Where To Draw The Line With Vet Bills?

[Tapua]

Sadly (even if you do have pet insurance), it is the action of others that force the decision to euthenaise upon you.

We had a Great Dane male - 2 year old who suffered a Bloat episode. My husband had just come home from picking up our boy from Kindy & noticed that our boy was dry wretching, drinking water but unable to vomit.

He took our children to a friend & took our boy to the vet - he got there in adequate time - no, they didn't even have a bloat rescue kit. They stuck a needlethrough his stomach wall, let out some gas & said yep, he's got bloat...

They did nothing for 30 minutes & when my husband queried what was happening, they said it would cost between $4,000 to $6,000 to operate on him - by this time our boy was in shock, it was obvious that he would not recover from the surgery as they had left it far too long - We did what was right by him, said goodbye and brought him home to be with us.

And yes, we didn't have that $$ in the bank & no, we couldn't pay it off.

What bothers me is following year, my mother-in-law who lives in the country had an 8 year old male Dane suffer an episode of bloat - Sunday morning - 2:00am emergency surgery - the cost $1,500

How can this veterinary surgery which is in the Metropolitan area justify such an enormous difference in the cost when the surgery required would have been exactly the same?

Vet fees are not regulated and like everyone I am disgusted at the enormous difference in fee charged. It is wonderful that lives can be saved and our beloved heart dogs are given an option at least but part of me feel pressured to get pet insurance. It is not something I have ever needed to do in the 20yrs I have had dogs but I am now seriously considering it becasue of vet cost. I wouldnt blint at $2-3000 bill but over that and we would be seriously hurting.

[Staranais]

Vets are like just about any other product or service you might want to buy. If your plumber or your mechanic is charging you through the nose (or doing a bad job), then you might want to vote with your feet and get another one. Same with your vet. Some vets only get away with charging higher fees because their clients are willing to pay.

Having said that, a lot of central urban practices do charge a lot more than rural ones due to rent being much higher. And some vet clinics have better equipment or more highly trained staff than others, which is again reflected in the price. Although the most expensive vets aren't always the best, if they've got a flashy new piece of diagnostic equipment, someone has to pay for it.

When I graduate, I'll be suggesting all my new puppy buyers get insurance. If the vet has a heart it's no fun for them to be putting dogs down that could be saved if the owner had sufficient funds. But they can't give credit or give discounts to everyone that walks in the door, or else they'd go out of business (or have to pass the costs onto their regular customers).

As for the OP, I have previously spent around $2000 on my girl fixing her shoulder OCD. I'd do it again in a heartbeat (although I'm still paying the money back), since the results were really good for her. I now have dog insurance, so I hopefully won't need to think about whether I can afford to fix my girl if she breaks again. But like other posters, if she wasn't going to have a good quality of life after the surgery, I probably wouldn't do it (no matter the cost).

[Mum to Emma]

About 3 years ago I faced this issue with my whippet Bobby. I had spent about $1000 a day after I took him to the emergency clinic late one Saturday night. He was in obvious pain and had tried to bite me earlier that day after I had pressed his abdomen whilst drying him after a bath (most unusual for a gentle whippet). For the previous week I had noticed that his face was swollen in the morning (which my regular vet decided was an allergy) It turns out he had an abdominal tumor that was blocking the lymphatic system and ended up causing his limbs to swell and fluid to accumulate in his chest. Bobby was lined up for an MRI and possible surgery after the extent of the tumour was defined. But when I went to visit him late at night at the emergency hospital I decided ENOUGH. He didn' t understand what he was going through. They wanted to put even more needles into his chest to drain the fluid that was accumulating and pressing on his heart. All he understood was the pain and discomfort which I knew would continue for months if I went ahead with the surgery (which involved breaking the rib case to extract a tumour which was near to his heart). I COULD afford to continue the treatment, but at the end of the day you must remember that dogs only understand pleasure or pain. They can't appreciate that you are putting them through agony for what might, in the long run, result in little if any quality life. They're not like us. We agonise for what may not be (see our children/grandchildren grow up?). Dog's live day-to-day. That's what we need to remember when making these terrible decisions.

