How much would you spend on your pet's health?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Veronica1952
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
V

Veronica1952

Guest
*I am very troubled at this time. One of my 2 cats had to have surgery last month for a blocked bladder. The whole ordeal cost us about $1500.00. Now he’s having problems again and the vet said he may have scar tissure and could need additional surgery. I love this cat, I rescued him as a kitten (he’s 4 now) and he sleeps with us. However, when I think of spending thousands of dollars on a cat I am really torn up about this. Besides being financially draining I’m thinking it may not be morally right, as there are poor people right here in America who go to bed hungry, are homeless and can’t afford medical care. I’d like to get some (name removed by moderator)ut from the readers out there, what whould you do when faced with this predicament? How much would you spend on your dog, cat, horse, etc. to bring him/her back to health?:confused: *
 
I personally am not a huge fan of pets to begin with. I don’t really have a problem having one, but I don’t actively pursue owning my own animal. So, I would say I fall in the “don’t spend too much” category.

Eamon
 
I would not spend $1500

They are animals. I know they become members of our family and we love them very much, but we have an obligation to our human family members and ourselves. If the money that is being considered to be spent on this cat would create hardship for the family, then you need to humanely have the cat put to sleep.

Please don’t think I don’t know what you are going through. My cat of 8 years became sick and it would have been several thousand dollars to help the cat. I couldn’t justify the expense, knowing that I would be taking money away from my family’s welfare. Fortunately though, I did not have to put him down- he died anyway. But the situation at the vet had accumulated $400-500 in fees. OUCH.

My prayers are with you as you go through this difficult time with your cat. I think it is time to let nature take it’s course (if it isn’t painful) or have the cat put to sleep.

I’m sorry.
:gopray:
 
I don’t think there is a specific limit for everyone. Personally, I don’t have a problem with what you have spent. At one point my wife and I knew our Golden might need hip replacement surgery and we were/are willing to do that.

You said something about financially draining. Will this affect your family negatively such that you might not be able to provide food/shelter/etc? How sure is the vet about this fix, will even more costs result? How does the family feel, about the money and the results of spending more on the cat?

There is not a clear answer on this. The cat is yours and is under your supervision, you need to be the best steward that you can of the animal. That might mean letting nature take it’s course or letting the vet work on the animal.

Have you tried praying to God specifically about this and ask for guidance? Maybe say a prayer to St. Francis also.

I’ll say a prayer that you might know what is best.
 
Well, I guess I spend a fair amount. We have two cats and two dogs, a rat and some hermit crabs at the moment. One cat has feline urology syndrome where the urine crystalizes in the urinary tract and a specific diet seems to help some so we buy special prescription cat food that both cats eat and it is not cheap. Then one of the dogs is getting old and now has a heart murmur and she is on a “high blood pressure” pill that only costs about $6.00 a month but it does add up - she will be thirteen in Nov. The other dog has a seizure disorder but only has a “fit” every other month or so so we don’t give him anything yet.

None of us does without our prescriptions (which cost way more a month) or our special diets (food allergies in this family so there are foods we totally eliminate when the person is home or substitute a more expensive food).

Is $1500.00 too much for a pet? Is it worth that much again? I don’t know, I probably wouldn’t have spent that kind of money all at once on a pet and I know my vet would have supported whatever we chose. I have put down a dog who “only had” pneumonia, she was scaring me and I could not comfort her as she was struggling for breath, she was old and had other things wrong so in the end it was better for her to be put down - it was the humane thing to do. ).

It is hard to lose a pet, I know we have lost a number of cats in our time and a few dogs. They become like part of the family and our constant companions. They are underfoot a lot especially cats.

If your cat is suffering a great deal and you don’t have the money to help it or if the chances it will not have scar tissue form the removal of the scar tissue then it is not worth another $1500.00, if you can give it some inexpensive pain killers you could try that instead. Don’t know exactly what is going on. 😦

Brenda V.
 
My dog is part of the family – we even refer to her as our son’s “sister”. She sleeps in the bed, is spoiled rotten.

