would you spend $1000 on health care for your pet?

[metrogirl]

My Maggie was diagnosed at age 1 with epilepsy and she had to start taking meds for that. Then she developed allergies to almost everything. She was allergic to dust and pollen and the other pets dander so she had to have shots for that and more meds. She had growths in her ears that looked like cauliflowers, yep you guessed it surgery for that. Then her siezure patterns started changing so we changed meds and that was working for a while. She would still have the occasional siezure usually at night when the regular vet wasn't open so I would take her to the emergency vet which naturally costs about an arm more. When she started having more grand mal siezures the vet thought that a different medicine approach would work so I went to a regular pharmacist that made phenobarbitol suppositories just for her and a special elixer flavored like marshmallows because she was already hip to the pills and would spit them out. (clever girl she was) Anyway, her siezures were becoming more and more frequent and one night after 2 or 3 grand mal siezures I rushed her to the emergency vet in the middle of the night. The vet tech was having a really hard time getting the iv in her and she assured me she would work as quickly as possible to get the iv meds in her. I left to go home and returned for her in the morning but it was clear when I saw her that something was terribly wrong. She appeared to have lost her sight and the vet said she had suffered irreversable brain damage so it was then I put her down.

 

I don't regret spending the money that I did and it was in the thousands.

[trixi]

^^

 

problem teeth. i've heard a lot of other disease can come as a result of poor oral health. that was actually the motivation behind this thread. i have a cat who has some mild gingivitis. it's not critical right now...but a good cleaning would be of great benefit. the $800 i was quoted seems like peanuts after reading the responses here...especially when one considers that it's preventative.

 

 

Well, Little Mama has no teeth left (my toothless wonder) to clean but my Loki goes once a year. I am just confused abt the $800 - WOW - I usually play US$200 for cleaning. Maybe you need to shop around a little or is this normal for where you are?

[journeynow]

I'm curious, when did dentistry become a standard part of veterinary care? I'm simply curious of the dates or decade. You didn't used to hear of this, nor of brushing your pet's teeth, but people gave their dogs bones to chew on.

[Mashed Potato]

I spent over 1k after my cat was hit by a car, and this was after she disappeared for 12 months!!!

 

The vet found me from the microchip - if she hadn't of been struck i would never have found her again.

 

MP

[Mercurial Girl]

Well, Little Mama has no teeth left (my toothless wonder) to clean but my Loki goes once a year. I am just confused abt the $800 - WOW - I usually play US$200 for cleaning. Maybe you need to shop around a little or is this normal for where you are?

 

It's sounds from that price a very thorough cleaning that includes a sharp scraping tool under the gums so the animal is usually under anesthesia for this. The pet usually needs a CBC and geriatric panel and urinalysis too to make sure they're healthy for the anesthetic. Some will get x-rays to see the root and if there is an infection festering where they cannot see beyond the gums. They use ultrasonic scaling and polishing which is really loud and scary for pets when they're awake too. Extractions are common if they don't get the annual cleanings or have problematic teeth. Small dogs have a really hard time with this as their teeth are really crowded inside a small mouth.

 

I was quoted $200 for the blood collection and geriatric panel/urinalysis, then anywhere from $800-$1700 for the teeth cleaning, not including x-rays, depending on the number of extractions required.

[Mercurial Girl]

I'm curious, when did dentistry become a standard part of veterinary care? I'm simply curious of the dates or decade. You didn't used to hear of this, nor of brushing your pet's teeth, but people gave their dogs bones to chew on.

 

Not sure of any dates, but breeding for certain characteristics is the main cause of this . Also feeding dogs real raw bones is less common these days and some dogs don't even get the benefit of hard kibble anymore, they get mushy wet food their whole lives!

 

You didn't used to hear of this because dogs were of much less importance and no one would spend money on them for even simple medical problems - everything beyond maybe a week of antibiotics was a death sentence. Now we want to extend their lives as much as possible, usually pets were already put down before their teeth gave them real problems.

 

No one used to need dentures either. No one lived long enough.

[camus154]

It's sounds from that price a very thorough cleaning that includes a sharp scraping tool under the gums so the animal is usually under anesthesia for this. The pet usually needs a CBC and geriatric panel and urinalysis too to make sure they're healthy for the anesthetic. Some will get x-rays to see the root and if there is an infection festering where they cannot see beyond the gums. They use ultrasonic scaling and polishing which is really loud and scary for pets when they're awake too. Extractions are common if they don't get the annual cleanings or have problematic teeth. Small dogs have a really hard time with this as their teeth are really crowded inside a small mouth.

 

I was quoted $200 for the blood collection and geriatric panel/urinalysis, then anywhere from $800-$1700 for the teeth cleaning, not including x-rays, depending on the number of extractions required.

 

See, at some point the little light bulb should be going on telling you, "This isn't really what nature had in mind, it's more about our own selfish wishes!"

 

I love Fido as much as the next guy, but a dog is still a dog. I'm all about being a responsible steward for animals, but I'm not going to go to exorbitant lengths ensuring they're in an unnaturally healthy state just so I can squeeze out a few more years with them.

[Mercurial Girl]

See, at some point the little light bulb should be going on telling you, "This isn't really what nature had in mind, it's more about our own selfish wishes!"

 

I love Fido as much as the next guy, but a dog is still a dog. I'm all about being a responsible steward for animals, but I'm not going to go to exorbitant lengths ensuring they're in an unnaturally healthy state just so I can squeeze out a few more years with them.

