Post by purpleminion on Mar 1, 2015 18:19:19 GMT -5
Updated in thread.
My dog is sick. We don't know what's wrong with him. He can't be off his anti-nausea meds for more than 24 hours before he starts puking and shaking again. Now he has an ulcer, so we're giving him meds for that too. The vet is stumped. We've done blood work (all good), an x-ray (showed inflamed intestines, and a possible mass on his spleen but turned out to be nothing), a spleen ultrasound (all good), an abdominocentisis (which rendered no fluid), and tested his feces for parasites (none found). I don't know what else to do. In the last three weeks, we've spent $750 on him and we still have no idea what's going on. I am going to be talking to the vet tomorrow, but the only thing left to do may be exploratory surgery ($$$) and I don't even know if that would solve anything. I'm so afraid that it will just confirm that he has something that can't be fixed and we'll have to euthanize him anyway.
My question for you is this: How far would you go? Would you spend thousands of dollars to find out what is wrong with your dog? I don't want to euthanize him if we don't have to, but getting a diagnosis will be $$$ and we might not be able to do anything about it anyway. You guys have seen my budget. We don't have a lot left over at the end of the month. This is all going on the credit card that we had just finally managed to pay off. I am just so stressed out about all of this. It's been hell on us, and he's miserable. At what point would you say, "no more"? I'm afraid I will not be able to live with myself if I don't do everything I possibly can, and I really don't want to lose my dog because of money. I just don't know how much is too much. I really need some advice. My husband is no help because he has a "whatever" attitude about pets.
He's 7 years old (almost 8) if that makes a difference.
Post by CallingAllAngels on Mar 1, 2015 18:23:12 GMT -5
I stopped counting at around $6K for our 7 year old dog's cancer treatments. And we knew she was terminal the entire time.
But, even though she was very sick, she had a great quality of life until the very end. If we thought she was suffering, we wouldnt have done the treatments.
So, in the right circumstaces, I would pay a lot. I think her surgery and biopsy was about $2,500.
Post by midnightmare81 on Mar 1, 2015 18:54:49 GMT -5
I agree with PP. The age is important but it would still depend on the size/type of dog. I am usually fairly conservative with treatment, especially with an older dog.
I completely understand what you mean when it comes to having to put a monetary value on where to stop. It feels like your putting a value on their life but you still need to pay that bill at the end of the day. It is a double edge sword. You don't do it and feel forever like maybe there was something more, or you do it and it ends up being inconclusive or non treatable your no better off and your pocket is much emptier.
I can't say how much without more information. Breed/size, financial situation as well as health prior to this issue all factor in. If it were my dog right now we would spend upwards of $5k, but that's because he is insured so we would only pay a small portion of that amount. I know that doesn't help you now and MM has mixed views on it but for us it's not a lot per month for piece of mind that I won't have to make that hard decision. Might be something to look into for other pets in the future.
Have you looked into care credit? They usually do x amount of time at 0%, so at least that should take some of the pressure off knowing your not paying a ton in interest while you work on paying it off.
Lastly, I'm so sorry your going through this. I would be a complete mess if my dog was sick and we didn't know what was wrong. Just know that whatever you end up doing has no bearing on how much you love him and all he knows is that you love him and take care of him.
Post by imojoebunny on Mar 1, 2015 19:35:30 GMT -5
I would spend what I could comfortably afford, I would probably skip a vacation to spend the money on fixing my dog, but not saving in my 401k. I would not go into debt for it.
I might take the information from the test and take him to a different vet.
He's a Cairn Terrier. He's always been in good health before this.
Does the vet have any ideas on what it could be? How much are we talking for surgery? Can you afford it or will it take years of scrounging to do?
He has is age/size going for him. I would probably do the surgery but as a last resort. What about an untra sound or MRI? Part of me says surgery since you may end up there and be further out of pocket just for the same result, other part says avoid opening him up if possible... What is the vets reason for surgery as the next step vs other testing?
My dog is almost 7 and I have had him since he was about 6 weeks old. He is my baby and I would not put a cap on what I would spend. In your situation I would do the exploratory surgery and what I decided to do afterwards would depend on quality of life, not money.
I do not make a lot of money, but this is something I would be willing to take on some debt for. But I also recognize that I am a crazy pet person and know that not everyone feels the same way.
