Vet Bills

[Guest GreytgroupLeader]

Been there and done that with Egypt. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

[Sirocco_Nikki]

I am not offended by the post either.

 

Reality 101. Dogs are living longer than ever before. Longer lives means more opportunities for disease and disorders. As a result, it is very likely that we will all face this decision at some time, if we have not already done so. Knowing our limits helps prevent the wrong decision being made because of guilt.

 

When our Chesterboy was diagnosed with osteo of the jaw, we did not even consider radiation or chemo. Cost did not factor into the decision. Chester was a BIG BIG mama's boy and would never have understood being away from us. We believed that keeping him home and treating symptoms only would provide him with the best quality of life.

 

We did spend $$$ on surgery and emergency treatment for our brittany's laryngeal paralysis. NEVER AGAIN! I truly believed that I was improving the quality of her life. If I had any idea of the complications and suffering she would endure as a result of the surgery, I would never have agreed to it.

 

Even though quality of life is my main criteria, there are still financial considerations. (But then again, there are financial considerations to my own health care. Thank dog for living wills and life prolonging measure declarations.) The trick is to find the right balance between the gain and the cost.

[Guest nerak254]

I think it depends on the situation and other things that really aren't anyone else's business. My first hound had kidney and liver failure and finally made a recovery...2500 later. I paid that bill cheerfully because she was vital to my daughter's recovery from Anorexia. We've had some other big bills too and I've paid them as well. When Goody finally became ill again 3.5 years later, I talked to my vet after the e vet did some things for her at 900 and wanted to do more tests.My vet was kind enough when I asked him what he would do if Goody were his to tell me honestly. He said that given the diagnosis, he would do nothing that the only cure for her would be a liver transplant. He told me to let her have what ever she wanted and so she did. She ate doughnuts and all sorts of stuff you never would allow. Several weeks later, Goody told me she was ready to go and so she did. I still miss her even after 5 years and would do the same thing again. Fortunately for me, I was able to find help for Jessica this last month for which I am extremely appreciative.

 

I guess my position is that it isn't anyone else's business and also that if there is a chance of a quality life for your hound, I would do what I needed to do and ask for help where ever I could. Which is what I did and received.

[Guest CountryGreys]

We spent over $4,000 in one year on our dear sweet senior grey, and still lost her to illness last year. She was the light of our lives and as long as she had a chance of recovery and wasn't suffering, we would have continued to try to save her. I agree that each situation, family and financial situation is different and we all have to make the decisions that are best for our furbabies and for us - that may be different for each person.

[Guest greyhound_mommy]

Ok I feel really terrible, I put $500-$1000, HOWEVER, it really depends. . . Is it a broken leg that cost $1500 and the dog will live a long heathly life or a $3000 we doubt this will work, maybe give him 3 months? I'm not rich and I have been there and done that.

 

Sadly, we've had to pts our loved ones because we couldn't afford treatment. But when we could like our sneaky kitty who drank out of the toilet when after we cleaned it and went into kidney failure, a thousand or two later..............lol learned our lesson.

[SAVED2]

We spent 550 on a Grey that was not ours , 2 years later we took the same Grey away from the people and now he is in our family forever.

[kickchick2000]

I wanted to respond but didn't really see a choice that fit me. I think it totally depends on the situation. I'm a high school teacher so unfortunalty this HAS to be my logic I cannot say there is no limit. The limit would be what the injury/illness is, what the cost is vs the survival % and quality of life after treatment. I also would take into consideration the personality of my dog and how my dog might react to certian treatments etc. Then again I guess I can't say for sure till I'm in the position to have to make major choices like this.

 

With that said all of the above goes for myself as well.

 

As for the jokers making rude comments: In my world pets are family memebers and just as some folks take their kid to the doctors, others of us take our pets. You won't see me being snotty rude about Jane taking her daughter to a specialist for her epilepsy just as you won't see me making fun of George for taking time for his dog to chemo.

Edited December 24, 2007 by kickchick2000

[Guest karma98104]

I didn't vote because I'd like an option for "other."

 

If I had a young, healthy dog who had a medical issue that was treatable and would promise the dog a good quality of life I would spend any amount neccesary, or however much my credit will allow me to borrow.

 

If chances are good that despite my creating a deficit equal to that of the US budget my pup might not make it through- or that if he/she did, his quality of life would never be the same, I don't know how much I would spend, but I wouldn't remortgage my house for it.

