You can't afford a horse if you can't afford a vet....what exactly do we mean...and how about hamsters?

[KBC]

For sone reason as I sit here coughing up a lung, and feeling entirely dowdy, I am wondering, about vets, and horses, and other animals.

I have a horse, all his routine vet bills are covered, I’m currently praying for some cash to arrive to pay my current vet bill by the end of the month, having found out the difference between 40 years of buying and owning horses at the $1000 or so end of the market, and the $10,000 horse, is never seeing the vet, to having her here every month for something…

I have been so lucky in my horse owning career, a few injuries, a mild colic, etc. Always have annual visits fir health check and vacs, always have maintained a good relationship with my vets. This is the first horse I have insured for vets fees, so crossing fingers that if he does something major it’s covered, but it makes me wonder what we mean by affording vets fees…we are able to do ever more treatments, things we could not do before, at ever more cost.

Even more, how does that translate into small animals, while I was recovering from knee surgery, I was watching the Exotic Animal vets doing wonderful treatments and ops on rabbits, hamsters and other common and strange pets, and I just marvel what people will spend. I don’t know, I get people love their animals, and it doesn’t matter what they are, so why do we pick out horses as “if you can’t afford the vet”

[trubandloki]

I think part of it is you happen to be on a horse forum.

When I was active on a pet rat forum they had the same theory.

[Casey09]

I’ve found it pretty hard to say NO to expensive but likely to work with a good prognosis. I will always say NO to some things that I just don’t think will have a good prognosis. One of my dogs had cancer and the treatment recommended was “palliative,” but I thought euthanasia was more palliative (it was putting a feeding tube in and the cancer was inoperable and unlikely to respond to treatment. It’s always tough and there are a lot of factors to consider. At the very least I think we owe it to them to take them to a vet if they’re sick regardless of if it is a horse or a hamster. As long as they don’t suffer, only we have to live with our decisions. I actually had a pet bearded dragon that got gout. The prognosis was very poor and so I had her put to sleep. People thought I was crazy!

[SuzieQNutter]

This saying does not refer to routine vaccinations etc. It means if you go out and find your horse down in severe pain with colic or a broken leg or bleeding profusely, then you are able to get them immediate treatment, whether that is to help cure or put them out of their misery.

[rockonxox]

My hedgehog got cancer and, unfortunately, with her there was just no possibility of survival so I had to put her down which was quite expensive (which was fine, I didn’t want her to suffer) considering she was a “small” animal. I would have 100% paid vet bills if she could have been saved. I think one should always be willing to ensure that their pets, whatever they are, are cared for and that if the owner can’t afford lengthy medical procedures that they should at minimum be able to afford euthanasia.

[NoSuchPerson]

I think that the “you can’t afford the vet” serves as a concrete representation of the less specific reminder to potential horse owners that horses come with lots of unexpected expenses and it’s not enough to just save up enough money to buy a horse and budget for routine expenses.

You bring up an interesting point with the statement that

we are able to do ever more treatments, things we could not do before, at ever more cost
. I have pretty strict limits on how far I’m willing to go with medical treatment for my horses, dogs, & cats. For example, I will never do colic surgery on one of my horses. If it comes to that, I’ll euthanize. Ditto for chemotherapy for my dog and similar things. For me, just because the vet can, doesn’t mean I should. (Although in my case, it’s more a philosophical issue than an economic one.)

Personally, I believe that if you can’t afford regular, routine, vet and farrier care and the occasional extra vet and farrier expense related to minor illness and injury, then you have no business owning a horse. But, I don’t think it’s a prerequisite that you be willing to spend thousands of dollars for vet treatments for your horse for e.g., colic surgery or a serious leg injury, as long as you’re prepared to euthanize instead.

