How much is your pet worth?

I saw a thread on this a couple of years ago (that I can't find now), but I couldn't appreciate it until last night. I want to revive the topic to help me think through some things.

Very, very long story short: I have a greyhound and a terrier mix. Within the span of ~36 hours, my otherwise very healthy 2-year old terrier mix took a turn for the worse. He developed back pain very suddenly. Within hours, his ability to use his rear legs was compromised. I immediately took him to an emergency vet. Within the span of another 1 - 2 hours, he completely lost control of both rear legs and lost deep pain sensation. I had to make a decision immediately and on the spot whether or not to move forward with emergency surgery. Any delay would reduce the chances of a full recovery. They gave me a range between $8K to $10K for the surgery, and I had to pay the full amount for the low part of the range ($8K) before they'd do the surgery. That all happened at around 2AM last night, and the surgery was done by 6AM. The surgery went well, but we won't know much until some time has gone by and our little guy's body starts to heal and recover. It's possible that even with the surgery, he might not be able to use his rear legs again. By the way: the specific ailment was a herniated disc.

Random thoughts / questions:

• What are your pets worth to you?
  
• I make good money and live very comfortably, but an unplanned expense of ~$10K isn't something that is easy for me to do. How the hell do people less fortunate afford these types of things!?
• I wonder what variables might have caused me to make a different decision: age of the dog, different likelihood of full recovery, more time to think about financial implications, etc.
• In my head, I never thought that a pet-related expense would exceed $5K. Last night, I was presented double that. I wonder what (if any) amount would have caused me to forego the surgery.
• I'm torn between whether or not I made the right decision. If he makes a full recovery, then it will settle my thoughts. But what if he never gains use of his rear legs again? Was it worth it then? What if he develops the same issue again in another couple of years?

Ugh. It's been a tough week. I have an inordinate amount of love for both of my dogs, and I am extremely attached to both. My uneasiness about the cost is a little surprising; I always told myself I'd easily spend whatever I needed to if that time ever came. Then again, I didn't think that cost would be about the OTD price of a brand-new 600! I am interested to hear the thoughts of some other pet owners. I would also be really interested in getting some feedback from anyone who has a pet that has gotten IVDD surgery.

Attached a couple of photos of the little guy, and also a shot of his big brother (who misses him dearly right now).

 

I love my dog as much as anyone, but for 10 grand, I would very sadly put the little fella to sleep. Sucks having to make a decision like that, but I'd rather invest that money on other things for my family.

 

First, you're a good man for taking care of your buddy. Second, everyone values their loved ones differently. I spent probably $30K on surgeries/treatments for one of my dogs over the course of her life. I have no regrets, even though I'm far from wealthy and it was a big deal financially. On the flipside, one of my endurance racing teammates took his healthy dog into the back yard and shot him in the head because he was being deployed overseas. I'll never understand that decision, and he would never understand mine.

There's always pet insurance to soften the blow.

 

Mine got bit by a water moccasin on a sunday a few years back. Didn't bat an eye when it was about $1500 or $2000 if I recall. Not near as much as what you did. He was pretty young and a good sized dog (border collie) so the chance of recovery was good. After his full recovery I think the anti-venom must have some crazy stuff in it. Like he tapped into the fountain of youth.. Extra bounce in his step...

 

Over a time period, I'll spend as much as I can afford, I had to put down a mastiff for bone cancer near his 8th birthday(they dont live much longer than that). Had he been younger I would have paid for treatment, which was an open checkbook of experimental things, I didn't look into the specifics due to his age. I strongly recommend pet insurance it's worth every penny.

 

It would be rough with forking out that kind of money with the possibility of it not fixing things. That being said I would do anything for my dog as he is basically my child. And gets treated better than most kids I know lol

 

Kudos to you, had to be a tough night and tough decision. My wife and I have discussed this often for a lot of reasons, mainly one of her cats that has a serious issue and needs to have EKG's and cat(ha)scans done frequently. It was 1 of 3 that were dropped off at her parents by her sis and BIL who should have taken them to a shelter but instead just dropped them at their inlaws place. That's another story. Anyways, there was only one place in Cbus that could do this and it was 800+ every time. We went twice and the second time the Dr. said we needed to up it to twice a year, but basically nothing was changing. We questioned why and he didn't give a great reason other than to track. We decided against that and haven't gone back. He's even off whatever medicine he was on with no health issues to speak of. Every check up he has improved and I think we probably gave away some money there. He was 1 when we started this, he is 5 or 6 now and fine.