2 years ago, we’d boarded here at the vet’s office for a weekend trip – had a phone call on Saturday morning that she needed surgery. We rushed home, to find that the vet tech noticed blood in her urine, they did a test and discovered bladder stones. We took her for a second opinion, and did a world of research online. We found out that after surgery for bladder stones, there is a high instance of further surgery. The second vet told us that they would not put their own pet through such surgery. We also found out about dietary treatments, and decided to forgo the expensive surgery and try to remedy it with diet. It worked! She has been stone free since.

Should something else come up, we would investigate non-surgical methods of treatment. My reason is twofold – I have had major surgeries (including a hip replacement) and surgery is painful – recoveries can be very painful as well (hip replacement recovery is TOUGH). I could not put the dog I love through that kind of pain – the dog will not understand that the pain is for a reason and that the pain will end they way a person does. There is also a limit to the amount of money I’d spend on my pet –

I’d suggest looking at ways to make the cat’s life comfortable and happy – and PAIN FREE. Prayers to St. Francis for your dear cat.
 
I would spend as much as I comfortably could without stretching my budget too much. We spend on average maybe $300 on check-ups and medications like heart-worm, plus I buy top of the line dog food for about $1 a pound. If I could afford to spend the $1500 plus any additional for additional operations, I would. If I could not, however, I don’t think it’s cruel to put the animal to sleep. Is she in pain? What is the liklihood of recovery after a second operation? If she isn’t in pain, maybe you can keep her in the family for a while. She is young to have to be put to sleep. It’s a hard decision and I do not envy you. I love my dog dearly and hope he’s with us for many more years. Maybe the vet could work something out with you, maybe a reduced fee for volunteer service or a payment schedule.
 
We have a dog. He’s a good dog, but I’ve found that I just can’t become attached to animals. I’ve tried; I can’t.

My role is to be the one to remain detached when it comes time to make the hard decisions.

So, for me, not I would not spend $1500 on surgery. —KCT
 
If a vet came out and stated he needed $1500 to treat an animal, my only response would be…SOLD! (then again that’s just one of the many reasons I no longer have animals in my house)
 
I spent more than that at the end of my beloved Siamese cat’s life…he was such a wonderful pet for all of his 18 years… I felt that he was worth it.
Animals are God’s creatures too… I do think at times about the starving children in the world…but then I try to donate as much as I can to help the poor…
 
Boy that’s a tough decision.

We once spent $300 on a dog we got at the pound because she had heartworm - she had just been given up by her owners, and the pound had not yet had her vet checked. I doubt I’d ever spend more than that on one type of treatment. And never that amount if the animal were older - over 10

Since we have 3 dogs and 2 cats (and we had one other put down last year), it is expensive to visit the vet.

So we do what we can for their health without obsessing.

They are inside dogs, and they are never allowed to run free - I’ve seen too many neighbor dogs hit by cars.

For annual shots, we go to the local farm store and purchase the 7-way vaccine for less than $5 a pet. It’s almost the same as the ones used by the vet, but we give the shots ourselves. That saves us a ton of money, and they carry both canine and feline shots.

And for our youngest dog, I taught her to let me clean her teeth (tartar) - I do that every couple months.

Now I love my animals dearly, but they are still just animals. If it came down to that kind of money ($1,500) I’d either do what was necessary to keep them free of pain, or have them put down.

I can always go to the pound and find another precious animal to love just as dearly.

Good luck,
MC
 
In the past 3 weeks, I’ve spent $587.00 on my 13 year old cat and broke our budget doing so. His kidneys are failing. This morning I spent another $44.00 on two bags of water that I must inject 150cc of twice a week till…We love this silly cat; DH rescued him from the street when he was no more than 6 or 7 weeks old.
I’m beginning to worry about the expense though. Couldn’t save a dime this month due to Vet bills, but oh! the guilt if I don’t do this. DH reasons that we adopted him so we are responsible for him in every way, which is true but I sure wish there was a less expensive way to help him.
So,anyway Veronica 1952, I totally appreciate your dilemma.
 
Spending money on a pet is okay, as so long as you can afford it, and you are able to give just as much or more toward human suffering.

Jennie
 
I would not, could not in good conscience spend 1500 on a pet. That would be taking food out of my kids mouths and putting our family into debt, etc. So I could not justify it.

I think if you have the financial resources, that it might be appropriate to do so.

