How much would you spend on pet medical bills?

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by username

That's exactly what they do at her clinic.

One lady brought in 4 healthy cats that were all under a year of age to be put down. The whole clinic was obviously very upset by this and boarded them all until they were all adopted.

It's just ridiculous (to me anyway) that someone would do that. Apparently she said she didn't realize how much it would cost to have 4 cats, like wtf????

That seems different than what you originally described. Putting cats down because you bought too many is effed. Putting them down because they require thousands of dollars in medical attention is completely different.

Most people should budget the normal costs of owning a pet. Shots, food etc. I'm not sure if thousands of dollars in emergency surgeries is part of that though. Unless the pet is old or has known issues I wouldn't expect to spend a ton of money on them. In all the years I had pets and my sister has had a cat for almost 5 years now, my family never once had to pay thousands in medical bills.

What I don't necessarily expect people to have planned is an animal getting diabetes and requiring thousands of dollars per year to keep them healthy.

[Kybosh]

For a while, my dog was prone to bacterial infections in her digestive tract. No surgeries required and the antibiotic medication was quite cheap but. . . she always got very ill on holidays or other non-peak hours. Two overnight visits to the pet hospital left some serious dents in my wallet (about $1000 each overnight visit if I recall). The last time this happened (the symptoms were the exact same), I forced the vet to just give me the medication and call it a day. That saved about $950 dollars and my dog was right as rain in a couple days.

People are always shocked when I tell them what I've estimated to have spent on my dog in 6 years in initial purchase, vet fees, emergency costs, dog paraphernalia, food, licenses and so on. I knew what I was getting into though. In the grand scheme of things, a dog is really quite simple to budget for. Before you acquire that animal (purchase or adoption, I don't care), take 30 minutes and do some math. Seriously people.

Edit: I'll add to Cecil's post above me that yes, people should absolutely budget potential emergency costs into their pet plan. It's the smart thing to do, just like how you maybe shouldn't buy a house if you can't afford to replace a hot water heater in an emergency.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by Kybosh

Edit: I'll add to Cecil's post above me that yes, people should absolutely budget potential emergency costs into their pet plan. It's the smart thing to do, just like how you maybe shouldn't buy a house if you can't afford to replace a hot water heater in an emergency.

But that analogy doesn't work because it ignores the relative costs. You're also being quite vague on what emergency costs should be budgeted.

Let's say that to get a cat costs $500-1000. Cost for the cat, registration, shots, liter box, food etc.

Are you really going to spend 2-10x the amount it cost for the cat to keep it healthy?

To use your analogy, that is like buying a $200k house and not having an extra $200k stashed in case your entire house needs to be rebuilt from the ground up.

Anyone who buys a pet and doesn't budget for normal costs (and that includes vet bills) is a fool. But most of us don't budget for costs in the thousands of dollars, especially over a short period of time.

There is obviously a line here and I'm not sure where it is. I'd probably budget for a few hundred dollars a year in extra costs above and beyond standard costs for a cat.

$1000 would be pushing it. I'd have to look at the age of the cat, length of time I've had it, probability of that money fixing the problem, probability of future problems due to this ailment etc.

There is no universal and set amount for an pet emergency costs budget. As I stated earlier I had pets for 10 years and never once did we ever have to spend a dime on emergency costs.

[albertGQ]

My monthly bank account fee is waived if I keep a mininum $1k balance. I consider that my "emergency" fund. If I owned a pet and needed money for an operation or whatever, I would just dip into that $1k (assuming that is sufficient) and replace the $1k when I am able to

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

These are not children.

To alot of people they are. Growing up I always thought of my pets as brothers and sisters and losing them was just as hard as losing a relative.

I don't know how anyone can afford that kind of money but I can understand why they would be willing to spend that much.

[Kybosh]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

But that analogy doesn't work because it ignores the relative costs. You're also being quite vague on what emergency costs should be budgeted.

Let's say that to get a cat costs $500-1000. Cost for the cat, registration, shots, liter box, food etc.

Are you really going to spend 2-10x the amount it cost for the cat to keep it healthy?

To use your analogy, that is like buying a $200k house and not having an extra $200k stashed in case your entire house needs to be rebuilt from the ground up.

Anyone who buys a pet and doesn't budget for normal costs (and that includes vet bills) is a fool. But most of us don't budget for costs in the thousands of dollars, especially over a short period of time.

There is obviously a line here and I'm not sure where it is. I'd probably budget for a few hundred dollars a year in extra costs above and beyond standard costs for a cat.

$1000 would be pushing it. I'd have to look at the age of the cat, length of time I've had it, probability of that money fixing the problem, probability of future problems due to this ailment etc.

There is no universal and set amount for an pet emergency costs budget. As I stated earlier I had pets for 10 years and never once did we ever have to spend a dime on emergency costs.

