Financial Resources for Cat Care
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Financial Resources for Cat Care
Are you facing tough financial times and struggling to make ends meet
for your entire family—including your pets and feral cat colony? Alley
Cat Allies has ideas on how to make providing care more affordable,
including resources for obtaining food and for helping you cover emergency
veterinary costs.
Feral Cat Colony Financial Help
If you are caring for a feral cat colony, there are multiple avenues to find
support to help you obtain affordable or free food and shelter for the cats.
Resources for Obtaining Cat Food
Check for surplus food at your local humane society, or human food bank,
or local food pantries. Feeding America has an online food bank locator at
www.feedingamerica.org.
Ask your local market or pet supply store to donate broken packages or
dented cans. Some retailers will also donate out-of-date products, which
are still good for a few months longer than the sell-by date.
Ask local vet clinics if they have surplus or just-out-of-date premium pet
foods that they are willing to donate.
Hold a cat food drive. Announce the drive in the local paper to collect
donations from the public. Your workplace, local religious institutions,
and civic or youth groups may be willing to help as well. Sometimes youth
groups, clubs, and high schools require community projects that benefit
both people and animals. Work with your local scout troop or volunteer
organization on the drive for feral cat caregivers. Ask local markets and
pet supply shops if you may put out an attractive bin requesting cat food
donations.
Resources for Obtaining Shelters/Cat Houses for Feral Cats
Ask for scrap lumber from building supply stores or contractors, often
available at little or no cost.
Place an ad asking for used dog houses. This could net several free shelters
that, with minor improvements, can be made suitable for cats (usually
insulation needs to be added and the door made smaller).
Host a shelter building party. Get together with other caregivers and/or
your local feral cat organization's supporters to build the houses together.
Contact a local Boy or Girl Scout or other youth organization and ask
interested youth to complete a service project to help build shelters.
Alley Cat Allies' website shows several inexpensive shelters you can make
yourself, available at www.alleycat.org/BuildAShelter (click on the second
bullet).
Spay/Neuter Help
Alley Cat Allies' Feral Friends Network is a group of organizations or
individuals with feral cat expertise and veterinary practices and clinics that
provide neuter surgeries for feral cats located in communities nationwide.
Go to www.alleycat.org/response to locate a Feral Friend near you who may
offer low-cost or subsidized spay/neuter surgery for feral cats.
Veterinary Care
Emergency veterinary care can be costly. These national organizations
provide funds to those in need.
AAHA Helping Pets Fund (www.aahahelpingpets.org) - This fund helps
those in need access quality veterinary care for sick or injured pets.
Grants temporarily suspended but will begin again in July 2009.
Angels4Animals (www.angels4animals.org) - Friends or veterinarians
use the "contact us" page to refer an animal family in need of financial
assistance.
CareCredit (www.carecredit.com) - Offers a revolving line of credit for
veterinary expenses.
Cats in Crisis (www.catsincrisis.org) - Helps individuals and humane
organizations care for cats with chronic or emergency medical conditions
through financial and fundraising assistance. Grants temporarily
suspended, but check often for re-up date.
Feline Veterinary Emergency Assistance Program
(www.fveap.org/sys-tmpl/door/) – This program provides financial
assistance to cat and kitten guardians who are unable to afford veterinary
services to save their companions when life-threatening illness or injury
strikes.
Help-A-Pet (www.help-a-pet.org) - Help-A-Pet provides financial
assistance nationwide for the medical care of pets whose owners are
unable to afford the expense; for individuals with income below $20,000
or a family income below $40,000.
IMOM (www.imom.org) - Financial assistance for life-threatening and
emergency veterinary care. IMOM is dedicated to ensuring that no
companion animal has to be euthanized simply because their caretaker
is financially challenged.
The Pet Fund (www.thepetfund.com) - Provides financial assistance to
owners of domestic animals who need urgent veterinary care.
United Animal Nations (www.uan.org/lifeline/index.html) – LifeLine
grants help Good Samaritans, animal rescuers and low-income families
with the high cost of caring for pets by providing grants to meet
emergency veterinary expenses they otherwise couldn't afford.
