medically speaking. I know this number would probably vary with age, and expected prognosis after the treatment.

I love the hell out of my dog, but I don't know if I would spend $3-$4k on her, especially if she's close to the end of her life.

1/23/2012 1:36:10 PM

this depends on a LOT of things, other than just age & prognosis. things like the disease/condition the animal has, availability of treatment, where is the treatment done, etc. i probably have a limit somewhere but there's no one specific dollar amount in my head.

my parents spent close to $10k on our childhood dog when she had some freak giant liver tumor thing. she was almost 10 years old. so old, but not super old. she had surgery at the vet school to remove the tumor but wasn't able to clot correctly afterward & basically bled out internally a couple of days later. i don't know how/if i could really evaluate the situation with a level head if my dogs end up like that one day, but i won't be spending that kind of money.

[Edited on January 23, 2012 at 1:53 PM. Reason : can't read]

1/23/2012 1:41:46 PM

My Australian Shepherd at 2 years old had bad hip dysplasia and I ended up having to get him a total hip replacement last February. $4k I would gladly spend again if I have to. When he gets to about 8 though, I don't know if I would have made the same decision.

Then again, I like my dogs more than I like most people. It was a life changing surgery.

1/23/2012 1:51:05 PM

^^^ I love you dog, she is sweet. Good luck

1/23/2012 1:54:15 PM

Quote :

"she had surgery at the vet school to remove the tumor but wasn't able to clot correctly afterward & basically bled out internally a couple of days later."

so they were out $10k, and the dog died right after?

1/23/2012 1:55:16 PM

When my dumbass cat fucked up her knee two years ago I had to ask myself this. I think the number we had decided on was in the ballpark of $1000 to fix her up. But I was also expecting her vet bills to be ridiculously expensive. Turns out when you live somewhere that doesn't really give a shit about their pets veterinary costs are cheap. X-rays, pains meds, shots, and follow-up all ran us about $60.

That was a pleasant surprise but it also makes me wonder why veterinary care costs are astronomically more here? When I talked to my vet friend about it she said if I had had the same stuff done here it would have easily been $500 at least.

1/23/2012 1:58:02 PM

oh, that^^^^ reminds me. my australian shepherd mix has this condition were a little piece of the end of her bone in her elbows is weak & snaps off. i can't remember the long medical name for it. anyway, she was only 2 or so & had started limping badly. i spent $1400 at a specialist in cary (i'm in rocky mount) to get the bone fragment clipped off & completely removed. she has been a different dog since. SUPER bouncy. i would do it again for the other elbow if she ends up needing it.

my other dog (border collie mix) is almost 9 & has had moderate pain from hip dysplasia (which we had no idea she had until last year). if she was younger she could definitely benefit from a hip replacement but not so much at this age. we're dealing with pain meds & the occasional steroid shot right now.

Quote :

"so they were out $10k, and the dog died right after?"

umm yeah i guess you can look at it that way. she died 3 days after surgery. we knew after like less than a day after the surgery that she wasn't doing well at all. we had actually JUST gotten in the car to drive up there to put her down when the vet called to tell us she had died. there's a several page thread about her in the lounge when it happened. very sad. don't read it.

[Edited on January 23, 2012 at 2:01 PM. Reason : ]

1/23/2012 1:58:29 PM

How much is pet health insurance? And does it normally cover most of these costs? Why wouldn't you carry it?

1/23/2012 2:08:02 PM

^^^

Quote :

"Turns out when you live somewhere that doesn't really give a shit about their pets veterinary costs are cheap."

Exactly. If people won't pay ridiculous amounts of money, then vets can't charge it. It's the same way in rural areas here. Also, more expensive practices tend to have better, more up to date equipment that needs to be paid for.

[Edited on January 23, 2012 at 2:11 PM. Reason : ]

1/23/2012 2:10:59 PM

Quote :

"How much is pet health insurance? And does it normally cover most of these costs? Why wouldn't you carry it?"

it generally works out to be more expensive than it's worth. you're better off putting away money in a savings account. most/all insurance companies won't cover anything that can remotely considered genetic/hereditary or pre-exisiting (hip dysplasia & that elbow thing my dog have fall into those categories). if your dog has a freak accident or some other condition, then yeah it might be beneficial.

1/23/2012 2:15:31 PM

How much does it usually run a month?

And for example: let's say my sister's english bulldog has blows two acl. They are susceptible to knee problems, but I wouldn't exactly put it in the same category as hip dysplasia. Whats the probability of those acl surgeries/rehab being covered?

I plan on getting a big dog (most likely a French Mastiff)...and I think there's a good probability that we'll run into some health problems. Obviously I haven't done the research yet, but right now I'd definitely be leaning towards getting pet insurance.

[Edited on January 23, 2012 at 2:23 PM. Reason : .]

1/23/2012 2:22:51 PM

if that breed is susceptible to that, then it's most likely on the list of things they don't cover. cost depends on the breed, age, etc. you'll have to enter your stuff in one of their estimators to find out.