My house analogy is mean to show that if you can only afford the bare minimum costs, you are likely in a risky financial situation. Ditto for an animal, where if you can only afford food and a once a year vet visit you could be in trouble.

As for budgeting emergency pet care, I would say that having $1000 in a just in case account is probably wise. As I said before, for a single overnight likely standard vet visit you're probably looking at $700-1500.

[Jimmy Stang]

Obviously keeping enough cash on hand for the highest possible vet bill isn't practical for most of us. But they way I see it, this year I accumulated $1000 cash without noticing ($20 a week automatically from my account), and it would at least soften the blow somewhat in the event of an emergency.

I'm not sure what I'll do when/if I get more than say 5k in there, because as much as I love my dogs, I'd have to draw the line somewhere. I'll probably just keep saving the same amount because it is nice to have some cash stowed away, or I'll move anything over a certain threshold out into a better type of investment.

Bottom line is, it is never nice to have to fork over a bunch of money for a vet bill, but it will be a lot easier if even a portion of it has already been earmarked for it. And if I never have to use it, it is money in my pocket. Or my RRSP at least.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by Kybosh

My house analogy is mean to show that if you can only afford the bare minimum costs, you are likely in a risky financial situation. Ditto for an animal, where if you can only afford food and a once a year vet visit you could be in trouble.

As for budgeting emergency pet care, I would say that having $1000 in a just in case account is probably wise. As I said before, for a single overnight likely standard vet visit you're probably looking at $700-1500.

That is nice and all but back to my original quote of username, it is hard to judge another person's financial situation.

To say that people who put down their pets rather than spend x amount of money is totally out of line. I think people should budget for costs but how can anyone say for sure why a person chooses to have a pet put down.

Maybe they are low on cash, maybe the animal has already cost them thousands, maybe the animal is already quite old or a combination of all three.

I don't like to see animals killed needlessly but at the end of the day that is the world we live in. I hate to be that guy, but I don't think username can complain about putting dogs to sleep if he eats meat. Do you know what pigs and cows go through? Or what about animals on farms? Jesus, I know a ton of farmers that see nothing wrong with throwing a sack of kittens in the river. Are they poor pet owners because they didn't care for those animals?

We live in a society that views most animals as having very few rights and don't have a right to live. That doesn't excuse people who mismanage their money at the expense of a pets life but without knowing the details it is totally irresponsible to condemn them without knowing the details.

[username]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

I don't like to see animals killed needlessly but at the end of the day that is the world we live in. I hate to be that guy, but I don't think username can complain about putting dogs to sleep if he eats meat.

Now you're getting ridiculous. You're comparing slaughtering cows for profit to putting down healthy pets that an owner didn't budget for?

Get a clue.

[Rathji]

Wait, healthy cows that are killed for financial reasons are different than healthy cats that are killed for financial reasons?

Cow never #### on my bed and I have no problems with them dying.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by username

Now you're getting ridiculous. You're comparing slaughtering cows for profit to putting down healthy pets that an owner didn't budget for?

Get a clue.

I have many clues, thank you.

You are saying putting pets down is bad. This stems from a sanctity of life type argument. You obviously believe that animals deserve life, rather than death. You especially don't like it when an animal is killed needlessly (except when you deem it is ok of course).

For me to compare other examples of animals who are killed, both for a purpose and needlessly, is completely relevant. Who are you to decide what purpose is more meaningful? Sure the common counter is to say that we need those cows for food. That doesn't excuse the torture they endure. Nor does it address the thousands of other reasons we kill animals. Disease, dislike, pests, for fun etc.

What happened to your sanctity of animal life argument? Do cows not have the same rights as dogs? Or do you only support the animals you think are cute?

This doesn't make the pet owners who didn't budget correctly any less irresponsible. It also doesn't make your wild speculation about their financial situation any less ridiculous. But who are you to judge which reasons are ok and which aren't? What if the animal needs $5k in vet help? Are you still a POS for letting them die? Or is there a set limit to have saved that makes you a good pet owner?

What it does show is that you're obviously, along with a huge portion of society, a complete hypocrite when it comes to the sanctity of life for animals. It basically boils down to "well I want these types of animals to live, so they get rights and I don't care about other animals so they can suffer torturous, horrible, heinous deaths but who cares, they aren't cuddly."

Frankly, there are a lot of pet owners whose dog or cat probably prays for death because they are ####ty owners who don't play with or walk them, who don't feed them enough, abuse them etc.

My point has been, from the first time I quoted you, that you nor your g/f are in any position to be making judgements on the reasons people put down their pets. There is no set limit that every person must be prepared to pay. The talk about non-domestic animals is simply to show you that you have a complete double standard and set of rationalizations set up to avoid answering the question: Why is it ok to kill some but not others? Like I said, I think it boils down to "well, I care about the cute ones".