I ended up spending close to $5000 to diagnose my cat (feline lukemia). JUST becuase we were trying to avoid surgery and we ended up there anyway. But I know I couldn't have lived with the thought of "what if it was something simple to fix"
When we got large/giant breed dogs, we got insurance.
When one of said giant breed dogs swallowed a silicone cupcake liner, the vet wanted to xray him everyday for a week, at $350 an xray (he has to be sedated) Told them NOPE go in and get it because that's where we're going to end up anyway. Good thing I'm cheap. They caught his stomach starting to twist.
So ... We call it our $4050 cupcake liner.
All of that to say, if he's young and will go through the surgery OK, Id go see what's wrong.
He's a Cairn Terrier. He's always been in good health before this.
Does the vet have any ideas on what it could be? How much are we talking for surgery? Can you afford it or will it take years of scrounging to do?
He has is age/size going to him for sure. I would probably do the surgery if possible. His small size means hopefully the surgery won't be as $$$
She said it could be IBD, but we aren't sure. Right now, he's on the prescription dog food, which is about as bland as it gets, and he's showing no improvement. We tried another food before that and it didn't work either. The only way to diagnose IBD is to get a sample of his intestine. I will talk to the vet on Monday and we'll see if she prescribes any steroids or anything else that is typically used to treat IBD. We will most likely experiment with different IBD treatments before we resort to surgery. I'm just not terribly optimistic based on how awful he was when we tried to take him off his anti-nausea meds (and now he's not doing great even while on the meds, but I think the stomach protectant he's taking for the ulcer is making it so that the anti-nausea meds aren't absorbing completely into his system).
I'm just so worried because we've spent so much already and we haven't even done anything big yet. And we still have no answers, although we have ruled a few things out.
Does the vet have any ideas on what it could be? How much are we talking for surgery? Can you afford it or will it take years of scrounging to do?
He has is age/size going to him for sure. I would probably do the surgery if possible. His small size means hopefully the surgery won't be as $$$
She said it could be IBD, but we aren't sure. Right now, he's on the prescription dog food, which is about as bland as it gets, and he's showing no improvement. We tried another food before that and it didn't work either. The only way to diagnose IBD is to get a sample of his intestine. I will talk to the vet on Monday and we'll see if she prescribes any steroids or anything else that is typically used to treat IBD. We will most likely experiment with different IBD treatments before we resort to surgery. I'm just not terribly optimistic based on how awful he was when we tried to take him off his anti-nausea meds (and now he's not doing great even while on the meds, but I think the stomach protectant he's taking for the ulcer is making it so that the anti-nausea meds aren't absorbing completely into his system).
I'm just so worried because we've spent so much already and we haven't even done anything big yet. And we still have no answers, although we have ruled a few things out.
What food do they have him on? Even most prescription foods are basically crap.
Have you tried plain rice and chicken or ground beef? That should help since it's easy on the stomach and can help rule out food allergies
Interestingly enough I had a friend whose dog presented with a similar issue. I'm trying to reach her now to clarify how similar the situation is.
My number is well below most on the board. I don't think you're doing anything wrong as long as you keep him comfortable and have him put down if you can't do that.
We're doomed to outlive our pets, one way or another. I won't jeopardize my finances to extend that a little. I know I'm cold and practical when it comes to pets, though.
What food do they have him on? Even most prescription foods are basically crap.
Have you tried plain rice and chicken or ground beef? That should help since it's easy on the stomach and can help rule out food allergies
Interestingly enough I had a friend whose dog presented with a similar issue. I'm trying to reach her now to clarify how similar the situation is.
Hills Prescription Diet i/d and before that we tried Purina for sensitive skin and stomach (I know Purina isn't that great, but we figured we'd start with the less expensive stuff and work our way up).
The vet did mention the chicken or beef with white rice, but said the i/d is pretty much the same thing.
I would love to hear what ended up happening with your friends dog. Thank you for looking in to it!
We spent probably $10k (I didn't add it up but it was a $4k surgery plus over a year of treatment) when my dog had cancer. He was 11 and we've had three more good years. He's started going downhill and I think this will be his last year with us but it was definitely worth it. We are definitely dog people and will spend as much as we can afford.
