How much do you spend on a sick pet?

[Phaedrus]

I have a co-worker, who recently adopted a kitty. I love kitties, but this kitty got caught in his screen door, which cut off circulation to it's rear extremities for long enough to require $1600 in surgery to "attempt" to repair, plus potentially months of rehabilitation, IF the cat survives.

At what point would you stop treating a pet? I have objections to this, on two levels. First, an adopted cat isn't worth $1600 to me. Second, this cat is pretty much suffering every minute of every day, and I think I would choose euthanasia in a case like this.

What do you good people think about this?

 

[cytech]

I think it would all depend on the pet. I would probably spend more than that on my dog if I needed to. But then it will always vary depending on what happened

 

[l2alphmacchio]

Cats are wonderful pets and friends. But I would agree with you, I would put it down. If I was guaranteed that the cat would survive AND be able to walk afterwards, I might consider doing the operation. But since its an ATTEMPT, I would put it down.

 

[jtdoyle1]

Don't spend more than it costs to euthanize them is my rule of thumb.

I know someone that spent over $2000 dollars their cat that had cancer than accidentally ran it over and killed it a few weeks later.

 

[htownclone]

Well, simply because it's a cat, I would have shot it long ago... :wideeyed:

 

[Wesley]

Whatever Mama says.

If the dog takes $1500 to repair broken legs with rods, you pony up. Once you take in a pet, you are financially committed to maintain the peace at home.

 

[bos]

I am attached to my pets. I would do whatever it takes to help them. Especially my cat from college. She has be with me through all and is extremely loyal. If I knew she was suffering and it couldnt be fixed I would probably put her to sleep, but it would tear me up something awful.

 

[wartknight]

My father in law thinks cats are fine, as long as their tails are docked, at the neck.

 

[BryceC]

Well, our cat we put down last year when the vet said they required surgery.

We'd probably get the surgery for our dog.

 

[Me State]

I would spend what it takes. If my pet was going to suffer I would put it down.
When I was growing up my parent put my pet cat to sleep because he got cancer. Having to say goodbye to him at the vets office can still tear me up if I think about it. It is also one of the few times I have seen my dad cry.

I was at the vets office last year and there was an older gentleman there with his cat. He began telling us about a rare disease that his cat has. He had spent close to $25,000 on medical bills for the cat over a couple years. He had the money and he said as long as his pet was going to stay pain free and loyal he would keep spending the money. Plus the treatments for the cat were being studied to better help other cats with the disease.

 

[wartknight]

They have pet health insurance now. Hearing how much some of you spend or would spend on your pets, it may be worth looking into.

 

[Cyclonepride]

I don't think there's a maximum on my dogs. As long as what they were doing was going to give them a good quality of life afterwards. When we kenneled my beagle for our honeymoon, the vet found that she had heartworms, and the treatment was pretty expensive, but there was never a doubt about what to do.

 

[retzmountn]

My wife is a Vet (ISU Grad, Class '89) here in Des Moines & I think over the years I've learned from her that it is an owners choice & based on what means they have to care for the animal.

Some people (such as us) will spend whatever to provide the best for our animals. However, there comes a time where you need to decide if it is physically & financially the right decision.

Therefore, it is not a matter to question what someone spends on their animal, because we would all probably make different decisions.

 

[sloaner]

Normally way too much.

 

[1100011CS]

I've had this conversation with family and friends before. I don't know what I would spend. My dog is getting close to her life expectancy and I'm dreading the day I have to start making those choices.

 

[cytech]

Yeah it was really hard for my parents to put our last shorthair to sleep. She lived to the age of 17 and was our vets oldest large breed dog at the time. I personally think my parents waited to long to have her put down.

 

[CloneAggie]

I am attached to my pets. I would do whatever it takes to help them. Especially my cat from college. She has be with me through all and is extremely loyal. If I knew she was suffering and it couldnt be fixed I would probably put her to sleep, but it would tear me up something awful.

Just hope you don't have to go through something like this. The cat my wife and I got in college and had for 14 years was diagnosed with oral feline squamous cell carcinoma last May. The options were chemo/radiation therapy which would extend her life a few additional months, remove the entire lower jaw which would make it nearly impossible for her to have solid food, or try to make her life as comfortable as possible for the time she has left. We chose the latter, but not because of the money. We would have spent absolutely whatever it took to give her a decent quality of life. Unfortunately, the cancer specialist here at A&M's Vet Hospital said she hadn't had much success in providing cats with a decent quality of life after treating this type of aggressive cancer with chemo/radiation, and the oral surgeon strongly discouraged the jaw removal for the same reason. Needless to say, it was a very, very tough three months. Twice daily morphine injections. Keeping the other two kitties away from her when she was trying to eat her "yummy" food after they already snarfed theirs down. Wiping her face down after she ate because her tongue couldn't do the job any more. Trying to give her antibiotics orally. Seeing the mass grow bigger and bigger. Eventually she stopped eating. Then she stopped drinking. We eventually decided to put her down, but still regret it half the time.

 

[Mrs.ISUFan22]

We had to put one of our cats to sleep last April. It's a very hard decision to make for any pet owner. The decision I think varies if you can give the pet treatment and the pet can still have a good quality of life afterwards.

Our cat had a kidney disease that wasn't currable and she was in a great deal of pain. Sometimes it's just best to put them out of missery.

 

[Me State]

Just hope you don't have to go through something like this. The cat my wife and I got in college and had for 14 years was diagnosed with oral feline squamous cell carcinoma last May. The options were chemo/radiation therapy which would extend her life a few additional months, remove the entire lower jaw which would make it nearly impossible for her to have solid food, or try to make her life as comfortable as possible for the time she has left. We chose the latter, but not because of the money. We would have spent absolutely whatever it took to give her a decent quality of life. Unfortunately, the cancer specialist here at A&M's Vet Hospital said she hadn't had much success in providing cats with a decent quality of life after treating this type of aggressive cancer with chemo/radiation, and the oral surgeon strongly discouraged the jaw removal for the same reason. Needless to say, it was a very, very tough three months. Twice daily morphine injections. Keeping the other two kitties away from her when she was trying to eat her "yummy" food after they already snarfed theirs down. Wiping her face down after she ate because her tongue couldn't do the job any more. Trying to give her antibiotics orally. Seeing the mass grow bigger and bigger. Eventually she stopped eating. Then she stopped drinking. We eventually decided to put her down, but still regret it half the time.

Sad. I'll give you rep for being so compassionate!

 

[2020cy]

For a good hunting dog , I would spend quite a bit. For a cat, 22 shells are real affordable.