Michael Clayton shudders when he recalls the night he came within a whisker of losing his best friend. It was two days before Christmas and his eight-year-old cat Frankie was in a bad way. He had been attacked by another cat and needed his eye urgently removed or he would have to be euthanised. The vet fee was almost $2,000 and Mr Clayton had no way to pay. "I begged them and begged them to do a payment plan and they said 'no'," he recalled. "My heart dropped.