Advice over vet's bill shocks

Karla Rauhina claims her vet told her to have her cat put down if she couldn't afford to pay the bill. Photo/Stuart Munro

A Wanganui woman claims she was told to have her cats put down because she was paying her vet's bill too slowly.

Karla Rauhina, a 32-year-old mother of one, has one dog and four cats, and she took one of her cats to the vet last month as it was wheezy.

Her other cats had been sick recently with flu-like symptoms and Ms Rauhina had clocked up a $300 bill, which she was paying back at $5 per fortnight.

She said the clinic's receptionist mentioned the outstanding bill, and the vet also raised the issue, suggesting she should have the animal put down if she couldn't afford it.

Ms Rauhina said another receptionist also mentioned the outstanding bill when she left the vet's office.

Ms Rauhina said she was shocked over the way she was treated.

"I know I owe them money, and I'm trying my best to pay my bill. But they made me feel like a loser.

"It's not that I don't love my cats. I do - they're my fur babies."

A spokesman for the Wanganui veterinary clinic said there were a number of pet owners who struggled to pay their bills and, while some adopted a payment plan, sometimes it was kinder to put the animals down if the owners could not afford to get them treatment when they were sick or injured.

He said there was also the option of taking out insurance for pets which would cover sickness and injury, and vets' clinics usually also offered finance arrangements.

While staff always tried to be considerate to owners, as a business, the issue of outstanding bills had to be addressed.