 

A few years ago my healthy 5 year old cat became ill with UTI/ kidney failure. We didn't know if he was going to make it, and every day the bill got higher and higher.. I think my best friend and I really felt too guilty to give up, but wanted to. I used every penny I had, every bit of credit, we returned eachother's christmas presents and pawned cd's and electronics. I wound up borrowing from my 401k to pay for our living expenses since we spent it all on Kozmo. But, Kozmo lived.. amazingly enough! He's still fat and fluffy and happy living with his dad. But would I do that again?? Gosh, I'm not sure. It really screwed up my finances, my credit, and two years later I'm still paying off the loan from my 401K. Probably. If Kozmo had been say 13 years old instead of 5- I wouldn't have done it though. I'm not offended by this pole by any means, but I think a lot of people would probably be offended by my answer...

[Guest LindsaySF]

The limit would be what the injury/illness is, what the cost is vs the survival % and quality of life after treatment. I also would take into consideration the personality of my dog and how my dog might react to certian treatments etc.

I agree.

 

This past summer I spent over $2,000 on my cat's urinary blockage and subsequent PU surgery, and I didn't think twice about it. If you had asked me how much I would be willing to spend on a cat that cost $60 to adopt, I wouldn't have had an answer for you. But when faced with a situation where my cat was in pain and needed surgery to correct it, I didn't let the dollar figure disuade me. While there are some possible complications, overall it is a pretty commonly performed surgery, and even if he had urinary crystals again they would not block the larger opening. He is also pretty young for a cat (~ 5 years) and otherwise healthy, which influenced my decision.

 

Years ago, when I was still in college full-time, I had a ferret with cancer. I spent over $1,000 (almost my whole savings) to do an abdominal ultrasound and a biopsy to determine the type. The prognosis was not good. They could do surgery (about $1,500) and chemo (not sure the $ on that), but eventually the cancer would come back. It could be months later or years later. He was already nearly 6 years old, so I opted to do prednisone and keep him comfortable for as long as he had (which ended up being around 6 months). I still feel guilty sometimes that I didn't do the surgery to give him more time, but my financial situation was very different than it is now.

 

 

 

 

~Lindsay~

[Guest MrsDooLittle]

I voted 'no limit' but it would depend on his quality of life.....I would never subject a sick animal to staying with me if his quality of life had declined and I 'knew' it was time...

 

About 9 years ago, while 5 months pregnant, we drove our then 14 year old cat, Roxanne, to OSU for a growth around her heart. We had spent probably at least $1000 in town trying to diagnose her and the surgery at OSU was $1200 (which I thought was a great price)....add in the fact we stayed in Columbus for about 5 days and it got very expensive. During that trip, I virtually stopped speaking to my Mother because she thought what I was doing was crazy. It hurt me deeply and made me mad at the same time. I expected the folks I worked with at the time to have comments, but I was bothered that my own Mother couldn't support me even if she disagreed with my choice. My Roxanne went on to live 3 years after the surgery so I always felt we did the right thing.

 

There are people in the world who have plenty of money and yet would not spend a certain amount on their animals. Go figure...

 

Cindy

[RobinM]

I don't see the difference between no limit and refinance the house so I voted refi.

 

I would do WHATEVER it took to get the correct medical help for any one of my babies. Right before my Rocky, a non grey passed in '04, I spent 8K in one week only to have him die.

 

Whatever it costs... it costs. And no, I am not in a position too, who is? I would just deal with the financial cost as it happened. That's what 0% credit cards are for.

Edited December 25, 2007 by RobinM

[fourofem]

I did not select an amount...I would spend anything to keep my greys healthy. However, than would depend on the prognosis...I would not (I say this now, they're all healthy) put them through a miserable, horrid existence just to say I kept they going "however long". Quality of life has to be evaluated and I think, put above everything. I learned my lesson with my Scottie, Ellie....God love her....I let her go on way too long. She was totally blind and totally miserable. What kind of life is that? I've not had anything major with my greys but if something happened and it was treatable w/out them being miserable long term, I would pay whatever it took to get them well. That goes for my cat, too. RaineysMom said it best...it's a heart-wrenching decision but we all do, in our current situation, what is best.

 

Why are we talking about this on Christmas Eve? It makes me sad and now is not the time to be sad.

 

Happy Holidays Everyone.

[Guest alannamac]

Really depends upon what the medical issue is doesn't it? I voted for an amount I could afford at maximum.....but I know if the trouble were "fixable" and Bandit had more years possible as a result (with minimal suffering)....then I'd find a way to fundraise to do it. Ain't no mountain high enough as they say

[GreytNut]

The limit would be what the injury/illness is, what the cost is vs the survival % and quality of life after treatment. I also would take into consideration the personality of my dog and how my dog might react to certian treatments etc.