Honestly, we would spend a lot. Like, a lot. Our dog was diagnosed with very late stage lung cancer in 2013. At the time of diagnosis, we didn't realize how advanced it was. I still remember very clearly after the vet gave us the diagnosis telling H (while sobbing) that I wanted to use our entire house down payment fund for chemo. In hindsight, that probably would have been dumb, but we didn't end up doing it anyway. Chemo wouldn't have bought him much time and I was able to be a little more rational once that conversation came up. Point being, I would (and have) spent thousands to treat my dogs.
In your situation, yes, I would do exploratory surgery. 7 is really young for your dog and I would beat myself up if I just let it go. We all have different thresholds though. What I would do doesn't necessarily mean you should too. We don't make a ton of money, but we prioritize our dog over a lot of things. It's really very ok if you don't or can't. I suppose, if I had to put a number on it, I would use our entire e-fund to determine what was wrong and treat the problem. Our efund is pretty small though ($5k).
aMrsin09, we have a similar story. Our dog ate an entire (costco-sized!) loaf of bread that she stole off the counter. She's a beagle, so I don't know how she got it, but it sure did fill up her little belly. We paid for an xray and induced vomiting. We then bought a bread box, as this was the third time she had stolen bread from the counter (we didn't find out about the second incident until after this and weren't sure it was her the first time). We call it our $300 bread box.
eta: I agree with others about trying another vet and switching to a much higher quality, grain free food before doing surgery though. There are a lot of possibilities out there. Do some research on your own too. I actually diagnosed our current dog with cushing's disease. The vet told me there was no way (normal blood work, no other diagnostic indicators) and she had "never seen" an atypical case. I pursued it with a specialty vet anyway because I was pretty well convinced and it turned out I was right. FWIW, this all went down early last year and I have spent thousands on her in the last year. We had about $900 in vet expenses a couple of months ago. DH was like, "I don't even want to know," when I told him. lol
I wouldn't spend another dime before trying straight chicken and rice. Prescription food is (usually) crap.
I looked at the ingredients in that. Its full of crap, most notably has corn in the first ingredient. its not at ALL the same thing as chicken and rice.
Post by InBetweenDays on Mar 1, 2015 20:29:57 GMT -5
I don't even want to know how much we've spent over the years on our two dogs. The big ticket items were TPLO surgery ($5,500) and some emergency vet services (most recently $1,500 last month). The most recent e-vet was because we thought our dog was having a seizure but it was idiopathic vestibular disease. It's an inner ear issue that can affect balance and nausea. Any way your dog could have that? (Ours had very severe symptoms but not all are that severe). He's also on Rimadyl ($1,200/year with meds and blood work).
But one of our dogs has transitional cell carcinoma right now and we made the very difficult decision to not do chemo. He's otherwise in great health, but he's 13.5, it would cost $6,000, and maybe buy us an additional 2-3 months.
Hope you can figure out what is going on with your pup.
Post by bostonmichelle on Mar 1, 2015 20:46:34 GMT -5
I'd spend a lot. We've spent almost $1k on vet bills for our newly adopted 7.5 year old american bulldog to just get him up to date on vaccines and help with his infected sores and stuff. I don't think I have a cap I'd spend. I would spend as much to exhaust all options but I'm a crazy dog person. I wouldn't want to ever wonder if I did enough. Can you work out a payment plan with your vet or get a care credit card? I think they have better rates than some traditional cards.
I don't even want to know how much we've spent over the years on our two dogs. The big ticket items were TPLO surgery ($5,500) and some emergency vet services (most recently $1,500 last month). The most recent e-vet was because we thought our dog was having a seizure but it was idiopathic vestibular disease. It's an inner ear issue that can affect balance and nausea. Any way your dog could have that? (Ours had very severe symptoms but not all are that severe). He's also on Rimadyl ($1,200/year with meds and blood work).
But one of our dogs has transitional cell carcinoma right now and we made the very difficult decision to not do chemo. He's otherwise in great health, but he's 13.5, it would cost $6,000, and maybe buy us an additional 2-3 months.
Hope you can figure out what is going on with your pup.
I know my boss's dog has tumors on her spleen and liver not sure if they are cancerous or not because he didn't want to do the testing since he knew he wouldn't do the chemo since she is almost 13. He's changed her diet and she was given weeks maximum at the end of October. She is doing amazingly well and looks like her puppy self. If you want me to send you more info at all let me know. He brings her to the office so she is like a 3rd dog of my own and I'm overly invested in her health.
