I am afraid I need to rehome my diabetic cat

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Daphne

Daphne

Member Since 2015
With an extremely heavy heart, I am afraid that I cannot afford to take proper care of Link anymore. Before my husband and I adopted Link, we looked carefully at our finances and lifestyle to make sure we would be able to care for him properly. We both agreed that when we welcome a pet into our home, it's forever. Link is our light. We love him so much. I have never been in this situation before. I can't believe this is happening.

Unfortunately, a lot has changed since we adopted him. As things have changed for the worse, we found ways to save money and reduce costs and we did manage. After recent misfortunes and problems, it's becoming clear that we do not have the money to properly tend to his needs. We truthfully can't properly care for ourselves at the moment.

I am sad to say that we currently live in poverty. The only way we have been able to survive this long and continue to care for our cats is because we've been living with my parents. We cannot afford to live on our own. Despite the ways we've saved money and are being helped, our meager savings have slowly dwindled over time. We're relying on our savings to take care of everyday expenses and can't replenish our emergency savings. This is not sustainable and will ultimately negatively impact Link in the long-term. We have time to rehome him, but we don't see how we can possibly afford to keep him forever like we desperately want to.

I am so, so sick and heartbroken, but I think it's time to admit I am not providing the best home for Link. My husband and I have been talking extensively about how we can turn our financial situation around again, and we don't think we'd be in a stable enough position to properly provide for a pet for about 3 more years.

I have only mentioned rehoming Link and not Peanut because Peanut is terminally ill. It doesn't look like Peanut has more than 1-2 months left. Link is full of life and should have many good years ahead of him. I think we could realistically take about 4 months to find Link a new home before things get dire.

We live near Chesapeake, VA.

I don't know where to begin in finding him a new home. I am hoping there are special resources for rehoming diabetic cats. I am so sad, ashamed, and scared right now. Please offer me guidance. We would really rather keep him, but we don't see how it's possible. :(
 
I am so sorry that you find yourself in this position. There is one place that you should contact first and see what can be done to help you out.

Please e-mail DCIN (Diabetic Cats in Need) They can help with the financial end of at the least help rehome Link.

Please email DCIN at Jenna@DCIN.info

:bighug: :bighug:
 
Yes, please contact DCIN. This is what they do, help people with diabetic cats and if needed help rehome to someone who is experienced with diabetics cats.

They are truly wonderful there.
 
Oh, how upsetting this must be for you!
I'll keep my fingers crossed for a solution.
Sending hugs and prayers.
 
Maybe we can help give suggestions or supplies to help you until you are able to either find a solution, new home for your cat, or improve your income. What immediate cat expenses are you struggling with? There are sometimes people looking to give away supplies when they loose a pet or change to a different type of insulin. We may also be able to help with directing you to less expensive resources such as Canadian pharmacies.
 
Echoing the recommendation to contact DCIN. It is very clear how much you love Link and I really hope you will find a way to keep him with you.
All paws firmly crossed here.
 
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Daphne, please don't feel ashamed or embarrassed! At one point or another I am sure we have all hit low spots in our lives and incomes -I know I certainly have!

Please do contact DCIN - they may be able to help you with Link's expenses so that you can keep him! All the above-mentioned ideas are good, too. Let members know what you need, someone may be able to help. Keep an eye on the Supply Closet, sometimes there are some very good offers there. If you live anywhere near a Walmart, you could switch to Special Kitty canned food (I fed it for a while); while not the best, it is very inexpensive and they have some lo-carb varieties.

I hate the idea of you having to re-home Link! It's very obvious that you love him deeply. I hope DCIN can help, and us, here, too, if possible. Sending prayers for all of you. :bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
Thank you for your replies, everyone. I greatly appreciate all your understanding and kindness. This has been a very difficult topic for me to confront.

We take care of most our veterinary issues at our local SPCA's low-cost veterinary clinic for low-income families. This has helped us considerably with routine visit costs, but the clinic cannot handle urgent or emergency matters. Peanut and Link had no obvious dental issues and sat on the dental cleaning waiting list for 2 months when Peanut suddenly developed a problem where he was refusing to eat so we had to take him to an urgent vet. They were able to determine it was a dental problem. He didn't recover well from the dental cleaning and tooth extractions performed by the regular-cost vet. We ended up taking him to the ER and had a few additional check-up visits with different vets related to the incident. All in all, the whole incident cost about $3,000. It was during this time that we also found out about his renal failure, which was at stage 2.

