If Your Pet Dies at the Vet Do You Still Pay? Vet Explanation & Advice
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View 3 More +Any time a pet dies, there is sadness and devastation, but none more so than if one dies while at a veterinary hospital. After all, you brought your pet there for care and potentially life-saving measures. In addition to grieving your lost pet, you now also have a veterinary bill, but do you still have to pay if your pet dies? The answer is yes, in most cases.
Why Do You Still Have to Pay if Your Pet Dies?
Vets are there for you and your pet when an illness or injury occurs. They work diligently to try to make things right, but sometimes, no matter how hard they try, pets will die while under a veterinarian’s care.
Whether that care included an emergency visit, days of hospitalization, numerous tests, various medications, or surgery time, everything has a price tag. There is a charge for using veterinary medical equipment, medications, and even the veterinarian’s and staff’s time. Those costs don’t just disappear because the patient that received them doesn’t make it.
While most vets hate to bill a client whose pet died, the bottom line is it’s hard for a veterinary hospital to absorb those costs just because of the outcome.
Instances When You May Not Be Responsible for the Vet Bill
Now, paying the bill in full even after a pet dies covers most instances, but there are a few times when you may not be responsible. Those times are in cases of malpractice or negligence on the vet’s or veterinary team’s part. Though few and far between, these things do rarely happen, so if you suspect that your pet’s death was due to something that the veterinary hospital did or didn’t do, there are actions you can take.
Start by first talking to your veterinarian about what happened. You may want to enlist the help of a third party, likely an impartial vet, that can help mediate the conversation. You can request your pet’s medical records to compare notes as well.
If this doesn’t solve the issue, take your complaints to the state’s veterinary board. They will be able to review the case to determine if negligence or malpractice is at fault and will also be able to take disciplinary measures if need be.
In these cases, you may not be required to pay the vet bill, but that will depend on each individual case.
Pet Health Insurance
If you have a pet health insurance policy, there may be a chance they’ll cover the bill even if your pet dies. Most of the time, these policies help to cover the costs associated with injuries or illnesses and sometimes even euthanasia stemming from these instances.
Some will even offer a pay out if your pet dies. These policies are more like life insurance than they are health insurance and may require an additional premium but could help cover the costs should your pet die at the vet hospital.
Research your current or prospective pet insurance policies to determine if they will be of any help for some of these final costs.
Tips to Help When Grieving a Pet
Losing a pet can have a major impact on your health and wellbeing, so allow yourself to grieve their loss just as you would any other loss in your life.
- Acknowledge your feelings and give yourself some time. While some people may lessen the effects of losing a pet, allow yourself to feel the way you are feeling. Pets become a part of our family, so it should come as no surprise that you will feel their loss in more ways than one. Allow yourself to feel this loss and give yourself time before you are comfortable with it.
- Talk to someone if you need to. This may be a professional or a friend or family member. Either way, let your feelings be known so that you can talk about them and work together to remember your pet in a positive way.
- Memorialize your pet if you want to. This may be in the way of cremation and spreading the ashes, creating a headstone, or displaying a clay paw print. Do whatever feels good to you so that you can come to terms with your loss.
- Consider another pet…when it’s time. Some people may want to replace their furry friend immediately, while others will want to take a little time. There’s no right or wrong time frame when it comes to getting another pet. Know that whether or not you choose to get another animal, you are in no way diminishing your relationship with your previous pet.
Conclusion
Losing a pet is hard, especially when it happens at the veterinary hospital. While it may be the last thing on your mind, and certainly not one that your vet wants to push, know that you are still responsible for the vet bills even if a pet dies. This is because your vet likely put a lot of time and resources into your pet’s care that cost money and not charging for those expenses can be detrimental to the hospital’s finances.
Featured Image Credit: Klymenok Olena, Shutterstock
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Dr. Chyrle Bonk DVM (Veterinarian)
On top of caring for animals and writing for veterinary publications, Dr. Chyrle Bonk owns a small cattle herd! When she’s not busy with those things, she can be found somewhere enjoying the Idaho outdoors with her husband and two kids. Dr. Chyrle Bonk received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) from Oregon State University in 2010.
Chyrle has practiced in a mixed animal clinic for over a decade. She also writes for various veterinary websites and magazines, like Dogster!
1 Response
I lost a pet in the vet hospital.. his neurologist had made arrangements informing then of the arrival of my little boy, Louie with the ED. ITP was the issue, he was seen by neurology for seizure disorder. Placed on phenobarbital. On this medication, Louie went down hill , with diarrhea , Hemorrhagic rash, and neurologist would not listen. No labs were ordered for follow-up. At the last visit went for labs and urinalysis by Catheter. 50 min. Drive home he went to urinate and was a huge steam of fresh blood, Call orchard park neurologist and I was told then to return to ED. Or other ED. We stated we would return to their facility. Neurologist indicated that she would alert ED. We got there and sat for 5 hrs waiting. After 2 days in hospital, plane lets came up , but no in normal range. Vet in hospital called and said you can take him home. Declined as he was not in safe range for platelet count. That was Saturday and the early in the am Sunday am got a call that he was turning for the worst. Went in and stayed with him for a few hours. He was in O2 chamber. The attending did not allow me to stay. My. Drive is 50-60 min. Staff asked. I came home and several hrs later my little boy died. I almost passed out but knew I has to drive there to be with him, even though he was gone. Meeting later with SW and dr Zoey Ross, her statement was “ we could have saved him “ if he was treated sooner. We had a 5 hr wait in the ED and the attending was aware of his condition.
