Pets $$$$

[vraiblonde]

My friend has a 13yo Jack Russell who all of a sudden lost use of one of his front legs. She took him in and it turned out to be a ruptured disc in his spinal cord. She spent close to $10k getting it repaired.

At what point do you spend the money vs. euthanize the dog?

I love Gretel dearly and she's a young pooch, but I couldn't justify spending $10k on her. That's a lot of money, especially with no guarantees.

 

[thurley42]

My friend has a 13yo Jack Russell who all of a sudden lost use of one of his front legs. She took him in and it turned out to be a ruptured disc in his spinal cord. She spent close to $10k getting it repaired.

At what point do you spend the money vs. euthanize the dog?

I love Gretel dearly and she's a young pooch, but I couldn't justify spending $10k on her. That's a lot of money, especially with no guarantees.

My bulldog had an aggressive cancer we found last summer. We took him to Annapolis and the Dr. said it wasn't going away, but he could remove what's there to give him a better quality of life for an undetermined amount of time. It was 12k, and we got our puppy back for a few months, but ultimately, he succumbed to the cancer in January...yeah I spent 12k to get another 6 months with my dog..some would think its stupid, but i would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

[vraiblonde]

My bulldog had an aggressive cancer we found last summer. We took him to Annapolis and the Dr. said it wasn't going away, but he could remove what's there to give him a better quality of life for an undetermined amount of time. It was 12k, and we got our puppy back for a few months, but ultimately, he succumbed to the cancer in January...yeah I spent 12k to get another 6 months with my dog..some would think its stupid, but i would do it again in a heartbeat.

See, I would have never done that.

But I'm sorry about your pooch

 

[thurley42]

See, I would have never done that.

But I'm sorry about your pooch

Thank you! He was one of a kind.

 

[Sneakers]

I spent less than that on my own back surgery, but I had insurance. There is also pet insurance which would offset most of the costs, but few have it.

I could not, right now, say I would or wouldn't spend that much on a pet. Emotions change everything.

 

[Kyle]

I can say that I probably spent a lot more than others would to heal or enhance the quality of life for some of my companions. Emma had a couple of surgeries. One of my shepherds had hip surgery.

I’m always kinda looked at it like, is it going to fix what’s wrong or is it just going to extend their misery?

if it’s going to heal them and give them more time, in the case of Emma, the cancer did eventually come back, I was more than willing to plunk it down. She lasted another 2 1/2 years after that and they were pretty good until about the last six months.

I can’t see putting an animal through things like chemo or radiation, bombardments, etc.

There’s no way they can understand what is happening to them is meant to help them, and my personal opinion is it probably only causes them more stress every time they make a trip to the vet for what they probably perceive is torture.

 

[stgislander]

I spent less than that on my own back surgery, but I had insurance. There is also pet insurance which would offset most of the costs, but few have it.

I could not, right now, say I would or wouldn't spend that much on a pet. Emotions change everything.

Three Goldens so far. All had insurance. I wouldn't have a dog without pet insurance.

 

[Grumpy]

no comment

 

[Kyle]

Three Goldens so far. All had insurance. I wouldn't have a dog without pet insurance.

I haven’t looked into that recently but years ago when I first saw it, it was hard to find any place that even took the insurance and I wasn’t willing to change vets.

 

[luvmygdaughters]

We were really blessed with our dogs. Our 1st four-legged daughter was very healthy, took her to the vets for her yearly checkups and her flea and tick meds. She was always healthy and happy. Had her for 18 years. Our 2nd four-legged daughter was pretty much the same way; she was four years old when we got her (rescue). We had her for 8-9 years, she developed this lump on the side of her neck, took her to the vet, it was cancer. Wasn't sure of the total cost but somewhere in the neighborhood of 10-12 thousand. We decided to have her put down, there was no guarantee the surgery would help. She was 12-13 years old, it was a tough decision to make, but we think we gave her a good happy life and was comfortable with our decision.

 

[black dog]

$10,000 dollars on a pets surgery you say, four legged children, some have lost there ****ing minds.

 

[stgislander]

I haven’t looked into that recently but years ago when I first saw it, it was hard to find any place that even took the insurance and I wasn’t willing to change vets.

Most vets don't "take it." You pay for the service, then file the paperwork with the insurance company. I had VPI which was purchased by Nationwide. Usually took about 2 weeks to get reimbursed.

 

[glhs837]

Every time we look at insurance, it seems like its not going to cover the things we do get hit with. Beagle and chihuahua both had 5K TPLO surgery that was causing them to be lame. That was four years ago for the beagle and two for her. They both have gotten their lives back and are doing great.

