What Is The Cost Of Medical Treatments

[Busderpuddle]

Tonight I have spent a lot of time reading through the Health and Medical forum and I am wondering what the cost of things like amputations, chemo, surgery for ruptured spleens, etc. are if you would be willing to share that info?. Ruby has been fairly healthy so far and we have not had any vet bills other than her routine visits and a few trial drugs for her SA. I just want to be mentally prepared for things as she ages. I understand that prices will vary depending on where you live, but just a general ball park figure. The only thing I know the cost of at my vet is $300 for a basic dental with no extractions, which we will be doing before too long.

Thank you in advance for sharing.

[Charlies_Dad]

We spent $5000 on Charlie's amputation however he did stay Fri-Tues in a 24/7 hospital that is known to be expensive but very good. A couple grand could have been take off there had we chosen to bring him home sooner. Chemo is not expensive but the blood tests are so I say another $2000 on that give or take. We did 5 rounds of Chemo.

[Batmom]

@ 8 years ago, Joseph's foreign body removal cost right around $2200. The surgery itself was @ $400-$500. The rest was for 2-3 days of hospitalization, testing, supportive care at the e-vet prior to surgery (we hoped he'd pass it and not need surgery but no such luck; he did need to be hospitalized and monitored beforehand). I'd guess costs have probably gone up @ 20% since then. He was fortunately able to come home the evening after his surgery.

[CharlieRhea]

My Charlie was healthy until he had an emergency. I had thought about getting pet insurance and now wish I had. I think it would have been about $45 a month. His case is unusual though and not common in Greyhounds. He had 2 emergency visits in Feb with a 2 night stay each time with 24/7 care and saw a cardiologist. Then he had his surgery 1st week in March to correct his problem-pericardial effusion. I am happy to say he is doing GREYT! All told it was $6000.00 for all the care and surgery.

[Guest RICHandJUDE]

Our Santa had his (driver side) back leg and shoulder amputated (Osteo) back in 2010. Our vet ( 8 vet animal hospital) who is now retired did the whole operation and only charged us $1000 . Santa stayed at the vets from a Friday night until the following Thursday at no additional cost to us. Santa came through the operation with flying colors. We did not know about free chemo medicine from Dr. Couto so the 5 chemo treatments probably ended up costing us $300 or $350 a piece, including the blood work. Santa lived an additional 29 months. Elsewhere, I am guessing that I would have spent 4 or 5 thousand dollars.

[mom2four]

5 years ago our Jamey had his front leg amputated due to osteo ($ 5000 right there) and received chemo at the 24 hr specialty and emerg hospital here (they were very good, let me say that.) Jamey lived for 27 months post amp and developed some kidney problems. With pet insurance (which took us from 80% coverage down to 50% coverage because of our claims) Jamey ended up with about 15-20K in vet bills out of our pocket.

[Hubcitypam]

The only experience I had with any of the above was about 12 years ago a greyhound escaped from her foster home in Lubbock. She was HBC and we had to amputate a front leg. The cost at the vet others referred me as being good with amputations was - sit down - $400. Dentals were $120 and $10 an extraction. I'm sure it's gone up but it can't be stratospheric like some places.

[silverfish]

As they age you should expect the bills to rise dramatically. If they don't, great! If they do, you're prepared.

Jeffie has cost us several thousand in the last few months. He's twelve. He was at the ER this morning because he wiped out coming in last night from his last pee at midnight and gouged a great lump out of himself over the hip bone. I don't know what that will cost yet because he has another appointment tomorrow morning for bloodwork - they can't run bloods over the weekend because the support staff aren't in. I'm not expecting to get much change from two or three hundred GBP - and last week it was an oral infection for which he is already on antibiotics.

 

Then there are the supplements and maintenance drugs. I spend about £130 for 3 months worth of NSAIDs for both of them, about the same for Jeffie's 'Dogzheimer's' drugs, £10 a pot for senior vitamins, between £40 and £50 a pot (about a month's supply) of Cosequin DS joint support, and there are also Sid's painkillers which are cheaper but still about £30 a go.

