My family dog needs surgery and we can't affort it! Anyone have any ideas?

My family dog has a huge bladder stone, and we need to get it removed or else we will need to put him to sleep. Our family desperately wants to keep him but we don't know how to pay for the cystotomy, which is $4,000!! We have tried to look for other veterinary hospitals that will offer a payment plan or a lower price, but they all say the same thing. "Well, bring him in and we will take his diagnostics, and then let's discuss price." The problem with that is they all charge a fee for the diagnostics checkup that average around $100 each. We have already spent $500 on our dog, and we cannot afford to go to each hospital and spend a hundred on him, just to find out that we still cannot afford surgery. Please, anyone, give any ideas that you have.

You summed up your answer in the first line of your question "My FAMILY dog...."If it really was a family member you would find a way to sort this out and find the money. You went to your vet in the first place because you trusted him so why not stay with him and work something out.Good luckhttp://tedthedogbooks.com

By law your vet has to give you your pets medical records. Call your vet get copies of any blood and urine testing, examination reports/history, other medical history (heck get the whole medical record) AND copies of the x-rays. Any other vet worth a grain of salt, will charge you for an office visit/consultation but would try to use what the other vet has provided (unless the medical records/blood/xrays were several months old) instead of running more tests.Has your dog passed any stones at all? If so, and you have any of the stones they need to be sent to the University of Minnesota veterinary school (urology dept.) to be analyzed. Stones are usually either calcium oxalate or struvite. There are foods made specifically to try to help dissolve the stones, but you first need to know what kind of stone your dog has so he is put on the proper food. You could try this and it may or may not work, it would be a chance you would take, but it would be a whole lot cheaper than surgery.Either way, get your dogs medical charts, blood, urine, xrays... and get a second opinion. You can go to a veterinary school and get optimum care for less than that....

Carecredit may be a possibility.http://www.carecredit.com/vetmed/Have a huge yard/garage sale. Ask friends and family to donate items. Everyone in your family goes through their stuff. Put everything in the garage sale that is not being used, is not absolutely needed.Give up the internet, cable/satellite tv.Everyone in the family puts the change in their pocket/purse into a dog fund jar at the end of each day.Eat at home. Eat a lot of beans and rice.Give up fast food and all snacks.Turn off lights.Raise the temperature in the house by 2 -4 degrees.This would provide a good down payment on the surgery.

There are some companies out there that will lend you money for vet care:http://www.carecredit.com/vetmed/petcard.ca (canada)Your vet may know of more, or google "vet financing"Social networking sites can help too, reach out to your family and friends on facebook etc and maybe you'll get some help.Best of luck to you and your dog!

Here is a list of organizations that provide financial aid for veterinary care:http://www.pgaa.com/financialaid.htmlMany rescue organizations have vets that offer discounted care. Is your dog a purebred? If so, try calling breed rescue in your area and ask if they know of any vet that would give a break on the surgery.