 

[frequentflier]

Stripe is our "$10,000 cat". He was dropped here as a stray kitten a few years ago and we started feeding him. A volunteer with Friends of Felines trapped, ear tipped, vetted and neutered him. He came by twice a day for meals and pets much to the dismay of our older semi feral cat, Farrah.
One morning, he didn't show up for breakfast and we worried. We called, did kitty kisses and walked the property looking for him. He does not have a voice box and cannot meow like most cats. On day #3, I happened to look up and saw him in the crotch of a (probably) 80' poplar tree with few lower branches. I put word out that I needed help and Dennis Tice Jr of Tice Electric in Lusby responded (he had done some work for us previously). He showed up with a bucket truck that didn't quite reach that high. He put a ladder inside the bucket and was able to get Stripe into a blanket and on the ground.
We decided he needed to come indoors but the other house kitties weren't very welcoming (which is why he was still outdoors) Being a male cat, he became blocked and we took him to the vet. They did a procedure and it didn't take long for him to become blocked again.
We ended up opting for him to have a procedure up in AA county (Dogs & Cats) that desexed him. It was worth the travel and money involved because he is a sweet Maine Coon giant that

is such a love bug. He is worth every bit on money we paid to get him fixed up right!

 

[stgislander]

Stripe is our "$10,000 cat". He was dropped here as a stray kitten a few years ago and we started feeding him. A volunteer with Friends of Felines trapped, ear tipped, vetted and neutered him. He came by twice a day for meals and pets much to the dismay of our older semi feral cat, Farrah.
One morning, he didn't show up for breakfast and we worried. We called, did kitty kisses and walked the property looking for him. He does not have a voice box and cannot meow like most cats. On day #3, I happened to look up and saw him in the crotch of a (probably) 80' poplar tree with few lower branches. I put word out that I needed help and Dennis Tice Jr of Tice Electric in Lusby responded (he had done some work for us previously). He showed up with a bucket truck that didn't quite reach that high. He put a ladder inside the bucket and was able to get Stripe into a blanket and on the ground.
We decided he needed to come indoors but the other house kitties weren't very welcoming (which is why he was still outdoors) Being a male cat, he became blocked and we took him to the vet. They did a procedure and it didn't take long for him to become blocked again.
We ended up opting for him to have a procedure up in AA county (Dogs & Cats) that desexed him. It was worth the travel and money involved because he is a sweet Maine Coon giant that View attachment 188475 is such a love bug. He is worth every bit on money we paid to get him fixed up right!

Dogs & Cats is great.

 

[Sneakers]

Dogs & Cats is great.

Used to work with a guy from Thailand. Everyone was talking pets, he walks in on the end of the conversation and says, "MMMmmmm...cats GOOD!"

 

[LightRoasted]

For your consideration ...



Pet insurance is six of one and half a dozen of another. Meaning, after all the premiums paid over the years, when really needed, claims pretty much pay out and match what was paid in premiums.

Best to just save in a separate account any approximate premium payments to offset any unexpected pet medical bills.

 

[kwillia]

I’m of the opinion putting a pet through the stress, discomfort, and most likely extended pain for my own emotional gain is selfish not compassionate at all. The forever sleep is the opposite. It may inflame my emotions but each time my pet went peacefully in my arms relaxed and feeling loved. My biggest regret as a pet owner is I let one of my dogs go a few weeks too long. Looking back I am ashamed I was responsible for her having to experience decline in the quality of life rather than going to forever sleep when still comfortable.

 

[Merlin99]

$10,000 dollars on a pets surgery you say, four legged children, some have lost there ****ing minds.

Yeah, there’s quite a lot of us that have lost their minds

 

[frequentflier]

I’m of the opinion putting a pet through the stress, discomfort, and most likely extended pain for my own emotional gain is selfish not compassionate at all. The forever sleep is the opposite. It may inflame my emotions but each time my pet went peacefully in my arms relaxed and feeling loved. My biggest regret as a pet owner is I let one of my dogs go a few weeks too long. Looking back I am ashamed I was responsible for her having to experience decline in the quality of life rather than going to forever sleep when still comfortable.

I saw a lot of people put their dogs through chemo treatment when I had my store(s). I felt bad for the animals because I know many humans that went through chemo and said it was horrible. I can't imagine dogs didn't go through the same nausea, etc
To me, getting "treatment" that adds a few months onto the animals life is selfish and probably does not add quality of life to said animal.