 

My dog is young for her size, and if her only issue really is a tooth abscess, I need to step up to the plate and pay for her teeth cleaning as I did neglect it in her younger years, and I did choose a breed (or, mix of breeds in her case) that is notorious for having dental problems. I don't find it at all selfish to pay that much money, and it is a LOT for me, to make her comfortable and healthy in the long run. I find it more selfish to say "ehhhh I'm going to cut her otherwise healthy life short by half a decade or more because I don't want to spend that kind of money on my dog."

 

Her teeth are probably causing her some pain right now, but at the same time she is far from being ready to die. I'm confident I will "hear" her when she tells me she's ready, but she isn't.If her blood panel and urinalysis indicate that she is otherwise very healthy, the teeth cleaning procedure is quite safe and would contribute greatly to her quality of life. If it turns up that she has organ failure or something of that nature, I will turn to palliative care instead and turn to painkillers to keep her comfortable until SHE is ready to go, not when I'm ready to give up on her.

 

If it is a nasal tumour, I wouldn't put her through so many invasive procedures to get another 13-30 months out of her. I'm talking 6+ years with the cleaning and extraction.

[camus154]

But you wouldn't be cutting her "otherwise healthy life short by half a decade". You're extending her natural short lifespan by extraordinary measures. That's my point. You have it backwards.

[Mercurial Girl]

But you wouldn't be cutting her "otherwise healthy life short by half a decade". You're extending her natural short lifespan by extraordinary measures. That's my point. You have it backwards.

 

Her lifespan would be short because of the way we have bred our dogs, hardly by nature. Nothing about dogs is natural anymore. Today's pekingese is especially not a "natural" breed. We've BRED them to have these health problems. We've BRED crappy teeth into them, in this case, so we have to take care of what we've done to them.

[camus154]

Her lifespan would be short because of the way we have bred our dogs, hardly by nature. Nothing about dogs is natural anymore. Today's pekingese is especially not a "natural" breed. We've BRED them to have these health problems. We've BRED crappy teeth into them, in this case, so we have to take care of what we've done to them.

 

Well that's not true. There are good old fashioned mutts still around, you know. They're not all special breeds that have been carefully manipulated by man.

 

But ok, you got this special breed that has this particular problem and you've assumed responsibility for that. That's good. I'm just talking in general, not any particular breed.

[Mercurial Girl]

Well that's not true. There are good old fashioned mutts still around, you know. They're not all special breeds that have been carefully manipulated by man.

 

But ok, you got this special breed that has this particular problem and you've assumed responsibility for that. That's good. I'm just talking in general, not any particular breed.

 

Well, mutts are just a smorgasbord mix of a bunch of different special breeds carefully manipulated by man. They're certainly healthier than purebreds, as a general rule, but they still carry with them the issues that their 1/4 or 1/8 rottweiler or German shepherd or 1/2 maltese ancestors (maybe not the right word) passed to them.

 

She's actually technically a mutt, but pekingese is the only part we can pick out of her. She was a rescue, I got her in Ecuador. She has classic small dog problems, bad pekingese teeth and bad whatever-other-dog maybe dachshund back problems. So, despite being a mix of at least 4 breeds, she seems to have issues from them all.

[trixi]

I usually have the dental done abt 1 month after his annual l physical - they will accept the blood results, urinary analysis from that so that there is no additional cost at the time of his dental! If, there is an extraction there is additional cost but otherwise I paid $200.00

[90_hour_sleep]

I usually have the dental done abt 1 month after his annual l physical - they will accept the blood results, urinary analysis from that so that there is no additional cost at the time of his dental! If, there is an extraction there is additional cost but otherwise I paid $200.00

 

that's a good idea. making a routine of it. i know the checkups run about $100 where i am (that includes vaccinations and whatnot). so...for $300 a year...it'd be more than manageable.

[itsallgrand]

Yes, I have. Over the winter I spent a considerable amount of money, several hundred, for emergency vet bills for my cat. Over her lifetime, it probably cost me a few thousand dollars.

 

But she gave me 14 years of companionship. A unique little personality. Endless good memories, snuggle companion, so so much.

 

She unfortunately passed away shortly after that accident ( a car hit her and drove away, hit and run ). No doubt, I was attached, and I have been without a pet since. I don't want just any pet, especially just any cat, she was special (as corny as that sounds, I know) and just such a good match with me.

 

When I think about getting another pet some day, I do also consider those vet bills, emergency moneys, all those things as necessary costs that come with getting a pet. Kind of like having a kid, in the sense that I see it as a commitment to making sure the well being of that being is taken care of for life.

[thehardestpart]

i have but she ended up passing. It was very hard to watch.

[Amber Coco]

Yes, I would, in a heartbeat. Pets become part of your family and you love them almost as much. The pain I felt when my family dog died was horrible. It brings tears to my eyes just to remember it. And mostly, in the way she passed too, she suffered a lot through heart problems (poor nutrition, she was very fat and sedentary, because we lived in another country where there's no such thing as dog food, she ate what we ate and more... e.g. street trash lol). Eventually we just had to put her down because the sight was unbearable. We grew up together, she was 3 months old when I was born. And died at 12. I know she was old already and she had a good life but it still hurt.

 

That is exactly why I have decided not to have a pet, as much as I adore dogs (or a baby! lol) until I am financially secure, so that I can react properly when something like that happens. I do understand though that there are some unforeseeable circumstances where you already have the pet and something goes wrong financially in your life, and when this stuff happens then the decision becomes more complicated. But unless I can't absolutely afford it, yes I believe I would do it.

[Blue92]

I would spend however much needed to save my pet without a second thought.