Second, just wanted to point out that vets aren’t immune from this sort of quandary, either. Case in point: My phone rang this afternoon. It was my partner. A client with no money had surrendered a marmalade kitten with one eye hanging out but no other big problems. “Should I fix him?”

That’s code for “Can you find him a home?” Fixing the kitten isn’t the problem. It’s where he goes after that.

We’ve taken one stray after another over the years, and I love having them. But one of our permanent cats has developed IMHA, and every stressor (like, say, a new animal) makes his immune system start devouring his red blood cells. It’s ugly. So no more boarders for now. And there’s only so many times you can call in favors from friends at no-kills that are already overcrowded.

Anyway, long story short, the clinic pulled together. My partner’s doing the surgery. A tech’s taking him home till he heals. And another vet at the practice called an ex who’s in rescue. “Sure,” she said. “A one-eyed cat? He’ll go fast.”

That’s something to be thankful for, for sure. Especially for a small orange guy who’s about to have a permanent wink and (we hope) a good home.

My long-winded point is that just like clients, a lot of vets agonize over decisions like this, too. And it’s not always the bills that cause the agony. Someone has to pay, and even with a discount it adds up fast. But in the big picture, “What’s next?” is usually a tougher question than “How much?”

I just take for granted that ER care is more expensive. In the same way that I take for granted that ER care is for short-term emergency care of my animal, and that longer term care is then more appropriately pursued at my regular veterinary practice.

Nothing about “trust” or lack thereof. Just “that’s the way things are”.

Most ER’s don’t do orthopedics, unless they are attached to a specialty hospital with a surgeon. Of course, there are plenty of exceptions to that.

I think the bottom line is that most people are aware that ER’s tend to be more expensive - mostly because they have higher overhead (running 24 hours) and don’t have things like vaccines (hot button issue, I know) to help defray costs. Mind you - no statement of right or wrong here, just some insight into the financial pressures that differ between a general practice and an ER.

On the trust issue, we will assume for the sake of this exercise that the doctor is on the up-and-up, not a grifter or on that take and has minimal if any ties to organized crime :).

Of course, in Real Life right now, my situation is slightly different. I’ve only been with my current vet for a few months, having changed vets after discovering that the new head of the old practice had agreed to become the pet store vet for a new pet store. And this new vet practice I’ve moved to IS the nearest emergency vet. So the whole “take him home and bring him to my regular vet in the morning” might encounter some dicey etiquette there, AND I don’t yet have the long track record with them that would make them likely to agree to a payment plan on any basis other than “any business that charges big-ticket prices might be prepared to do that.”

But, hey, we’re talking about Raul and an ER vet that isn’t his regular vet, right?

Big WHOA! there! When I cast my vote for “Stabilize and move”, it had absolutely NOTHING to do implying that veterinary ERs are staffed with “incompetent crooks” and EVERYTHING to do with the simple fact that ER care is WAY more expensive than care at a regular hospital. In my experience, it is the NORM when veterinary ER care is required that the animal get moved back to a regular vet for ongoing and follow-up care as soon as it is safely possible to do so.

Do ER vets really believe this strategy is meant as casting aspersions on their character?

You forgot 3)You described a scenario in which Raul apparently has the money to do something more than just deliver the animal to a safe place and walk away. In Real Life, a lot of you Good Samaritans are likely people who want to help, but really can’t afford to do more than get the animal to a place of safety, where it will either be treated or humanely euthanized, but not just left to die in pain by the roadside. Or by getting run over again, and possibly again, if visibility is low for any reason.