how much is too much

[hmcart]

I had to take one of our cats to the vet today and it got me thinking. For those who have pets, how much is too much to spend on them as far as vet costs go? My mil once spent $1500 on her cat whne it was sick. I have no problem spending money on vet care but I probably wont spend a lot on something that might leave my pet with a less than great life. Does that make sense? As for today I have a cat that apparently has a very severe flea allergy. The vet found 1 flea, but his hair was falling out and his skin was a hot mess. $125 later and he is on the road to recovery thank goodness!

[Spirit Deer]

I think it's an individual choice, and is also is dictated by a family's financial situation. You can only do what you can do. If you trust your vet, discuss the options with him or her so you're making an informed decision.

One of our dogs has glaucoma and for a while her eye care was costing us about $2,000 a year. We would do it again, but obviously, we're not having to choose between giving her the care she needs and putting food on the table or keeping the lights on.

We would not even blink at a one-time bill of $1,500. Of course we wouldn't be celebrating over it, but that's part of having pets sometimes. We made that commitment when we brought them into our family.

Glad your pet's problem was relatively minor.

[pollypurebred39]

I think I'm the wrong one to ask, I'd remortgage the house. I'd sell my wedding ring, I'd sell the bed out from under my DH's sleeping body, I'd give up the clothing on my back, scrub the vets office everyday for the rest of my life if only they'd have saved our Suki. Sadly no amount of money would have saved her. But if they had told me it was possible, look out.

[Neeley]

I am definitely not the one to ask. There is no set limit to what we spend on our pets' care. When we go on vacation every year, boarding alone for them is $1200. Their yearly check-ups run in the $500 range. Anytime they are sick we take them in, see Dr. G and get some medicines. With 5 animals, we re in a couple of times a year for illnesses. Each visit running in the $150-$250 range, but sometimes more. The first two weeks we had our Jack Russell, we spend over $600 to get her well.

Our Yorkie-Poo has cataracts in both eyes. He is having surgery to correct the problem and it is costing us $2000.

I love my vet and his staff and am on a first name basis with them. I joke with his receptionist whenever I pay my bill - telling her it's a good day if I get out of the office for less than $200. Two weeks ago I had to take our elderly cat in and I guess Dr. G was in a giving mood. He did not charge me at all for that visit. I did the happy dance!

[pinetree]

I am really not the one to ask either, when Trouble was attacked by the coyote, well he was in intensive care for almost 3 months, then transfered to another hospital to remove his leg and get a hold on the bacteria that was eating his skin.

You Do Not want to know what we spent on him. I would have sold the house if I had to. I would do it again in a second. He is now the happiest cat you have ever seen.

I figure thats part of being a pet owner.

[Telephus44]

I don't have a dollar limit per se, but for me it depends partly on cost and partly on the age of the pet. We had a cat a few years ago that was 14 and having issues. They were pretty sure she had diabetes, possibly kidney failure - they wanted $1200 just for testing and then we'd probably be looking at maintainence meds at $150 per month. We decided to have her put down instead. A large part of that decision was her age. If she was 4 or 5 we might have decided differently.

[Nana2two]

I would have to agree with Telephus44 I love our Saint she is 3 at the moment. Saints don't have a huge long life span. 8 year some time a bit longer . She is a indoor dog we keep her in good health ,shots ect but aware of issues saints have with hips . Depending the issue that came in to play and age. We would have to weight the choice. Just the thought of it makes me cry.She is like my minature indoor pony. She is well loved!!!!

[madhen]

Personally, I consider "too much" to be an amount that would significantly hurt me financially or that would cause unnecessary suffering on the part of my pet. I won't risk losing my house to save one of my pets, but I would/have gone into high cc debt. I have spent literally thousands of dollars on a donkey who has a chronic fungal infection, and continue to spend a couple of hundred per month on meds for her. When my Chow Chow, Chewy, had an ACL injury, I was planning on spending several thousand (approx $5K per hip) on surgery for him, without a second thought. He was eleven at the time. Even if he were fifteen, I'd have still done it without hesitation. Chewy has been with me for his whole life, so I feel an obligation to be there for him, now that he is getting older. But I also understand that the time comes when old dogs need to be allowed the dignity of death, and if I felt the surgery would cause him a lot of discomfort, with little return in terms of quality/quantity of life afterward, I would let him go instead. I have made that choice before, when other options with very slim chances of success were available, because those latter options included significant stress on the animal in question.