Locale Specific Veterinary Care
Many local shelters, humane societies, clinics, and pet organizations
have special emergency funds to use for families who need special
assistance within their communities. Here are a handful, some of which
also provide additional help for ongoing animal care:
Atlanta - Pets Are Loving Support (www.palsatlanta.org/) - P.A.L.S.
provides pet-care, including free food and basic veterinary care, and
support to the companion pets of critically ill and disabled Atlantans.
Central Ohio - Pet Promise (www.petpromise.org/programs.html) -
Provides financial assistance to low-income pet owners who can't
afford medical care for their pets. Also sponsors Operation Fill-A-Bowl,
providing free of charge, cat and dog food to pet owners who need
assistance and to the caretakers of feral cat populations. Their City Kitty
program provides vaccinations and spay/neuter surgeries for feral cats.
Connecticut Humane Society (www.cthumane.org) - The Connecticut
Humane Society's Fox Memorial Clinic is a full-service veterinary practice
that provides veterinary care for animals whose owners are in financial
need.
New York - NY Save (www.nysave.org) - Aid and assistance for low-
income pet owners residing in one of the five boroughs of New York City,
whose pet is in need of emergency veterinary care.
Northern Nevada/Lake Tahoe - Shakespeare Animal Fund
(www.shakespeareanimalfund.org) - People in the Northern Nevada/
Lake Tahoe area can apply for funds, with an emphasis on those on fixed
incomes or with annual incomes below $35,000.
Salt Lake City - Pet Samaritan Fund (www.petsamaritan.org) - Provides
financial assistance to Utah pet owners who cannot afford medical care
for their pets due to extreme financial hardship (up to $100 upon receipt
of veterinary billing statement).
San Francisco - Pets Are Wonderful Support (www.pawssf.org) - Provides
for the comprehensive needs of companion animals for low-income
persons with HIV/AIDS and other disabling illnesses, as well as senior
citizens in the San Francisco area.
Washington, DC – Pets DC (www.petsdc.org) - Dedicated to improving
the health and well being of people living with HIV/AIDS or other disabling
conditions and their companion pets by providing public health education,
exercise, pet food, veterinary care, grooming, foster care, and adoptions
services at no cost to individuals in the Metropolitan Washington area.
Other Ideas for Getting Help
Work with your veterinarian. Some veterinarians may be willing to work
out a payment plan with you, especially if you can provide some of the
payment up front.
Contact friends and family and fundraise. It's not easy asking for help.
But when your animal's life hangs in the balance, it may be the best
option to borrow money or hold a fundraiser.
Plan ahead. Cut costs and start a savings plan. Consider getting pet
owner's insurance to cover veterinary costs now to prepare for any
tough times you may have ahead.
Get in touch with breed-specific groups. If your pet is a specific breed,
the groups associated with it often have funds available to help provide
the care your animal needs.
Facing Foreclosure?
The news is full of stories of animals losing their homes along with their
pet parents due to home foreclosure. Some tips for dealing with this
looming threat:
Educate yourself about ways to prevent foreclosure all together. The best
way to keep your whole family together (pets and all) is to stay in your
home. At http://makinghomeaffordable.gov/, you can see if you are
eligible for government-sponsored foreclosure alternatives, such as
refinancing or loan modifications.
No Paws Left Behind (http://nopawsleftbehind.org/paws/) is a nonprofit
that provides tips for homeowners as well as an online network to get
your pet into the safest place possible if needed.
Search for pet-friendly housing. Almost every local humane society or
rescue group keeps a list of pet-friendly housing in the area. Some also
offer mediation services to help you convince a potential landlord to
allow the animal to come with you if it is not normally acceptable. To
prepare for these discussions, gather proof of your responsibility toward
your pet, including veterinary care and statements from others agreeing
to your conscientiousness.
Work hard to find your animal the best temporary home possible. Talk
with family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors. Ask your veterinarian
about temporary boarding. Whatever you do, do not take your animal
to an open-admission shelter, because they will likely be killed.
Posted on SHARE Yahoo group - June 13, 2009