Has anyone taken their pet to a specialist?

[lisajl]

Ok-the reason I am asking this is because I have to take my dog, Chloe to a specialist today.

I work for a vet, and they could not find what is wrong with her eyes.

So, at 1:00, I get to take her to MedVet.
My brother took his dog there in Jan. She has something called Laryngeal (sp) paralysis. When she tries to eat or drink, she chokes.
He spent over $3500 for the problem to be sort of fixed.

A friend of mine's dog somehow became paraylzed due to a run in with a squirrel. The dog was jumping around and I guess threw it's back around and that was it.
She has spent $7500 on her dog.

Now, I must tell you my brother and his wife have no children.
My friend has no kids, not married.

I was just wondering how far other people would go for their pets.

Where I work, I see a mixture. Some people stop at nothing.
Others could care less what happens to their pets.

What would you do?

Lisajl

**Hoping to find out what is wrong with Chloe**

 

[ryanpatricksmom]

When we first got one of our cats he had a host of problems. We could have returned him, but instead we nursed him through....to the tune of $1500.00. Later, we took him to the kitty opthamologist because he had cataracts (largely due to his poor start in life). He's been very healthy since then, so we're quite happy that we made the initial investment. At that point, we hadn't bonded so it was a tough decision....now our cats are a part of the family, so my initial feeling is that we would spend the money if we were relatively certain that a problem could be fixed.

 

[Dodie]

One of our German Shepherds has a specialist - an orthopaedic surgeon. She has had surgery on each of her rear knees due to genetic defects that caused her to tear her ACL (at different times) in each one.

Each surgery was between $800-900. Yes - that totals about $2000 over a two-year period. We call her the bionic dog.

We don't have kids either. She is a happy, healthy 8-year-old dog now. We've talked about the fact that we would have limits to this type of thing, but thankfully haven't experienced the need to determine what those limits actually are.

 

[RUDisney]

I've taken Prancer to a Vet Opthamologist, but to diagnose her PK, it didn't cost more than a few hundred dollars.

My parents were told by their first vet to put their bichon down because she had cancer on her face. This was with no tests or anything, they just told her that it looked like cancer. She was only 18-months at that time. My parents went for a second opinion and were told that it looked like she had a problem with one of her teeth, but none of her teeth were showing any problems, just through the boil on her face. They tried multiple things, but nothing helped. Finally, they were referred to Cornell University. They left Brigette there and the next day they got a call that the x-ray showed an absess under one of her teeth. They pulled the tooth and everything has been great since. The Cornell bill was only about $900, but they had to leave a $1500 deposit before they'd look at her. That is coupled with the rest of the bills. She's 8 now, and has no problems since then.

At this point, we have spent thousands on Prancer. No only does she have PK, she also is allergic to almost everything in commercially available dog food. Allergy testing runs about $250. We couldn't find any food for her, even the veterinary brands she couldn't tolerate because of the severity of her allergies. I read a number of nutrition books for dogs and created a diet for her that was nutritionally sound. Our vet has given this to other people with similar troubles. Luckily, I found a food for her so I don't have to make it anymore.

We have been childless through some of her ailments and with kids through others. My parents have always had one or more of their children at home throughout Brigette's issues.

 

[linny172]

I have taken my cocker to a cardioligest(sp). She had a fainting episode, rushed her to my regular vet and he suggested taking her to the cardioligest. It was $250 for the first visit, they did an ultrasound, and found out the she has problems with her heart valve, she was put on lasix and enalapril, this seemed to help, she is 15 now and this happened a little over a year ago, she is doing well, but I know that I would not spend a lot of money, because of her age, I have stopped taking her to the cardoligist and just have my regular vet treating her now, only because at this point with her age and some other problems I only want to make sure that she is comfortable now,

 

[Beauty]

When my Mindy got pregnant she suffered complications and we were asked whether we wanted to try and save her or put her to sleep. She was 2 years old....needless to say I said "save her!" Do anything you can for her, and he did. I can't remember exactly what that cost for us but it was in the 500-600 dollar range. That was 3 years ago....here is Mindy now, healthy and happy and FIXED! I haven't for a second regretted having that done and I would do it again in a milisecond.

 

[Denine]

Mt 11 yo cat has seen a cardiologist. She has a heart murmur and hypertension. He did an ultrasound of her heart and has done blood tests after he put her on her heart meds.
We will not be going back to him, just to the regular vet.

 

[bratus913]

About 5-6 years ago we had to take our dog to an oncologist. She had lymphnoma. It was VERY $$$$, not to mention a haul to get there (about a 30-60 minute drive depending on traffic). It was just me and my husband at the time, we were both working full time and Cinnamon was our only baby. The chemo treatments did wonders for her and she was a new dog, although she died toward the end of her treatments when I was 5 months pregnant. Ironically, the cancer didn't kill her - she had a weak heart and THAT gave out on her

I would do it all over again. More than worth the $$$. It gave her a new lease on life and definately improved the quality of it. If she had a stronger heart, who knows how much longer she would have lived.

Now today, with a new house, 2 girls under 5 and one income, I don't know if we could do it, but I know that I would probably try.

