[Bletlemof]

I was reading another thread about pick of the liter pups and something was mentioned that I thought was interesting.

Do you have a limit on how much money you will spend on your dogs at the vet or is the sky the limit?

Me personally, I have a limit.. I dont have an exact dollar amount but if one of my guys get sick and its going to be thousands to fix the issue, most likely, as much as it would pain me, Id have them pts. I just can justify spending thousands on a dog, no matter how much I love them.

[JonnTEN]

I don't have a set limit either. And it's trickier with me seeing as how I don't have to pay full price for anything.

However, I do have a limit. That limit is figured out by determining the ultimate cost and I'm not just speaking in terms of money. For example, would I spend $5,000 on my dog only to increase the life span by 4 months? Or would I spend that amount only to keep the dog alive yet realizing that the dog would never live pain free? or would that amount completely cure/fix the dog and allow the dog to live another 10 years free of illness/injury (related to the cause in question). And is this a 1-yr-old do or 11-yr-old?

There are many variables in the equation, but yes, there is a limit.

[shihoodiacarf]

That limit is figured out by determining the ultimate cost and I'm not just speaking in terms of money. For example, would I spend $5,000 on my dog only to increase the life span by 4 months? Or would I spend that amount only to keep the dog alive yet realizing that the dog would never live pain free? or would that amount completely cure/fix the dog and allow the dog to live another 10 years free of illness/injury (related to the cause in question). And is this a 1-yr-old do or 11-yr-old?

There are many variables in the equation, but yes, there is a limit.

I completely agree with this.

My parents surprised me with their vet too. Duke (I dont know his FULL name but its something obnoxious ) is an ex-racing greyhound (he was a godawful racer, he only ever won 1 race bless him) that my parents got from The Greyhound League in England YEARS ago. All of us girls left home, my sisters were busy working, I moved here to Connecticut, so Duke become even more important to my parents. Now hes 13, he cannot walk too far because of his arthritis. But my mum has taken control and now has him on some herbal stuff and arthritis meds. It is an extra expense, BUT other than the arthritis causing him pain, he is in remarkably good health and his QUALITY of life is good.

She did say that if it had been a case of not being able to make him comfortable and if his quality of health was bad, she would have made the decision to have him put to sleep though.

[truttyMab]

I definitely have a limit on how much I will spend at the vets. It depends on how severe the illness or injury is and if it will put my family in danger of not having the necessities. At this point I'm having problems keeping food on the table and money was a big part of why I put Brutus down. I couldn't afford to keep going to the vet when he kept mutilating himself and having to pay even more money to deal with the infected wounds. It just got to be too much money spent, after 2 years of dealing with the separation anxiety I knew it wasn't going to get any better. Only worse.

[anconueys]

just depends on which dog needs the vets care. sure ive had dogs id spend more on than others. i have my reasons as im sure many of you would as well

[Innockcroff]

As someone who just spent 2k at the vets to have a growth removed id say I have no limit. That said, I think it would have been different if she was 12 or 13 years old and aging quickly. ( she is 4 now. ) some people we talked to actually said we should just put her down ...obviously not dog people.

[Rugda]

just depends on which dog needs the vets care. sure ive had dogs id spend more on than others. i have my reasons as im sure many of you would as well

X2----Out of my 3 I'll honestly admit Chaos gets to the vet if she so much as coughs wrong while Katie my lab is normally a wait and see if she improves.

[Bletlemof]

just depends on which dog needs the vets care. sure ive had dogs id spend more on than others. i have my reasons as im sure many of you would as well

I dont believe either of my dogs would merit any difference.. Even though Jesse is my heart dog, Id spend the same amount on both of them.

[cewIdeatovace]

I have a limit on how much I am willing to pay at the Vet's. I am not willing to go into debt over a dog. I know that might sound harsh, but it's the truth. Of course, that's an one time Vet visit. Not overall, Vet care throughout the dog's life.

This is an example number, not a definite number, if I had a dog have to go to the Vet, and the Vet said, "Everything total will be $2000", then I'd have to say, "I'm sorry, but please put the dog down." Now if the Vet knew me well enough, and was willing to work a payment plan with me. Then it would decide on what the problem was. Like Mia said, if the dog would only be living another 4 months, then I'd still have to skip it, because I don't want to be paying a bill for a dog that is gone before I finish paying off the Vet.

