Community Veterinary and End-of-Life Care Assistance
SPCA of Northern Nevada (SPCA-NN) is here to help keep pets with their families and out of the sheltering system. Todd’s Medical Fund provides financial assistance to qualifying people who can’t otherwise afford necessary veterinary services so pets can get the care they deserve.
Todd’s Medical Fund only covers acute (non-reoccurring) necessary medical procedures (e.g., surgery, severe dentals (dental disease grade > 4), lacerations (cuts), foreign body obstructions, etc).
SPCA-NN does not have its own full-service veterinary hospital, nor do we provide emergency, after hours or weekend care. This medical fund is not intended for, nor do we have the ability to provide financial aid during an active medical emergency that requires immediate care. (Please see Other Financial-Aid Services at the bottom of this page for resources that may be of assistance under emergency circumstances.)
If your pet is in an active medical emergency that requires immediate care, please contact your local emergency vet clinic (e.g., SVS or AESC).
Please Note
You cannot delay the appropriate and necessary care of your pet while waiting for processing of your application for Todd’s Medical Fund assistance. You must be able to pay for care to stabilize your pet while the grant application is processed.
Do You Qualify?
- You (the pet owner) must be a permanent resident of northern Nevada, which includes the following counties: Washoe, Humboldt, Elko, Pershing, Lander, Eureka, White Pine, Storey, Lyon, Churchill, Douglas, Mineral, and northern Nye.
- You must demonstrate financial need and fill out an application. Your household income must be at or below $60,000 total household income (all household salaries combined).
- You must be applying for either an eligible medical procedure (explained above) or humane euthanasia (either vet-recommended or end-of-life care).
- Your pet must be 12 years or younger to qualify If applying for medical assistance.
- You must provide a written estimate of costs from the treating veterinarian as part of your application (not required for humane euthanasia requests).
- You must be able to afford a co-pay, which ranges up to 60% of the veterinarian’s estimate. (If you can’t, please see the additional resources available below on this page to help cover your co-pay.)
- Your application must first be approved so SPCA-NN can communicate directly with the veterinarian providing the care. (This can take up to 72 hours.)
PLEASE NOTE:
- Grant size varies based on required services, a sliding scale of need, and funds available. In general, the following guidelines are followed (based on available funding): up to 40% of the final bill may be awarded, including required follow-up care (as determined by SPCA-NN in partnership with the treating veterinarian).
2. Grants may be awarded based upon several factors, including:
-
- Eligibility;
- Medical necessity;
- Financial need; and/or
- Available funding.
Grants will not cover:
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- Care for a pet with a poor or terminal prognosis. (But, Todd’s Medical Fund does cover end-of-life care: humane euthanasia and communal cremation. For at-home euthanasia services, please schedule with our partner Heal House Call Veterinary.)
- Spay/neuter surgeries (click for our SNYPS webpage);
- Routine vaccinations (click for our Vaccines webpage);
- Cosmetic procedures;
- Any procedure not medically necessary;
- Acupuncture;
- Chemotherapy;
- Laser therapy; or
- Procedures SPCA-NN determines is not medically necessary.
Please understand that while many of these procedures are beneficial to pets, they do not fall within the parameters of Todd’s Medical Fund.
Each recipient will be provided information on pet insurance plans and is strongly encouraged to sign up for a plan once they are able to pay the monthly premiums.
Todd’s Medical Fund does cover end-of-life care: humane euthanasia and communal cremation (Todd’s covers communal cremation only). For at-home euthanasia services, please schedule with our partner Heal House Call Veterinary.
All cremation services are provided by West Coast Pet Memorial. Please note that only communal cremation is available through this fund.
How to apply
- The pet must have an injury or illness that requires care in the immediate future with a prognosis indicating a positive recovery after treatment. Please note that we cannot cover care for a senior pet with a poor or terminal prognosis.
- The pet guardian must provide documentation of the initial evaluation, treatment plan, and cost estimate from the treating veterinarian.
- You must demonstrate financial need by filling out an application. Your household income must be at or below the U.S. Department of Housing and Development’s (HUD) definition of low income limits. (For example, in Washoe County that is roughly $60,000 total household income.)
- Upon request, you must provide documentation including proof of residency (DL, State ID, or utility bill), household income (tax return, social security statement), and proof that you are the pet’s guardian.
- The veterinarian or veterinary clinic must agree to accept a verbal financial pledge from SPCA-NN and directly invoice SPCA-NN for our agreed to portion of the final bill when the procedure or treatment is completed.
- Once the pet guardian’s application and veterinary care estimate (and other documentation if requested) are received, SPCA-NN will determine the level of financial support we can provide.
- We aim for review within 48-72 hours of receipt of a completed application.
- We will do our best to notify you within 72 hours of receiving the required application and documentation.
- If approved, SPCA-NN will notify the treating veterinarian and make arrangements for payment directly to them. Please understand that we will only make payments directly to the treating veterinarian. We will not directly pay the pet guardian under any circumstances.
- All pets must be spayed or neutered. If this is not yet done, you must agree to work with SPCA-NN to coordinate altering your pet as soon as possible, unless the veterinarian deems it medically unsafe (supportive documentation must be provided upon request).
- All applications will be reviewed without bias or consideration of race, color, religion, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, or marital status.
- The pet’s guardian must also grant SPCA-NN permission to use pictures of your pet and a summary of the pet’s care for the purposes of promotion and fundraising.
Support will typically be limited to under 40% of the estimated costs depending on circumstances and will be determined within SPCA-NN’s discretion. This is a one-time process and once an individual has been approved for funding, they will not be eligible to apply for funding again.
*Funding for this program is limited and may not always be available.
This critical program is entirely dependent on generous donations from our community. Please share this page to help us raise enough money to ensure pets in pain can continue to receive the veterinary treatment they desperately need!
Other Financial-Aid Resources
Shakespeare Animal Fund – Shakespeare Animal Fund helps pet owners with emergency veterinary bills due to accidents, sickness and other emergencies, in 13 northern Nevada counties (and in North Central Florida).
Care Credit – Care Credit is a credit card company for health care, including veterinary care. They offer a comprehensive range of plan options, for treatment or procedure fees from $1 to over $25,000, offering plans and a low monthly payment to fit comfortably into almost every budget.
ScratchPay – ScratchPay provides pet parents with simple, transparent payment plans.
Speaking for Spot Financial Assistance – Speaking for Spot offers a robust list of organizations that offer financial assistance (categorized by region, etc).
The Pet Fund – The Pet Fund is a nonprofit organization that provides assistance with veterinary care.
Red Rover – RedRover provides financial assistance, resources and support to low-income individuals and survivors of domestic violence and their pets.
GoFundMe (crowd funding) – GoFundMe is a fundraising platform that allows people to raise money for life events.
waggle.org (crowd funding) – Waggle is a pet-dedicated crowdfunding platform that partners directly with veterinary providers, nonprofits and pet guardians to reduce economic euthanasia in pets.
*The inclusion of services, organizations or programs listed above is not an endorsement or recommendation. It is the pet guardian’s responsibility to make their own assessment.