Selling a story to help pay for vets bills?!

I am not sure why you are getting such a hard time, your not asking for a hand out, your asking if anyone thinks you have something (a story) that someone else may want to by.
I sell my time and knowledge (go to work) because other people think it is worth paying for. Other people sell stories.
I agree it is not the most exciting story (but I work in a vets so see more of this stuff then most people) but you have nothing to lose by approaching various mags and papers- I have not idea if/what they pay though.
What have you got to lose?
 
LynH said:
My neighbour's cat went missing for a few months then came home so she kept him in a couple of months and then as soon as she let him out again he disappeared again. When he reappeared another couple of months later he was missing his bits and had a note on a new collar from his other family saying 'pls don't feed our cat or let him indoors'. She put her number on the note but never did find out who neutered him or hi other family are.

Cats seem very good at finding new homes when it suits them. I'm not sure it's much of a story, I nearly died twice, had my skin and mucus membranes slough off and lost my sight for several months from a side effect of prescription medication but it wasn't deemed an interesting enough story because I didn't have any gory photos of my body burning from the inside out. So much for warning others, the media can be very selective.
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That's horrible - which medicine did you take?!
I'm not sure he would be great at finding himself a home - he is very nervous of people and it took me a week of lying under a bed with him to get him to like me. He was described as a stray by the people who handed him into the vet.
 
twiggy2 said:
I am not sure why you are getting such a hard time, your not asking for a hand out, your asking if anyone thinks you have something (a story) that someone else may want to by.
I sell my time and knowledge (go to work) because other people think it is worth paying for. Other people sell stories.
I agree it is not the most exciting story (but I work in a vets so see more of this stuff then most people) but you have nothing to lose by approaching various mags and papers- I have not idea if/what they pay though.
What have you got to lose?
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Thank you! My thoughts exactly - we sell stuff that other people want all the time, so I'm not sure why people got so huffy with my question!
 
But you don't actually have a story to sell! "My cat disappeared for 2 years and then turned up at the vets with a UTI" seems to pretty much sum it up, doesn't it? I don't know how much padding you could add, but can't see how you could stretch it for more than a paragraph. You don't have any information on the missing 2 years at all.

I'm another who works at a vet, and we see stuff like this happening day in, day out. Also check your local facebook lost and found pets page - you will find loads of cats who have turned up in various states after weeks, months or years.

So I'm not outraged, just baffled as th why you think anyone would pay for your non story.
 
that, and even if someone did pay it would be a drop in the ocean compared to most vet bills.

Mum's friend did get a 'story' recently, pest control man found a box full of their wedding stuff from 25 years ago in an old house of theirs and tracked them down on facebook. It did the usual local paper, daily mail, this morning route (they got bumped off for something more interesting ;) ) They didn't get anything out of it but the pest control man got some more business!
 
Landcruiser said:
But you don't actually have a story to sell! "My cat disappeared for 2 years and then turned up at the vets with a UTI" seems to pretty much sum it up, doesn't it? I don't know how much padding you could add, but can't see how you could stretch it for more than a paragraph. You don't have any information on the missing 2 years at all.

So I'm not outraged, just baffled as th why you think anyone would pay for your non story.
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None of us have to restrict our story telling like this. This could be the basis of a story. It doesn't have to be factual eg it could evolve into a children's story. I imagine that the real life Mog didn't experience every aspect of her Sainsbury's advert. Or if she did that's one hell of a cat. Stand up comedians eg haven't lived/experienced every single word/event that make up their stories.
 
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I cannot see an author paying her for it to be part of a wider fictional story either I am sure they could come up with that premise on their own, and she hasn't mentioned she is a writer herself, presumably if she was she wouldn't need to ask on here about selling stories?
 
Not really my thing OP.

However, with bigger bills Vets are usually very good about letting you pay it off monthly if you have a chat with them? I know mine are, they understand that not everyone is flush with cash!
 
OP I think you're getting a hard time of this. No harm in asking. Like you say you aren't begging, just trying to think of inventive ways to pay an unexpected vet bill.

For the record, my work colleague submitted a picture of her dancing at her 40th party to Take a Break magazine. No story, just 'I had a fabulous time at my 40th party & never left the dance floor all night'
They printed it at the front alongside several others & got (I think) £100.
 
It depends how you word it - Couple Stole my Cat for 2 years then Dumped It When it got Ill ...is a bit more emotive.
And I would be feeling mad if this was my cat. I have no idea if there is a market for these kind of stories. Perhaps an online search for a pet website is worth it?
 
Well, you may not have a story to sell, but you could write the story from your cat's point of view - what made him leave in the first place? What adventures befell him in the two years he was away? How did he come into the hands of the elderly couple? That sort of thing.
 
There appears to be a market for it (who knew) the first page of links on Google may help: Google links

Papers and websites need all sorts of content whether it's newsworthy or not, so no harm in asking. It's not something I think I would do, but it's not my story :smile3:
 
Cats can be arse holes.

I had a cat. Lovely little thing she was. One day she got hit by a car and broke her leg. Large vet bill and months of nursing her back to health. Back to full health and a few months down the line she just disappears.

Two years later I see her in my garden. New collar. Chubby and clearly well looked after elsewhere! I managed to get hold of her and gave her a fuss but I didn't lock her in or anything. If she's happier somewhere else then so be it. Ungrateful little s***!
 
Peter7917 said:
Cats can be arse holes.

I had a cat. Lovely little thing she was. One day she got hit by a car and broke her leg. Large vet bill and months of nursing her back to health. Back to full health and a few months down the line she just disappears.

Two years later I see her in my garden. New collar. Chubby and clearly well looked after elsewhere! I managed to get hold of her and gave her a fuss but I didn't lock her in or anything. If she's happier somewhere else then so be it. Ungrateful little s***!
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Haha! This made me laugh- dogs are much more loyal pets- cats just use you until they find someone better to use!
 
booandellie said:
Haha! This made me laugh- dogs are much more loyal pets- cats just use you until they find someone better to use!
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You see, I don't agree with this. I have a dog and cats, and I have a much closer relationship with my cats if I'm honest. My current kittens are obsessed with me, they greet me when I get home, they sleep on my head, they follow me everywhere.

My old cat was like this too, I had a relationship with her unlike anything I've ever had with any animal.

I'm always amazed when people think cats are aloof, I've always found a relationship with a cat much stronger than with any other animal.
 
scats said:
I'm always amazed when people think cats are aloof, I've always found a relationship with a cat much stronger than with any other animal.
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I don't find them aloof either-in fact my cats are altogether quite dog like in friendliness, loyalty, eating anything and being generally hilarious. I've had four now and they've all been brilliant but then I always go for male DSH from farms-maybe they're just more grateful ;)
 
Oh behave you lot. Cats are jerks! My current cat spends his entire day trying to annoy me. He's Satan's spawn. They all are. I can never understand why I have any emotional attachment to him. He's a little p*** taker!
 
1. this is a horse forum not a cat forum

2. Your cat is not that interesting - I would rather watch an article on the stages of paint drying

3. so you have bought another cat, doesn't detract from the responsibility of the first no matter how long it went missing for (cats do this) - a cat is for life not for christmas

4. just deal with it... there are far worse stories in the world than a cat going missing for two years, coming home well fed with a uti - I honestly can not believe that you would even ask about this
 
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