 

Special food to tempt aging appetites can run up the bills too. Jeffie is losing weight - which he can't afford to lose, being practically a walking skeleton already) so he had half a pack of ground turkey this morning for breakfast. I buy trays of chicken legs, minced (ground) beef, beef, pig or lamb heart, etc, to mix in with their kibble. Cans of mackerel are about 80p each and they have one each.

Sid had a splenectomy last year. If I remember correctly, it was about £600 all told.

[Guest IrskasMom]

I spend on my Morty for Dentals around $ 450 every Year then some $ 250 for Shots and Exams/Test . The last 4 Years were Eye Exams and Bloodwork $ 410 and every Exam ( every Week ) that followed $ 120 . Then he had Laser Surgery in one Eye $ 2000 and every Week Medicine about $ 30 .( Eye Drops ) .He was worth every Penny .

Edited March 22, 2015 by IrskasMom

[seeh2o]

Doodle Bug went from a couple hundred dollars since 2009 to over $3,000 when she collapsed with an FCE and was hospitalized for 8 days under the care of a neurologist. She got acupuncture and cold laser treatments for after care, she's still getting cold laser one a month. I'm so grateful to have Care Credit and Healthy Paws insurance. Health Paws paid 90% (minus the detectable and office visit fee). She's good as new, for a 12 year old gal!

Edited March 22, 2015 by seeh2o

[Beachbum1]

Taylor has bone cancer in his right front leg, near his wrist.

He has had 4 weekly radiation treatments and they were around $500.00 each.

His first 4 of 6 scheduled rounds of chemo have the chemo at N/C from Ohio State. That's worth around $2000.00.

 

Each round cost around $200.00 for blood work and costs to administer the chemo.

The last 2 rounds of the chemo drug will probably be $500.00 each.

 

The bone strengthening drug he gets every 3 weeks is around $400.00.

 

A quote on amputation, if needed: $3000-3500.00.

 

His insurance? About $1.37 a day. They have paid 80% of all treatment costs.

[Guest Scouts_mom]

My Henry cost me around $3,000 2 years ago when he swallowed a sewing needle. It lodged in his stomach lining and he needed surgery to get it out. (Surgery was done at Dove Lewis--which as a fellow Portlander you will know as the 24 hour emergency hospital. They also have a lot of specialists on their staff so my vet sent me to them for the surgery as we couldn't tell from the x-rays how complicated it would be).

 

Yesterday I spent $370 on Henry at my usual vet to deal with diarrhea that is not going away. That included the vet exam (including a rectal exam which made Henry scream), fecal exam, fluids as he was slightly dehydrated, senior blood work as it had been 2 years since it had been done, antibiotics, probiotic, and bland canned food.

[greysmom]

A lot of the costs will vary depending on at what sort of clinic you receive treatment. Going to the evet vs treatment at your general vet vs a specialist - even for treating the same issue.

 

Treatment for osteo - at a local full service/specialty hospital - from initial leg break to euthanasia - was about $16,000 total. That included his hospital stay before and after his amputation, two follow-up hospitalization for infections, obtaining chemo drugs and administering (chemo was free of charge from Ohio State), weekly and bi-weekly bloodwork, all follow-up drugs. His amp was done by an ortho specialist and his cancer was treated by a veterinary oncologist. He was initially in the hospital for 7 days, which sucked up a ton of $$$.

 

Surgery for minor lump removal at our own vet - $800 Follow-up hospitalization for anaphlactic response at same full service hospital as above - $1600 (monitoring, tests, IV, drugs for two days)

 

Hospitalization for infected salivary gland (same hospital, intake through evet clinic) - with four days treatment, minor surgery, IV fluids and ABs - $2200.

 

Generally an office vist at our vet is $75, a scheduled visit at the hospital is $125

 

Accupuncture - from a licensed vet with extra training - initial eval $120, simple accupuncture $45-$60 per visit

[robinw]

The most I've had to spend in one shot was over $2000 after Loca found and ate a jar of vitamins. That was about 10 years ago, so I think it would cost much more now. I've lost all three greyhounds to osteo but chose palliative care so it didn't cost that much. Insurance prices really go up with you have more than one pet to insure, especially is one isn't young. I used to have it, but I don't any more.