I have never had those resources. When a pet gets terminally ill, or would require heroic efforts or extreme intervention to treat him, I put the animal down, usually myself. I feel that this is appropriate stewardship. I know that my family has this limitation, so when we get a pet, this is the understanding that we enter the situation with. I will not let an animal suffer needlessly.

cheddar
 
Maybe $10-15 for the lifetime of the pet not including nuetering which I think is necessary. I might consider more if I were alone and elderly and didn’t have much else to spend my money on.

This reminds me when our Chocalate lab was a pup we took him to the vet for neutering and told him so. He was rather young and thought we met something else. All the way to the vets he kept sticking his head out the window at other dogs and with a proud look on his face kept telling the other dogs that he was going for tutoring. You wouldn’t believe the look of disgust on his face when we picked him up after the surgery.

Dan L
 
40.png
GregoryPalamas:
Maybe $10-15 for the lifetime of the pet not including nuetering which I think is necessary. I might consider more if I were alone and elderly and didn’t have much else to spend my money on.
Click to expand...
10-15 dollars wouldn’t cover county fees here, nor would it cover distemper/rabies shots, or even the yearly checkup. I’m not even going to ask what you would feed a pet… 😉 So, tell me, what can you do for a pet over their lifetime that would cost $10-15? You can’t even keep a fish for that little. (well maybe the carnival gold fish, assuming you stick it in grandma’s old oversized vase that you didn’t pay for. And assuming it dies within a year or two…)
40.png
GregoryPalamas:
This reminds me when our Chocalate lab was a pup we took him to the vet for neutering and told him so. He was rather young and thought we met something else. All the way to the vets he kept sticking his head out the window at other dogs and with a proud look on his face kept telling the other dogs that he was going for tutoring. You wouldn’t believe the look of disgust on his face when we picked him up after the surgery.
Click to expand...
Cute, I’ve seen this joke on the internet for about 10 years now, but it still makes me smile…
 
I understand your situation. My 15 year old cat, Beau, has recently had liver problems. I took him in for a geriatric exam about 2 months or so ago, and that’s where I found out about the liver. For blood work, medication, x-rays and a week’s stay at the vet I spent about $1,000. I was prepared to pay another 500 or so when the vet said she felt a lump on his liver and wanted to do a biopsy. I took him in to the hospital, and she called me later that day to tell me she could no longer feel the lump (and his x-rays that day showed nothing abnormal), and did not think it necessary to do the biopsy. Now, my financial situation may be different from yours as I am not married and do not have children; so I am able to spend a little more on my animals. I don’t know how much I would be willing to spend if I did have those other considerations, but in general, if you can afford it and you think it is in the cat’s best interest, go ahead and spend what you need to.
 
I wouldn’t spend anything…not meaning to sound cruel or anything, but I would rather spend the money on a human being…and believe me there are plenty needing help.
~ Kathy ~
 
Someone was wondering if I have kids and if that money would be taken away from the kids, if I did have kids at home I probably would have to sacrifice the cat in favor of the kids, but my kids are grown and its just me and hubby. However, I do have lots of medical bills, not working due to disability, plus I need a new sofa and mattress ( they are falling apart), my decision is between paying off my medical bills, buying new furniture or saving the cat. Its a real tough decision for me, so please say a prayer.
 
40.png
Veronica1952:
Someone was wondering if I have kids and if that money would be taken away from the kids, if I did have kids at home I probably would have to sacrifice the cat in favor of the kids, but my kids are grown and its just me and hubby. However, I do have lots of medical bills, not working due to disability, plus I need a new sofa and mattress ( they are falling apart), my decision is between paying off my medical bills, buying new furniture or saving the cat. Its a real tough decision for me, so please say a prayer.
Click to expand...
Save the cat…unless the treatment would be so painful for it that it wouldn’t be kind. For example, I have a cat that is 17 yrs old…I would not put her through a lot of painful procedures…I would just get pain relief for her until it no longer worked…then I would have her put to sleep. It would be a painful decision but it is our responsibility to take care of the animals that are a part of our life…
Perhaps you could make payments…
on your medical bills and vet bills…try and work it out …Let us know how it goes…and I’ll say a prayer for you…
God Bless
Aimee
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top