any stray 1st and contact the rescues after. 

[Mark]

I just went to Roger Baker vets for a repeat prescription for Clapton (2 weeks supply of Fortekor FOC as pack was opened!)

I asked the receptionist what the policy was with strays. She said they would do everything neccessary to treat a cat and there wouldn't be a limit on cost. They said they treat them like any other cats. When they are Stabilised they would contact CP or another rescue. She also said that they get a small grant from the government for treating strays.

They are closed 24th, 25th & 26th December but have the number for the emergency vet hospital on the wall

The Barton Veterinary Hospital
34 New Dover Rd
Canterbury
Kent
CT1 3DT
01227 765522

[Nick (Peanut & Boo)]

I wonder if it would be worth us setting up a permanent self help thread here ?.

There are quite a few vet nurses on here or folk with access to one through family and friends.

I always ask my Ex partner for advice before taking mine in. She has over 20 years experience with various vet practices and has seen just about everything. I cannot trust my own judgement where my own cats are concerned but I'm decisive about othere animals . Funny that

We could use photobucket to upload pictures to to aid diagnosis.

Obviously some problems and injuries are going to require taking the cat for immediate veterinary care but I was thinking more of the problems which are worrying but not so clear. We could each make a list of all the vets in our area with their xmas phone numbers and surgery times etc and post on here

If anyone finds wild animals in distress I have loads of links for help including a help /advice  number for a  vet and nurse .

I'd be happy to offer any help I can for ferrying cats to vets etc in Somerset and I have a spare mobile number I'd be willing to give for general help and advice or just support

[Beanie]

Top man Mark.


Duty of Care

I don't know about the strict duty of care. It is a very important question and i will make some inquiries.

My own experience with my vet  is as explained below by Amanda. They will see to immediate pain and suffering which I believe to be their duty of care.

They then phone around. The local CP are not usually interested (although I appreciate that is a local issue). The RSPCA are then contacted. I don't know their criteria for acceptance but there is usually a monetary limit and £50 rings a bell.

Frontline rescuers would be able to clarify that.

[Desley (booktigger)]

I think the prob you might have is with the out of hours cover, I dont know how mine work, but I know for an owned cat the cost is quite expensive just for them to see the cat. My vets ring the RSPCA to see if they can have the 'allotted amount' and then have to contact rescues to see if a placement can be found after that.

[Canterbury_cats (Sharon)]

Hi all
Thanks for that Mark, thats a great help should we need to. Our stance is at the moment that we are only taking in "emergencies for Christmas".  We are due to take in kittens after Christmas to help another branch out who is desperate. Bethany is still with us. 

Its a bit of a pain that most "out of hour" vets are in Canterbury! We use R Baker a lot, but as for Animed never really used them much.

[Mark]

Hi Sharon,

I am around over xmas & new year as the B&B is open so let me know if there's anything I can do. Not sure if you know but I live next-door to Animed (although not on good terms) , Roger Baker is only down the road and I can take any animals to the emergency hospital in canterbury if need be. I think Roger Baker uses Animed for emergencies but they are rarely open after 6pm so not sure how that works.

[Amanda (mad4moggies)]

I work at a vets and when stray cats are brought in they usually are given emergency treatment for any pain and suffering they may be going through. After that we could contact the rescues and go from there. I think the RSPCA have set guidelines on this sort of thing to do with the actual amount of money a vets can spend on a stray cat and things like that. With Cat Protection we would normally do the initial treatment until we can speak to them and then they will give the ok for any further treatment. Hope this helps a bit!

[Canterbury_cats (Sharon)]

Hello all
I am doing a small press release for our website about christmas opening hours and rehoming etc. But have put in that if someone finds a cat in distress please take it to the nearest vet or emergency vet (if out of hours). Can someone who knows abit about this tell me, do vets have a duty of care for animals brought into their practice found by another person who is not their owner.  Or do they refuse if no one pays. I dont want our branch paying for huge vet bills but i do want people to be responsible if they see a cat in distress and take it to a vet if they can.  As our phone is going to be "emergency only" for a few days over Christmas we may not be able to get back to people asap, unless they leave a message on a phone line and one of our volunteers dials in and assists. But what other advise can you give to people, as I am suprised how many people dont do the obvious because they dont want to be responsible for cost. Is that as clear as mud!? What do other CP branches do.