I don't even want to know how much we've spent over the years on our two dogs. The big ticket items were TPLO surgery ($5,500) and some emergency vet services (most recently $1,500 last month). The most recent e-vet was because we thought our dog was having a seizure but it was idiopathic vestibular disease. It's an inner ear issue that can affect balance and nausea. Any way your dog could have that? (Ours had very severe symptoms but not all are that severe). He's also on Rimadyl ($1,200/year with meds and blood work).
But one of our dogs has transitional cell carcinoma right now and we made the very difficult decision to not do chemo. He's otherwise in great health, but he's 13.5, it would cost $6,000, and maybe buy us an additional 2-3 months.
Hope you can figure out what is going on with your pup.
I know my boss's dog has tumors on her spleen and liver not sure if they are cancerous or not because he didn't want to do the testing since he knew he wouldn't do the chemo since she is almost 13. He's changed her diet and she was given weeks maximum at the end of October. She is doing amazingly well and looks like her puppy self. If you want me to send you more info at all let me know. He brings her to the office so she is like a 3rd dog of my own and I'm overly invested in her health.
Thanks, but we've had the cells tested and they are cancerous. The tumor is in his bladder, near where the ureter enters the bladder. It is getting bigger slowly, and because of the location will eventually block the ureters, at which point we'll have to say goodbye.
What food do they have him on? Even most prescription foods are basically crap.
Have you tried plain rice and chicken or ground beef? That should help since it's easy on the stomach and can help rule out food allergies
Interestingly enough I had a friend whose dog presented with a similar issue. I'm trying to reach her now to clarify how similar the situation is.
Hills Prescription Diet i/d and before that we tried Purina for sensitive skin and stomach (I know Purina isn't that great, but we figured we'd start with the less expensive stuff and work our way up).
The vet did mention the chicken or beef with white rice, but said the i/d is pretty much the same thing.
I would love to hear what ended up happening with your friends dog. Thank you for looking in to it!
That stuff is all crap. I would feed boiled chicken and white rice or ground beef and white rice. ETA: and the prescription food is not "basically the same thing". Look at the label. Check out www.dogfoodanalysis.com. A great deal of that food is filler like chicken meal, corn, etc.
I'd spend a lot. We've spent almost $1k on vet bills for our newly adopted 7.5 year old american bulldog to just get him up to date on vaccines and help with his infected sores and stuff. I don't think I have a cap I'd spend. I would spend as much to exhaust all options but I'm a crazy dog person. I wouldn't want to ever wonder if I did enough. Can you work out a payment plan with your vet or get a care credit card? I think they have better rates than some traditional cards.
Post by purpleminion on Mar 1, 2015 21:39:21 GMT -5
Okay, I'm going to go boil some chicken and make some rice for his meals tomorrow. I have a ton of ground beef, but it's probably not very lean because it came from my in-laws' farm. Do you think it matters if it's lean or not as long as I rinse it after I cook it?
I'd spend a lot. We've spent almost $1k on vet bills for our newly adopted 7.5 year old american bulldog to just get him up to date on vaccines and help with his infected sores and stuff. I don't think I have a cap I'd spend. I would spend as much to exhaust all options but I'm a crazy dog person. I wouldn't want to ever wonder if I did enough. Can you work out a payment plan with your vet or get a care credit card? I think they have better rates than some traditional cards.
You have a new american bully?! PiX!!!!
I have no idea how to pip on here on my phone. I'm the creep that just facebook friended you tho. There are a couple pics there and I'll send you more.
I have no idea how to pip on here on my phone. I'm the creep that just facebook friended you tho. There are a couple pics there and I'll send you more.
Okay, I'm going to go boil some chicken and make some rice for his meals tomorrow. I have a ton of ground beef, but it's probably not very lean because it came from my in-laws' farm. Do you think it matters if it's lean or not as long as I rinse it after I cook it?
If it's his pancreas, yes, it would matter. Stick with chicken for a week.
Okay, I'm going to go boil some chicken and make some rice for his meals tomorrow. I have a ton of ground beef, but it's probably not very lean because it came from my in-laws' farm. Do you think it matters if it's lean or not as long as I rinse it after I cook it?
Do you mean drain? Yes, drain off the fat. Don't rinse meat! Ever.