What Price To Save Your Pet's Life? SAD UPDATE Pg 3&4

[belle&sebastiansmom]

What is a beloved pet worth?

What's the limit when you're not made of money, when emotionally you want to do everything you can, but what you've spent has already been a hardship financially? Especially when vets don't give very good odds.

 

[Christine]

This is tough.

I've been in this situation a few times.

If I know that the treatment/surgery will save my animal and the animal will have good quality of life after, I'd pretty much go into debt to do it.

However, if it is just to give a few extra months of time, I wouldn't. I had a dog that had bladder cancer. They could not cure it but there were many things I could do to make maybe extend things a few months and then there was the whole holistic approach. In that case, I let things run their course.

My cousin just spent about $10,000 for her beagle who was in early kidney failure. There was a chance that the dog might come out of it, hence, the drastic measures.

 

[Mrs.Toad]

I don't think I can answer that question with a dollar amount. But if it's already a financial hardship, and the odds aren't good, I think I would say it's time to take my pet home, give him a lot of love and let him go.

I'm so sorry.

 

[Jockaroo]

You can't put a price tag on love. What you have to focus on is the dog's quality of life. When quality is gone, it is time to let go.

If you are in a situation that involves highly specialized care, the costs can quickly go into the 5-figure mark. I am one that will do anything for my dog(s), but we did go too far with our first little girl. Money wasn't an issue and we kept treating while ignoring that her quality of life was slipping away. A huge amount of money was spent, my dog was tested, cut on and poked with countless needles for the same result; my baby girl died.

If the vets are not giving a good prognosis, do what you can for comfort measures and when they fail to work--release the spirit from a broken body--the hardest, most selfless gift you can grant. He/she will wait for you on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge.

I'm sorry you are facing this. It is hard. Tests and treatments that won't help, only stress your dog and put you in a financial hardship. You have to do what is right for your situation.

 

[Jennasis]

What is a beloved pet worth?

What's the limit when you're not made of money, when emotionally you want to do everything you can, but what you've spent has already been a hardship financially? Especially when vets don't give very good odds.

We have dealt with this repeatedly. And my answer is always the same. IF the animal can make a full recovery and have full functioning quality of life, then I will find a way to pay for the medical costs.

We have a 13 year old greyhound with plasma cell carcinoma. A tumor. The size of a large baked potato, growing in her lower jaw. It is growing at an alarm9ing rate. This particular type of cancer responds superbly to surgery. BUT, the risks involved with performing surgery on a 13 year old dog...a greyhound, with their issues with anesthesia, are just not feasible to undertake. Chemo? She's 13...do I want to destroy her quality of life for a few extra months??

So we elected to ride it out. At best I figure maybe we have until May before the tumor is so big that she can't eat...or it gorws so large that it splits open.

We've spent thousands to fix horses, who had superb recovery stats.

You have to weigh ALL the evidence.

 

[Disney Doll]

This is tough.

I've been in this situation a few times.

If I know that the treatment/surgery will save my animal and the animal will have good quality of life after, I'd pretty much go into debt to do it.

What she said.

It is a quality of life issue for the pet, and the pet's general health, age and post-treatment viability have to be taken into account.

I wouldn't put a beloved pet through a lot of scary procedures to relegate them to a lousy qualityof life because I couldn't bear to let them go.

 

[rszdtrvl]

We have a dog with Invertebral Disk Disease. She, at any moment, could become paralized. If that happens, we have less than 24 hours to get her to an emergency clinic for surgery.

Cost would be $6,000.

Would we do it? If surgery would save her from being paralized, yes. In a heartbeat.

 

[Robinrs]

I had a cat that I called my "small car" because he cost about $300 - $400 a month when he was diagnosed with cancer.

He was diagnosed at 11 and he lived to be 17. I'd do it over in a heartbeat.

 

[Kika]

That's a really tough question. I don't know your financial situation, so I wouldn't presume to tell you what amount of $ would be too much for you; however, I can share my story with you:

A few years ago, one of my cats was sick. I had about $750 worth of tests done (blood test, ultrasound), and the vet determined that he had lymphoma. I agreed to surgery to remove a tumor in his stomach, which was about $1500. After he came out of surgery, he went downhill. He wouldn't eat or drink and would shake (not sure if they were seizures or what). The vet said we could put in a feeding tube to help him eat. I asked what the prognosis was. She said that if we can get him to start eating again and start chemo, he would probably only live 4-6 months more. At that point, I made the decision to put him down because I didn't want to put him through anymore and could see that he was in poor shape.

In my case, the vet didn't tell me the prognosis wasn't good until after the surgery. Had I known that, I probably wouldn't have put him through the surgery in the first place. This was a few years back, and to this day, I feel guilty for putting him though the surgery.

I have another cat with hyperthyroidism, and I spend about $25 a month on pills for her plus about $100 every six months for vet visits/blood work. She is very old by cat standards (17 yrs old), but still has a good quality of life (eats, drinks, walks around, not suffering, etc.) so I don't mind spending that.

I'm sure you will make the right decision for your pet. I'm sorry you are going through this.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

When we travel, we pretty much give the following instructions to our family members and my bestfriend (who is a Vet). Spend whatever is necessary to keep our dog in good health; if though there is no quality of life, please do not let her suffer.

 

[SandrA9810]

I had my dog put to sleep last Christmas from a tumor. Every vet I went to said that they wouldn't do the proceedure, and if I managed to find some one, it would've been in the thousands.

