A pre-warning, this is not really a post about cats, it does feature a cat, and some cat related jeopardy, so to put your mind at ease, Tommy the cat, who is the cat in question, is fine now. You don’t need to go worrying about the cat. Okay, moving on.

On Friday in the wee hours of the morning I got a text about my sons cat Tommy. Tommy was ill, and my son was in a bit of a panic. Mid morning on Friday I got a phone call from my son saying eh had taken Tommy to the vets first thing and things were not looking good. The early prognosis was that Tommy’s kidneys were shutting down due to infection and he was likely to need an operation. My son was justifiably worried about this. There was every chance the cat would not survive with the operation and a near certainly he would not survive without it.

My son loves his cat. As many people love their cats. In much the same way that some people love their dogs… But my son is a barman, going through a messy break up, who has no money. Vets are not free. there is no such thing as a NHS for pets. And while he had pet insurance he wasn’t sure how it worked and if it was going to be covered.

Luckily, he also has a dad who just got paid to write a book on H.P. Lovecraft*. For all of old tentacle huggers many flaws did love cats, and even without the Lovecraft book money I am lucky enough to have the resources to cover the vets bills so it was not the issue it could have been. I told my son not to worry about money I could cover the bills, and he could worry about the insurance afterwards

*I will talk of this in another blog at some point i am sure…

So I drove down to Leeds and did what any vaguely adequate parent would do in the circumstances and was there for my son, and only made the obvious joke about how much cheaper it would be to just get a new cat once. Friday was a long day, a day that left my wallet a couple of grand lighter. Because vets are not cheap, and stays in pet hospitals comes at a premium.

Luckily as I said my son has pet insurance, the costs should be reclaimable, though nothing is guaranteed, insurance companies are buggers for finding loopholes… But my son been reunited with his now healthy cat (all be it requiring a special diet from now on) is worth more to me than money ever is. As was the below Instagram post from my son earlier today…

So all’s well that ends well…

There are certain right wing politicians in this country, politicians who have well documented connections to private medical companies, who express the opinion that the National Health Service should go down the route of funding via medical insurance. Basically, changing to the American model.

Now, I am aware that this blog has a fair number of American readers, and I am aware some Americans are adamant that a free at the point of use, state funded, universal health care system is a symptom of a socialist hell scape. I have long suspected this is because American politicians have gone on record saying this is the case for decades, while pocketing the campaign contributions form insurance companies. Stating the American system has produced the best hospitals and standards of care in the world… This is not entirely incorrect either. But only if you can afford the medical bills…

Yes, you may say, but Americans have the choice to buy medical insurance, while we have to contribute through taxation whether we use the medical facilities or not… Which is true… But I will take the latter rather than the former any day of the week. I would also point out that on average what a tax payer in the UK pays towards the NHS is significantly less than the average Americans medical insurance, for those who can afford it.. But back to cats…

All cat owners love their cats. My son, a cat owner, has just enough money and just enough sense to have pet insurance. Not all pet owners do however, usually because it is an expense they can not afford on the off chance they need it. What happens then if a cat owner with no insurance goes to the vet because their cat is ill.

Well, they could just pay out what they need to pay, but if they could not afford/justify the cost of, insurance then it is doubtful they can cover the bill out right. Most vets will offer easy term repayments, or ‘pet loans’ to cover the cost, but again if you could not afford the insurance, then can you afford the pet loan? Some might say if you could not afford the insurance you should not have had the pet, but people love their pets… For some a pet might be all they have at times.

How is this circle to be squared, well there are other options, take the pet home and do what you can to stop them dying in pain alone. Or ask the vet to do what I imagine is the worst part of a vets job, while knowing an animal could be saved, but that the owner can not afford to save them…

That their is feline economics. The cat lives if you can afford the cost of keeping it alive, otherwise, good night fluffy, and this nice woman in the lab coat is going to help you go to sleep.

Humans are more expensive to keep alive than cats. Medical insurance isn’t cheap, and the older you are the more it costs , because the older you are the more likely you are to need it… In America right now the Trump administration is in the process of removing Medicaid from up to 15 million of its citizens in order to give the richest 1% more tax cuts. Average medical insurance premiums are likely to double. More people will be unable to afford medical insurance and will roll the dice on staying healthy. From beyond the shores of America this seems insane. Here, in the rest of the civilized world where we have universal health care and no one going into bankruptcy due to medical debt the whole American health care system has always seemed insane, but this is new levels of madness.

The American system, it seems to me, is the same system we use for cats. With the same kind of feline economics…

Meanwhile at this side of the pond, the NHS has many flaws, and yes there are waiting lists , and doctors appointments are not always easy to get. But it is free at the point of use and no one has ever had to decide if they can afford the bill. I would suggest people keep that in mind when next this visit the ballot box when snake oil salesmen are trying to suggest you would be better off without it…

Anyway that enough politics, normal service will resume shortly with some Poe stuff , a book review or two and the usual withering on.