As much as I hate to admit it, I have to go with Woody as well. There are certain dogs on the yard that number might be lower than others.

[OgrGlgHu]

I agree with above posts that say the good has to outweigh the bad. The longevity of life would have to outweigh the time spent to pay off the bill

If spending $2k would give me another year with my dog, I would do it.

[LongaDonga]

I think it would weigh heavily on the dogs quality of life and the overall total. Like if it was $2,000+ just for that one visit... sorry but hell no. Yeah I'd be really sad, but thats just not doable for me. And if something is that wrong with one of them.... what kind of life would they have after? If these particular dogs can't be very active they aren't going to be very happy. But that is just my particular dogs. They live for running.

[Tryphadz]

I depends on why I'm going to the vet. But I do have a limit.

[TerAlelmlor]

I used to say I would not spend thousands on a dog at the vets, that I'd rather PTS than owe. There are alot of dogs waiting for homes for less money.

Then Lola (my avatar)contracted lepto.

Evet was $1200. Then 2nd diagnosis, treatment and therapy at my reg. vet crept up over 5 days, there was ultrasound, and aftercare. I did some of the work myself to cut down costs, but alone I couldn't have saved her. All-in-all, ~$3k total.

If it were cancer, I'd have let her go. But she was expected to fully recover, and she did. I don't regret it.

I think all circumstances are different, and for me I would consider quality of life, expected recovery, and age before I make the next decision.

[VotsUtegems]

Credit card has a limit but other than that not really, I just spent $1700 on a ferret and the people I work with were shocked until I pointed out I would have done the same if it were a dog instead. I'm not going to throw money at useless treatment or do extensive surgery on an already ill or old animal but otherwise we have and will spend thousands if need be for treatment, they aren't pets just when they are cheap and we don't have kids or anything, the animals are our only real "hobby" and I've put thousands into the dang fish tanks anyways, much rather put money into the furry critters we actually love. If it's over what we can afford than hopefully we can work something out with the vet or sell some stuff, we've done that in the past too but now have a savings account plus multiple lines of credit.

[Hftqdxpm]

Economics would dictate anyone's limit I would think. A little over a month ago I had to have my dobie pts, this was after spending over a thousand in just trying to diagnose what was wrong. I live in Florida and was consulting a vet in California, I had her to 2 different vets here, she was only 6, I would have gladly run through a million if I had had it to spend, if she had been granted the time, but she was not.. she was dying, her body cavities filing up with fluid, I held her and cried as the vet administered the drugs. The vet wanted to do a necropsy on her, but I was too emotional to allow it, instead we brought her home and she is buried in our pet cemetary at the back of our property. In retrospect, I wish I had allowed the necropsy to take place, now I will just always wonder. Sorry.. went off topic..lol,..
I have spent over 4k on saving a dog's life before, I guess my answer is.. If I have it, I'm spending it, if I don't..that's it's own answer.

[duribass]

I don't really have a limit financially,I have all my dogs insured,and personally would not have a dog which I couldn't afford to insure,because I don't have thousands of pounds sitting around which I could use for big vet bills.
I do have a limit ethically though.I'm not going to keep a dog going because I can't bare to part with them,even though it is obvious it would be for the best to PTS the dog.
I claimed over £8000 over my Boxer Boo's life,couple of smaller ops to remove lumps,then he broke his 'wrist' joint and had to have a plate put in there.When he was 8 he started having seizures,I was able because of the insurance to book him straight in for an MRI and not worry about the cost,which would have been a struggle to find the money for.
Insurance for me means I don't have to let a dog die just because I can't afford to pay its vet bill.

[KJnbceja]

This is a very good thread, and it gives us all something to think about. I agree with there being variables and quality of life and life expectancy when deciding how much to spend on a dogs care.

We took on my sons dog because the dog had no quality of life due to my sons finances and lack of time. I think every human being should go thru some kind of course on what they can expect to spend on a dog in their lifespan before they become first time owners...like my son...and now us.

I have become quite aware of what a great responsiblity it is keeping this dog, not only having the finances to enable him a healthy and happy life, but because of the breed itself, due to all the information on the forum, I am very grateful for this, and I will never get another dog or pitbull. Trigger is turned out to be such a wonderful well behaved dog and I will keep him as long as needed.