[calimomx2]

When our lab was a year old he blew out his ACL, it was bad. Our choices were to put him down or take him to the orthopedic vet to do major surgery. We knew going in there weren't any guarantees and we also knew that as he aged he would have issues but we just could not put him down. It cost us $5000. Ten years later it was the best money we've spent. He has his good and bad days but for the most part he acts like a puppy and is living a very active and happy life!

[hmcart]

I was really just wondering where everyone stood. I think it is a personal choice as well. While we would hesitate if it meant going into thousands of dollars in debt we would do what we could for our pets. In the end Ithink it also depends on their age and quality oflife after.

[MTS04]

I also am not one to ask. I have gone into credit card debt for a pet. We're currently spending a lot on Yardman and after his diagnosis, his maintenance meds are going to be costly. But, he is a family member and has his trust in me to take the best care that i can for him. So, should my wallet be lighter, so be it.
I took him into my home and it's up to me to be his advocate.

[ncarr]

Daisy, my cocker spaniel, is my baby. I can't have children right now so she really is treated like part of my family. We never get out of her annual vet visits for under $500 (that includes a year supply of Sentinel heartworm/flea meds). She is pretty healthy but I would drop five grand in a second if she needed it.

[krbshappy71]

There are so many individual factors to consider, in my opinion. Age, quality of life, current financial situation. There is also the option of adopting the pet out to someone who can pay for the surgery or treatment so it can have the life it deserves if the owner has found themselves in a situation where they can't afford the treatment. Particularly in the case of very young pets.

I had a puppy that broke his hip at only 3 months old. His surgery cost just over 1k but he is now 7 years old and can out-fetch the best of 'em! The cost was worth it to me, always will be, but he was a puppy with a prognosis of full recovery and I had friends and family chip in to help with the cost when they heard what happened. I also felt it taught my daughters a lesson in caring for a pet, that it can be unexpectedly expensive and that its a responsibility as an owner. We were really poor at the time, and maybe I shouldn't have paid it, maybe I should have adopted him out, but I am thankful I did keep him and bit the bullet.

I have a friend that paid 10k to save their 16 yr old dog. For me that was insane, they lost the dog in the end, but for them it was "ANYTHING!! SAVE HIM!!!" and I haven't had a dog for that long yet to know the pain of that yet. I don't THINK that I would go there, and my finances currently certainly wouldn't LET me go there right now, that's probably for the best.

Another friend of mine SWORE that they would never pay more than 1k to fix a dog, regardless of the problem or age of the dog. Then their dog had to undergo surgery for cancer and I am POSITIVE that it cost more than 1k by the time it was all said and done. They paid it. Dog lived, still lives, just fine.

What cost does one put on unconditional love, y'know? I only hope that I know when to hold on and when to let go when it comes to my own pets in the end.

[OOwl]

When I was in HS and early part of college, I worked for as vet as a receptionist/then tech, and it never ceased to amaze me that the most devoted, loyal, wonderful pet owners weren't actually the wealthy ones. It was the little old lady that came in weekly to make small payments on her balance for her sick cat (you could tell that $15 payment was a HUGE part of her budget, and yet she did it cheerfully, just happy to have her cat still alive). It was the elderly gentleman in the threadbare pants that walked two miles every day to visit his dying German Shepherd that was injured in a tragic accident, and who continued to walk there and pay his bill long after the dog was gone. Some of our wealthiest customers seemed to possess the attitude that "Well, that's just too much; we can just buy a new cat [dog, bird, whatever] for that. Just put it to sleep." It taught me a lot about character, values, dignity, and class, qualities having NOTHING to do with how much money you possess.

[melodys]

My little dog is getting older and needs regular (and expensive) dental care these days. As long as I can reasonably afford it and he is likely to have a full recovery I will happily pay. I do think it is kinder to put a pet down than to extend a pain filled existence for a pet, so I will always keep that in mind.