Do you have a limit?

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#21
It really depends on the situation.

I spent about $2000 in the course of six weeks on (mostly) diagnostics for my cat (who was eventually diagnosed with FLUTD) earlier this year when she was having issues. Absolutely worth it. She's doing very well now, and it's very well managed - she has a good quality of life.

If my elderly pet was diagnosed with cancer, and I could spend 5k or 10k or whatever on treatments that might buy a couple more months...probably not. I'd hug my dog, make them as comfortable as possible, and enjoy the time we have left.

I have ways of paying for things. I have a pet savings account, I have CareCredit, etc. I am planning on looking into pet insurance with future pets, all of mine are too old. :(
 

SpringerLover

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#22
I feel the same on the cost analysis part. I guess what I did for Buzz is considered palliative care, because I didn't do an MRI to find out why/where he had a nerve problem. It was unlikely we could have done anything, and he wasn't a surgical candidate anyways. So we treated it the best we could for as long as we could.

I try to do a lot of preventative/proactive care. Whether or not that actually saves me money in the long run, I don't know. But so far it seems to be helping my animals live longer than typical lives, so I'll keep doing it.

One of my cats has had over $4000 put into his mouth in the last 5 years. He is the easiest cat to handle ever, he is the sweetest cat ever, and that has literally been the only thing ever to go wrong with him. Dental care is SO important, especially for cats.

One of my cats makes anything medical relatively difficult. We're trying to find ways around that, more so as he ages, but unfortunately he likely won't receive the same amount of care because he's difficult to handle.

Case in point: I was supposed to laser him. He doesn't tolerate that. I was supposed to put him on the PEMF bed. He was NOT going to sit still. So, yeah.

Lauren's creativity for the win!
 

crazedACD

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#23
My limit depends on what I have in savings and on credit cards at the time of need. It depends on the factors of the illness, age of the dog, etc.

I don't really blink somewhere under $1000ish.

I was pushed to the limit a few months ago. Fez and Romeo got sick on the SAME DAY from two unrelated, potentially fatal illnesses. Romeo is "my" dog, Fez was my Mom's. I pretty much foot the bill for all veterinary expenses...

All in all, I had spent about $1000 between the two dogs the first day. Fez went in for an appointment first, and then Romeo to the emergency vet. And then a different emergency vet the next day, which I got an estimate for $5200-7200 for Romeo's surgery (blockage and splenectomy). Plus Fez at home needing more care (more diagnostics, treatment, or "final" care, I wasn't sure). I wasn't expecting much from Care Credit, but I received $3500 in credit. The vet offered a payment plan for the rest...but I couldn't put myself that much in debt, honestly. I was beyond upset, probably not rationally thinking-Romeo's going blind, he has spondylosis and spinal problems, some sort of congenital kidney defect.
I went back in and told the vet I was bringing him home, I knew he probably wouldn't make it until the morning, and this was not rational, but I was desperate that maybe my own vet or someone would be willing to do the surgery for the Care Credit amount. I'm thankful the vet offered to do the surgery for the $3500 (including the xrays and ultrasound that were already done). I'm thankful there were no complications. Doing reading post surgery, if I had known there was a more than 75% chance that the mass on his spleen might have been hemangiosarcoma, I don't think I would have done the surgery at all. Thankfully, the biopsy came back benign, he is healed and happy. His quality of life is as it was pre-surgery.

The day after Romeo had surgery, I had to go back to my vet with Fez. She wanted to send him to the evet for hospitalization, I refused, she gave me a $1500 estimate to hospitalize and do diagnostics for the day. I really had to stand my ground with all of this.. we did one test at a time, bloodwork showed his kidneys were ultimately shot, and positive for lyme and anaplasmosis. Concluded kidneys were too far gone to come back, and he likely had lyme nephritis, where the lyme attacked the kidneys. Euthanized...the bill was about $450.

So, I spent about $5000 that weekend..that is really my upper limit, and I'm not likely to spend that much on something with a weak outlook.
 

RD

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#24
Depending on the procedure needed and the chance of success, my limit would still be quite small. I am extremely poor with no real financial safety net, no real option for loans, and I fight monthly to keep from going into debt.

I will go to great lengths to get my dog the care she needs in the event she becomes unhealthy, but I will not be homeless to pay a veterinarian to fix my pet. If a vet can't work with me, I will try to find another vet who can.
 
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#25
Nah, not any set limit, and pretty much the same answer as every one else. Elsa and Jonas are not a party for the vet to treat depending on what is happening, but they let me do any thing I need to do.
 

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