A couple of months ago, one of our two cats got sick. We took him to the vet and, before we knew it, we owed $1,300. Almost every pet owner we know has a similar story about paying hundreds or thousands to save a pet, so we wrote an article about it that's up today on Salon: "What I wouldn't do for my cat: After shelling out $1,300 on a vet bill, I had to wonder: How much is too much to pay for your pet?"
Here's an excerpt:
On a site unfortunately titled "Thrifty Fun," there's a "urinary blockage in cats" thread describing our same predicament, although some of the cat owners in there have already spent thousands. Mixed in with the complaints is some boasting: "What can I say? I love my cat!" is a recurring theme. In a Yahoo chat room on the subject, one person trying to figure out how to help his cat without spending so much money is attacked from all sides. One poster tells him, "You obviously could not care less about your cat or you would get it the medical care that it needs."
So, are poor people, or even people who find themselves temporarily unemployed, not allowed to have cats? And isn't there something sort of unseemly about spending so much money on one animal given the state of the world? According to the American Humane Society, 9.6 million animals are put to sleep every year because they don't have people to care for them. If we hadn't saved Ferdinand, we would have eventually adopted another animal from the pound, saving it from euthanasia, and we would have had a thousand dollars left.
Read the whole article here. Would you pay whatever it took to treat a pet? Or is there a limit?
Reader Comments ( Page 3 of 3)
31. To Lyn Martin,
You said "I would still do ANYTHING for him that I would do for my own child". That is sick to equate a child with a pet! I love my toy poodle, but he is a DOG, not a child. I'll die for my child. I'll do anything for my CHILD, not my dog. Get real, Lyn and get help.
ohioanglican at 9:35PM on Feb 10th 2008
32. First, I like to say that my dog is my child, bestfriend and protector. He senses and knows everything I'm thinking from my body language to the energy I give off. I don't have children. So yes he is my child and treated probably better than a lot of people treat their human children. Dogs especially help us in so many ways, even to go as far as protecting human children. The lastest is their ability to detect cancer in a human. They help us in so many ways with inconditional love, we should honor them and try to emulate their behavior. My dog blew out both his knees when he was a puppy. Options: let him suffer, euthanasia, or surgery. I opted for surgery. He is my $4500 free dog. I wish I could give back to him all he has given me. No one has the right to say if I or anyone else spends to much on the welfare of their pet. It is my money and I'll spend it any way I want! But, if all of the people who are against spending large amounts of money on what we consider a family member. I can send you a list of my bills as well as things I need and want. You don't mind right? After all I am a human.
Lori at 10:21PM on Feb 10th 2008
33. The whole animal care industry needs an overhaul just as the human health care industry does. An average visit costs more now at a veterinarian's office than going to the internist's or family practice office. The reason so many animals are put to sleep each year is in part due to the veterinary industry- people can't afford vet bills so they are forced to put the animals to sleep or give them up to a shelter. I do believe it is a very greedy industry- and yes, vets do recognize that they can charge just about anything to people who love their animals like children. I have come across vets in my time that indeed would actually just watch an animal suffer if the owner had no money to pay rather than provide at least palliative care at no charge to keep the animal out of pain. At least we have MediCal for people who have no money- there should be free clinics for animals just the same, so what if the waits were long, at least there would be some sort of level of care for people who don't have the money to cover these astronomical vet bills. I've pledged that if I ever have the money to do it- I would sponsor a free clinic based on the owner's income and ability to pay. You would think that vet's go into this field because they love animals- I think they become very hardened and see dollar signs after awhile and one suffering animal is just like another to them.
B at 11:29PM on Feb 10th 2008
34. How much would you spend on your kids?
If this was a human who had this, it would have been ALOT more then that. It's a cat, deal with it!
Sam at 10:27AM on Feb 11th 2008
35. My beloved and amazeing cat Mister Anthony just passed away a couple of weeks afol We lived together for the last 12 years and I have to say he was more like a dog in temperment and in his ability to understand what I was feeling and wanted. He was an abondoned animal and new i had saved his life and was forever greateful. I will never get over the howling I heard when he started to scream after he had a stroke and his back legs stopped wroking...I rushed him to a new vet in west hollywood and they were compassionate and wonderfull....I was so freaked out I had forgotten my purse and ID and had no money on me...I was in tears and barely able to talk ....they did get hin out of pain and I was able to talk to him and let him know how much i loved him.I went home and prayed....they called the next day and said how I had already run up about 300 dollars and I said not to worry I would bringthe money when I say him in the morning....he passed away that night...when I went to see him they informed me and though they had origieanlaly asked for 300 dollars they only asked for 200 and i was suprised....I felt they cared and did not try and take total advantage of me and I will return with my other cat and when I get another 2 kittens as well....I will get pet insurance though this time...they are like children and totaly dependant on our care and love us so unconditionaly...they deserve what we can and my only hope is health insurance i am not rich by any means but I love my kitties and all animals for that matter.
