:sigh: Reading this waiting for the vet to call to tell me my girl dog made it through her back surgery! Her second. Also had an operation for an intestinal obstruction in between. Dont want to add it up but have to be well into five figures now. No new car for me…
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That’s the thing that always gets me. I spend a lot on my dogs, whether it’s their purchase price, their vet care or their general upkeep. I always have a number in my mind of what I’ll pay in the instance they get really sick or injured. I know a lot of people hate to put a dollar value on their pet’s life, but I’ve found it helps keep me in check when emotions are running wild. For example, I had a hedgehog once that was sick. I took him into the vet for boarding because I was going on vacation. Knowing his condition, they asked me what amount I would authorize for care if he got sick and they couldn’t reach me. I wrote down $500 plus the cost of euthanasia and cremation. It wasn’t that he was worth only $500 to me, but I didn’t want them to put him through superhuman things to keep him alive if he was ready to die.
Same goes with my dogs. If they get sick, I’m not going to spend $10K to help them, if they won’t have the same quality of life. I’d rather take them home, spend a couple hundred on horrible food and treats for them to enjoy for a couple days and then take them to the vet and euthanize them before they really suffer. I’ve always been taught that it’s better to let them go a week too soon, than a day too late. On the same note, my rescue dog had a crippled front paw when I rescued her from Mexico. I was all prepared to have her leg amputated at the shoulder and pay for that. It would have been a couple thousand when all was said and done, but it would have been worth it because it improved her quality of life. I didn’t have to amputate because the vet figured out how to fix her contracted tendons, but it was a definite option that I considered heavily. I even had a special harness picked out to help her go up and down the stairs until she was steady enough to do it herself.
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I just want to say I come here periodically and find it a refreshing change to see posts not complaining. Such a change from other social media where I get to see what is termed “highway robbery” for normal veterinary surgery costs. Just had someone post the other day how a bulldog c-section shouldn’t be more than $200.
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Well, my mother-in-law FINALLY agreed to take the dog in to the vet. Since the lump had grow so large, the vet recommended surgical removal and sending the growth to the lab. The sweet dog apparently did alright with the surgery and recovery, but the lab results came back and the growth was cancerous. They will need to do additional tests to determine if the cancer had spread to other parts of her body, but considering the lump was allowed to grow for about a year and a half, I’m not optimistic.
Mother-in-law says she feels so terrible about the whole thing and how she should have taken the dog in sooner. And I have to bite my tongue and not say “Yeah, I know, I told you so last Christmas!”. I feel so sad for the dog, she really is just such a sweet, friendly, happy dog and I do admit I grew attached to her when my husband and I still lived in the same town.
Now mother-in-law is telling me she has been doing research on herbal medications for dogs with cancer. And I told her no, now is the time you need to listen to what the vet says. And of course now dog’s stitches are falling apart because MIL won’t keep the cone on the dog because she doesn’t like it. Maybe I need a different thread about how to get along with your MIL…
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I’m so sorry, OP. What a cluster.
I spent the last few days dealing with this very question. I recently adopted a new dog a few week ago, hoping the company will help my aging JRT with some separation anxiety issues. I’m also in the process of buying a new house so there’s that. JRT has seizures, allergies, and now a low functioning thyroid. He is expensive because he needs blood work, meds and special food. Pound Puppy seemed easy until she somehow ate a sewing needle while my mom was dog sitting the other night. I had some very serious conversations with myself on how far I was willing to go to save the dum dum from herself. I knew maxing out my $5k limit on my care credit would disqualify my mortgage application. Luckily the vets at the premier emergency clinic in the region deemed the needle shall pass and sent her home with high fiber frequent meals and rest (easier said than done with a 1 yo lab/pit/whoknowswhatelse mix) and me with only $400 in vet bills. Still I think a lot of people don’t even think as far as how much a monthly bag of decent food will cost, much less yearly vaccines and then any other basic upkeep issues. Sorry to hear that your MILs dogs lump is indeed cancer but at the same time, I wonder if she had known would she have even considered the cost of doing chemo/surgery. If not the outcome likely would be the same… keep them happy and relatively pain free until you can’t anymore.
Sorry to hear that. My dog had a tiny lump on her shoulder that was aspirated- lipoma-ok. I noticed it grow a little, so I thought I wanted it off. I also noticed a very small raisin sized bump on her hind leg. While they were at it, I requested they remove it.
They did. The hind leg was cancer. She had another surgery to get clear margins, remove thr lymph node. It has spread.
I mean, yes, I believe an owner shouldn’t let tumors grow large, but…regrets are hard. I never dreamed the tiniest one as an after thought would be the scariest one.
