The answer is the same: pathological narcissism.

He certainly feels like the couch-fucking type.

Bob

True. But if there’s anything to take away from all of this is that those prices aren’t natural, god-given or unavoidable. It’s probably a good idea for op to shop around - wound care, anesthesia and antibiotics shouldn’t be $2000 even in the US.

I’m not the person you are replying to, but I do wonder what “third world countries” you are thinking of when you hear “Western Europe”?

As someone who has lived in both the US and Germany (one of those “third world countries” with significantly lower health care cost, for both humans and animals) and who has seen the benefits and drawbacks of both countries - it’s completely delusional if you actually believe that someone who is supposedly living paycheck to paycheck is getting better health care in the US. The German system certainly has its flaws, but it beats the US in just about every sensible metric (accessibility, cost, life expectancy, infant mortality etc.), usually quite significantly so. The US does a solid number of things better than other countries, entrepreneurship and innovation for example, but health care absolutely isn’t among those things.

What’s new to me (I had no exposure to the veterinary health care system during my time in the US) is that the inflated fantasy prices aren’t limited to humans only, but extend to pets as well. Anesthesia and extensive wound care, antibiotics, aftercare etc. are pretty standard therapies and they should cost little over a tenth of what you were quoted for your typical house cat.

You honestly might want to shop around, because even within the US, those rates are almost certainly inflated.

I don’t think the downvotes are warranted. That is an exorbitant amount for the planned vet procedure OP describes.

Vet rates in Germany, for example, are regulated and wound care under anesthesia is pretty standard treatment. Even with multiple, complicated wounds, a round of antibiotics, extensive after care, this would be a three digit bill - while likely more than 200€, it would still be far closer to that number than OP’s tenfold quote…

Heck, even surgery for a complicated fracture wouldn’t come close to the 2000€ mark and can often stay below 1000€.

We are all aware that the US healthcare system works with ridiculously inflated fantasy prices, but that this extends to veterinary care is news to me.

His Instagram tells a really sad story. He was an infrequent poster of perfectly ordinary content. No sign of any mental illness: pictures of his sisters wedding, some jokes, nothing concerning.

Then, some posts about the death of his mother and almost right after, his sharp decline in mental health becomes apparent.

Another vote for the untitled goose game. My kids loved that one at just about any age.

That’ll never pass … without some moderate lobbying effort.

Amateur! I usually make things worse by sitting around doing nothing. That’s called efficiency.

The US has an almost completely and entirely intentionally broken system for legal immigration, which is one of the biggest reasons for its problems with “illegal” immigration.