We also suffered some other financial losses in 2015. For the year of 2015, we spent $6,000 more than we made. This nearly depleted our savings and this is what made me begin feeling concerned about our ability to properly care for our cats. It was our savings that made me feel confident we could provide for them in a crisis. Sometime during 2015 we entered our financial information into some government assistance calculator for our state, and it said we qualified for nothing.

For the year of 2016, at this exact moment, we have spent $300 (yes, just three hundred) more than we have made. This is with us making our best efforts to save money. We have had a couple of good months where we were able to save, but eventually different things happen and we're in the negative at this point. It may even out before the end of the year, but I doubt we'll end up being able to add to our savings. The fact we have not been able to recoup any savings after all the incidents of 2015 is what urged me to post.

We have enough food and litter in the house to take care of the cats for a month. I have diabetes testing supplies, insulin syringes, and insulin. I am about to order a new vial of insulin soon. Of course anything I can receive help on will be a huge blessing, but I feel reasonably confident that we can handle the day-to-day supplies.

Of course, I know that being in the negative for the year means we aren't affording our lifestyle. Does that mean we technically aren't affording the day-to-day?

Link is in good health right now. He's very chipper and active, loves attention, eats well, and has no litter box issues. He appears to have some seasonal allergies that we have failed to address at this time, but we have received recommendations about allergy medicines to test out—I don't know what I'm waiting for on that front. I think he would benefit from Zobaline, but we haven't started that because of financial concerns. He is not in immediate peril. He has a heated bed, many brushes, toys, a water fountain, choice blankets, etc. Though we may go without certain things, we've tried very hard to make sure Link and Peanut have what they need and want.

What I fear is that we are not able to withstand any emergency at this point. I feel like if one thing goes wrong medically with either me, my husband, or Link, we'll be forced to deplete the last of our savings. And that's when we'd need to rehome Link. I feel like having no savings would make my home inherently unfit. Is that true?

I know I could potentially take out Care Credit or even a normal credit card with an introductory 0% interest period for crisis expenses, but I know that I wouldn't be able to pay off such debt because we're living hand-to-mouth here.

I am concerned that DCIN would not help us out in an emergency just like we didn't seem to qualify for any additional government assistance when we checked in 2015. (At this point, I have not contacted DCIN. It looked liked DCIN is only helping out with one-time expenses currently, and I'm not sure help paying for insulin would make my home fit.)

About how much money do you think a family should be able to set aside for their cat before their home is considered unfit? This is what I'm struggling over. I am just not sure what is reasonable.

For 2015 and 2016, the assistance we have received is being able to live with my parents rent-free and a subsidy for our health insurance. I was surprised and unsure about why we didn't qualify for any other assistance. There is a free financial-wellness program called “Bank On Hampton Roads” that begins in January that we want to enroll in. Perhaps they can help us make a more sustainable budget or find government assistance.

We currently plan to buy a 10 mL vial of insulin from Mark's Marine Pharmacy for $125. Our prescription specifically states “10mL vial” so I'm not sure if they'd let us buy the pen cartridges, but I could certainly ask them. I'm almost on my 6th month with my current vial, which shows no signs of going bad, but I don't like the idea of using a vial more than 6 months regardless.

The first low-carb diet we tried with Link was Friskies, and he ate very well on it. My local Dollar Tree has Friskies Poultry Platter pate in 13oz cans for $1 each, and I think this may be the best price for it; we bought two cans to test out. He wouldn't eat 9-lives or Authority brands, and he gets sick when he eats beef products. We haven't tried Special Kitty before, but I can see it's even less expensive than Friskies. We can certainly try it.

We use Dr. Elsey's Precious Cat Ultra kitty litter. We've tried silica litter but it aggravated our sinus problems. We've used Petco's store brand of clumping clay litter before, too, but switched away from it when it felt like it was getting very dusty and gummy when wet.

I am open to all cost-saving suggestions.

While I am afraid my home is unfit due to financial reasons, I am also strangely terrified of it being confirmed here and having to say goodbye to Link.

Thank you for reading through this wall of text. I did try to shorten it.
 
Daphne said:
Thank you for your replies, everyone. I greatly appreciate all your understanding and kindness. This has been a very difficult topic for me to confront.

We take care of most our veterinary issues at our local SPCA's low-cost veterinary clinic for low-income families. This has helped us considerably with routine visit costs, but the clinic cannot handle urgent or emergency matters. Peanut and Link had no obvious dental issues and sat on the dental cleaning waiting list for 2 months when Peanut suddenly developed a problem where he was refusing to eat so we had to take him to an urgent vet. They were able to determine it was a dental problem. He didn't recover well from the dental cleaning and tooth extractions performed by the regular-cost vet. We ended up taking him to the ER and had a few additional check-up visits with different vets related to the incident. All in all, the whole incident cost about $3,000. It was during this time that we also found out about his renal failure, which was at stage 2.