[joiedevie99]

IMHO, being able to afford vet care means a few things:

1. You can afford to have the horse euthanized immediately in the event of a catastrophic injury/colic;
2. You can afford to treat the the horse promptly in an ordinary emergency - horse needs to be tubed and get IV fluids for a colic, or horse needs stitches, or horse steps on a nail, or horse needs a lameness exam and an x-ray; and
3. You can afford a yearly wellness exam, routine vaccines, teeth floating, and fecals/de-worming.

That’s where I’d put the standard of care. I do a lot more than that (surgeries, MRIs, stem cells, etc.), but I wouldn’t expect that to be standard practice.

[cnigh]

I do all the regular vetting as well. But I won’t be spending $$$$$$ on vet bills that I don’t have.

Complete diagnostics can run into the thousands long before any treatment is started.

I know that if my mare gets badly hurt or colics and needs surgery she will be pts.

I learned my lesson with my first dog I guess. I did try everything to save her. Would I do it again, no.

[fordtraktor]

I am the worst as I’ll do the expensive surgeries for some of my horses but not others. It has nothing to do with favoritism and everything do with value, age, recovery expected, recovery period/pain.

I did colic surgery last year on my lovely 3 yo KWPN filly when she colicked at the trainer’s. I wouldn’t have done it on any of my other horses as the surgery was far more $$ than any of the horses is worth…but for her it makes sense, given her bloodlines and quality.

It is a sad reality that sometimes we have to make decisions based on money, but it IS reality.

I do spend $$$ on injections/etc. to manage the less valuable horses and keep them comfortable. I work closely with my vet to decide what treatments are worth doing and when enough is enough on a particular horse. He definitely thinks some owners keep “trying” for way longer than is good for the horse.

[Angela_Freda]

@joiedevie99

IMHO, being able to afford vet care means a few things:

1. You can afford to have the horse euthanized immediately in the event of a catastrophic injury/colic;
2. You can afford to treat the the horse promptly in an ordinary emergency - horse needs to be tubed and get IV fluids for a colic, or horse needs stitches, or horse steps on a nail, or horse needs a lameness exam and an x-ray; and
3. You can afford a yearly wellness exam, routine vaccines, teeth floating, and fecals/de-worming.

That’s where I’d put the standard of care. I do a lot more than that (surgeries, MRIs, stem cells, etc.), but I wouldn’t expect that to be standard practice.

This.

I too got very, very lucky with my first horse. The more you know the more amazing it is when disaster doesn’t strike, when it is so common and still doesn’t hit you.

[KBC]

@trubandloki

I think part of it is you happen to be on a horse forum.

When I was active on a pet rat forum they had the same theory.

What is the life expectancy of a pet rat?

I don’t get spending thousands on something with a very short lifespan.

[atr]

KBC, my old vet used to recommend purchasing hamsters in generic colors, with no special markings. He was then able to perform a “total hamster transplant” at very reasonable cost…

[x-halt-salute]

The old “can’t afford a horse if you can’t afford the vet” adage is, IMO, merely a response to people who decline to provide basic care for their animals by saying, “I can’t afford to call a vet,” rather than some hard and fast rule about veterinary budgets. It’s for, you know, the folks who post in the Horse Care section saying that Snookums is non-weight-bearing on one leg or Pumpkin is writhing on the ground in GI distress and then flounce away after a dozen or so “call vet” responses, because how dare you withhold magical internet stranger advice from a totally responsible owner of an incredibly special horse, who has only reached out to this wretched community of horsepeople because they can’t afford a vet. It’s not something you tend to say to people with a drop of common sense.

There are numerous kinds of vet services that a horse owner can anticipate needing over the course of a horse’s life just to provide minimally humane care: routine services like vaccinations and dentistry, emergency visits for injuries, colic, or other common veterinary crises, and end-of-life humane euthanasia. If you can’t afford those things, I do think you need to question whether you have the resources to provide humane care to a horse.

If you have expectations of continued high performance from a horse, you might also need to budget for orthopedic/sports medicine care, as it’s not, IMO, humane to expect a level of performance from a horse that outstrips its soundness. Having the means to humanely support a horse does, to a certain extent, depend on what you are asking that horse to do, IMO.

