Pet Medical budget

[daannzzz]

I adopted my dog last June (last pet I had was 35 years ago) and knew there would be some trips to the vet. I always said if the cost went over $700 the dog would be put down as I could not justify spending that much. Well there has been issues and I have spent $10,000.00 this year!!!! I never thought I would do this but he is a great dog. However this is it. I have dug into savings and tax payments and such to pay for this and now there is no more. If he gets more cancer or injured that is it.
How do you deal with the end of the budget for you pet? Or do you not have a ceiling?

 

[Disney Doll]

When we had Ted, we didn't have a ceiling per se that was based on money. It was based on the comfort of the dog.

Realsitically, he was a fairly healthy animal up until close to his end...pretty much the basic twice-yearly vet visits, had pink eye once, had a cyst on his eye that needed removal, got Lyme disease so needed antibiotics, swallowed a parking token so needed abdominal x-rays to see if it was "moving through" his digestive system...it was so we just waited a couple of days rather than him needing an endoscopy. Not bad over the course of 13 years and nothing was "major" so therefore relatively inexpensive.

I guess, though, if he ever got into something extraordinarily expensive, I'd have had to make a decision about how much we could afford. Glad I never got there....

 

[daannzzz]

See. That is more what I was expecting.

 

[SpecialK]

For us it's also based on comfort. We have a sick cat right now. Last week she was diagnosed with renal failure, had some IV fluids and was given a scrip for a kidney infection.

The time at the vet was so traumatic for her, we've decided not to put her through any more treatments. She's doing better and is comfortable. I'd rather she'd be happy at home than freaked out at the vet's for treatments that would prolong her life but not offer a cure.

 

[TerriP]

We don't have an "end amount" or "ceiling" for our boys...it's more just what is right for us and them. Lots of things factor into decision making when they are sick or injured...what it costs is just one factor. How old is the dog...will the surgery/treatment improve the quality of their life...is the problem fixable or not...what other injuries/health issues does the dog have?

I can't and won't put our family into financial jeopardy, but I will move heaven and earth to do what is right for our boys because they are a very important part of our family. So DH & I weigh the pros and cons, look at all our options, and do what is best. Yes, there did come the day that we could no longer offer quality of life to our almost 16 year old Beagle and we made the decision to hold him in our arms while the vet euthanized him. It was awful and one of the worst days of my life, but it was what was best for him.

Do what is best for your dog and you won't regret it.

 

[ksjayhawks]

Have to agree with PP's in what is good for the comfort of the pet and our financial well being.

Wow! $10,000! Have to admit that I wouldn't have done that! (Putting on my flame suit now.)

 

[FergieTCat]

When Diana got sick, I didn't have a ceiling. However, when the vet diagnosed her with renal failure, etc., I told him I wasn't interested in quantity of life over quality of life. In other words, if she wouldn't spend her last days being comfortable and happy (she was 17 1/2 years old), I would prefer if he euthanized her. He said he felt the same way. So ... 5 days and $1,395 later, he sent her home and she died in my arms less than 20 hours later (either heart attack or embolism; didn't ask for an autopsy). Another $140 to take her to an emergency clinic, where I asked them not to try cpr. (I do not want to think past that. I did not bring her home for a burial.)

Fergie is the same age and I hope she doesn't suffer the same fate as Diana. I am a little wiser this time and I will not put myself or Fergie through it again. I will spend any amount of money if she will enjoy a quality of life. I am not interested in spending money just to avoid the inevitable -- it's not fair to her.

(Yes, it's 5 weeks later and I'm still a little po'ed at the vet.)

 

[STLDisney_Freak]

I don't have a price on the life of my pet. My oldest dog is 14 years old. He has bladder stones 3 times in life which have required surgery. Surgery 1 cost me $5,000, surgery 2 cost me $3,000 and surgery 3 cost me $500. He is blind, incontinent and on meds for his bladder, but he is still bouncing around a happy dog. My next youngest dog which is 12 years has a collaspsed trachea and she is on meds at this point for it. My youngest dogs are a year old and 6 months old....When I brought the chihuahua home she came home with coccidia. I had to take her to the ER. I almost lost her. $1,300 later she has grew into a happy pup. I will provide for medical costs for as long as they are living a happy and non-painful lives. When I adopted all of my dogs I adopted with all of the medical costs involved.

 

[EMom]

Our first kitty lived to be almost 16. She had periodic bouts of pancreatitis and getting her through those ran $700-1100 per incident. Aside from those, she just had routine costs until her last few years of life....Then it began to add up. I never kept a tally (scared to) but I'd say her "non-routine/emergency/crisis" costs ran about $7000-$8000 during her life. She took a sudden turn downhill at the end and no matter the cost, it would have been unkind to prolong her life.

Our present cat just turned 19 and she also only had routine costs until she hit about 14-15. She has surpassed the cost of the other cat, probably because she's lived longer. She moves slow, has arthritis, chronic constipation, high blood pressure and is a little fussy. But she's still doing pretty good for a 19 y.o. cat. She had a stroke this past year and I just knew was going to be the end of her, but 4 days later you'd never know she'd ever had the stroke. I guess we're out closer to $10,000 the past few years and lately, it's $1000 every few to several months, so that figure is going up fast.

We're not wealthy, but if she's still doing okay....just a slow, old cat, I'll keep paying. We pass on vacations, new cars, I don't get some of the goodies my friends do....but I'm okay with that. Seriously, when DH asks what I want for my birthday, etc., I tell him I don't want anything except for him not to complain about the cat's vet bills. I think he'd sooner buy me diamonds and it would likely be cheaper.

