How Much Would You Spend on a Sick Pet?

[Daniel E.]

The problems I have are mostly with being misled by well-meaning but somewhat uneducated vets who fail to realize basic things like stress alone in cats (such as during a vet visit) can temporarily create diabetic blood sugar levels. I have also had vets create an unnecessary level of urgency.

In my experience, vets (generally speaking) are nowhere near as thoroughly knowledgeable as human doctors. Almost every human doctor I know is a walking Google in addition to their years of experience. That is not the case with some/many vets.

 

[GaryQ]

There’s a big percentage of all professionals that see someone in distress walk in and are more interested in their assets than the problem they walked in for. Greed is rampant from auto repair, funeral services, vets, dentists used car salesmen and that’s the start of the list. They see someone walk in and start evaluating what they can add to the tests to justify bleeding as much as possible out of people in times of hardships

 

[Daniel E.]

And human doctors have to worry about being sued. Vets do not, relatively speaking.

Of course, to be fair, vets have to be surgeons, dentists, etc. all in one -- and for multiple species.

 

[Hunter]

The people who called me crazy for spending $2500 on my dog trying to save her, but failed..are the same people who spend $600 per month on smoking, and more money on alcohol and drugs...both prescription and non prescription. To me, that is a waste of money.
My dogs give me love and affection...and you can't put a price on that.
My husband always asks me how much money do I spend on my dogs. I quickly say...how much do you spend on smoking and his hobbies...then I say...oh and I have a job too..where I make my own money...then that discussion quickly ends.

 

[Daniel E.]

I have never heard of this $15 alternative to pre-anesthetic bloodwork (which usually costs me $65-100 USD):

Don't Opt Out of Pre-Anesthetic Lab Work | Fully Vetted | petMD

...In the case of a young pet, pre-anesthetic testing does not have to be involved or expensive. One of the most progressive clinics I’ve worked for was "okay" running only a packed cell volume (checking primarily for anemia and evaluating the color of the serum for diseases that affect the liver or red blood cells), total solids (looking mostly for infection or protein-losing diseases), and an AZO stick (a quick check of kidney function) in these individuals and proceeding if all was normal. I believe the fee for a PCV/TS/AZO was only $15, and this was in a part of the country with an exceptionally high cost of living. These simple tests require just a few drops of blood and would have picked up the kidney failure in the aforementioned dog.

For owners who chose more in depth testing, this clinic would run a complete blood count (CBC) and either six or twelve blood chemistry parameters with electrolyte levels to give us a better look into whether or not a pet could be suffering from anemia, dehydration, infection, parasitism, bone marrow dysfunction, liver disease, kidney disease, etc. Additional tests might also be recommended based on a pet’s breed and history.

 

[Daniel E.]

The animal hospital in the next town over is amazing! Free e-mail consults with the owner (head vet -- who replies within an hour or so) and free toenail clippings with each visit, even with non-exam visits for shots, etc. They are always busy -- about a half hour late for every appointment -- but always much cheaper. So it pays to drive the extra distance. This is the same owner who replied to me personally on Facebook around 10 PM when I was asking a question about their practice.

We decided to change after the vet at the closer, more expensive animal hospital was not aware of a simple $99 test to rule out diabetes in a cat who has stress-induced hyperglycemia.

 

[Daniel E.]

Glad I have learned to have some money put back for my six house pets since I have had two pets in the same week needing diagnostics.

The 11-year-old senior dog with COPD is doing well now (and the total was less than $300 for the exam, lung x-rays, and medication -- which is not bad at all).

But another Dachshund of ours, who is 6 years old, has what seems to be an enlarged spleen, which was palpated by two different vets during a free dental exam yesterday. So an ultrasound of her spleen along with possible x-rays will be done by her regular vet soon, about the same time we get the bloodwork results back.

The good news is that if her spleen does need to be removed, the cost will be about a third of what some other vets charge. It is still shocking how much the difference is between vets.

 

[Daniel E.]

Good news. Spleen was fine, as was the bloodwork. Partial ultrasound of the abdomen was only $115. Vet recommended brushing dogs' teeth at least twice a week as a way to space out the dental cleanings.

From a financial perspective, the ultrasound was basically free compared to the cost of surgery, so I am glad there was no need for surgery. A spleen removal would have cost about $1700, including diagnostics.

The funny thing: the vet, who works six days a week, was playing jealous of the pet dentists since they only work Monday to Thursday.

 

[Daniel E.]