As for my dog, I love him very much, but he's 11 or 12 and at this point, I wouldn't spend that kind of money on a surgery that may or may not help him. I would drop a few thousand, but 8-10K, with 3 kids under 3, I would do everything I could to take the pain away and have him put down asap so he didn't suffer.

If he was a pup or much younger I would spend the coin as well though. But age is a big factor. He's had a GREAT life and that is the only reason, he's an older guy now, and time isn't on his side.

 

There are humans in need of food, shelter and medical care. I'll spend $2k, then it's time to move on. Another dog will be there.

Now, if you have a hunting dog that cost $3k + another few $k to get properly trained I can understand spending quite a bit to keep it healthy, but still.

That's my thinking. No criticism of your decision, but my dog wouldn't have received that surgery. Btw, I came to this thinking after several $k on a prior dog that got more expensive by the day and ended up with no diagnosis and had to be put down anyway.

Our current dog, dang him, cost $800 for a broken leg recently. Argh...

 

What a sick f#ck.

 

And a felony in this state.

 

Brought my golden because he wasn't feeling well. Vet suspected possible cancer. Authorized them to do an exploratory for ~$800. Got a call from the vet mid-surgery that they had found a HUGE tumor. If they tried to remove, there was only a 40% chance of survival. Estimated cost for removal was north of $3,500. I didn't blink an eye. They pulled a volley ball sized tumor of a out of him and he survived the surgery. Two years later the cancer from the original tumor had metastasized and claimed his life. Vet was nice and gave me a small break on the bill, but I had to borrow money to pay it. I don't have a single regret and would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

We have 4 dogs and 3 cats at our house, both my wife's and my family are hardcore animal lovers peeps. We are very lucky that we have had the financial aid available because there were some ridiculous vet bills through the years.

Pneumonia, surgeries because somebody ate something and now it's stuck, somebody found and ate mushrooms in the yard and went into liver failure, cat dental surgeries, cancerous formations being removed, random scares needing x-ray and blood work to find nothing etc.

Pet insurance is great but there are cases when it's denied and/ or dropped. Happened to us with one of the dogs because of the cancerous formations when still 5 months old.

 

My dog is a better person than most humans . And another human will be there too; there seems to be no shortage of them where I live.

 

I had an English Setter, Hank, with a championship lineage that would knock your socks off. I spent countless hours and thousands upon thousands of dollars training him, not to mention 3-4 weeks a year in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and every Saturday and Sunday during season in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, chasing grouse, pheasants and quail. It's never a good idea to brag your dog, but I would've put him up against any grouse dog you could find.
Having said that, there's absolutely no way I would've spent 8k to save his ass. While he was certainly my buddy, he was a tool first. I'll get another tool for less than half that amount.

 

The deployed overseas/ shot the dog in the back yard story is brutal. Dungeony for sure if I had to speak my mind but I'd bet $20 he didn't shoot his dog the first time he was deployed. Fuck him.

 

Those are beautiful dogs. Mine is an English Springer Spaniel that I'll be doing the same with.

 

Agreed, people suck and dogs are awesome!

 

Ugh. Pet insurance now. For everyone. Last year we spent $17K on one of our cats (who was 7 at diagnosis), who ended up diabetic. That is not a death sentence, my mother has had a diabetic cat for at least a decade, and so far Jacko is the same idiot he always was. But when your vet is some country ohwellcreaturesdie lackadaisical dumbshit who doesn't understand the critical nature of ketoacidosis, you need to step in. Which ended up with me in hysterics with my NYC vet and Fred and I and Dinglenut in the car at 5:00 am to NYC Blue Pearl ICU. My point is, all creatures are living longer. Some you are reponsible for.

 

I love my Labs but anything over a 1000-1500 I don't think we would do. Mostly because I'm a poor bike shop owner and to us that's getting into kinda serious money but for some of you guys it's a drop in the bucket. But you never know, depending on the situation.