1/23/2012 2:25:07 PM

Quote :

"They are susceptible to knee problems, but I wouldn't exactly put it in the same category as hip dysplasia. Whats the probability of those acl surgeries/rehab being covered?"

Doubt they would cover it if it's a breed with known knee problems. You really are better off socking away some money each month into an interest bearing account.

1/23/2012 2:25:47 PM

$650

1/23/2012 2:27:52 PM

here's 3 different pages from VPI explaining what they don't cover
http://www.petinsurance.com/plans-and-coverage/plan-restrictions.aspx
http://www.petinsurance.com/images/VSSimages/media/pdf/Conditions_Not-Covered_All_Dog_And_Cats.pdf
http://www.petinsurance.com/images/VSSimages/media/pdf/Major_Medical_Plan_Policy%20Pkt_NCC.pdf

1/23/2012 2:28:57 PM

Just did a calculator that said a French mastiff pup would be $44. That doesn't seem too bad.

Just had a couple friends who had a Cocker Spaniel that ingested some rat poison, was knocking on death's door but they eventually saved, spent almost a week at the vet's hospital, and now they are out at least $15,000 and cancelling the rest of their trips for the year.

1/23/2012 2:30:25 PM

^ Yeah see no freaking way would I spend that much. I just simply wouldn't.

1/23/2012 2:31:58 PM

^^i would find out if they specifically cover that particular condition before you purchase though

1/23/2012 2:40:04 PM

Couple thousand, depending on a myriad of factors. I wouldn't cancel any vacations. He's a fucking dog.

1/23/2012 2:40:06 PM

Nothing over $100. Obviously I have no pets.

1/23/2012 2:51:10 PM

Our 1 year old mix tore her ACL; $3,000 the vet school. Pet insurance is so restrictive (policy has to be in place for a year before any signs/symptoms of ACL, and/or won't cover a second surgery because of the % of dogs that tear a second after first surgery are examples) and expensive.

If she was 7 or 8, I wouldn't have elected to do surgery but she is so young that we had to give her the chance.

1/23/2012 2:53:39 PM

Quote :

"$15,000 and cancelling the rest of their trips for the year."

If all they had to do to recoup the $15k was cancel some trips I doubt they're gonna miss that money that much.

1/23/2012 3:03:25 PM

Also, fuck rich people.

[Edited on January 23, 2012 at 3:45 PM. Reason : Post #48,444.]

1/23/2012 3:45:08 PM

Quote :

"If all they had to do to recoup the $15k was cancel some trips I doubt they're gonna miss that money that much."

That's not the point of the post. And they might be pulling in over $100K a year combined (husband an attorney for insurance companies...wife is a writer, so I don't know how much she makes)...but with grad school and law school loans being paid...$15K is still a pretty penny.

Its not going to break them financially because they had to take their dog to the emergency Vet...but it still sucks. And if they had had insurance, then they wouldn't be cancelling any of these trips. That was the point of the post.

Basically...if I'm in between "scraping by" and "filthy rich" in my income level...I'm getting pet insurance because I don't want an accident with my pet to fuck up my year.

1/23/2012 3:54:30 PM

We have spent at least $500 on an old dog (at least 10) that we rescued from a busy road and are just fostering until we can find it a home. I hate to think what we would spend on our own dogs if they really needed something

[Edited on January 23, 2012 at 3:56 PM. Reason : .]

1/23/2012 3:55:22 PM

But are you getting a pet? Then why do you care? Anyone can say anything about any particular topic, but it only carries weight if they have first hand experience.

1/23/2012 3:57:37 PM

Quote :

"Couple thousand, depending on a myriad of factors. I wouldn't cancel any vacations. He's a fucking dog."

1/23/2012 4:02:39 PM

Quote :

"And if they had had insurance, then they wouldn't be cancelling any of these trips. That was the point of the post."

I'm not sure that's the case. Check out the allowances...

http://www.petinsurance.com/images/VSSimages/media/pdf/Major_Medical_Plan_Policy%20Pkt_NCC.pdf

1/23/2012 4:16:40 PM

I spent about $1000 to repair my Boxer's knee. She tore the equivalent of the ACL. Anyway, she was only 2.5 at the time and it seemed worth it. Had she been a lot older, probably not.

1/23/2012 4:21:43 PM

^how long ago was that, and how has it held up?

1/23/2012 4:27:08 PM

Quote :

"Our 1 year old mix tore her ACL; $3,000 the vet school"

Also why does the ACL surgery vary so much in price...I've heard everything from $600 to $3k

1/23/2012 4:41:51 PM

Probably around $2K for the younger one, and maybe $1K for the older Beagle. I like my animals,
but I'll be damned if I'm bleeding out all of my savings for them.

And I would prioritize based on the incident: more money for something like a fracture, not so much for a chronic
condition like diabetes or cancer.

