Recently another one of our pets, Charlie, died. Charlie was a male, white Maine Coon Cat and he was 12 years old. Charlie was not plump and soft and fuzzy. He was always skinny, standoffish and ornery, but the 2 of us liked one another. He was mostly an indoor cat. Sometimes in warmer weather he would go outside for a bit, but not too far from the back door. Recently he went out and did not return on his own. Usually he would be ready to run back inside after about 1/2 an hour or so. At one point after he left he came close to the back door when I opened it but did not come inside. After 3 days we saw him outside about 20 yards from the back door. My wife patiently talked to him and eventually she was able to scoop him up and bring him inside. His eyes looked vacant and distant. He seemed skinnier and he had not had any of his medications while he was away. He seemed to be on death's door. Had he gone away to die?
So my wife took him to her family veterinarian. Poor Charlie was full of maggots. When he came home he could barely walk, most of his hair was shaved, and he had a feeding tube. My wife mostly fed him for about 1 month. He did not seem to improve in that time. The bill from the vet was about $8,000.00!! It started at about $1400.00 and slowly but surely crept up. I thought $1400.00 was a lot, but $8,000 ultimately.!? And then one morning I came downstairs and Charlie was dead. So again what is a veterinarian's responsibility to counsel against such a bill? Should Charlie have been put down immediately? Was the vet only fattening his wallet?
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