How much would you pay to save your pet?

[mjrpes3]

More and more advance treatments are becoming available to save pets, who in the past would have been euthanized:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/u...a-pet-but-questions-about-the-costs.html?_r=1

I realize the answer to the question depends a lot on your disposable income. But as costs increase, this almost makes me think twice about getting a pet in the future.... do I want to put myself in this situation where I choose between my pet's life and $10,000?

If so, I would want to force myself to keep a large sum of money on hand as the pet gets older, so I am not unprepared.

 

[FoBoT]

1% of GDP

 

[JackBurton]

$10K? WTF? I'd pay exactly $0. Then I'd just get a BRAND NEW pet.

 

[Krazy4Real]

<$1,000. More than that just get a new pet.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Depends on likelyhood of success of surgery, if the animal will resume a nice quality of life, etc.. But yes I would go 10k.

 

[dainthomas]

Flame away, but anyone who would spend 10k on an animal like that is retarded.

And yes I have two animals. And yes I would be sad if they died, but that's a part of life. I would be orders of magnitude more sad if something happened to my daughter. If I had the extra 10k to spend on a pet, I would use it to positively influence her life.

 

[Spoooon]

Our cat is going through some problems. We set a limit of $500 on treatment. Flat out can't afford to spend more (we're at $400 something so far, between tests and visits in the past two weeks). Though, if the vet said something like "This surgery costs $200 and will fix it" we'd probably go ahead and go over.

 

[DrPizza]

It depends on the age of the pet and value of the pet. But, to spend $10k on a 12 year old dog or something??

 

[ichy]

Ooph, I love my cat but $10k would be pretty steep. Honestly though, some of this stuff like bone marrow transplants seems a little crazy. It's one thing to put a person through the hell of cancer treatment because they at least can understand why they're suffering. All a cat or dog knows is "damnit, I constantly feel like shit." How much extra life do those treatments buy them anyways?

If it was a one time procedure that definitely cured a problem then I'd be willing to pay significantly more. I would not pay for radiation for a an incurable brain tumor though. Even in people who're getting much better medical care than any pet will ever get the prognosis for inoperable brain cancer is horrible.

 

[xBiffx]

I had put a max at $1000 up until it took $2000 of treatment to save my basset's life. Well, needless to say the max changed.

 

[mb]

Depends on likelyhood of success of surgery, if the animal will resume a nice quality of life, etc..

This but maybe max $1500.


Then again I've only had my cat for a week so it's not like I'm that attached to her yet. I'd guess my opinion would change over the years.

 

[RavenSEAL]

My cat has insurance that covers 75% of medical procedures and medication, so probably $1000 max out of pocket.

 

[ShreddedWheat]

Depends on also how much you make (percentage of your income). I would pay about 2k but my sister spent 10k on a 10+ year old Jack Russell, but she makes a lot of money!

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Depends on how much discretionary income someone has. If someone's a multi-millionaire, I wouldn't be surprised if they were willing to drop tens of thousands or more on an animal. Me personally? I don't have that much discretionary income... so less than $1,000.

 

[ichy]

My cat has insurance that covers 75% of medical procedures and medication, so probably $1000 max out of pocket.

Out of curiosity what company do you use?

 

[thegimp03]

Max maybe $1-2k depending on the pet's chances for full recovery. There was a crazy woman who I use to work with who spent $16k to fix the hip dysplasia in one of her dogs.

 

[AreaCode707]

About $1200 total if I know the outcome will be favorable. $800 if it's a "may or may not work" situation.

 

[waggy]

you really can't put a hard cap.

IF my puppy needed a treatment that was $500-900 then sure. IF my 9+ year dog needed same treatment then no.

 

[RavenSEAL]

Out of curiosity what company do you use?

http://www.sheltercare.com/index.asp?cuid=

He came with 3 months included after we adopted him, so we decided to continue the coverage. Had to use it once, didn't have any problems.

 

[ViviTheMage]

depends on the age of the dog/pet and how much longer they have left, but I think i'd drop 2k-3k on her right now at the age of 4.

 

[mb]

http://www.sheltercare.com/index.asp?cuid=

He came with 3 months included after we adopted him, so we decided to continue the coverage. Had to use it once, didn't have any problems.

3 months? Nice. I got 30 days of it... and if I call them they'll extend it to 45 days.

 

[LookBehindYou]

Don't even want to think about it. Molly (the one on the left) is 12. I've had her for 11 years and I'd probably spend every last cent I had trying to make sure she is ok if I knew it would help.

 

[RavenSEAL]

3 months? Nice. I got 30 days of it... and if I call them they'll extend it to 45 days.

We got some sort of special deal I believe. Our cat had a sponsor when we adopted him. Only had to pay half the normal fee, got some free supplies and extended insurance.

 

[xBiffx]

1% of GDP

Flame away, but anyone who would spend 10k on an animal like that is retarded.

(stolen from Hume thread)

 

[Anonemous]

Time to consider getting pet health insurance when you get a new pet.