Pet owners are turning to crowdfunding to pay vets’ bills as spiralling inflation leaves them facing impossible choices between the basics of living and care for their cats and dogs.
On crowdfunding platform GoFundMe, the number of people citing the cost of living as they fundraise for animal care is 50 times greater this year than last, rising from two to 100.
Surveys show hard-pressed owners could face having to give up their cat or dog or have it put down to avoid falling into debt.
And fewer owners are taking their pets to vets for costly treatment.
A cat owner from East Sussex who was crowdfunding said she was paying vet bills instead of eating.
“I was just about managing, though insurances were crippling me financially and there had been times in recent months I was choosing to pay the vet bill over getting food in due to cost-of-living rises. But now, having to face finding thousands for my other cat, has left me despairing,” she wrote.
She met her goal of raising £2,500 for surgery for her long-haired cat, Aisha, who had suffered a broken jaw bone and dislocation of her jaw in an attack.
The owner, who is disabled and cannot drive because of epilepsy, said she needed to raise money for the excess not covered by insurance.
“I’ve been devastated, cried endless tears and just want to get my cat sorted out as soon as possible so she’s no longer in pain,” she wrote.
She raised her target within two months of launching the appeal, and later explained that her cat was doing very well after having the surgery.
“It’s been a really tough time, but your support and kindness made this time a lot easier to get through,” she added.
Becky Morris is trying to raise £2,000 for hoof surgery for her horse Heidi as she is putting the bills on her credit card and borrowing money.
“It feels ridiculous to ask when everyone is struggling with the cost of living. Heidi’s bill so far is more than double this fundraiser,” she wrote.
The owner of a black-and-white cat whose back shin was broken in a fall also crowdfunded for treatment.
The household, a low-income family from Romford, east London, could not afford the estimated cost of corrective surgery of £1,400-£3,000, “especially in the middle of the cost-of-living crisis”.
Faced with having Millie put down or having the leg amputated for £400, they set a fundraising goal of £500 for amputation plus £100 for follow-up appointments and medication.
“We exceeded the £500 goal within hours of posting the GoFundMe,” the owner wrote in a later update. “Due to this, I’ve raised the flexible donation goal to potentially save Millie’s paw.
“Words cannot express our gratitude.”
Rescuers of stray or wounded animals are also turning to crowdfunding in desperation as bills increase, demand rises and donations dry up.
Samantha Archibald, who runs a kennels in Barnsley but also rescues strays, is trying to raise £750 for vet treatment and tests for two cats.
Since summer, she has seen more pets abandoned and fewer adoptions and donations of food and money.
A bird rescue centre owner in Grantham is also appealing for help. Sarah Giles, who works full-time to help fund her rescues, wrote: “I get through 100kg of seed a month at least – that’s £100 in seed! That might not sound like a lot of money, but to me it is…The hand-rearing formula I buy is £40 for 5kg... the medications I buy, the fuel I use to collect birds, the electricity for heating/lighting etc. It all adds up.
“With the cost of living going up, I am a little worried. I would absolutely go without to make sure my pets and rescues get what they need, but I am concerned.”
The Ashmore Rescue for Cats (Arc) in Wolverhampton, started out trying to raise £2,000 for vets’ bills.
“The cost of living has rocketed, including cat food, flea and worm treatments, cat litter etc. It has impacted our funds, leaving us short to settle the vet bill,” wrote organiser Sally Edwards.
The centre is now closing its doors to new rescues after revealing on Facebook it had a credit card bill of nearly £5,000 for vets’ fees.
“I simply cannot keep going at this rate and until the balance is nearer to zero I cannot take in any more cats. It breaks my heart to turn cats away, especially poorly ones but I have to sensible. Without the funds we simply cannot help them. I try not to keep asking for help but it’s horrendous at the moment and I apologise for begging,” Arc posted.
Meanwhile, fears have arisen that the owners of cats and dogs across the UK could have them put down because of rising bills.
Animal-welfare campaigner Dominic Dyer, who is calling for a national fund to save pets, warned that more could be euthanised than in at the start of the Second World War, when 750,000 were killed in one week.
In a new survey of pet owners, a quarter said they would not take their pet to the vets because of the cost.
The research, by pet-rehoming and adoption site Pets4Homes, also found nearly one in 10 (8 per cent) of UK pet owners were considering giving up their pet because of increasing financial pressures.
But nearly one in five – 18 per cent – of Britons were already falling into debt to pay for their animal’s care.
And four in five – 80 per cent – of pet owners said that if it came to it, they would prioritise feeding their pets before themselves.
