How Much Would You Spend On A Pet's Healthcare?

[Angio333]

Hello,

I have a 6 year-old cat who is my little buddy. When I am at home, he is always at my side and will sometimes cry when I leave the house. He recently had a problem with a mass in his right ear, which we had removed.

So, that leads to my question:

How much are you willing to pay for a procedure on your beloved dog or cat?

[thesimplemoneyblog]

I think the answer is: it depends. If it is something that is really serious that would merely extend a suffering life, I would not want to pay for it. If it's something that has a great chance of bettering and extending my pet's life, I might spend about $1,000. Fortunately, I have never had to make this decision before, so it's hard to know exactly how I would feel if it were to come down to it.

[esb3357]

Missy is my child. She might only be a cat but she is MY child (we are duel income in our mid 20's with no kids). I do not believe in creating suffering. Minus causing pain with no benefits beyond my selfish ones. I would do ANYTHING/SPEND anything to make sure she was healthy and had the best chance at a long life. We waited on adopting our cat till we could totally take care of her.

[Emerald]

More than I ever thought I would.

[sherylgray]

Well it depends. First you need to know what is the problem

Two of the issues are majorly found in the cat's ear:

1. Polyp

1. aural hematoma

The surgery cost may vary from $800 to $1700.

[reedda]

My fur-babies get whatever they need to live a good life.

We spent a LOT of money on one our dogs for most of his relatively short life (he just passed away over the summer, at age 8). This included blood transfusions, medications, special diet, etc. whatever was necessary to keep him alive and *feeling good*.

When it was to the point that none of those were helping him feel good anymore, we decided we had to let him go. It was not an easy decision, and I still cry over him. We could have done more to keep him alive, but he just wasn't having a good life anymore. I would have done anything to keep him with me, but not at the expense of his pain and suffering.

So, I would spend money for the surgeries or whatever else, as long as your beloved's quality of life will be good after the procedure(s).

[JoeP]

We don't have a set dollar amount, but it does decrease with age. While we consider our dog to be part of our family, she is just a dog when you come right down to it. She's lived a safe, healthy, fun, long life...far better than the wild or most other homes. We feel good about what we've been able to provide, and I'm sure our dog would thank us if she could.

She's got another 4-5 years left, and costs will start to increase in another 2-3 years: arthritis, hips, diet, and a host of other things will need attention and money. There will come a point in time where every pet owner will have to make The Decision, and it is a personal one.

[Angio333]

More than I ever thought I would.

Me too - thats what inspired this thread.

[humandraydel]

More than I ever thought I would.

I spent $2k to get my 10 year old dog's leg amputated. She had a HUGE (benign) fatty tumor on her leg. It had been growing for at least 5 years and the leg was almost unusable. It's been 3 years since then, so I have occasionally equated it to "$50 per month". It was definitely worth it, but obviously if she had died 2 months later (due to natural causes), it wouldn't have been.

So, I would say something like $3k is my limit, but I would have to be confident that it would significantly extend their life. Things like cancer are more difficult, because I'm not convinced the quality of life gained through treatment is worth it.

[SavingSweetOneL]

I have an elderly cat, age 17, with a Thyroid problem. I have had him since he was 6-7 weeks old. I was told by the vets, that many animals can have thyroid problems due to chemicals that are now used in furniture manufactoring. He is an indoor and out door cat. I spend about $90 a month in food and medicine for him. He also had a emergency situation this past May, where he was constipated. Hearing him scream, and act crazy with the pain was unbearable. And, something else was going on with him because of the thyroid. It was about 11:00 PM, when I took him to an after hours vet. The vet had him stablized within an a half hour. The whole visit and all cost %700 dollars. In any year pervious to 2012, I would have been calling friends to help me pay the vet. (Or at least prevent my account from becoming rubberized.)

These days you can't tell anything had happened to him, or if he had any sort of problem.

Really amazing, and he likes living for sure.

My limit for this year and next, is $1,000 for emergency medical care.

Maybe in the future it will go up to $2,000.

He goes to the vet when I go away, because of his medicine requirements, and none of my friends have steady, reliable schedules.

SweetOneL

[gostumpy]

Makes me want pet insurance... but then I realize I should just put that same $$$ aside 'just in case' and then I'll have the cash to cover vet bills

[LivingAlmostLarge]

five figures and then some. Mostly it's quality of life. I did spend the five figures on a dog we had for years for chemo. But then when it was time, we knew and it was fine at that point.

[GrimJack]

Some friends and I were talking about this maybe 30 years ago w.r.t. the cat Augie. We calculated Augie's economic value at about $2.50 per day + food and board due to his entertainment and comfort value. Augie lived to 19 years old and died in our lap with the help of vet. He left us with such memories that even if he had cost the 17,500 that he earned, we would have paid it (over time - probably not if it came due in one lump sum). We were joking about the economic value at the beginning but ended up believing it at the end.

[nalidixic]

Such a tough question. We have a pug that is quite close to our hearts and have probably spent at least a thousand dollars on her over the last four years just on shots, getting fixed and checkups. That doesn't include buying premium dog food or any of those costs.

[joshuaking]

I would spend everything I had if it would help one of my dogs stay well and feel good. Once I had a dog with cancer and I let my house go into foreclosure because I cared more about paying his medical bills than anything else. I had some "friends" who said "How can you lose your house over a dog? Isn't he old anyway?" But some people understand.