Just my .02

 

[fklhou]

My sister is a vet and my mother lives in College Station which where Texas A&M Vet school is located. If you live withing driving distance of a vet school, you may consider using the school. My mom took one of her dogs with cancer to A&M and I have friends who have taken their pets down to the Vet school.

We have gone through a couple of vets before we found one who knew what they were doing for breeding show dogs. One vet blew the hormone test on one dog and so missed a breeding. This is a specialize area and when you are breeding show dogs, you need someone who knows what they are doing.

 

[lisajl]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

My dog, Chloe will be just fine. We need to put drops in her eyes for two weeks and take her back.

We saw a dog with Addisons disease and it had an artificial eye.
Interesting.

Also saw a cat that looked like it was fighting cancer or a dog had taken it's eye.
I did not want to bother the woman, but it was a sad sight.

Bless that woman for taking care of that kitty.

Lisa

 

[poohlover]

We've had 7 dogs...seen a special opthomologist for entropia on a MAstiff that needed surgery, had numerous tests on a Newfie puppy for kidney problems (that turned out negative!!). We had a Rottie we had to put down due to bone cancer.

Now I am awaiting a bone biopsy & culture for our 8 month old Rottie puppy! They say it could be a bone cancer or a bone infection.

We've done lots for the dogs...but we do wonder about the cost sometimes. Knowing that the bone infection treatment could be LONG, I am wondering about the cost.

But how can you put a dollar limit on the unconditional love that dogs give you each & every day?? At night my rottie, newfie, & the Mastiff all lay next to me on the floor. Right now I'd pay anything to have my rottie pup healthy!

 

[lisajl]

poohlover,
So sorry to hear about the puppy {hugs}

I hope everything goes alright.

It is so scary not knowing what is wrong.
When the doctor told me what Chloe had, I just breathed a sigh of relief.

She came from an abusive home, but she is safe now and we will do whatever it takes to make her better.

Good luck with the pup and let me know what happens.

Lisa

 

[janette]

I think to some degree it depends on the pet and the expected results of the treatment. Our 7mth old Bichon Puppy ate the other dogs medication and had to be in the hospital over the weekend. It cost over $1500 but the result is that he's fine and shouldn't have any ongoing problems.

If a dog is older I might not be willing to do as much but I can't imagine not treating a puppy unless there were issues that would result in loss of quality of life or something.

My SIL & her DH spent $$ on her older Bassett, she had back problems and ended up having surgery. She later developed a problem with her heart and there was no treatment and I know it was the hardest thing they ever did to put her down. My SIL worked from home about a month because the dog couldn't move on her own and had to be helped outside etc. When the dog had to have surgery she couldn't go upstairs any longer so they ended up moving to a one story house. They also had a ramp made so she could still get up on the bed when she wanted. They have 2 Bassetts now and they do whatever they need. They also don't have children, I don't expect they will ever not have a dog though. They've even made sure their dogs are taken care of in their will.

 

[CyranoJones]

Late last spring, my greyhound had a nontraumatic fracture of his femur and it ended up being due to osteosarcoma. He had to be taken to a vet center about 1.5 hours away where he saw the orthopedic surgeon and cardiologist. Oncology was considered but we decided against it because his time was so limited. The consultations, surgery, medications, subsequent vet visits, etc. ended up costing several thousand dollars, but it was worth every penny to have my boy comfortable and happy for another 6 months, and he died peacefully at the end of October.

Every pet owner has to make their own decision about how far to go depending on circumstances and how much money he/she is able to spend. However, I have known people who have pets with minor problems and are unwilling to have those problems remedied. They see pets as disposable commodities that can just be replaced. Those are the people I have problems with.

 

[Robinrs]

Good news, Lisa!

As for taking my cats to a specialist, they are like my children so the answer is YES.

My cat, Rambo, went to a doctor who office was called the Center for Feline Surgery and Medicine. Now THAT's a specialist.

I took him to her after Pets Are People Too told me "he's got cancer, he's gonna die". She told me that she can help me.

He was 14 years old and he died at the ripe old age of 17.

He had three surgeries to remove the tumors which were about $300 apiece. All in all not alot of money, but I would've spent more and would do it again.

 

[DonnaS]

We had to take Bashful to a veterinary opthalmologist for a while because of glaucoma. The funny thing was that she and my DH had the same eye drops for their glaucoma. Fortunately Bashful's improved to the point where she didn't need the eye drops or the specialist. Too bad DH's doesn't.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Toby's visit to an Oncologist in 2000 and resulting spleenectomy - $2000

Lacy's visit to a canine opthamologist for glaucoma and the resulting operation - $1000

Toby's visit to the emergency room for his recent episode with life threatening low red blood cell levels - $1100

Their unconditional love and companionship - PRICELESS!

 

[lisajl]

It is so nice to see people taking care of their pets.

Like I said before, there are people that won't do anything for their pets.
It is a sad thing. But, the vets I work for won't put an animal down just because the owner wants it.
We had someone want to come to us because it was cheaper to have the pet put down with us, than their regular vet.
Our answer, we also need to charge an office visit along with the euthanasia. That way we can make sure the animal is as bad off as they say. They never made an appt.

I knew everyone on this board loved their pets!! What a great group of people you are!!!

Lisajl