Our dogs are members of our family and there's really no limit on what we would spend. April 2012 we spent over $11,000 for 5 days at the emergency vet for one of our dogs - she had to have emergency surgery or else we would have lost her. She was only 7, so not old for a lab, and I just couldn't put her down without trying everything to save her life and it's the best 11k I've ever spent - she is healthy as ever now and that surgery saved her life.
If a pet was at the end of its life and no matter how much money was spent would its life get better then that would be a different decision. To me pets are worth every single cent even if it means charging to a credit card and paying it off later.
Post by SusanBAnthony on Jul 8, 2013 6:38:20 GMT -5
I have a limit on what I would spend, and it is probably around 1000$. That has nothing to do with the amount of cash we could access in an actual emergency, but I am not going to sacrifice the financial security of my children for a pet. If we spent the emergency funds on an animal they aren't going to magically get replaced, it would take years. Or never.
It is easy for all the "rich" people on GBCN to say there is no limit, or the limit is thousands or ten thousands, or apparently even millions. But if that is the bar for pet ownership, then 99% of animals out there are going to be euthanized.
We put down our 11 year old golden due to a suspected stomach obstruction probably due to eating something moronic, which he did on the regular. It was an easy decision since he had been declining anyway. The argument that "you knew the dog ate things, it is your responsibility to fix it!" makes me laugh. Like I could stop a dog hell bent on eating dumb crap! yah right. If they are determined to eat stupid shit, they will, no matter how careful you try to be. All it takes is one time of being late to work and running out the house without shutting a closet door all the way, and boom, all the socks got eaten. Not that I would know or anything
I've not yet been in a situation to have to decide this, but I can't think of a limit for us. It would depend more on her quality of life than on a dollar amount.
Have you left the dogs before? (Sorry didn't read all the responses so I don't know if you already answered this) I know when we go out of town, but the end of our trip, ours doesn't eat much of anything either. If everything else seems normal, maybe watch yours for a day or two to see if he starts eating again?
"he is lethargic, looks skinny, and isn't eating. She offered him rice cooked in chicken broth and we have tried giving him other people food this evening, and he's not interested. Oh, and his lower stomach is tender. He cries when you push on it."
I'd get him checked out and go from there. Poor guy, I hope he feels better soon.
I have a limit on what I would spend, and it is probably around 1000$. That has nothing to do with the amount of cash we could access in an actual emergency, but I am not going to sacrifice the financial security of my children for a pet. If we spent the emergency funds on an animal they aren't going to magically get replaced, it would take years. Or never.
This.
Even when single/childless I always had limits simply because I did not have thousands of $$ to spend. Luckily I was never faced with a serious medical issue with them.
I also have to say I don't love the "if you won't spend every last dime you can get your hands on you shouldn't have a pet" vibe. Pets outnumber people exponentially in this country. Where exactly will even more animals go? I don't think there is anything wrong with opening your home to an animal who would otherwise be PTS or dumped somewhere to give them years of live they wouldn't have had a chance to have previously but limiting what you and your family can and will spend financially. This may be a UO.
I also have to say I don't love the "if you won't spend every last dime you can get your hands on you shouldn't have a pet" vibe. Pets outnumber people exponentially in this country. Where exactly will even more animals go? I don't think there is anything wrong with opening your home to an animal who would otherwise be PTS or dumped somewhere to give them years of live they wouldn't have had a chance to have previously but limiting what you and your family can and will spend financially. This may be a UO.
What I'm, personally, pissy about is the fact that OP is so flippant with "well he's drinking water, I'll let him suffer through the night. If he's alive tomorrow morning, I'll take him in" (obviously not a direct quote). You take your animal, that is in pain, into the emergency vet ASAP and you pay that bill. An e-vet is going to ask you, ultimately, what you want to do. You decide from there. But the standard price for taking the animal there + x-rays/whatever is between 100 and 500. Then you determine what kind of problem it is. (This is where it adds up and people drop thousands, because they then made a choice but taking them to the e-vet is at least, the very least she could do.)
OP didn't seem very interested in this dog or wanting to take it to the e-vet because it costs money. Well no shit, sick pets do.
I also have to say I don't love the "if you won't spend every last dime you can get your hands on you shouldn't have a pet" vibe. Pets outnumber people exponentially in this country. Where exactly will even more animals go? I don't think there is anything wrong with opening your home to an animal who would otherwise be PTS or dumped somewhere to give them years of live they wouldn't have had a chance to have previously but limiting what you and your family can and will spend financially. This may be a UO.