We also suffered some other financial losses in 2015. For the year of 2015, we spent $6,000 more than we made. This nearly depleted our savings and this is what made me begin feeling concerned about our ability to properly care for our cats. It was our savings that made me feel confident we could provide for them in a crisis. Sometime during 2015 we entered our financial information into some government assistance calculator for our state, and it said we qualified for nothing.

For the year of 2016, at this exact moment, we have spent $300 (yes, just three hundred) more than we have made. This is with us making our best efforts to save money. We have had a couple of good months where we were able to save, but eventually different things happen and we're in the negative at this point. It may even out before the end of the year, but I doubt we'll end up being able to add to our savings. The fact we have not been able to recoup any savings after all the incidents of 2015 is what urged me to post.

We have enough food and litter in the house to take care of the cats for a month. I have diabetes testing supplies, insulin syringes, and insulin. I am about to order a new vial of insulin soon. Of course anything I can receive help on will be a huge blessing, but I feel reasonably confident that we can handle the day-to-day supplies.

Of course, I know that being in the negative for the year means we aren't affording our lifestyle. Does that mean we technically aren't affording the day-to-day?

Link is in good health right now. He's very chipper and active, loves attention, eats well, and has no litter box issues. He appears to have some seasonal allergies that we have failed to address at this time, but we have received recommendations about allergy medicines to test out—I don't know what I'm waiting for on that front. I think he would benefit from Zobaline, but we haven't started that because of financial concerns. He is not in immediate peril. He has a heated bed, many brushes, toys, a water fountain, choice blankets, etc. Though we may go without certain things, we've tried very hard to make sure Link and Peanut have what they need and want.

What I fear is that we are not able to withstand any emergency at this point. I feel like if one thing goes wrong medically with either me, my husband, or Link, we'll be forced to deplete the last of our savings. And that's when we'd need to rehome Link. I feel like having no savings would make my home inherently unfit. Is that true?

I know I could potentially take out Care Credit or even a normal credit card with an introductory 0% interest period for crisis expenses, but I know that I wouldn't be able to pay off such debt because we're living hand-to-mouth here.

I am concerned that DCIN would not help us out in an emergency just like we didn't seem to qualify for any additional government assistance when we checked in 2015. (At this point, I have not contacted DCIN. It looked liked DCIN is only helping out with one-time expenses currently, and I'm not sure help paying for insulin would make my home fit.)

About how much money do you think a family should be able to set aside for their cat before their home is considered unfit? This is what I'm struggling over. I am just not sure what is reasonable.

For 2015 and 2016, the assistance we have received is being able to live with my parents rent-free and a subsidy for our health insurance. I was surprised and unsure about why we didn't qualify for any other assistance. There is a free financial-wellness program called “Bank On Hampton Roads” that begins in January that we want to enroll in. Perhaps they can help us make a more sustainable budget or find government assistance.

We currently plan to buy a 10 mL vial of insulin from Mark's Marine Pharmacy for $125. Our prescription specifically states “10mL vial” so I'm not sure if they'd let us buy the pen cartridges, but I could certainly ask them. I'm almost on my 6th month with my current vial, which shows no signs of going bad, but I don't like the idea of using a vial more than 6 months regardless.

The first low-carb diet we tried with Link was Friskies, and he ate very well on it. My local Dollar Tree has Friskies Poultry Platter pate in 13oz cans for $1 each, and I think this may be the best price for it; we bought two cans to test out. He wouldn't eat 9-lives or Authority brands, and he gets sick when he eats beef products. We haven't tried Special Kitty before, but I can see it's even less expensive than Friskies. We can certainly try it.

We use Dr. Elsey's Precious Cat Ultra kitty litter. We've tried silica litter but it aggravated our sinus problems. We've used Petco's store brand of clumping clay litter before, too, but switched away from it when it felt like it was getting very dusty and gummy when wet.

I am open to all cost-saving suggestions.

While I am afraid my home is unfit due to financial reasons, I am also strangely terrified of it being confirmed here and having to say goodbye to Link.