Edited March 23, 2015 by robinw

[Remolacha]

Most of the costs for my older dogs have been fairly small, but often ongoing things (meds, acupuncture) I am sure they add up to quite a bit over time, but I have chosen not to add them up I did end up spending around $8000 for Molly's surgery, but most of that was the 3 day stay at the ER vet and all the blood transfusions she had. Blood products are expensive! I was soured on insurance by VPI, but I have heard such good things about Healthy Pets I am reconsidering.

[Guest Dancer]

I have gone 10+ years without anything other than the annual check-up...then I came into a number of issues (not all one dog) in a few short years...

- 4000 for amputation (including 3 nights stay)

- $600 per chemo treatment

- $300 for a set of x-rays

- $2000 to have a toe amputated

- $2000 for an MRI

- $3000 for dental work - root canal and a few other dental other items

- $5000 for emergency treatment a stroke (including 3-4 nights stay)

 

- seems an office visit plus associated tests runs $200

- meds run anything from $15-70 per script

[Guest FloridaGirl]

Most of the costs for my older dogs have been fairly small, but often ongoing things (meds, acupuncture) I am sure they add up to quite a bit over time, but I have chosen not to add them up I did end up spending around $8000 for Molly's surgery, but most of that was the 3 day stay at the ER vet and all the blood transfusions she had. Blood products are expensive! I was soured on insurance by VPI, but I have heard such good things about Healthy Pets I am reconsidering.

Years ago I had a terrible experience with VPI (they stated two completely unrelated diarrhea issues indicated a pre-existing condition...one was from adoption stress, and the other a year later was from a diagnosis of IBS...but they refused to cover anything related to IBS diag/treatment because she had diarrhea once when she was a newly adopted puppy) and I had completely sworn off the whole pet insurance thing as a scam. This was before Healthy Paws was around, and I hadn't had a dog since back then until Claymore. All the stories here on GT of how expensive even the most healthy greyhound can get, and the huge positive reviews of Healthy Paws, convinced me that it would be silly for me to NOT do it. I have enough to cover a healthy dog, but I am going to need help with any kind of illness past an ear infection!

 

Not trying to hijack in any way - just putting my two cents in about pet insurance, especially Healthy Paws. I'm paying around $38ish a month (one less dinner out, oh no) for 80% coverage. Plus you can up that coverage and change the deductible at any time, which as Claymore ages I will most likely be doing!

[Busderpuddle]

Thank you all for sharing your expenses. This is a real eye opener and I wish I would have purchased insurance when Ruby was younger and had not been diagnosed with the heart murmur and kidney issue. It is probably out of reach at this point.

Will need to up her nest egg a bit more as she ages.

[tbhounds]

I'll refrain from the details but, I can tell you I have spent close to $40,000 on my last 3 bridgebabies. Keep in mind I live in NJ where everything is expensive (for example walk in fee at the e-vet here is $190) and I treat my hounds aggressively-mri's, SRT radiation (cyberknife)..... Veterinary medicine has made incredible advancements but, it comes at a price. I didn't have pet insurance for those guys--you bet I do now.

Edited March 23, 2015 by tbhounds

[Neighsayer]

I don't have insurance, but I usually have five digs at a time, and I do adopt seniors who often come with pre existing conditions. Two years ago, Misty had a reaction to her internal spay sutures and almost bled out on the lobby floor at the hospital. She required surgery and transfusions, and they discovered sky high blood pressure. The adoption group covered the emergency, since it was a result of the spay which they paid for. The cost was several thousand. Since then, I pay several hundred a year for blood pressure meds, rechecks, and blood work. She is almost 11.