What I'm, personally, pissy about is the fact that OP is so flippant with "well he's drinking water, I'll let him suffer through the night. If he's alive tomorrow morning, I'll take him in" (obviously not a direct quote). You take your animal, that is in pain, into the emergency vet ASAP and you pay that bill. An e-vet is going to ask you, ultimately, what you want to do. You decide from there. But the standard price for taking the animal there + x-rays/whatever is between 100 and 500. Then you determine what kind of problem it is.Â
OP didn't seem very interested in this dog or wanting to take it to the e-vet because it costs money. Well no shit, sick pets do.Â
That I won't argue at all- the pup should be seen as soon as possible. Dogs don't always convey they are in pain as a mode of survival- that dog could have really been hurting and didn't let on. Sorry, I was only addressing the $ question in my answers- you are exactly right.
Yes pets outnumber people. Still doesn't mean my pet is disposable to me. Different people have different priorities when it comes to pets and I know that. The question was how much would *you* spend. Just because I don't have an set dollar amount, doesn't mean I expect that of anyone else. It's a highly individual decision.
To be honest, I have no idea how much we would spend for a single incident/treatment. It would depend on a variety of factors including our our financial state, the prognosis for recovery, the age of our dog, quality of life both long and short term.
Willow, our resident dog, has two chronic conditions that will require regular treatment/testing for the rest of her life. These costs are probably around $1000/year and don't include her regular vet stuff. And we gladly pay it. And will contuinue to pay it for the next 8 years or so. With the treatments/medications, she will have a long and happy life.
What I have an issue with is the arbitrary assignment of a dollar value. If your limit is $1000 and the treatment will cost $1500 with a good long term prognosis, would you not do it because it is over your limit? Even if you have the money? If so, I think that is pretty cold.
I am really sorry you are going through this, that must be really upsetting. Stories like these always cue the water works for me
In terms of my dog, there would be no limit for me. My only limit would be if I came to the realization that keeping her alive would be something that I am doing more for myself and not for her (ie: she was in a lot of pain and I was just keeping her alive because I didn't want to say goodbye.
Post by beautifulfields12 on Jul 8, 2013 8:23:05 GMT -5
I am sorry about your situation, but you need to get this dog to the emergency vet immediately. It could be an obstruction that could be fixed with increased fluids. My little dog used to get into things all of the time. At one point she had an obstruction and the emergency vet hooked her up to IVs and it eventually passed. She was in the vet for 2 days. It all together came to $1,400.
I also have to say I don't love the "if you won't spend every last dime you can get your hands on you shouldn't have a pet" vibe. Pets outnumber people exponentially in this country. Where exactly will even more animals go? I don't think there is anything wrong with opening your home to an animal who would otherwise be PTS or dumped somewhere to give them years of live they wouldn't have had a chance to have previously but limiting what you and your family can and will spend financially. This may be a UO.
I don't understand the argument of there are more pets in this country than people, so therefore if you already own a pet you shouldn't feel inclined to spend a bunch of money on them. How are those things related? By getting my pet care when she is sick, I am not putting more animals into the world. I am taking care of a living, breathing animal that I took responsibility for when I took her into my home.
I agree he's my responsibility. I have actively tried to find him a home and would LOVE to find him a home where he is a part of someone's family. He really is a very sweet dog. He's also been professionally trained (I bartered legal services with a dog trainer who kept him for a week and did intensive training) and would make someone a great pet. I didn't think it would be so hard to find him a good home.
He's sweet and trained and you can't find him a home? Without being snarky, how hard have you tried? Do all of your friends know you are looking for a home? Do you post his adorable mug on facebook? Have you posted him here in case anyone knows someone in the area? Is he on petfinder? Do you ask local petco/petsmarts if you can bring him up on adoption days? Do you put him on craigslist? Check with rescues for any available foster arrangements?
I know that everyone has their financial limit of what they can rationalize spending on a dog, and I don't judge for that. It just strikes me as severely sad that your preface to a question about a dog's medical care was about how he's not really one of the family anyway. You did him a favor by rescuing him, but he deserves to be part of a family, and he deserves your full efforts to make that happen.
I hate to answer because I think it varies so much. Probably quite a bit in the case that I was really attached to the dog, it was young, and the surgery was life-saving vs something that would prolong the life of an old dog only a few months of poor quality of life. I'd spend several thousand on one of my cats at this point if I had to. Sorry about your dog, hopefully it ends up being something minor.