 

[Jennasis]

I have a client right now who is still paying off the $8,000 colic surgery for her horse.

 

[babyrich]

We have no ceiling. We inherited our first cat Kelsey from a family member who passed away. We had her for only a little over a year and she was diagnosed with cancer, a rare one of course. We had tests done that diagnosed her and we took her to an oncologist and were very willing to pay for chemo but the oncologist said it would not cure her, she may live longer but it wouldnt be a good quality of life. We ended up putting her to sleep around 6 weeks later.

Now we have 3 cats and we would be willing to pay whatever it took as long as they have a good quality of life. My DH and I pretty much agreed to that when we adopted them.

I understand if there is no money left, what can you do; but if the money is there, I certainly would used it.

 

[si-am]

We've had a couple of doozies with one of our cats. When he got a urinary tract blockage, it cost us about $2,000 all up. Then when he was diagnosed with diabetes, another $1,000 for tests, vet stay, etc.

I guess my ceiling would be when I just couldn't pay for it. I could do a thousand here, a thousand there.... I couldn't pay $5,000-$10,000 all at once, though. So unless they were willing to give me a payment plan....

 

[2binak]

We don't have a limit for our girl. If she will come out of whatever is ailing her happy, healthy & comfortable, we'll gladly pay for it. We did take out a Care Credit account for her last surgery. It took place at a time when money was a bit tight. We used the 6-month payment plan and had the entire amount paid off in those 6 months so we didn't have to pay any interest. It's a great option for those times when money is a bit tight, but you know you'll have it in a few months.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

Hi,

I understand. We paid $10,000 in two weeks last July for our black lab that started having seizures because of a brain tumor. We did end up having to put her to sleep as the tumor was very aggressive and not in a good location for either surgery or radiation. We were fine paying the money as we felt we had done everything possible for her, and that gave us peace of mind. We got two new dogs in January to keep me company since we knew dh was being sent to Afghanistan. One of the dogs has had several issues and we have spent $14,000 since getting them on the vet/animal hospital stays/er visits. Luckily she is doing much better and it appears the worst is behind us. That said, I would never go into debt for the dogs as much as we love them. If the cash was not available we would have no choice but to put the animal to sleep, I don't not think anyone is wrong that does so if they are not financially able to handle the huge vets bills that add up in no time. The ICU in the local animal hospital here is $1000/day when you add up all of their costs. That is a lot of money, certainly many people can't pay that for their animals no matter how much they love and adore them.

 

[OK!]

I don't have a specific budget either; everything's based on what's best for my cat. He is diabetic so I have to spend quite a bit on insulin and food, but he's perfectly healthy and happy apart from that. I pray he stays that way for a long time.

 

[si-am]

We don't have a limit for our girl. If she will come out of whatever is ailing her happy, healthy & comfortable, we'll gladly pay for it. We did take out a Care Credit account for her last surgery. It took place at a time when money was a bit tight. We used the 6-month payment plan and had the entire amount paid off in those 6 months so we didn't have to pay any interest. It's a great option for those times when money is a bit tight, but you know you'll have it in a few months.

We have Care Credit too, but they didn't approve us for enough of a line of credit to really cover something big.

 

[Gigi22]

We have purchased health insurance for our two cats, both aged 8. Not sure what we would do if the insurance didn't come through for us--but we do have line of credit and money in the bank that we would happily tap into if needed. We would not prolong the life of either pet, if the pet was only going to suffer, and there was no reasonable hope of a return to health and good quality of life. This from a woman who used to get up regularly at 5 a.m. on work days to spoonfeed her ailing kitty!

 

[Parkers_girl]

I also have no ceiling. If my dog is happy and comfortable I would do whatever it takes to keep them that way.

A year and half ago my 10 year old (then almost 9) border collie couldn't move. I just thought he was suffering arthritis so I took him to the vet who found out he was paralyzed from the mid-back down because of a spinal disc problem. He ended up having spinal surgery to the tune of $5,000, although $2,500 was for the CT scan. I didn't even bat an eye when they asked me what I wanted to do. I couldn't imagine living the rest of my life not knowing what would happen if I didn't try the surgery, it's the least I could have done for him. He went into surgery without anyone knowing if he'd be able to walk again, but I'm happy to say that today he's running and playing frisbee again. I could never put a price on his life, he's only here for a short while and I owe it to him to make sure I do whatever he needs me to do, that's what we sign up for when we bring these sweet family members into our lives.

ETA: We also used care credit for a portion of the bill. I was so thankful that the vet told us about them.

 

[Sparx]

I would do everything within my power to maintain my pet's health. If I can't afford it outright, I would try my best to work out a payment method. However, if the procedure would not improve/maintain their quality of life I think its time to let go. I hate to see animals suffering (especially animals so close to me as my pets) but if what I was about to put them through (surgically) wouldn't improve or maintain their comfort I wouldn't put them through it.

 

[epcotfan]

For us it's also based on comfort. We have a sick cat right now. Last week she was diagnosed with renal failure, had some IV fluids and was given a scrip for a kidney infection.

The time at the vet was so traumatic for her, we've decided not to put her through any more treatments. She's doing better and is comfortable. I'd rather she'd be happy at home than freaked out at the vet's for treatments that would prolong her life but not offer a cure.

I have a 17 year old cat that also has chronic renal failure. Taking him to the vet is so traumatic I'm afraid he's going to have a heart attack each time. Anyhow he's done much better since I've done my own thing with him at home. I syringe feed him when he has a bad day and give him water in a dropper. I make sure he's not nauseated with meds and do everything in my power to keep him comfortable and eating on his own. I never had a $ ceiling per se, but I'm basing what I do on his age and comfort factor.