I forgot to mention I sometimes use the website JustAnswer as a way to save on vet bills for minor issues. This morning, I messaged a vet there. For the cost of a free trial (10 cents), she was able to diagnose the skin problem (using pictures I sent) and gave some over-the-counter recommendations (like half a pill of Zyrtec daily). If the cat does not improve, she says the cat's regular vet will probably need to prescribe steriods. You can also tip the vets there, and I usually do since their responses are usually within 10 minutes yet detailed.

But when my 11-year-old dog had a limp this weekend along with a very hard lump around her wrist joint, I was at the vet for the first available appointment and elected for x-rays. The lump was just synovial fluid above her joint that needed to be drained.

 

[Daniel E.]

One reason to opt for bloodwork before a feline dental cleaning:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21147471/

Current estimates indicate that approximately 0.11% (1 in 895 anesthetics) of healthy cats die of an anesthetic-related death, which is more than twice as frequent as has been recently reported in dogs (0.05% or 1 in 1849). Most of these deaths occurred in the postoperative period. A number of risk factors have been associated with death, including patient health status, age, weight, and procedure type and urgency.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

mg: I didn't know that!

Two of my cats did require surgery but there were no complications from the anesthetic.

Good reminder that there are always risks to any surgery on any species and to weigh those risks against the actual need for surgery. In my case, there really was not an option (i.e., one of my cats was hit by a car and had a broken jaw so it wasn't like we could just ignore that).

 

[Daniel E.]

Yeah, I didn't know it either until I read a post by a local pet dentist. One reason I like the animal hopsital in the next town over is they offer a package deal for dentals that includes everything, including bloodwork and any necessary pain meds, antibiotics, etc.

 

[Daniel E.]

Got a free exam for my dog today at the pet dental clinic, and the vet mentioned that giving popcorn to dogs isn't great since it can lead to needing a tooth extraction. And it doesn't take much to mess up dogs' teeth.

For some dogs (such as those who are "overgroomed" around their mouth), even their hair around their mouth can act as a foreign body to cause tooth problems. The vet recently had to extract four teeth in a single dog for that reason.

And I can tell people are getting less pet dentals done with the recession. They had openings even the next day for a dental cleaning, and in the past it was more like a one or two week wait.

 

[Daniel E.]

The local animal hospital that is more expensive for some things is seeming to be a better value in the long run (except for dentals or surgeries). They are closer, have more rooms for social distancing, are always open on Sundays, and they can see you the same day usually, even for non-urgent matters.

Today the senior dog with COPD went for a respiratory infection. We called ahead, and they gave us an appointment for our arrival time. There is a pet ER in the same town, but it is very expensive to go there from what I hear.

The other animal hospital in the next town over is cheaper but is always closed on Sundays, is open fewer hours during the week, and has less staff, so they always run late and are less available for emergencies.

 

[Daniel E.]

For anyone in the US, there is an insurance company for pets that sells a new, stand-alone wellness plan. It is amazing. You always get reimbursed within 24 hours. I have already signed up two of my pets and have been reimbursed hundreds of dollars already.

It is also good if you have a spouse/partner who gets sticker shock for a wellness trip to the vet for the cost of vaccines, flea/tick/heartworm meds, grooming, etc.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

I'd like to find a good plan in Canada (Ontario). Last time I checked them out, they were all pretty expensive.

 

[Daniel E.]

So if I had a lot of capital, I could start my own company and corner the Canadian market

:canadian:

 

[Daniel E.]

A (biased) example of U.S. prices for traditional/medical pet insurance for a 2-year-old dog (somewhat more expensive than for similarly-aged cats):

 

[Daniel E.]

One good thing about having seven pets is that you never have to cancel a vet appointment. You just swap pets

So if one pet's condition improves before the scheduled appointment, I just take another pet instead for a wellness check -- unless one of the dogs or cats starts limping or whatever

 

[Daniel E.]

Why Humans Treat Their Dogs Like People

If you have the means, your dog can live the life style of a well-heeled sophisticate.

www.newyorker.com

If you have the means, you can treat your dog not just like a human but like a rich and fancy one...

Charismatic animals tend to receive an illogical amount of human care and attention. The sadness prompted by images of a polar bear whose habitat is shrinking often outstrips the sympathy generated by a climate refugee in the same situation. I can’t remember the last time I went to the doctor for a routine checkup, but I take Luna twice a year. It’s “problematic,” the dog trainer Annie Grossman says, “to treat them like we would want to treat a person.” Dogs are meant to be dogs; they evolved to hunt, to work, and to live in packs."