I just couldn't come up with money like that, even though I thought she had a strong will and could recover from it. But all the vets pretty much said that it would only give her a few more months.

But the tumor kept growing, it would get like these blisters and pop. She'd bleed all over the place. And eventually the blisters turned into one gigantic one. On top of that it smelled horrible and she was getting a bath (rinse off really), just about every day. And one morning, I found her sprawled out on the kitchen floor, and I just knew she had reached her limit.

I miss her terribly, and loved her soo much. But sometimes there's just not much left you can do.

 

[MouseJunkie]

I've been going through this as well. My golden is 13 and was diagnosed with bladder cancer. I did not want to go the chemo/radiation route because of his age, too invasive. I've been giving him an anti-inflammatory along with antibiotics. We're doing as much as we can to keep his quality of life and make him as comfortable and happy as possible. I'd rather have him happy for as long as possible. I found out his diagnosis in August and he's doing quite well, with the exception of when he won't take his meds. He went through a period where he wouldn't take his meds at all no matter what I put them in, he spit them out. I thought we were going to lose him when he wouldn't take them. We've put them in everything from pill pockets, to cheese, to donuts, cake, pizza...You name it we've put his pills in it. He's smart guy.

You just keep them happy for as long as you can and you say we did the best we could for as long as we could.

 

[mackeysmom]

Between medications, supplies and prescription food, I spend roughly $300 - $400 a month on Mackey.

It is especially tough now, since I'm not working - but I do what I have to do. He has a good quality of life - eats, plays, sleeps, fights with his brother, etc.

If it means that I have to do without a luxury, or tighten my belt somewhere else - that's what I'll do. And that's what I'll continue to do as long as he's responding to all of his treatments or until I've exhausted all possible treatment options.

 

[Pakey]

If the doctor's recommendation is that my pet has a good chance of a good life after the procedure, I would spend whatever it took. I took on that responsibility when I adopted the pet. If the doctor did not think it would change its life or that the procedure could do more harm than good, I would allow my pet to live the balance of its life in the most humane way possible.

One of my Cresteds has had 2 eye surgeries and takes several hundred dollars of medication a month (and will have to for the remainder of his life) but his quality of life is improved as a result.

 

[Tinkermommy]

I had to let go of two wonderful dogs in the past three years. Both were older and I knew they were gradually getting worse.

It's a very hard decision and when I look back at it now, I think I kept them around longer than was good for them. I really didn't want to let them go.

Regardless of money, if the doctor's are not able to really help and/or cure the problem then you really need to think about your pet and what's best for them.

I wish you all the best.

 

[puffkin]

We just faced this same dilemma. I lost my job last year and am currently temping. DH just lost his job a few weeks ago. Our 7 year old beagle was having some pretty classic symptoms of kidney failure (hair loss, increased thrist, etc), so we had a bunch of tests and xray done. $500 we didn't have. Thankfully everything turned out fine and his symptoms have improved over the last week so we are just taking a wait and see approach as the vet can't find anything wrong with him at this point

If the diagnosis was kidney failure, we would not have done anything at this point except to keep him comfortable. The other possibility was Cushings disease and that would have been fairly expensive to treat BUT he would have had a good quality of life with no real affect on his life prognosis. In that case we would have done whatever it cost to treat him and give him the best quality of life possible.

I also have a cat who I spent $1000 on to remove all her teeth last year. She was only 5 so it was well worth it. The vet said sadly many people would have put her down. There is absolutely nothing wrong with her except that she has no teeth. After her gums heeled, she has been fine. I do feed her wet (which is expensive) because it easier for her to eat, but if push comes to shove with our budget, I can give her dry. She can eat it, it just takes her awhile.

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

depends on how you feel about the animal.



do you see it as just an animal/pet?? or do you see it as a part of your family??

i see my pets as a part of my family, so i would do whatever it took to save them.

 

[Mermaid02]

If the vet is not hopeful I would not put my animal through the treatments. This is a GENERAL and there are variables.

 

[akcire]

A couple of years ago I won a "major award" at work that had a big cash bonus. In my mind I had the money spent many ways--trip to disney, new landscaping, Alaskan cruise, etc.

My cat Cooper (6 years old) got horribly sick with a blocked urethra (even though he has always been on high quality food) on a Sunday and needed to be in the animal hospital for 7 days--you don't want to know the total bill. Essentially my bonus bought my shelter cat back from the brink of death, or as my husband likes to point out--we paid one price to adopt him and 100 times the price to save him.

When the emergency vet explained the "estimate" I thought they were kidding. First the amount of money was crazy and second it's a cat not a car-why do I need an estimate! The vet was pretty certain that he would have a full recovery so we gave the go ahead. Unfortunately this blockage is common to reoccur and did about 9 months later, luckily I was able to "unblock" him the second time and take him to our regular vet for some $20 antibiotics.

So how much would we spend? ALOT

Would we do it again? Yes, but not if it meant sacrificing a human need (not a want), nor if it was only likely to add a couple of months and involve lots of animal suffering.

When Cooper is naughty (and he is mischievous), my husband will often lecture him on how lucky he is to have been adopted by suckers.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

I recently spent $1,500 to fix one of my cats. Of the people I've told, most thought I was crazy. But then I think well, would I not take a Disney trip this year if it meant I would save my cat's life... absolutely.

I do not have a dollar amount set and I certainly do not have a lot of money but I would sacrifice a lot of things to save the life of my pets. No internet, no TV, no music, no car, no vacations... I would be OK with sacrificing all of these things if I needed to. Luckily though, I haven't been put in that situation yet.