[username]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

I have many clues, thank you.

I stopped reading shortly after this. Don't compare killing animals which are in turn used to feed the human race to killing healthy dogs and cats. You're twisting this into something it's not.

Ridiculous argument.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by username

I stopped reading shortly after this. Don't compare killing animals which are in turn used to feed the human race to killing healthy dogs and cats. You're twisting this into something it's not.

Ridiculous argument.

Ummm what? Now who has the ridiculous argument. This is a debate about the appropriate amount that an owner is "obligated" to spend on EMERGENCY VET BILLS.

Healthy dogs and cats have no place in this debate. Although that is a good point. You're comparing sick dogs and cats to healthy non-domestic animals? Perhaps we should go one step further. Is the farmer irresponsible if he has a sick horse and kills it instead of properly budgeting to spend $$ on vet bills? Why was I even comparing healthy cows/pigs/chickens to sick dogs and cats. I should be using comparable examples. It is even worse that we knowingly kill healthy animals like cows and pigs!

What about the ones that aren't used to feed the human race? Is it ok to kill them?

Since you missed it, because you didn't read my post, I already addressed the lame "but we need them for food" argument in my post.

[WhiteTiger]

It's just so hard to know if medical will fix a problem with an animal, as well. The treatments might work. They might not. Last year, for New Years Eve, our cat went crazy. Something inside her little cat brain 'broke' as far as we could tell. She went from being a nice, happy, somewhat social cat to freaking out and attacking anything that moved near her, including my wife and I.

We got her to the vet (after a 30 minute fight to get her into the cat carrier, at which point the Building Manager came by since she thought that we were out and the cat had broken something she was howling so much/loud) and she's so aggressive and mean that the vet can't get within paw's reach of the front gate of the carrier. They eventually gassed her and ran a bunch of tests, pumped her stomach and several other things.

Everything came back negative. She hadn't eaten anything recently. She hadn't gotten into anything. There was no excuse for her behavior.

Between all the tests and associated costs, we figure we dropped around 4 grand. And we STILL don't have any idea what happened or why it did. For about 3 months after, she would hiss and attack any stranger in the house. On a bad day, she'd hiss and attack my wife and I.

I hate to say that it got to the point where we were considering having her put down. We lived in a tiny 1 bedroom, and if the cat was having a bad day, the only solution was to lock her in the bedroom until she calmed down.

She's much better now, a year later. She's not fully recovered her enjoyment of people who aren't my wife and I, but she will tolerate houseguests. She will even let them pet her occasionally. We recently had a friend over who has 5 kids, all under 10. She brought the 4 youngest with her. Our cat wasn't impressed, but she only hissed once at one of the younger ones (who knows to be very careful around our cat, and back away if she starts to hiss) who was getting a little too friendly.

Even though the vet gave us no real answers, I still look at that 4k as money well spent. I'm sitting here typing this, and the cat is under my computer desk, laying across my feet. I move them, and she grumbles and moves to where ever I have and lays back on top of them.

This has turned into a long-winded way of saying that my wife and I know that we'd have and be able to spend about 5K on our 'kid'. What impressed me...was that when this was all happening, and money was getting really tight (It happened JUST on NYE, as the Christmas bills were slated to start rolling in...) we had both our families and 3 very good friends step up with offers of money to help us find a solution to the problem.

[SeeBass]

Originally Posted by WhiteTiger

It's just so hard to know if medical will fix a problem with an animal, as well. The treatments might work. They might not. Last year, for New Years Eve, our cat went crazy. Something inside her little cat brain 'broke' as far as we could tell. She went from being a nice, happy, somewhat social cat to freaking out and attacking anything that moved near her, including my wife and I.

We got her to the vet (after a 30 minute fight to get her into the cat carrier, at which point the Building Manager came by since she thought that we were out and the cat had broken something she was howling so much/loud) and she's so aggressive and mean that the vet can't get within paw's reach of the front gate of the carrier. They eventually gassed her and ran a bunch of tests, pumped her stomach and several other things.

Everything came back negative. She hadn't eaten anything recently. She hadn't gotten into anything. There was no excuse for her behavior.

Between all the tests and associated costs, we figure we dropped around 4 grand. And we STILL don't have any idea what happened or why it did. For about 3 months after, she would hiss and attack any stranger in the house. On a bad day, she'd hiss and attack my wife and I.

I hate to say that it got to the point where we were considering having her put down. We lived in a tiny 1 bedroom, and if the cat was having a bad day, the only solution was to lock her in the bedroom until she calmed down.

She's much better now, a year later. She's not fully recovered her enjoyment of people who aren't my wife and I, but she will tolerate houseguests. She will even let them pet her occasionally. We recently had a friend over who has 5 kids, all under 10. She brought the 4 youngest with her. Our cat wasn't impressed, but she only hissed once at one of the younger ones (who knows to be very careful around our cat, and back away if she starts to hiss) who was getting a little too friendly.