Does this mean you have to pay for every possible treatment for horse or hamster? No. Only that you can afford those that are necessary for the animal’s comfort, given the lifestyle and expectations you have imposed on that animal.

I like to complain about my horse’s vet bills, but I’ve also got a little lagomorph tyrant ruling the roost at home who’s cost me more than $1k/lb in vet bills over the course of his short little life. So really it’s on me that I choose expensive treatment over euthanasia as often as I do. As for spending money to provide vet care to shorter-lived critters, I watch friends spending the same kind of money on equally ephemeral things: ski season passes, fashionable clothing, redecorating their homes periodically. Why not spend money on the things that make you happy (incl. pets), if you have the money to spend?

[walkinthewalk]

@SuzieQNutter

This saying does not refer to routine vaccinations etc. It means if you go out and find your horse down in severe pain with colic or a broken leg or bleeding profusely, then you are able to get them immediate treatment, whether that is to help cure or put them out of their misery.

^^^This is pretty much my interpretation and even a little beyond that.

Like the OP my first group of Keeper Horses (all well under $1,000 each) sailed thru life costing me a lot less in vet bills than any of my dogs had cost me.

I can’t say the same for my second group of Keepers. Maybe because this crew were all registered stock, and the first crew was not.

The small fortune I have spent on my now 23+ yr old with insulin resistance (and BIG founder) would not have happened in my younger years because the expendable cash would not have been there. I would have done the right thing and PTS’d him.

I had the money back then for immediate/short term emergencies but long term issues like this IR and founder business – well it just was not there. I would never have sent him down the road, I would have sucked it up and seen him out of this life and his pain.

[Marshfield]

@SuzieQNutter

This saying does not refer to routine vaccinations etc. It means if you go out and find your horse down in severe pain with colic or a broken leg or bleeding profusely, then you are able to get them immediate treatment, whether that is to help cure or put them out of their misery.

And, I can tell you as a veterinarian; I am never going to fault someone for deciding colic surgery or emergency bloat surgery is out of reach financially.

[wsmoak]

@atr

KBC, my old vet used to recommend purchasing hamsters in generic colors, with no special markings. He was then able to perform a “total hamster transplant” at very reasonable cost…

HAHAHAHAHA!!! My parents tried this with my pet rabbit but it was black and white and the markings were NOT the same. Nice try though.

[Toblersmom]

The general sentiment is directed primarily at people who acquire animals when they really can’t afford to provide even very basic care, whether it’s wellness care, commonly encountered treatable health problems, or the last kind act of euthanasia. It’s a different story if somebody got an animal and then fell on hard times, but it’s not a smart move for anybody involved for people to get a puppy, much less a horse, when they and their human family are really living hand-to-mouth. It’s one thing to have to make a decision to euthanize or surrender an animal because of a major fracture/surgery/hospitalization kind of situation. It’s quite another when you can’t even scrape up the going rate for an office visit or farm call and don’t even begin to qualify for Care Credit because your financial situation is so far in the toilet.

Then there’s the subset that plea “I can’t afford that vet bill” when they apparently COULD afford to 1) Buy a very expensive purebred whatever it is 2) Buy very expensive versions of accoutrements 3) Clearly are in the habit of spending a lot of money on a whole lot of things that aren’t vet care (clothes, vehicles, housing). Classic example was neighbors of ours who had been “trying to get together the money” to have their dog spayed for something like five years. Dog was some designer foof dog they said they had paid $2k for, they were constantly getting their three kids the latest big-ticket toy item like electric scooters and drones, trading up recreational vehicles like ATVs and snowmobiles to the next new thing, having the mobile dog groomer come out to refresh her 'do, etc. But they “couldn’t afford” to get the dog spayed. Plan ahead a little, people. There exists this thing called a “budget”.