Oh, and to people who exclaim "how could you spend that much money on an animal??". Ask them how much they spent on their last holiday! Holidays are a mere memory when you return home after, say, 3 weeks. The love of an animal is never forgotten.

[W Sibs]

Oh, and to people who exclaim "how could you spend that much money on an animal??". Ask them how much they spent on their last holiday! Holidays are a mere memory when you return home after, say, 3 weeks. The love of an animal is never forgotten.

I like that

Edited November 24, 2010 by CW EW

[melzawelza]

Something I have always said when people start bayong about people spending too much money on vet bills is 'would you be ripping this person a new one or congratulating them if they'd spent the money on a jet ski?? This is a living, breathing part of the family we are talking about. Why are they worth less than an inanimate object?'

Most people look pretty ashamed of themselves after that.

[Linda K]

depends on the age of the animals, the quality of life afterwards, but would have to think very hard for anything over $5000

[Moselle]

About 3 years ago I faced this issue with my whippet Bobby. I had spent about $1000 a day after I took him to the emergency clinic late one Saturday night. He was in obvious pain and had tried to bite me earlier that day after I had pressed his abdomen whilst drying him after a bath (most unusual for a gentle whippet). For the previous week I had noticed that his face was swollen in the morning (which my regular vet decided was an allergy) It turns out he had an abdominal tumor that was blocking the lymphatic system and ended up causing his limbs to swell and fluid to accumulate in his chest. Bobby was lined up for an MRI and possible surgery after the extent of the tumour was defined. But when I went to visit him late at night at the emergency hospital I decided ENOUGH. He didn' t understand what he was going through. They wanted to put even more needles into his chest to drain the fluid that was accumulating and pressing on his heart. All he understood was the pain and discomfort which I knew would continue for months if I went ahead with the surgery (which involved breaking the rib case to extract a tumour which was near to his heart). I COULD afford to continue the treatment, but at the end of the day you must remember that dogs only understand pleasure or pain. They can't appreciate that you are putting them through agony for what might, in the long run, result in little if any quality life. They're not like us. We agonise for what may not be (see our children/grandchildren grow up?). Dog's live day-to-day. That's what we need to remember when making these terrible decisions.

Oh, and to people who exclaim "how could you spend that much money on an animal??". Ask them how much they spent on their last holiday! Holidays are a mere memory when you return home after, say, 3 weeks. The love of an animal is never forgotten.

Cheers to you MTE. You did all you could for Bobby and even though you honestly admitted that you could financially afford to continue treatment for him you have decided that enough was enough and made the best decision for him that you could. I was also touched in what you said about people spending money on a holiday yet baulking at the idea of what you spent on Bobby!

[Kyra]

Something I have always said when people start bayong about people spending too much money on vet bills is 'would you be ripping this person a new one or congratulating them if they'd spent the money on a jet ski?? This is a living, breathing part of the family we are talking about. Why are they worth less than an inanimate object?'

Most people look pretty ashamed of themselves after that.

[~Myschafis~]

Im loving the analogies guys definitely something to say for future reference

[altheau]

I would do what ever possible given my resources at the time, and honestly that varies from time to time as I am sure it does for everyone.

Quality of life etc are higher on the list of course but that goes without saying

[cavNrott]

Oh, and to people who exclaim "how could you spend that much money on an animal??". Ask them how much they spent on their last holiday! Holidays are a mere memory when you return home after, say, 3 weeks. The love of an animal is never forgotten.

I wish I had thought of something clever like that to say when my Sophie girl was battling cancer. When I knew her quality of life would suffer if I kept her going I had her PTS. She still had quality of life but her cancer had clearly spread and my bottom line is always 'quality of life'.

As it turned out someone pm'd me to offer condolences and said she was sorry some people were bitching behind my back. I was unaware of it but it didn't surprise me. I didn't need to ask who they were, I can guess who the few are who would stoop to that level. They were bitching because I kept Sophie going which I would not have done if she was not happy, playful and pain free.

So now I say to those people - you know who you are and I'm fairly sure I do too. How much did you spend on your last self indulgence?

Thanks Mum to Emma, you are so right. The love of an animal is with us forever.