1/23/2012 4:45:15 PM

Quote :

"Also why does the ACL surgery vary so much in price...I've heard everything from $600 to $3k"

there are two major types of surgery...the cheaper one simply reattaches the ligament to the bone ($600 - $1500) and the other actually shaves some of the bone off (2k+)

1/23/2012 4:54:02 PM

$1000 is my hard-set limit for an emergency or $100/month if there was a chronic issue

Anything more would be silly. Don't get me wrong, I love my pets very much but I'm sure as shit not going broke putting them ahead of me.

1/23/2012 5:13:19 PM

My Basset Hound has glaucoma and is blind in 1 eye. We didn't catch it in time to know how serious it was...and it costed us $800+ to get his eye enucleated.

When his 2nd eye starts to go (which it will), we're going to have the laser surgery to try to save it... gonna be around $2k.

He's 4 years old. I pretty much view the dogs as a member of the family. I'm not paying $10k for a heart transplant or anything, but I'll do whatever it takes that I can afford to keep him going if he's young enough for it to make sense.

[Edited on January 23, 2012 at 5:34 PM. Reason : ]

1/23/2012 5:33:16 PM

$100 total

Just get another pet if the current one is defective

1/23/2012 6:45:23 PM

my mom's dog got cancer and she spent around $10k on doggie chemotherapy and other treatments.

I told her I didn't think it was a good financial decision and she said, "Britta, if you had cancer I would pay anything to save you." And I was like ... I'm a human!!

1/23/2012 7:04:40 PM

Quote :

"and the other actually shaves some of the bone off (2k+)"

Yup, we opted for Triple Tibial Osteotomy (TTO). The Vet recommended NCSU vs. their partner surgery center because the DVM's at State have been doing it for 20+ years. We also got some discounts for enrolling in some studies but only covered the cost of medications.

You basically deal with a 4th year student who is under the care of their instructors. I was a little worried at first, but we had a minimum of 3 doctors to interact with as well and our student was pretty sharp.

[Edited on January 23, 2012 at 7:24 PM. Reason : ...]

1/23/2012 7:23:03 PM

I spend ~$550/yr on Embrace insurance. I was on the Banfield Wellness Plan a few years back, but quit that shit after 3 months. I know it's not insurance, but Banfield just sucks.

1/23/2012 8:07:35 PM

^^ lol yeah talk about apples and oranges.

Quote :

"Basically...if I'm in between "scraping by" and "filthy rich" in my income level...I'm getting pet insurance because I don't want an accident with my pet to fuck up my year."

You should do some actual research into these pet insurance companies before getting ripped off then. Most of them are borderline scams.

1/23/2012 8:08:34 PM

depends how much $$ i had

also on prognosis

1/23/2012 8:08:48 PM

I think the most I've ever spent at once on a pet is about $900, and was a young pet that would be fully healthy and back to normal after the money was spent, with more than half of his life yet ahead of him. Under those circumstances I could easily see myself spending a lot more.

1/23/2012 9:02:46 PM

My french bulldog when he was a puppy decided to eat his bed while I was at work. Had to take him to the ER. it was around 2k for the surgery. I used carecredit?

1/24/2012 9:05:26 PM

We have a 1 year old King Charles Spaniel that has converted me from hating dogs to loving this one as much as humanly possible. I think if she still had plenty of life to live, and she had an illness we could cure with sugery, we'd spend what we needed to fix her. Its hard to put a dollar figure on it.

1/25/2012 10:06:11 AM

i love my dogs, but if they were seriously ill, i wouldn't spend more than a couple hundred on them.

1/25/2012 10:19:10 AM

I realize I'm in the minority here, but this question is the reason I do not have any pets. It just seems like such an unnecessary thing to spend money on. If you have the money, better off setting it aside for your retirement, your child(ren)'s education, or just for a rainy day. I know, I know, unconditional love etc. But, thankfully, I never had anything more than a bird as a child, and therefore am blissfully ignorant of the experience. And plan to keep it that way.

1/25/2012 10:24:24 AM

right now? anything over $1k would cause me to think hard...anything over $2k would be out of the question and i'd just put her to sleep

1/25/2012 10:29:51 AM

I have spent close to $1,000 on his knee surgery and post-op procedures over the past year.

I have a Pet Care credit card that does no-interest for 18 months. That would probably lead me to spend a hell of a lot more than if I had to come out of pocket for the whole amount up front.

1/25/2012 10:37:56 AM

I think another difference would be if the vet was willing to make a payment plan. If one of my pets today suddenly required $5k+ in vet bills and the vet wasn't willing to work with me on a payment plan, then my pet would be SOL.

1/25/2012 12:01:34 PM

^^agreed.

Quote :

"i love my dogs, but if they were seriously ill, i wouldn't spend more than a couple hundred on them."

Couple hundred? My dog's annual check up is usually around $200 with all his vaccines, and a thorough tooth cleaning costs even more. I'd imagine that just about anyone out there would spend up to $1000 on a dog (though maybe not another pet) for medical reasons (unless it's very old).

[Edited on January 25, 2012 at 12:03 PM. Reason : k]

1/25/2012 12:02:25 PM