 

Agreed. I would go deeply into debt to pay for vet bills (and have done so more than once) if I thought it would help, or at least significantly improve the pet's quality of life and extend their time here. You can't put a price on that. But you also have to take into consideration how near the pet is to the end of his/her life span and whether or not the treatment will provide a cure or lasting comfort, or if it's just throwing your money away and causing your animal unnecessary suffering. We could've amputated Argus's leg and gone for chemo, but the cancer had already escaped into his lungs and the vet doubted that it would buy him much--if any--more time. Argus was also a dog with a very low pain tolerance. If it had been Raven, I'd have been tempted to give it a go. She's tough as nails. Argus would have been miserable and I wasn't willing to put him through it to MAYBE buy him a couple more months. As the vet said, "It's not about quantity for them, it's about quality. He doesn't know he's supposed to live another 7 years. He knows he's in pain right now and it isn't getting better."

 

Working at a vet's office I saw a lot of different kinds of owners. There were those who wouldn't spend $100 to fix little Fluffy because "she isn't worth it." I wanted to choke them and beat their heads against the desk. There were those who really wanted to do whatever they could but didn't have two nickels to rub together nor any means of borrowing it. It broke their hearts to have to put a beloved pet down when the only thing standing between saving the pet and euthanasia was money... but they had families to feed and rent to pay. Reality sucks. There were those who had the money and dropped it without thinking about it, and those who begged and borrowed to get what they needed to save their pet. With the exception of those who just didn't care and were unwilling to spend anything to heal a pet, I tried very hard not to be judgmental. Not everyone can do it. It doesn't mean they don't love their pet or that they're a bad person. It just means they can't afford it.

[BrGreyhndz]

Lets see...Chloe at 12.7 years old just dislocated her toe well enough to tear the ligaments and hope for keeping it relocated were nil. Toe amputation next day: $1381 plus vet visit to determine this: $150. When she was 5 she racked up $2000 in three days with idiopathic nerve damage and then another $1k of treatment to get her back to almost normal. She's our 6 million dollar puppy- I won't even blink to do it all again. We are lucky that we have the means to go to these lengths.- it also means that we cut back in other areas when we have to or a planned trip gets canceled.

 

[Guest TBSFlame]

My Chloe lost the battle of OC Dec. 3. She was diagnosed Oct 1, so we didn't have much time with her. I had taken her to an orthopedic vet immediately, he said "I am sorry I don't have good news for you" I can tell you how we felt, I was hoping for a good responce. My adoption group said you will know when it is time and we did, it was the worst experience of our lives helping her to the bridge. She was 12, our lst grey................you know. I adopted another immediately, and was the best thing we ever did. Over the years with Chloe and our other pets we have had plenty of vet bills, we did what we had to do. Financially, it is tough on people, but they are our children.

We know we don't have much time with Beecher. I was so hoping for better news when we visited the oncologist. Not to be. He doesn't seem to be in any pain yet so I am thankful for that.

[Guest greyhoundis]

When I make a medical decision for one of my dogs - and I work hard just like everyone else - I make it a point to never consider the cost. I do not want their life based on what I can afford.

 

I am big on quality over quantity. I have many strong opinions for myself and MY dogs and health issues. For instance, I will NEVER have chemo on myself so I do not want it for my dog. But I have taken care of friends who opted for chemo and would never ever tell them that I do not personally believe in it. Try very hard to respect their choice and hope they can respect mine. One of my dearest life long friends is in remisison right this minute!!!

 

For instance in June I was involved with loading a large bus of dogs headed to the east coast for adoption - OK so I got suckered into taking a 12 1/2 year old brood who the owner refused to let go into an adoption group but oh if you want it - yada yada yada

 

First Vet Visit - $580 - she has a tick born disease Second Vet visit - Dental - $300 Third Visit - stomach and throat tests - $3,000

 

This last Sat $50 - Tumor in mouth This Thursday - Surgery - biopsy etc - who knows - did not ask - Mastercard and Visa will hang with me that day

 

Oh Yea and a stray I picked up over a year ago - he went Saturday also and he has surgery Thursday also - swelling on face l - looks like infected tooth - just had a dental in November - His Saturday visit was included in the $50

 

They are both 13 - ---- Oh yea and I just got a 10% wage cut - but all that has no bearing - QUALITY OF LIFE FOR ME AND MINE. Regrets? - none - and praying for the best news on Thursday

 

- TELL US WHERE YOUR GIRLS ARE TONIGHT

 

[Guest Bodie]

I have paid what I consider, on my income, a small fortune to treat Bodie's cancer and depleted my savings in the process. I'm just glad I had savings and didn't have to go into debt. I was lucky, so I would never criticize someone who had to make a medical decision based on finances. It is difficult.