Even though the vet gave us no real answers, I still look at that 4k as money well spent. I'm sitting here typing this, and the cat is under my computer desk, laying across my feet. I move them, and she grumbles and moves to where ever I have and lays back on top of them.

This has turned into a long-winded way of saying that my wife and I know that we'd have and be able to spend about 5K on our 'kid'. What impressed me...was that when this was all happening, and money was getting really tight (It happened JUST on NYE, as the Christmas bills were slated to start rolling in...) we had both our families and 3 very good friends step up with offers of money to help us find a solution to the problem.

Did you get a new piece of electronics or something that may be making a noise that we can't hear? Do one of the neighbours have a new pet?

[Cowperson]

Groundbreaking Texas court ruling places intrinsic or sentimental value on a pet, meaning a pet has more than replacement dollar value to people and a court will recognize that.

Controversial case and will be appealed by unlikely groups

http://dogblog.dogster.com/2012/01/0...home_multiline

[Sr. Mints]

I've owned three dogs in my life, and spent tens of thousands of dollars on them, even when I didn't have it-- and every penny was worth it.

My shar-pei was taken in by my parents when I was a teenager, but came with me when I moved out, and lived to 13 or 14, and had a host of different problems throughout his life: mange, dermatitis, arthritis, attacked by a dogs at a park ripping his leg apart, hit by a car, swallowed a kitchen scrubby pad, etc., etc.

Not once did I ever question if he was worth paying to have fixed up--it was more of a question of how was I going to pay for it at times.

It wasn't until he had a stroke in 2008 when I feared it was the end. He was tired, slow, and after the stroke I knew it was over when he wouldn't eat or drink. I even bought a bottle and had him drink from that from that, which seemed to awaken his desire to live for a moment, but only for a moment.

A day or two later I took him to be put down, and it was one of the worst things I ever had to do. It was obvious to me that he was ready to go when he was laying on the table at the vet's, not fighting like he always did as they shaved his arm and inserted the needle. He just stared at me with his deep brown eyes and then the life was gone from him.

Then I had to pay $175 with a waiting room full of people behind me, all knowing what had just transpired, I'm sure. Everyone avoided eye contact with me, but what was I to do, let him suffer and starve to death instead of paying to have him put down? But I digress . . .

I understand everyone has different views on this, but to me my dogs are like my children. I don't know anyone with children who wouldn't do everything and anything they could if there's were sick.

The two monkey's I have now (a pug and a mix) have been, to put it in line with the gist of this thread, low maintenance, but there is nothing that can convince me they are not worth any sort of financial burden should they require help. They are innocent and defenseless, and sometimes a pain in the ass, but they are my family and my responsibility.

[Zevo]

I could be driving a brand new car with the money we have spent on our dogs. I don't regret anything.

If you don't think you can afford expensive vet bills to keep a pet happy and healthy, you shouldn't have one. Period.

My boy(in my avatar) was brought to a vet to be put down at 8 weeks old after he was hit by a car that broke one of his back legs. He was off the reserve and his owners couldn't afford the vet bill(around $1200 at the time).

Rather than put him down, the vets decided to fix his leg(with thier own time and money), and adopt him out.

I was thinking about getting a second dog at the time and heard about this poor Rotty cross puppy that was hit by a car. I ended up adopting him on the spot.

I have spent thousands on him since, including amputating his leg as it didn't heal properly and dislocated at the hip when he was playing with my other dog. He is the kindest, most eager to please dog I have known. He loves eveybody he meets, and even enjoys going to the vets(different vet now).

I have been blessed to have him 13 years since adopting him and don't regret one penny spent on him.

[AFireInside]

I agree with Zevo and Sr Mints above.

If you get a pet, be prepared to have some emergency money, or don't have a pet. It's that simple.

I'm in the camp where I would do anything I could, if it meant saving one of my dogs, as long as their life would return to normal. Sometimes there is a difficult choice to make.

Get pet insurance and have a little money on hand because you never know.

If you aren't prepared to potentially have to drop $1000 on a pet that may need a visit you really shouldn't have one. $1000 is a drop in the bucket if a problem arises.

Now if you absolutely can't afford $1000 there are some options out there, but to just give up and put the animal down especially if it's a simple fix is just irresponsible imo.

If you have $1000 on hand and the pet needs something, and you are unwilling because you don't want to part with $1000 then you really aren't that attached, get some fish. Easily replaceable.

[REDVAN]

Bump.

My doggy is scheduled for a tooth extraction this week due to having a broken big molar.

Cost is 500-800 depending on what they find when they put her under. For one tooth!

Anyone else had a dog that lost some big teeth? Hopefully she can still eat normally afterwards.