Thank you for reading through this wall of text. I did try to shorten it.
Click to expand...
What are your prospects for increasing income? You are living with family, so that is a huge help... So is all your money going toward paying off the debt from last year? Have you ever heard of Dave Ramsey? In 2008 we were in 20k of credit card debt and owed another 15k on a car. I felt like we were drowning. I started reading his website, and listening to his radio show online, and then bought his book The Total Money Makeover. We followed his plan with a strict budget. In two years time we were able to become debt free (other than our mortgage.... But we refinanced and shaved 10 years off of that as well.). A year later and we had a decent emergency fund saved. I could breath. I could sleep at night. And I didn't worry about an emergency popping up. I highly recommend this book. Check your local library so you don't have to buy it.
 
I'm so sorry you find yourself in this position and I know it's been very difficult to write such a candid description of your situation and have it read by strangers. We all, though, understand the desire to do the best for our beloved kitties. I sincerely hope someone here makes a suggestion that you find useful.
 
The $6k excess in 2015 and the $300 excess so far this year were both paid in full using our savings (which were amassed prior to our current financial situation).

We do not have credit card debt, but we do have two loans. We pay the minimum monthly payment for the loans. I know logically that money sitting in the bank depreciates in value while money owed on a loan accrues interest, so theoretically any savings should be put to reduce the loans... but I can't imagine it's smart to put everything into the loans because some savings to use as buffer has been helpful to prevent entering more debt from month-to-month. I don't know how to determine what is reasonable to have on hand for general purposes, and what would qualify as the minimum savings needed to ensure reasonable care for Link.

Luckily my library has The Total Money Makeover available to read online as an ebook so I can start reading it this evening.
 
I think people sometimes don't understand the stresses and costs of taking care of a diabetic kitty, but all of us do and understand where you are coming from. Please do contact DCIN today, the worst that can happen is they say no and your position would be the same, however, I do not believe they will 'just say no' as I have seen many people on this board in crisis who have been helped by DCIN just when they needed it most and at a time when no-one else would. They are still regulars here. Once your finances are in a better position you can pay it forwards with a donation or whatever help you feel you are in a position to offer. We are all here to support each other and as I said before you do need to explore all options.
 
That is a good point, Alexi. I am being too timid. I was afraid I wouldn't qualify for help at DCIN and I didn't want to waste their time. You are right, the worst they can say is no. I will contact them for sure.
 
Yes please do contact DCIN. At the very least they can help with the new insulin you need and any other testing supplies. They have helped out a number of kitties here that required very expensive ER time. There are a number of kitties that would not still be here if not for them.

:bighug: :bighug: :bighug:
 
Daphne said:
Our prescription specifically states “10mL vial” so I'm not sure if they'd let us buy the pen cartridges, but I could certainly ask them
Click to expand...

They will sell you cartridges, pens, or a cartridge even though the prescription states 10ml vial (Leda's says the same, and they sold us cartridges, and a local pharmacy sold us a single pen).
 
DCIN will supply insulin and supplies at no charge for those who are struggling to treat their FD kitties and it certainly sounds like you qualify for their help. They are a wonderful organization that will help those in need so that their kitties can stay with their parents and have the care they need.
 
Daphne, I completely understand your dilemma. I lost everything -savings (which were slim, anyway), income- everything, when my husband got sick and died, and I ended up in terrible debt with a mortgage, loans and credit accounts that I could not pay. I am still struggling with that today, eight years later. I had lots of moments when I worried over my pets' health, and I was very fortunate that we had no serious veterinary emergencies during this period. I also had plenty of guilt at having to feed them lower quality foods than I would have liked, and occasions when I would have no option but to skip a monthly Revolution application, or the like. I had no family to help me, and two children to support, as well.

I can't really tell you how we made it, but somehow we did. My beloved pets all survived, thank God, without any harm or deleterious consequences. Both children are adults now, with good jobs, and they help me out when I need it. I am still very much in debt, but trying to pay it off as best I can. (I can't even get Care Credit help because I still have so much debt.)

I guess my point is, sometimes you just have to hang on for the ride, and take things on faith. I know that's not much of an answer, and you still wonder what will happen when you are confronted with that dreaded crisis. But that crisi may not emerge and, if it does, you may surprise yourself and find a way to muddle through it.

I am not making any judgements or suggestions as to what you should do in your situation - we are all different, and confront different situations and setbacks. But I can see how deeply you care for Link and Peanut, and I hope maybe my experiences may help you find the answers that work best for you and your beloved pets. :bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
If there are any supplies you need for either cat, I'd be happy to donate those to you by ordering on a website and having it shipped to you (or whatever address you'd like).

I've spent over $4k on my two cats this year so I completely understand and can relate to what you're going through. I'm fortunate to be in a position where I can help and I'd be more than happy to do so. Just let me know what you need.
 
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