Things get more polarizing if you get to talking about small mammals, or creatures that otherwise have a very low inherent monetary value. In my personal opinion, people who think “I could get another hamster for five bucks” are unlikely to ever be my best friend, but I get where they are coming from and I do not think they are horrible awful people for not taking their hamster to the vet. HOWEVER, people don’t get to try to emotionally blackmail veterinary clinics into coming down on price (or providing free care) with “I could get another hamster for five bucks, how can you charge me X for bloodwork and xrays? Don’t you LOVE ANIMALS?!” If you don’t want to spend money on your hamster, fine. But then don’t expect somebody else to spend money on your hamster for you. Doesn’t matter if somebody else is directly spending money or indirectly spending money (by donating time or giving a price break or whatever). And, no, it’s not really any cheaper/easier for the vet to treat hamsters as opposed to cats and dogs. No more so than it’s cheaper/easier for a vet to treat a cheap pony bought off Craigslist vs. a very expensive horse imported from Europe.

[oldernewbie]

Interesting topic since I just had to have a heart to heart with myself (and my DH) about recent developments with one of my horses. He’s been on Oncept for his melanomas for the last 5 years - which is not cheap, but was working pretty well, so it seemed worth it. We recently discovered new ones on his penis, and I opted for laser surgery. It wasn’t hugely expensive, but I think that will be just about it for big vet spending on this horse. I am very interested in seeing where all this goes with him from a purely scientific standpoint and to have long term experience on the record. However, I have set a mental budget for the future and it is not tens of thousands of dollars or even many more thousands.

My husband and I are comfortably set, not rich, and I have a side gig that pays for my horse expenses even though I am retired. I would get out of horses in a minute if I could no longer afford their routine care and a reasonable amount for emergencies. I can’t even imagine getting into horses without this level of financial stability, but I do know that people make many decisions emotionally, are not good with money, don’t know how to plan for contingencies, etc. All that leads to some bad outcomes for horses, dogs, cats, and even kids (I’m also a child advocate).

I wish there were a way to guarantee that people were born responsible. Yep, I’m a dreamer. Just too bad that innocent beings have to suffer when people do the wrong thing.

[MegBackInSaddle]

@NoSuchPerson

Personally, I believe that if you can’t afford regular, routine, vet and farrier care and the occasional extra vet and farrier expense related to minor illness and injury, then you have no business owning a horse. But, I don’t think it’s a prerequisite that you be willing to spend thousands of dollars for vet treatments for your horse for e.g., colic surgery or a serious leg injury, as long as you’re prepared to euthanize instead.

Pretty much this. [Disclamier: I did spend $1200 back when that was a lot more money to me on the “sex change” operation on a male cat (removal of the external genetalia to alleviate UT blockages).]

A certain minimum of care is required. For horses, routine veterinary/farrier/dentist care, along with elasticity in the budget for those “routine emergencies” (thrown shoes and little injuries, etc).

For catastrophic injuries with iffy prognoses in any animals, small or large, humane euthanasia is a reasonable response. Death is inevitable. Pain and suffering is avoidable. At least for our domestic animal pals.

I also think we go too far or hang on too long sometimes. I think a month too soon (for euthanasia, when considered by a loving steward) is far better than a minute too late. I don’t support in most instances radiation or chemo-type treatments for animals. We humans can choose to undertake some misery to stick around longer. Our animals rely on us to minimize misery, and they’re either here and good, here and not good, or not here.

[kande04]

Practically speaking, as long as thousands of horses are going to slaughter I can’t see any reason to malign people for providing a less than ideal home for any horse. Any horse who is provided with food, water, and some kind of shelter he’s still better off than on a truck to the slaughterhouse.

Ideally, every owner would have access to competent veterinary care, plenty of money to pay for it, and the clairvoyance to be able to tell when the horse would choose death over further treatment. But until that happens the holier than thou just need to back off with all the I-take-better-care-of-my-horses-than-you-do grandstanding.