How much would you spend on your pet?

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tripp

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Topic # 160446 7-Jan-2015 07:53

I have pet insurance so it's not really a question on getting insurance.
I spent $500 yesterday on blood tests and getting his teeth cleaned (11 year old cat, had to be knocked out for tests/teeth cleaning, insurance did not cover it).

Thinking about it last night and did not think twice about spending the $500 on him, yet when it comes to other every day things I always think long and hard about spending more than $100.

So I guess my question is "how much would you spend on your pet at the vets?"
Not taking insurance into count what would be the maximum you would/could spend?

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Reply # 1209646 7-Jan-2015 08:26

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Whatever it takes if it's life-saving / required for their ongoing health. Bit different if it's just some 'addons' like $80 for a flea treatment etc.

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fishandchips

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Reply # 1209660 7-Jan-2015 08:48

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Have spent $2000 on a cat to save its life. I would spend what every it cost to save my dogs, one cost $2500 to start with so worth it. My brother in the US spent $15 000 to save his dog from a chest wound. A lot of money but they do not have kids and he is there "child".

SepticSceptic

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Reply # 1209678 7-Jan-2015 08:58

Like the OP maentioned, have spent nearly a grand on cat repairs, vs thinking long and ghard about other spending - as in changing electricity providers to save a few bucks a month.
It's a very emotive issue, and when my blasted cat went crook again for the second time with bladder crystals, it was a bit of a tough call - didn't have much funds on hand, but in the end, forked over another wad of dollars. AT least he's fit n healthy. If he's was in advanced years, with a long and painful recovery ahead, it may have been a different story.
So I guess, in round figures, $200 per year, averaged over the lifespan of the cat. $3000 - $3500 ? I'm at the half-way mark ...

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graemeh

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Reply # 1209679 7-Jan-2015 08:59

fishandchips: Have spent $2000 on a cat to save its life. I would spend what every it cost to save my dogs, one cost $2500 to start with so worth it. My brother in the US spent $15 000 to save his dog from a chest wound. A lot of money but they do not have kids and he is there "child".

We are the same, we spent about $3500 to save our cats leg last year after it was broken. We spent about $15k years ago on a cat with Lupus, unfortunately we were unsuccessful in that instance but we know we gave her every chance of surviving.

tripp

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Reply # 1209684 7-Jan-2015 09:06

SepticSceptic: Like the OP maentioned, have spent nearly a grand on cat repairs, vs thinking long and ghard about other spending - as in changing electricity providers to save a few bucks a month.
It's a very emotive issue, and when my blasted cat went crook again for the second time with bladder crystals, it was a bit of a tough call - didn't have much funds on hand, but in the end, forked over another wad of dollars. AT least he's fit n healthy. If he's was in advanced years, with a long and painful recovery ahead, it may have been a different story.
So I guess, in round figures, $200 per year, averaged over the lifespan of the cat. $3000 - $3500 ? I'm at the half-way mark ...

Oh Crystals in the bladder, the flatmates cat had that, spent about $500 fixing it the first time then it happen again, the flatmate had to put the cat down as could not afford to get it fixed again (cat was on the correct food etc but that was costing a lot as the cat next door would come in and eat it all).

Very hard time as I was the one that took it to the vets as the flatmate could not do it.

michaelmurfy

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Reply # 1209689 7-Jan-2015 09:13

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I spent $200 per month for 2 years on one of my cats for heart medication - didn't even think of it.

Recently my Newfoundland dog (Morpheus) had gotten heart problems and kept having the fluid of his heart drained at $500 per pop, this would have have to happen weekly so had to make the tough decision to give him the blue liquid as it is cruel for him to be in pain (but alive). Sometimes you've just got to think about how they are and act based on that.

One I don't agree on is my grandparents keeping their 15yr old cat alive when it is losing fur and very sick due to Cancer - they've spent around $4k on this cat to just keep it alive for a couple more months. You can be cruel sometimes by letting your emotions get in the way.

