#happy to divulge information on how vet clinics work

[dreaming-in-seams]

Y’all know the sick cat scam going around on tumblr? I’ve seen a lot of advice —good advice!— on how to not fall for one of those scams

But

I also know a lot of my mutuals are good people with big hearts who easily feel guilt-tripped into believing someone’s seemingly heart-felt story.

So idk if my two-cents are any help, but as a veterinary receptionist I think I have a solution on how to approach a convincing“Sick Cat” plea:

Offer to make a donation on their behalf directly to the vet clinic!

Idk about every vet clinic around the world, but I know amongst the many clinics I have worked for/with, none of them would EVER turn down an anonymous donation to someone’s account for their sick pet! I take many of those calls. We LOVE them! Any money towards helping a pet get better is welcome money. I’ve taken $5 donations, $50, $1000 —I even dropped in a $20 from our spare change bucket once.

Think about it: the vet clinic doesn’t want this animal to suffer. But they also can’t do a procedure or treatment for free because they have hard working employees to pay, and veterinary care (in the US) is privatized (it’s the sorry reality but until HUMAN health care improves, animal health care just is where it is in this country)

Does the vet clinic care where the money for the procedure is coming from? NO. They don’t care if it’s your grandma’s credit card, $6000 in cash, or a bunch of random people calling to put $10-100 dollars on some random person’s account. Money is money to an office manager, and whatever is there to cover expenses for a sick animal is a weight off EVERYONE’S shoulders. (I may just be a receptionist, but even receptionists hurt when an animal passes away.)

So. If you have someone on your dash or in your inbox asking you to donate money to their Venmo or PayPal for their sick cat/dog/ferret, and you really don’t know if it’s legitimate but don’t want to blow them off in case it is…

Ask them the name of their vet. Look it up on google. And call.

The receptionist will ask for the owner’s last name and the pet’s name. If the “owner” is legitimate, they probably will give you some identifying information for the pet or the account. If they don’t want to (for internet safety) there are ways for the receptionist to narrow it down. I.e. the procedure, age of the animal, when their last appointment was, their doctor. And especially if it’s a pricey procedure that the owner has had difficulty finding funds for, SOMEONE at the clinic will know!! If the person in your inbox is legitimate, then they will probably WELCOME you calling their vet to make a donation!

(Tbh, if people call to donate for an animal, it makes a stronger case for the vet to cut costs on the procedure because it PROVES the owner is making a sincere effort to pay)

DON’T just take the phone number of the vet from the person asking for money without verifying it. The phone number could be theirs or a friend who is just gonna take your card info and run off happily into the sunset with it. Verify (via the internet) that the vet is real. If the info they gave you about their sick pet checks out on the vet’s end as all being true, DING DING DING it’s not a scam!!! Donate away!!!

But if it IS a scam, the scammer will probably try to convince you it’s easier to give money to their Venmo (it’s not), or that their vet doesn’t take donations (they do). If they are avoiding this option, and the other signs of scam hold up, then block them and walk away.

TLDR: if you’re not sure if it’s a “Sick Cat” scam, offer to call their vet and make a donation!