How Much Would you pay to Save Your Pet?
July 9th 2008 21:00
Photo by Prskavka. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
It’s one dilemma no pet owner wishes to face: costly veterinary fees. At what point does one say, “It’s too expensive. I’m going to get Fido put down instead.”?
As callous as it sounds, this question must cross the minds of pet owners at some time or another, particularly those who don’t have pet health insurance. It is certainly crossing the mind of one of my colleagues, whose cat needed veterinary care after being injured. The bill came to $650. My colleague was complaining to me about the cost. Unfortunately, he didn’t get pet health insurance so it’s coming out of his own pocket. He told me that if the bills start getting higher, he was thinking of having his cat put down. His wife, on the other hand, said she didn’t want another cat and was all for saving their pet, no matter what the cost was.
That led to a discussion about at what point do pet owners start thinking it’s not worth continuing with treatment; it’s better to put the poor bugger down. I argued that it depends on how you see a pet. For me, if I had a pet, I would see it as my child and no one would dream of euthanizing their child just because medical treatment was too costly so why should it be different for a pet? Also, my decision to put it down would have more to do with how much pain the animal was in and whether or not it could easily be relieved. On the other hand, I can appreciate my colleague’s point of view: with a wife and two young children to support and bills to pay, he has been put into a situation where he is forced to look at his priorities objectively. I don’t have children so it’s easier for me to take the high road; maybe if I had a family I might see the situation differently.
How do you see it?
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Comment by Kleonaptra
Kalikapsychosis
$650.....what a picnic! I would say our vet bills easily measure up to hundreds of thousands. My Talli duck is worth about that for her wing surgery,
Really Long Link
and then we have horses, cats dogs....Mum spent $5000 on her chiuaha who is about 12 yrs old, we spent a bit on one of our cats who had an umbilical hernia, I could be here all night trying to remember everything!
Like you said, our animals ARE like our children...It comes down to how much pain the animal is in and if they want to keep fighting. Putting down my first horse was one of the hardest things ever, he was such a fighter, but he needed four new legs, he was 33.
The worst was mums purebred colt, at 13 months old. He broke his leg. Surgery would have been easily in the millions with ongoing care - perhaps even prosthetics. We would have paid it, but he wasnt of the temperament to survive it. He couldnt have handled months in a sling and a life of limping. It was horrific, because you really have to think - is it for me, or for him? What does HE want?
But, at the end of the day, we'll pay anything. We find a way, somehow.
Comment by Queenie
Quirky Folk
Quirky Queenie
By the way, I love your post about Talli the Wonder Bird. Thanks for visiting.
Comment by Kleonaptra
Kalikapsychosis
Talli really is a wonder bird! Throughout all of her vet visits and surgery she maintained her happy outlook on life, something most humans cant manage.