I'm so sad for this dog. The other dogs are mostly inside dogs and he's out on his own or separated in his crate? All dogs ever want is to be with their family. You might not feel like he's family, but he thinks of you that way.
He hangs out with us in the living room for a couple hours each evening, but he is left in the yard during the day while we are at work. The other two dogs have the run of the house when we're gone. If it's a really hot or really cold day we crate him inside during the day. We would also let him have the run of the house if he didn't eat shit, but he does. He's particularly bad about kids toys.
We took him into our vet first thing this morning. The vet said it's a good sign that he's regularly drinking water and keeping it down, and because of this it was okay that we waited until morning to bring him in. They did an x-ray and don't see anything. The vet gave us 2 options: keep him on ivs today and see if he perks up, or exploratory surgery. He recommended that we keep him hydrated with ivs and wait, and says it's very possible that he just ate something like a mushroom that didn't agree with him.
He was well hydrated and not in agony, which is why I didn't take him to the emergency vet. The e-vet near us charges a $500 minimum, so it's not a matter of just going and spending $100 or $200 to get an x-ray. If he hadn't been keeping down water and/or were moaning and in agony, I absolutely would have taken him in last night.
I also have to say I don't love the "if you won't spend every last dime you can get your hands on you shouldn't have a pet" vibe. Pets outnumber people exponentially in this country. Where exactly will even more animals go? I don't think there is anything wrong with opening your home to an animal who would otherwise be PTS or dumped somewhere to give them years of live they wouldn't have had a chance to have previously but limiting what you and your family can and will spend financially. This may be a UO.
I don't understand the argument of there are more pets in this country than people, so therefore if you already own a pet you shouldn't feel inclined to spend a bunch of money on them. How are those things related? By getting my pet care when she is sick, I am not putting more animals into the world. I am taking care of a living, breathing animal that I took responsibility for when I took her into my home.
My comments were about people saying they would spend anything/ insinuating that if you aren't willing to spend everything you have plus get yourself into debt then you shouldn't have a pet at all. That seems ridiculous. There are people who can give great homes to animals who just have to put a financial limit in the event of something outside of what would be considered normal care happening. My point was just that if only people who can spend limitless amounts of money should have pets; where will even more animals go?
I have a limit on what I would spend, and it is probably around 1000$. That has nothing to do with the amount of cash we could access in an actual emergency, but I am not going to sacrifice the financial security of my children for a pet. If we spent the emergency funds on an animal they aren't going to magically get replaced, it would take years. Or never.
It is easy for all the "rich" people on GBCN to say there is no limit, or the limit is thousands or ten thousands, or apparently even millions. But if that is the bar for pet ownership, then 99% of animals out there are going to be euthanized.
We put down our 11 year old golden due to a suspected stomach obstruction probably due to eating something moronic, which he did on the regular. It was an easy decision since he had been declining anyway. The argument that "you knew the dog ate things, it is your responsibility to fix it!" makes me laugh. Like I could stop a dog hell bent on eating dumb crap! yah right. If they are determined to eat stupid shit, they will, no matter how careful you try to be. All it takes is one time of being late to work and running out the house without shutting a closet door all the way, and boom, all the socks got eaten. Not that I would know or anything
LOL look at that rich bitch with her healthy dog.
yeah, i'm not rich. that doesn't mean i still wouldn't make it work if something happened to one of my dogs tomorrow. i don't have millions to spend but it would be pretty hard for vet care to get up into the millions. whether or not i had the money available, i would find a way to make it happen unless it wouldn't make a difference (say, an elderly terminally ill dog). my dogs are like my kids, and i would not put a limit on the care i am willing to give them. doesn't mean everyone has to think the same, but it also doesn't mean it would be "easy" for me.
It is easy for all the "rich" people on GBCN to say there is no limit, or the limit is thousands or ten thousands, or apparently even millions. But if that is the bar for pet ownership, then 99% of animals out there are going to be euthanized.
We put down our 11 year old golden due to a suspected stomach obstruction probably due to eating something moronic, which he did on the regular. It was an easy decision since he had been declining anyway. The argument that "you knew the dog ate things, it is your responsibility to fix it!" makes me laugh. Like I could stop a dog hell bent on eating dumb crap! yah right. If they are determined to eat stupid shit, they will, no matter how careful you try to be. All it takes is one time of being late to work and running out the house without shutting a closet door all the way, and boom, all the socks got eaten. Not that I would know or anything ;)
It's far easier, it seems, to just ignore the concept of insurance. $30/month/dog. The price of a lunch out, to ensure an animal you love doesn't suffer. Obviously there's a balance between dogs being homeless and spending millions of dollars, but this situation doesn't come close to testing that line. The OP is not poor, the dog is not old, and the treatment would have lessened his pain, not prolonged it. We know she has the money because she said she would have spent it on one of the dogs she likes better. And she let her puppy lie in pain overnight to save $500 on a vet bill. This isn't where you throw up your hands and say "oh the riches have it so easy, just try being a working class folk." My god, that poor dog.
