Smurf, HUGS to you and to Hanky. I had tears in my eyes reading the story..
When my cat (I know not the same) had to have emergency surgery they had at the clinic papers to fill out for a Vet VISA. Yep, just like a regular VISA credit card and is used the same way. They offered a 3 month grace period before they started racking on any finance charges, and mighty steep percentage rate at that...It is an option if all else fails..