The following month, 13 year old Suds developed an unexplained limp and severe pain. Between exrays and drugs at my vet, an MRI, spinal tap, hyperthermia, bloodwork, meds, and hospitalization, it cost me over $6000 with no diagnosis or explanation. I had to let him go within a week. My other 13 year old had to be put down the same day as Suds after a severe bout of HGE. If the adoption group hadn't covered Misty, I would have paid over $10,000 that month. The following month, Gigi, Misty's litter mate, had a happy tail incident. After managing it fir six weeks, the tail died. Surgery had to be at the specialty hospital where the girls were spayed, because she had almost died coming out of her spay surgery. That was probably another $3000. I opened one of those no interest for 26 months credit cards and used that. I had put down several thousand on my credit card, and was able to transfer the balance to that card.

[rascalsmom]

With Jack (my avatar pic) we spent around $3000 figuring out that he had lymphangiectasia. That was blood work, which showed very low protein levels; an ultrasound, which found a mass; surgery to remove the mass and find out it was 'clogged lymphatics', which led to the diagnosis. Then we had to have ultra low-fat food, which was very pricey ($75 for 15 pounds), and steroids.

 

Start to finish, he lasted about a month. He developed blood clots, likely due to the prednisolone. He was the best dog EVER.

[winnie]

I was soured on insurance by VPI, but I have heard such good things about Healthy Pets I am reconsidering.

 

Same here. We had VPI for our first two years of owning greyhounds. They hardly covered anything and were a PITA to deal with.

 

Insurance prices really go up with you have more than one pet to insure, especially is one isn't young. I used to have it, but I don't any more.

 

Yep, with four senior hounds (ages 8-14), insurance really isn't an option at this point.

 

We've been pretty lucky with our pack thus far (knock-on-wood). The biggest expense has been dentals. Each dental runs in the $800-$1,000 range. We're in the DC 'burbs, so things here tend to cost more than other parts of the country. Three of our four pack were blessed with the good dental gene. Only one of our hounds has required regular dentals.

[turbotaina]

As many folks here on GT know, I just went through a $16k + incident with Heyokha for an impaction, perforated intestine and abdominal sepsis. That was a full week in intensive care, daily bloodwork, a lot of drugs, and surgery to remove the impaction and clean out the abdominal cavity. The surgery by itself was about $6k and we were running from $1-1.5k per day for supportive care. This took place at a specialist hospital, though he was admitted through the emergency side. The emergency crew took care of his supportive care and the internal medicine specialists did his surgery. Post discharge care has been about another $500 or so (and we had to do extra antibiotics because his incision wasn't healing properly). Like Laura, I'm in the DC suburbs and everything here is super expensive.

 

About two weeks prior to that incident, Heyokha had a dental done at my regular vet. A cleaning and 6 extractions was $1300. His prior cleaning with no extractions was about $900, and a cleaning with two extractions (of the tiny front teeth) in conjunction with an umbilical hernia repair at OSU was about $900.

 

My regular vet's office fee is, I think, $65.

 

I now have insurance on both the pups. I used to think I couldn't afford the $80 a month it costs to insure both. You know what I really can't afford? A $16,000.00 vet bill. Thank goodness for kind people

[Remolacha]

Yeah, Healthy Paws not Pets The main reason I have not gotten insurance now is that I have two senior dogs and two very senior cats, the cats having pre-existing conditions, so probably not feasible.

[MP_the4pack]

Between Dec 1999 and July 2000 I spent $15,000. Lost one dog and the other lived for another year. And nothing was extraordinary care to keep a dying dog alive. It was mostly tests to find out what was wrong. I didn't have insurance. But I scraped together every penny I had to get insurance on my remaining grey after that. Back then it was VPI and they were pretty good. They didn't exclude anything. Back then they were actually pretty good.

 

VPI has hit rock bottom. In fact I changed Tanzi and Emma over to Healthy Paws from VPI, but because Opal was 10, she stayed with VPI. When I sent in the claim for cremation, they had enough information to automatically cancel the policy but not enough to pay the claim. Unbelievable. It is hard enough dealing with the loss of a beloved member of the family then to have to fight stupid insurance. I was ready to reach thru the phone and strangle the person on the other end.

Thankfully it got resolved and I got my claim. $130 of a $475 bill. sigh.