Your Pet's (Costly) Life

Here's a recent comment I received to my post titled How Much Would You be Willing to Spend to Save Your Pet's Life?:

I am grappling with this very issue. My rescue dog and I have only been together for 6 months when he recently came down with a mysterious illness. The tests alone are running $1400 with a potential remedy of another $1500. I think I'm at my limit. Thanks for the comments from other animal lovers who love their pets but are understand there are limits.

It's a tough decision, isn't it? What would you do? Do you have any words of advice for this commenter?

Comments

[Kira]

In a lot of these cases you have to consider whether this is going to be an ongoing cost, or a one-time thing. If it were my dog, and this were a one-time $3k cost, I would pay it, but if it were $3k every year, I think that would cause a lot of problems in our finances as that is more than 15% of what I bring home. My sister's dog had to have corrective surgery for a hip problem which cost more than $4k, but she'll never need that surgery again and is otherwise a healthy dog.

I had a middle-aged guinea pig who got kidney stones, and I spent $300 on surgery and $200 on treatments for him. My dad asked me if this was wise to spend so much on my pig, and I asked him how much he would spend to keep me healthy if I got sick. He said, I'd spend every penny I had. I said, well, I don't have as much as you do, but I'm willing to spend what I do have.

[Rhea]

I agree with the above. If it's a one-time cost and you can pay it or borrow it, do it. I took out health insurance on my puppy after he had a seizure. He's been fine, but in the event that he develops any other ailments, I will have some help with the costs.

[Lord]

You need to consider the age, the prognosis, the treatment, and what you can afford. Every penny is surely too much, however dear, because if it takes every penny then assuredly it will take more. After you have been through death and come to terms with it, you realize we are all mortal and death is part of the condition. Spending on terminal conditions only prolongs suffering. Consider instead how you can help another.

[Kim]

My dog recently had major surgery after being attacked by another dog. He had punctured lungs from the bite and the bill ran $1360. A big hit. But simply for me it comes down to the question: Would I rather have the money or the dog. And that takes care of any money pains I may feel.

[name]

If the person doesn't want to pay for it, they should give the dog another chance at life with a generous owner who can take over. Don't kill the dog because you can't/don't want to pay for it.