carprng at 4:29AM on Feb 11th 2008
36. This is a very question. One I'm dealing with right now!! I have a female cat, age about 7 (maybe..not sure since we got her at a pet store and got one story, another from the vet!), that has just been diagnosed with diabetes. She became ill about 10 months ago with feline vestibular disease and I spent 450.00 on her to get her well. I spent 70.00 to have the vet tell me that the diabetes will cost upwards of 150.00/month just to treat with the special cat insulin I have to purchase. This does NOT include the vet stay of multiple days and continuing 25.00 blood tests they will have to do just to get her stabilized! I'm a single parent with two teenage girls. I'm trying to pay for senior pictures, drivers education, an upcoming graduation and so on. what do I do?? I don't want my cat to die/suffer, but I love her. I left the office in tears. The vet told me to go home and 'think about it'. I've now switched to her a high protien diet and I'm feeding her in many small meals a day to try and stablize her blood sugar. I've also investgated online to find 'alternative' therapies. I found a liquid I can add a few drops to her diet twice a day that is supposed to help stabilize blood sugar. I plan on loving her and praying for her and doing the best I can...because I can't afford to do anything else. When the time comes and she can no longer live a good life, I'll have her put to sleep. I feel guilty, but I also feel I don't have many other options.
Lisa at 8:19AM on Feb 11th 2008
37. I am a veterinary ER technician. I deal with a lot of complaints from people when I have to go over estimates with them for their animal's care. Basically, if a vet hospital is offering emergency services, the staff is paid higher (including doctors) because they are doing a job that most do not want to do. The prices are elevated (sometimes as much as 150%-200%) to cover costs. I usually explain to people that we are just like the human ER in that the prices will inevitably be higher. If clients are not willing to do the optimum treatment plan, we try to show them more conservative routes that we can take. Just because someone can't pay $1,300 does not mean that we automatically refuse them care. As for cases with blocked cats, if the problem is caught in the early stages (i.e. improper and unusual litter box habits, straining to urinate, etc) then a daytime only hospital can treat your cat for MUCH less. Unfortunately blocked cats usually become an emergency problem where a cat's life is in the balance and there is really no treatment that you could consider 'cheap' to fix it. As for calling euthanasia 'murder', i really can't agree. Is it more humane to leave an animal suffering with minimal or no care, or to end its suffering once and for all? In a perfect world, we would treat any and all animals, however many charity cases there are. The reality is that every veterinarian does charity work, but they still have to maintain a business. This may sound cold, but it's the way things work. Every day hundreds of animals are euthanized in shelters because there is too great of a demand for care and too few able to contribute. The word 'euthanasia' means 'mercy killing', and that is exactly what it is.
By the way, the hospital I work at would be considered 'high end' and 'expensive' and we rarely see a bill over $2,000, even for emergency care. The bills only tend to get REALLY high when we are dealing with various orthopedic surgeries (like back surgery) or cancer/chemotherapy treatments, and even then it's rare.
The best advice I can give anyone is to listen to your doctor's concerns and his proposed treatment plan, ask questions, see if there are alternatives, and let him know what you would like to do. Research on the internet isn't worth much since many of the sites our clients go to contain improper information which just causes major conflicts. Just because it's on the internet doesn't mean it's true! If you have problems, go get a second opinion.
Despite what many people think, veterinarians (for the most part) are trying to help you and are not out to squeeze every dime they can out of you. In fact, most veterinarians make between $50,000-$100,000 yearly which is in no way comparable to the amount of education they receive or the knowledge that they have.
If you need routine procedures, price shopping is good. If your animal is in critical condition, it needs care NOW and there are going to be some tests that you will have to agree to do (like a chemistry/CBC or x-rays). We are not magicians or psychics. We need to do these tests to determine what exactly is going on. I have been on both sides of the table here and I understand how hard it is to accept, but we really do have your animal's best interests in mind.
ERtech at 8:35AM on Feb 11th 2008
38. Give me a break. I'm in college, not working, and have 3 dogs and 1 cat (all rescued), & two kids. I rescued the animals b/c I could not pass them up in need. That means I have way more LOVE than CASH. For all you idiots ranting that I shouldn't have animals if I can't afford them A) You would be jumping my ass if I left the animals (in one case sitting next to her dying, starving sister) and B) Just remember you are lining the vet's pockets. There is no SPCA in my rural area, but there are however, 36 vets in the phone book. Your attitude DOES NOT help.
angelemd at 12:00PM on Feb 11th 2008