I would spend what I could comfortably afford but, if I had a $50K efund and everything else was all set (retirement/kid's college fund/etc), I would pay up to $10K.
I haven't had to use the high deductible plan (thankfully!) but for the first 2 years I had it I bought Wellness credits (basically I paid $150 for $200 worth of "credits" toward wellness exams/medications/vaccinations) and I found the customer service excellent and reimbursements were super fast. I cancelled the credits this year simple because I wanted to cut back on monthly bills but I would recommend them if you don't mind the extra up front expense.
Well ya know, there are a lot of other men who I could potentially marry and lots of kids out there in the world who need homes too. Good food for thought if my husband or child ever gets sick and it's expensive to treat them!
(FWIW I see what you're saying, but to say replacing a sick pet is a solution is pretty insensitive. They're not interchangeable).
Yes because no doubt men are about as useful as cats. It's a perfect comparison.
I didn't say anyone else should 'replace' a sick pet with a new one. I just said that is what *I* would do. Insensitive = logical in my world, your world has different standards.
My point is that many (most?) people consider a pet a family member. It's not about usefulness. I don't want another dog, I want MY dog. I'm guessing the OP feels the same way.
I would go up to $10K. Maybe $15K or so. I would not, however, expend all of a $50K efund on a sick pet. I might have been willing to go higher pre-kids, but at this point going broke to save the dog would mean money that wouldn't be available for my kids, and my kids matter more. I realize that is probably a flamable opinion. We love our dog, but we would not pull out all the stops for him to the same degree that we would a human member of our family.
My short answer is that it depends. I have spent up to $3,500. At that point, I felt like the vets were using my pup as a science experiment and we had him brought home where he could be with loved ones for his final days. It was a matter of 24 hours. Peanut died in my in-laws' home while we were on our honeymoon.
Post by Velvetshady on Jan 2, 2013 14:39:08 GMT -5
In the example given, I'd pay. To me, it all depends on the potential outcome for the pet.
We sent ~$7000 in a couple weeks on one cat. He was ~3 years old, it was a one time surgery to permanently fix a problem, and his quality of life now is wonderful. We had another cat that was 10+ years old, we paid to have tests done to figure out why her leg was in pain. It was bone cancer. We kept her comfortable, gave her lots of loving, and knew it was her time when she had no interest in tuna. We could have had her leg amputated and done treatments and hope it hadn't spread past that one leg, but the odds were so tiny, it seemed worst to put her through that just to keep her around for us.
For us, the decision was based on the cat and their future, not on the money it would cost. But we don't have kids beyond the furry kind to care for.
I might have been willing to go higher pre-kids, but at this point going broke to save the dog would mean money that wouldn't be available for my kids, and my kids matter more. I realize that is probably a flamable opinion. We love our dog, but we would not pull out all the stops for him to the same degree that we would a human member of our family.
I was going to say basically the same thing so I'll be flamed with you. We definitely would have been willing to spend more pre-kid, but now our priorities have changed. We wouldn't leave the dog in the street to die or anything but we would for sure not run through all or even half of our efund. We simply can't afford to when we have a child (and another on the way) to consider and not just the two of us.
I really don't know what I would spend. It would depend so much on the circumstances.
The thought of having to put a price tag on my pup makes me so sad. If I could be sure that I wasn't doing it for me, and that he would be the happy little guy he is afterwards, then I'd have a hard time saying no at any point. I mean, I spend so much on random crap that doesn't do anything for me, but Jiggles brings me so much happiness, why wouldn't I spend the money.
And yeah, I could just get a new dog, but I don't think it is that easy. Dogs are like people, they all have their own personalities and quirks. Mr. Jiggles is so perfect for us, he is trained, I know his issues and hangups, he knows us. Getting a dog like him is one in a million (hyperbole, I know, but I really feel like no other pup will be able to live up to him)
I would spend whatever it took in this situation. But I am a crazy person when it comes to my dogs.
Yeah, this is me too. And I'm considering getting pet insurance on the dog now.
Check out Pet Best as well.
I have it for both my dogs, 100 deductible per incident, and after that they pay me back 80% for all illnesses/accidents. Worth its weight in gold, pay about 20 a dog a month.
I can't answer this because it freaks me out too much. Certaintly $10k if they were definitely going to get better. I'd put it on a card if I had to. I love my babies.
Given the 50k emergency fund, I'd pay up to a thousand. However, with my actual finances, I would probably spend under $500.
you should never get a pet
The MRI I paid for today was $3200 (well I paid 60% today as a deposit). We've paid $500 in the last two weeks on three vet visits and medication alone. lol.
