Would you pay $5,000 to keep a dog from being paralyzed?

[krunchykrome]

Would you pay $5,000 out of pocket to have surgury done to your dog to keep it from beign paralyzed? Basically, if the surgury is not done, the dog will be put to sleep so that it wont suffer. Here's where it gets complicated. Say the dog has some significant meaning to you, for example: A loved one passed away, your partner perhaps, and before the person died, you bought this dog with that person, and this dog is all you have left of your loved one who passed away.

Would you pay to save this dog or not?

 

[Chiller2]

No

 

[dullard]

No.

The dog will die too - it cannot be the sole thing you have of your loved one. In fact, I bet you have hundreds if not thousands of memories of that loved one. Those memories are far more valuable than any item or any animal. Those memories will be with you forever. Thus, you will always have stuff left from your loved one.

 

[Jeeebus]

If the dog is expected to recover and be healthy/happy afterward, certainly.

If you're only prolonging its pain, then no.

 

[NFS4]

Dude, that's a hard f*&king decision. I absolutely LOVE my dog, Buttons. She's 6 years old and she's got another 8 years left in her. $5,000 out of pocket is worth 8 more years to me "IF" the surgery is guaranteed to work. I'd manage. I'd give up some frivilous crap, I'd stop eating out so often, I'd give up buying my little gadgets and stuff.

I care about her THAT much. Correct, she IS a dog, but she is a family member.

 

[Vegitto]

Originally posted by: Jeeebus
If the dog is expected to recover and be healthy/happy afterward, certainly.

If you're only prolonging its pain, then no.

 

[PokerGuy]

I think you're forgetting one big part of the equation. How much 'spare' cash do you have? If I have Bill Gates kind of cash laying around, then sure. If I'm scrounging around to make rent each month, then no.

Money is just money, to me it's less important than being happy, and a loyal companion goes a long way in making you happy.... but you have to have the money to have the choice.

 

[amdhunter]

Yes. I paid $1200 about 2 years ago for surgery for one of my dogs.

I would drop $5000 in a heartbeat. I probably wouldn't have to though, since my brother is a vetinary assistant for ~14 years now, so I get discounts on pet care.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: Vegitto

Originally posted by: Jeeebus
If the dog is expected to recover and be healthy/happy afterward, certainly.

If you're only prolonging its pain, then no.

 

[BlueWeasel]

That's a tough call.

We were in a similar situation a few months ago with Sydney, a kitten who was only 6 months old. She had a under-developed colon and/or anus and surgery was around $4K-$5K. Unfortunately, the chance that the surgery would allow her to have a somewhat normal life was only given to us as 20%, and the vet said it was likely she would lose all control over her bowels.

It was so tough having to put her to sleep at such a young age.

 

[FoBoT]

no
i don't hate animals, they are very tasty, but the only animals worth $5000 are prize bulls or race horses etc, not "pets"

 

[iroast]

If you have the money to spare and the dog is expected to have full recovery, then sure. If the dog will limp around for life after surgery, probably not.

 

[miri]

if i could afford to, yes

 

[Descartes]

Without the slightest hesitation.

 

[Baked]

You must be on crack.

 

[Tiamat]

Tough to say. Surgery is not guaranteed to work 100%, and if it is something to do with paralysis, the surgery is even more risky.

 

[thirdeye]

Yes. Assuming the dog wasn't very old to begin with. I would for either of my dogs though.

 

[archiloco]

yeah, if i could afford it, right now i would have to put it to sleep

 

[Homerboy]

No. I don't care if it my childhood pet.
I would be better serving mankind (and myself) by taking that $5k and donating to a proper charity to help feed/clothe/house/whatever actual human beings.

Edit: I'm not saying that it wouldn't be a hard thing NOT to do, but I certainly wouldn't do it unless money were no object to me.

 

[SpiderWiz]

NO WAY!!!

 

[KK]

heck no, I'd shell out 25 cents for a bullet though.

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: PokerGuy
I think you're forgetting one big part of the equation. How much 'spare' cash do you have? If I have Bill Gates kind of cash laying around, then sure. If I'm scrounging around to make rent each month, then no.

Money is just money, to me it's less important than being happy, and a loyal companion goes a long way in making you happy.... but you have to have the money to have the choice.

Let's say that the dog owner does not have $5K in cash, and most likely, a sister and friends would have to contirbute to pay for the surgury.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: Jeeebus
If the dog is expected to recover and be healthy/happy afterward, certainly.

If you're only prolonging its pain, then no.

what this guy said. if the dog is only like 5 years old or so and only has this problem and he'll be 100%, damn right i'll pay $5000 to make him fine again.

It was pretty sad cause we didn't find out my cat had diabetes until it was too late, and basically his back 2 legs wouldn't work anymore by the time we found out. he couldn't even jump up on a couch or anything.

then once we found out we started giving him insulin with his food, twice a day we have to give him shots when we feed him. i had heard that the weakening of muscles and basically loss of muscle tissue is common (and has a common term, cant remember it) with diabetes, and that it is pretty much permanent.

however after like a few months, my cat started to talk normally again and slowly get his muscles back. although he's gained some weight now, he can jump up onto the kitchen counters, beds, etc. he's back to normal now.

but when he was in a state where he could hardly walk, and would try to just jump up on a couch and just couldn't do it, it was pretty sad. i would easily have paid $5K to make that all go away for him.

 

[49erinnc]

Originally posted by: Descartes
Without the slightest hesitation.

Same here. If selling everything I owned was my only means of getting the $5K, then so be it. I get far more happiness and enjoyment from my dogs than I do any material goods.

 

[lokiju]

If I had ample amount of money then sure why not?

But if money was tight, then it'd be a tough decision.