Can you share where you have insurance through? We had looked previously when we first got our dogs and it was quite a bit more than that and didn't cover a lot of things. But that's really reasonable and is love to look at what it covers
Can you share where you have insurance through? We had looked previously when we first got our dogs and it was quite a bit more than that and didn't cover a lot of things. But that's really reasonable and is love to look at what it covers :)
I did a very extensive search and actually read all the policies and policy exclusions, and all the reviews online. We went with Healthy Paws because it had a yearly deductible (not per incident) and was transparent about what wasn't covered (just pre-existing conditions). Embrace also looked really good but our older dog was excluded because of his age and we wanted them both on the same policy. We are paying $30/month for the baby, with 90% coverage (we pay 10%, that was the smallest amount available) and a $250 yearly deductible. The older dog is more expensive, but rates are locked in, so if we had had insurance from puppyhood for him it wouldn't be as much now.
Pet insurance has a bad reputation because VPI used to be the only option and they were horrible about listing their exclusions - and ultimately exclude almost everything - so it didn't make sense in the past. Now there are a lot of really reputable companies (and even VPI may have leaned up its act now that there's competition). I would probably get quotes from several to figure out what works best for you, but I thought Healthy Paws, Trupanion, Embrace, and Pets Best all looked good.
Post by angelailovefood on Jul 8, 2013 11:36:31 GMT -5
We have cats but they are our kids! I'd pay whatever I had to to save them or make them feel better. We are not rich. We use Care Credit. If the bill was pricey, well I guess I'd have to give up my weekly (whatever) for awhile. That being said, I am a freak about animals, I have taken strays and wild animals to the vet.
My pets are like my kids, though I know not everyone has that mindset and that's ok.
That being said, I'd spend whatever it took assuming the charges associated would provide my pet with a quality of life equal to or higher than when he/she got sick.
We took him into our vet first thing this morning. The vet said it's a good sign that he's regularly drinking water and keeping it down, and because of this it was okay that we waited until morning to bring him in. They did an x-ray and don't see anything. The vet gave us 2 options: keep him on ivs today and see if he perks up, or exploratory surgery. He recommended that we keep him hydrated with ivs and wait, and says it's very possible that he just ate something like a mushroom that didn't agree with him.
He was well hydrated and not in agony, which is why I didn't take him to the emergency vet. The e-vet near us charges a $500 minimum, so it's not a matter of just going and spending $100 or $200 to get an x-ray. If he hadn't been keeping down water and/or were moaning and in agony, I absolutely would have taken him in last night.
But didn't you say that when you touched his stomach, he cried out in pain? That, to me, means he was in pain! That poor dog was probably in pain all night.
I'm so sad for this dog. The other dogs are mostly inside dogs and he's out on his own or separated in his crate? All dogs ever want is to be with their family. You might not feel like he's family, but he thinks of you that way.
We have two large dogs, one is new. We've dropped probably 5k over the last two years on the two of them. As for a one time expense? If the vet thought they'd have a good quality of life after, it would be whatever savings we had plus whatever care credit would approve us for.
This is an unfair judgement. My dog has been in this family for six years. He sleeps in the basement (by choice), spends most of the day outside (by choice) and has never been interested in cuddling. He doesn't give a shit about hanging out with us unless it looks like we're going for a walk. He could not be more loved, but this his personality.
GoDawgs, the only thing that bothers me here is that I feel like of it were your other dogs, you would have gone to the emergency vet. As long as he lives with you, he is your dog.
I actually wouldn't have. If it had been either of my other dogs I would have assessed it the same way and waited until morning. IMO, it's not an absolute emergency if the dog is responsive, is well hydrated, and not in horrible pain (he didn't like his belly pressed, but he seemed able to get comfortable when laying down and resting). Horrible pain or vomiting even water would be the criteria I'd use in this situation for taking any of the dogs to the emergency vet.
I will admit that the lengths I'd go to save his life long term might be different from my other dogs. Honestly, I really don't know, which is why I posted in the first place. I wouldn't go into debt or blow through our savings for any of our dogs, but having to decide how to determine that spending threshold is something I've never had to face.