I love this dog, he is so precious,and I'm happy for the time we have with him and we are giving him the best, but he will go back to my son when my son is able to invest in him the time and money needed and become a responsible mature owner. Until then he is ours.

[xADMlNx]

Depends on the situation and how much the vet is willing to work with me. But $1500 is about my limit for a one time situation if they allow me to make payments. In the dogs life time, it again depends on the dog and the situation.

My Dobe Zeus liked to have one accident a year that usually totaled around $1000. The last year, we spent $3000 the last 5 months he was alive. I said the $1000 in February was it and 3 months later he bloated again in the middle of the night. I cried all the way to the E-vet, walked in the door, tried to say put him down, they were moving quicker than it took me to find my voice, they walked out and came back in. $1000 up front to treat him and were shoving papers in my face. My Mom was with me. I had no money. She pulled out the last $1000 she got from her back pay on SSI and handed it to them. It was foolish in a financial way, but I got 2 more good weeks, went to the beach with him and got to say good bye. About 3 weeks later I came for lunch and he was dying. He was already cold. I sat with him all night thinking he would go one, but his heart kept beating. We took him in first thing the next morning and had him put down. This was my heart dog. I turn 15 yrs old March 4th and he was born March 6th. I caught him b/c his mother delivered standing up. I took him out of his sack and cut his cord. I nursed him thru parvo when all his brothers and sisters died. He was there for me with all my teenage stuff, emotional issues, family problems and just life. He was always there. After 11 yrs of constant companionship, it was hard to let him go. I could be myself with him and he always accepted me. He knew my moods and when to give me affection and when to leave me alone. He knew me. Zeus was a once in a lifetime dog.

I also spent a lot on Casey my Greyhound even to the point of setting up appts for chemo. He had bone cancer. Dr. Couto from Ohio state was going to supply the chemo free, but I had to the pay the vet to administer it. They amputated his leg and he did really well for a while. But the cancer spread to his lungs before we could begin chemo.

Linus my other Greyhound had several big accidents. Greyhounds have paper thin skin and when they get into fight, they get injured easily. One of his worse incidents was when Linus picked a fight with a male Dobe and it turned into a pack fight, with 3 Dobes, another Greyhound, and a 200lb English Mastiff ripping him apart. The old fart was put back together, looked like frankenstein with stitches, staples, tubes, etc. But he healed up and was back to his ornery self in no time!

[DoctorBeny]

I wouldn't go into debt over a dog. I also would not take donations from people for a personal dog either, just my personal preference.

I DO have some dogs that I would spend more on "fixing" than others. It's just the way life is. I mean, Hobie is almost 13, I would not dump money into him at this point, he's lived a long happy life. Red is almost 7 and has quite a few joint issues which mean a pain free life is not going to happen, right now her pain isn't bad...when it gets bad then I'll probably make the choice to PTS rather than dump thousands into trying to make her pain free when she never will be due to her poor structure. Judge is a very active dog, anything that would take away his ability to be active would mean PTS for him, I would dump more money into him than the others because he is younger and he is what I want and where I want to go in the dogs.

There are several other factors and things but I do have a limit on vet care and will make a decision based on some factors and money is one.

[Nidsstese]

Just like dogs with severe behavioral issues, if you are going to live with zero quality of life I would rather have them PTS.


My limit wouldnt be money itd be cost benefit. Like others said, if the dog is guaranteed to live I would spend nearly anything I have on Irie. I dont have kids, no husband anymore so its not like anyone else would suffer aside from me. I grew up dirt poor so I have no fear of it, but my mother always gave us enough love to compensate so money didnt matter. As long as I have my dog around I would be fine.

On the other hand, if it bought her 6 months MAYBE for 10k, my thoughts would be that sounds like a lot of pain, surgeries, doctor visits, and trauma for a short period of time. Suffering is much worse IMO than being PTS.

---------- Post added at 09:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:55 PM ----------

I should also say I would never put my own desires over my dogs quality of life. We had tons of dogs growing up but one hound in particular I loved more than any other dog. He got old (about 13 I think) and after years of seizures and arthritis could walk well anymore. My brother cried and cried about him being PTS. Finally one day I came home to him laying in his own feces and couldnt take it anymore, I buried him the next day.