Post by whitemerlot on Jan 2, 2013 15:50:28 GMT -5
I had to put my very, very expensive dog to sleep this week. We had fixed everything we could and he was worth every penny. I miss the heck out of him.
Given the 50k emergency fund, I'd pay up to a thousand. However, with my actual finances, I would probably spend under $500.
you should never get a pet
Or make sure you have insurance.
I've spent more than $500 in one random emergency vet visit. $500 isn't much and you're probably going to end up with a dead pet if you aren't willing to spend even that much to treat them.
That being said, I don't really know how much we would spend at one time given that we don't have much extra in our finances and a relatively bare bones e-fund since she has some chronic health conditions that we are already managing.
She is only 3 but with her daily meds and monthly shot she will live a long and healthy life. Add more on top of that and I am not sure what the max cost we would be willing to absorb would be, especially given that the expenses relating to her treatment and monitoring are already several thousand a year and that doesn't include the general "maintenance costs" which easily adds another couple of thousand.
FWIW, If you had asked me before I got Willow if I was willing to spend as much on a dog as we do every month, I would have said you are crazy. Now, I don't even blink an eye.
ETA: We just spent $300 today at the vet - which isn't unusual for our vet visits. So to the person who said they would only spend $500...please rethink getting any pets. $500 these days isn't that much.
I've spent more than $500 in one random emergency vet visit. $500 isn't much and you're probably going to end up with a dead pet if you aren't willing to spend even that much to treat them.
Just going to say t hat as well. Have a spare credit card ready and when you get reimbursed pay it off. One ER visit is well over 500, most of the time and for us just to get the vet out for my horses is 100 to start....
I've spent $20K in 2012 on a sick, 14 year old dog who will be not be with us much longer. I don't care. I'd spend every penny on her. She's the best dog ever.
In the scenario you describe, >$10k seems fine. With those numbers, I might go as high as $15-20k if it were essentially guaranteed to have a complete recovery. I would spend less on an old animal with a short life expectancy anyway or one for whom recovery is less assured. It is tragic that so many other pets out there need good homes, too, but as someone else pointed out they are not interchangeable. There is no question in my mind that I would go bankrupt if it were necessary for DH's health/life (though of course we have health insurance), even though the money I'd be spending could theoretically be used to save the lives of a lot of malnourished children around the world.
Post by flymetothemoon on Jan 2, 2013 16:21:00 GMT -5
I'm sorry to hear about his potential Wobbler's diagnosis. I went through that a few years ago with my horse. Given your circumstances, I'd spend the money. However, I'm no stranger to spending this much for care of an animal. My horse is definitely enjoying retirement now but was no stranger to MRIs and cat scans for serious issues in his younger days. What always tipped the scale for me was 1) whether or not I had tried other available options and second opinions to rule out potential other causes and 2) his quality of life before, during, and after the care. I accept that some treatments are worse then the disease and that I'm my pet's guardian who must objectively keep his best interests in mind even when I know that may mean it is time for me to say goodbye. As difficult as that can be, I find comfort in knowing that I've honored him by doing the right thing just as he has always cared for me over the years.
Good luck to both of you! I'm glad to know the potential outcomes are positive for him and that you caught it early!
Under the circumstances you've set, absolutely! But the ML poll that appears to be a spin off of this... No. My efund isn't that big and DH and I have much loftier goals that extend far beyond the life expectancy of our dogs. I love my dogs more than pretty much anyone else, but sometimes logic has to come into play.
I'd absolutely finance treatment if I felt it was going to be worthwhile though.
ETA: I hope you guys have a great outcome and they are able to get your pup back to full health. My heart breaks for you having to go through something like this. There is no worse feeling.
We spent well over $10k on our 10 year old dog (and he's a 'large breed' - pit mix but only 65 lbs) over the last year for cancer. His prognosis was good but not guaranteed by any means. I am actually weaning him off the ongoing meds he had been on and am nervous it is going to come back.
I consider my pet my family member and would/will do everything in my power to help them. We just adopted from the shelter and our dog has a lot of fear issues, anxiety and no training. We are most likely going to pay a certified behavior specialist to give her in-home training to get her where she needs to be. I didn't even blink at paying for this.
The one time I would hesitate is if a surgery is extremely expensive and would not give them a good quality of life. If it's just going to prolong the inevitable and they would still be in pain/miserable, then that's something I would have to think about. Not that it wouldn't be worth it to have more time with them, but if they are still miserable, I wouldn't want to prolong it, you know?