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BTR

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Reply # 1209690 7-Jan-2015 09:13

Crystals in the bladder is a common issue and is quite often related to the food your cat is eating. Lots of water, changing food brand and patience fixed this issue with my cat, the vet said it happens a lot when cats are feed a brand of food which I won't fully name but it starts with P.

old3eyes

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Reply # 1209692 7-Jan-2015 09:15

Too much these days so when the M-in-laws two dogs depart the scene thats the end of them. When you get older pets like dogs are not a good idea if you get sick or have to go to hospital..

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Old3eyes

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Reply # 1209700 7-Jan-2015 09:24

Once spent £1500 on an English Setter for a sort of arthritis. She used to run and run and run all day, but had this incredibly sore hip where an inflamed tendon was rubbing on rough calcium growth on the bone. The cost was for an initial endoscope look around, and operation where they stapled the tendon below the rough bit. I thought she'd lose some control of the leg, but a couple of months later she was back to running and running and running all day long again. I thought that was a bargain.

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kingjj

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Reply # 1209708 7-Jan-2015 09:35

Inphinity: Whatever it takes if it's life-saving / required for their ongoing health. Bit different if it's just some 'addons' like $80 for a flea treatment etc.

Very similar here. The week before we flew overseas to get married we noticed a tumor on our than 8 month old puppy's flank, despite having a wedding to pay for the next week we laid out nearly $2000 on an operation and follow up, looking back on it now it seems peculiar how little thought or consideration went into it. Our dog goes to doggie day care when neither of us are home and has had his fair share of health issues over the years so a lot of disposable income has gone on him (I dread to think how much but care alone is $3000-4000 a year).

If we had the money than we would spend the money on our pets. If we didn't have the money we'd still spend it.

SepticSceptic

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Reply # 1209710 7-Jan-2015 09:44

BTR: Crystals in the bladder is a common issue and is quite often related to the food your cat is eating. Lots of water, changing food brand and patience fixed this issue with my cat, the vet said it happens a lot when cats are feed a brand of food which I won't fully name but it starts with P.

It was the cheaper range of biscuits and wet food that exacerbated the problem. The cat is now on the premium branded biscuits, including the alluded to P, but the premium variety, and veal, as well as Fancy Feast. And plenty of water. One thing I did discover is that cats don't like their water next to their food.

My thoughts are no longer my own and is probably representative of our media-controlled government

berry

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Reply # 1209711 7-Jan-2015 09:44

I spent $3500 to save my 8 year old german shepherd from a twisted gut. I would not hesitate to do it again. When I compare that to only 1 months mortgage it doesn't seem like much!

alasta

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Reply # 1209714 7-Jan-2015 09:51

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For essential treatment that was most likely to lead to good long term health I would probably be willing to spend $20k. If there were substantial risks or the animal were close to the end of its realistic lifespan then my spend would be proportional to the circumstances.

It's always struck me as odd that we euthenase animals that are suffering and have no hope of recovery, yet we don't afford humans the same dignity.

tripp

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Reply # 1209734 7-Jan-2015 10:19

SepticSceptic:
BTR: Crystals in the bladder is a common issue and is quite often related to the food your cat is eating. Lots of water, changing food brand and patience fixed this issue with my cat, the vet said it happens a lot when cats are feed a brand of food which I won't fully name but it starts with P.

It was the cheaper range of biscuits and wet food that exacerbated the problem. The cat is now on the premium branded biscuits, including the alluded to P, but the premium variety, and veal, as well as Fancy Feast. And plenty of water. One thing I did discover is that cats don't like their water next to their food.

My cat (loki) has always had the dine can food and Purina one (senior or hairball), never had any issues with crystals on these.
Saying that however the vet did say 1 of his test levels were a bit high for his kidneys so now using a low protein biscuit from the vets.

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Reply # 1209744 7-Jan-2015 10:38

Had my dogs teeth cleaned cost around $600 didn't even think about it.

Went to buy some shirts had to think for like 30 minutes.

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