How much do you spend on a sick pet?

[istatefan]

That is an admirable idea, but when you've had a companion for 14 years, the decision isn't that easy. You don't just say, "let's just put this pet to sleep and go get another one to replace it." They become part of your family.

I agree. While it is an admirable idea, and I do support adopting from a shelter, pets, especially indoor pets, become one of the family after a while. My parents/family have spent a lot of money over the years for the quality of life of their pets. One dog and two cats are buried out in my parents back yard under some flower bushes with some small "grave" markers. No pet cemetery jokes, please. :wink:

 

[Phaedrus]

It's great to see the incredible diversity of thoughts and feelings on this. I have to admit that I've seen the issue from both sides.

I grew up on a working animal farm, and relatively early on, I learned about making decisions between vet work and euthenasia. We had a puppy with a multi-multi fracture of the leg that couldn't be safely amputated and had to put him down.

I've also put down a beloved pet dog with a sheep-eating habit. And my dad and I pumped a bunch of money into a dog, and spent lots of time and effort restoring to health a small kitten we later named "Lucky".

I don't think I'd go into debt to treat any animal, but I can't turn up my nose at someone who is willing to pay serious money to fix their beloved pet.

But I will admit, there is a little "farm-kid" part of me that recoils at the idea of spendings serious money and/or putting an animal through pain and suffering in order to cure it.

Good discussion!

 

[BCforISU]

Sorry, a little late to this discussion. I am a farm kid, 5 second rule was my dads Idea of a humane way to stop dogs from running from home. I bought a puppy my senior year of high school, and my dad had him for 9 years after, he died last year. My dad bought his first dog in 27 years because he loved mine so much. I think he would pay anything to keep him alive now, but like I tell my wife, a dog/cat dies you can buy another one, and forget about the prior in about 1 weeks time. My wife only had one dog growing up and she won't be able to function if ours ever dies, I just keep trying to prepare her, so it won't be so tuff. I wouldn't spend much more than the shot/creamation, doubt I would ever go for surgery with a pet either.

 

[cyismydog]

Sorry, a little late to this discussion. I am a farm kid, 5 second rule was my dads Idea of a humane way to stop dogs from running from home. I bought a puppy my senior year of high school, and my dad had him for 9 years after, he died last year. My dad bought his first dog in 27 years because he loved mine so much. I think he would pay anything to keep him alive now, but like I tell my wife, a dog/cat dies you can buy another one, and forget about the prior in about 1 weeks time. My wife only had one dog growing up and she won't be able to function if ours ever dies, I just keep trying to prepare her, so it won't be so tuff. I wouldn't spend much more than the shot/creamation, doubt I would ever go for surgery with a pet either.

:notworthy::notworthyid you just say "Tuff?" Roger Sprague is that you?:wink:

 

[twojman]

We have two labs, one black and one chocolate. We spent $430 on them last week just for heartworm meds, frontline(flea & tick stuff) and to get an allergy test for the chocolate. She has this horrible habit of licking her paws and will not stop, she gets into this zombie like transe while she is doing it. She does not have a food allergy, we tested for that last year. The vet thinks she may be allergic to dust or human dander. Can you believe it, a dog allergic to humans!

My wife will be a wreck when it comes decision time for them. We have a 20 month old son and a three week old daughter. My guess is that they will have a hard time with it also.

 

[clones_jer]

When I was 10 I had to hold a mare while my Dad put down a 1 day old foal with a crushed pelvis with the neighbors rifle (we think the mare may have accidentally stepped on it).

Makes for growing up pretty fast.

I'll spend on a pet what I have invested. Maybe slightly more for my current dog as I got her free. But in the end you have to seperate human life from animal life, if spending on an animal is going to put any strain on your families finances then you man-up and do what you have to do - including borrowing the gun and the shovel if that's what it comes down to.

Oh, and don't put it in the freezer. (office reference)

 

[dahliaclone]

It's totally up to the owner how much they put into keeping a pet alive and I don't think it's fair to judge otherwise.

We had a pure bred cat (half bengal) that cost a pretty penny. He ended up eating something that lodged in his bowels. To get it out would have cost around $3,000. I said no way. They even got down to a payment of around $1000 and I said no. I would have said yes, but his bowels were all ready torn up and if surgery went well, he would have been on meds the rest of his life.

It's not fair to keep a pet alive to please you. If they will be in pain, do the humane thing and put them down, as difficult at it is. And it's BRUTAL to be in the room when they put a pet down. Awful.

 

[dahliaclone]

The comments on here about how much they hate cats and using shells to put them down, etc. are so pathetic. Get a life people.

 

[copenhagen]

5 cents for a .22 cartridge

anything more is a insane waste of money imo.

 

[Wesley]

Bugs is 15 and has had $2000 in hospital bills.

 

[Phaedrus]

The comments on here about how much they hate cats and using shells to put them down, etc. are so pathetic. Get a life people.

As much as I like cats and dogs, I disagree. It's a fact of life that lots of people, especially men, don't value cats as highly as they value dogs. I have some ideas why that might be, but it's still a valid point of view.

I grew up on a farm, and we raised our own kids on a farm for 5 years. There is one thing that is true about farm cats: Farm Cats are a "continuum". Today, kitty is grey. Next week, kitty is black, or orange, or calico. Cats, when raised on a farm, are extremely temporary creatures.

As I've stated before in other threads, I've had to put down cats, dogs, sheep, pigs, cattle, and horses. It's not "fun" to do any of them, but it's sometimes "necessary". (Though some of the above are rather delicious, afterwards....:yes

P.S.-
Personally, I think Copenhagen is getting ripped off at 5 cents a .22 round. Unless they are Match or CB Longs, or something....

