Here's a comment someone left in response to my post How Much Would You be Willing to Spend to Save Your Pet's Life? At the end of that piece, I asked readers how much they would be willing to spend to save their pet's life and here's what this reader had to say:
I would spend whatever it took to save my pets. But unfortunately we don't have the money to save our kitten Rolly who was just diagnosed with Hydracephulitis. It will cost thousands of dollars to save him. My children are trying to raise money to save him right now. I would do anything for my children, and I want them to learn compassion. They love this little kitten and I can't just let him die. When you take on the responsibility of a pet, you make them part of your family. How much would I spend? If I had it I would spend whatever it took. You can't put a price on life. God loves all of his creatures. Rolly was not born just so I could have him put to death!!!! If I had a million dollars, I would spend it to save him!
My thoughts:
1. This is but another reason to really think it over before you get a pet.
2. If you think as this reader does, that a pet's life is as valuable as a person's (and thus you need to spend whatever it takes), you should really, really, really consider pet insurance. Otherwise, you could end up with a very sick pet and bankrupt yourself.
3. Personally, I love animals. But there is no way that I would value them any where near the value I'd place on a human being -- and I wouldn't spend anything close to save an animal compared to saving a human.
What do you think?
Yes on the pet insurance. I had a cat get very sick a few years ago. I ended up having her put down when the treatment options were getting more and more expensive and less likely to succeed. That was about $1500 in vet bills. I would've spent more if the vets thought there was a high likelihood that the treatments would've succeeded, but it was clearly a longshot. Also, she was refusing food and wouldn't keep down what I could force feed her and it seemed clear to me that she was really suffering her last week.
My cats are from shelters, and healthy cats are euthanized every week because there isn't space. So partly I felt that it would be a better decision to give a healthy cat a few years of the good life than to try to keep this cat alive at all costs. But I made myself promise to get pet insurance for my next cat. It's $110 per year, and it will mostly take money out of the equation should anything happen to the cat I have now. For me, it was scary, harsh, and exhausting to have to think about money when my first cat was sick - especially as I was in a terrible emotional state from facing her possible death and being up all night to feed and medicate her.
Posted by: becca | March 28, 2006 at 04:26 PM