 

However, someone where I worked complained to the boss that I was taking off too much vacation time to take Bodie to OSU for treatment. I used vacation time and made up the rest of the time when I ran out of vacation. I never left work for anyone else to do and made it clear that I was making up the time. The boss was OK with it, so why is it anyone else's business? It has caused a serious rift for me, as I feel I can no longer trust people who I thought were friends. I just can't understand the thinking when the only other option was to let Bodie die. I've decided that those that don't own dogs, just don't understand how they become part of the family.

[Guest greyhoundis]

I am so sorry your coworkers acted like that Rhonda. That attitude can take an already stressful situation with Bodie and make it so much worse. I have learned with my dogs to try and not tell anyone what is going on. With 10 dogs I use a lot of my vacation for my dogs.

 

But vacation is YOURS - just like your paycheck - you earned it! As for other times needed to take off - that is between you and your boss -

 

You are so right - some people will never understand the love we feel for these babies.

 

 

 

 

[Guest Bodie]

I have learned with my dogs to try and not tell anyone what is going on.

 

 

Unfortunately, I work in a small office so when someone takes off, everyone else asks, just out of curiousity, what we are doing on our day off. And taking off regularly - every two weeks to go to OSU for chemo - really attracts attention. So I just go with the flow. The dog people admire my dedication, the no-pet people think I'm nuts and I just am cautious about who I trust now.

 

 

[Guest ellieb]

I would (maybe) have to fight DH, but I would do anything for my animals. I feel this is what I signed on for when I adopted them.

[Guest greyhoundis]

I have learned with my dogs to try and not tell anyone what is going on.

 

 

Unfortunately, I work in a small office so when someone takes off, everyone else asks, just out of curiousity, what we are doing on our day off. And taking off regularly - every two weeks to go to OSU for chemo - really attracts attention. So I just go with the flow. The dog people admire my dedication, the no-pet people think I'm nuts and I just am cautious about who I trust now.

 

 

Know what you mean:( Nice to have the small office and friends and famiy atmosphere - but sometimes we have to share too much. Chin up - the people who feel that way will find something new to pick on.

[Guest HeatherDemps]

I didn't choose one of the options because I think it would depend. As others have already indicated, quality of life is very important. The financial aspect is something that we are just now getting into with Dempsey. His x-rays last week of his front legs and chest and meds, etc were $450. The FNA probably won't be in that ballpark as well. We're leaning toward amputation and chemo (unless there's some kind of huge miracle and this ain't cancer!) and we know that's going to be expensive and have a general idea of costs we're looking at. I have a line of credit I can still draw on and enough left in savings to cover the FNA. DH has been incredibly supportive and has offered to sell some of the antiques to help cover medical treatment if needed. We were also planning on selling the house in the spring to purchase a larger one, so we might stay put now longer than planned. We're cutting back on spending elsewhere and both willing to make whatever sacrafices we can- as long as it means that Dempsey's quality of life will be good.

[Guest Redpack]

I didn't vote. I don't find it offensive, but I don't think you can answer it honestly unless you have been or are faced with a real situation. I do know that a lot of people in that office wouldn't think twice about spending thousands of dollars on furniture or pieces of art, while I'd rather not spend so much that I get upset when it gets scratched or bitten. Some of us put more value on living things that love us back...others.....don't.

 

[Guest Heep]

I figure, if I would spend it on myself, I would spend it on my dogs. If it means my pups are happy & healthy, no amount is too high. I'd spend my last cent & then borrow from everyone I know. This past month, I spent $1000 on Yvain & Eden alone. And most of that was preventative stuff, like dentals, anesthesia, benign mass removal, biopsy, antibiotics, general well-being check up. I scrimped for it, but it's all worth it, because they are happy & healthy.

 

Same for the flip side. When the situation is terminal, or when the % of survival is incredible low & the quality of life is nonexistent, I feel it's better not to pursue a 1 in a million chance at maybe getting better. If I had what RaineyMom's Captain had, I wouldn't fork over the $20k for my own brain. Give me some comfort & peace in my final days instead.

 

Everyone's situation is different. Fortunately, I have been blessed with the ability to not only provide for my dogs, but go above, beyond, & into questionable sanity excessiveness when it comes to their healthcare.