 

[BCforISU]

The most important question is when are we going to have pet healthcare reform? It's ridiculous here, just go to Canada and get your dog fixed for free. Sorry, they don't accept cats.

Skys the limit for me on what I spend for my dog. As long as her quality of life stays the same.

:notworthy::notworthyid you just say "Tuff?" Roger Sprague is that you?:wink:

"Tuff" was a sign of my education level :wideeyed: I made a mistake, but hope that I gave you a good laugh! Either way, I think pets are replaceable, but that is most likely my upbringing. I agree with the aspect of how the animal can recover, we have to remember that they don't have the rehap options that us human's have, or the will to get themselves back to normal. I had a springer spaniel (Trixie) that ate carpet, the old kind that you could pull and would just keep unravellng. It was lodged in her bowels and the only way to get it out was a very expensive surgery. We were going to put her down, but she was so happy (9 months old) she died next to me on our coach watching the Braves/Twins world series years ago. I was pretty shaken, but wouldn't have changed anything, she went peaceful and was with someone who loved her.

 

[peteypie]

Spent $600 on my dog when she pulled a beef roast net out of the garbage and ate it. It got stuck between her stomach and intestines, and she would have never passed it herself. She was so sick but it took a week before the vet knew what was wrong, because those things don't show up on an x-ray. So he just sliced her open and found it.

 

[Jerry1982]

Pets are great companions. I love animals but they are all lesser creatures than humans. When pets die you can get new pets. Those random thoughts can lead you to my opinions about vet bills. I'm all for keeping animals healthy. Spending a ridiculous chunk of change on a pet tells me that someone has lost their sense of direction.

When you were young and your folks got you a pet, and the pet died, that was a tremendous experience for you to have. That lesson in life is invaluable.

 

[Cyclonepride]

Pets are great companions. I love animals but they are all lesser creatures than humans. When pets die you can get new pets. Those random thoughts can lead you to my opinions about vet bills. I'm all for keeping animals healthy. Spending a ridiculous chunk of change on a pet tells me that someone has lost their sense of direction.

When you were young and your folks got you a pet, and the pet died, that was a tremendous experience for you to have. That lesson in life is invaluable.

What's your definition of a ridiculous sum? We're not talking about making our pets immortal here. Eventually a pet will die, and yes, that is an important life experience for kids. If I choose to drop $1000 on my pet to save it's life, and I can afford to do that, have I lost my "sense of direction"?

 

[CycloneWarrior]

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.

hahahaha. That's hilarious

 

[singsing]

The wife spent 12,000 on her dog. He had cancer in his lower jaw, and after spending the money to fix him up he repaid us by biting me. The wound became infected and I spent 10 days in the hospital at a cost of 18,000. Anyone want a dog?

 

[CRcyclone6]

We have had our Chow for 14 years. She is definately on her downhill slide. 8 years ago she got caught in a fence and tore her ACL. We paid 1500 to have it fixed. We thought about putting her down, but we chose not to. Glad we didn't, she is a great dog. Just no more rabbit chasing.

Our cat on the other hand, had a urinary infection that he couldn't kick with meds. He went thru spurts (literally) and would **** on the carpet at random. Would do it once, then wouldn't for months. I told my wife when we moved to our new house, that if he does it once he's gone. I don't want to be "that" house that no one goes to because their house stinks like cat ****. He did, so I took him in the same day to be put down. Very, very hard. He was a healthy 12-yr old cat, except for his little problem. Now Max's ashes sit on the fireplace mantle in a very cool urn.

 

[Phaedrus]

What's your definition of a ridiculous sum? We're not talking about making our pets immortal here. Eventually a pet will die, and yes, that is an important life experience for kids. If I choose to drop $1000 on my pet to save it's life, and I can afford to do that, have I lost my "sense of direction"?

I cannot answer for him, but now that I've read this thread, and have thought about it, I've decided that there is a scale that I can personally apply.

First, what are my means. If I can afford it, no one can really be over critical with what I do with my money. If I'm financially well-off, $1000 is certainly not out of line. I have to wonder, though, some of the pet lovers who spend $1000 on a dog or cat, while their family lives in squalor.

Second, what kind of fix are you actually accomplishing? Is it going to truly benefit the animal, or are you doing it because you selfishly want to put off saying good-bye to a pet, that will suffer because of the fix. Pets don't understand anything but the immediate pain.

Third, apparently the type of animal makes a difference. People tend to value dogs more than cats, and cats more than rodents and fish. (Funny thing, turtles and birds haven't been mentioned, even though as pets, some turtles, and some birds have similar life spans to humans, and would make decent pets for those who don't want their pets to die in their own life time.)

While I like to tell stories about growing up on the farm, and some of the hard decisions we made vis-a-vis animals, I can also tell stories about how my dad put an inordinate amount of money into particular animals' survival. We once saw a sow chewing on something, and she dropped it. Dad picked it up, and it was a baby kitty, still moving a little, but it was cruched up pretty bad, and it's insides were pretty much now on the outside. Surprisingly to me, Dad cleaned it up with iodine, put some anti-bacterial ointment on it, and put the cat giblets back in it, and gave it some shots from the vet cabinet.

Later that day, the Vet showed up for some other reason, and took a look at her. He was skeptical, but he did some work putting bones back in the right place, on the tailgate of his pickup.

She was black, with a little white horseshoe on her chest, and we named her "Lucky". In a little over a month of nursing her back to health, and feeding her with an eyedropper, she was back to normal health for a kitty, and she become "my" cat.

Later on, she repaid us by being a mouser from heck. I would put a cat harness around her chest, and tie her to 50' of clothesline, and lower her into grain bins, where she'd catch a mouse, and I'd reel her in. Never let her eat the mouse until she'd caught them all, and then I'd feed her as many as she could eat, after we were done "working".