Cheetah7

My cat Gordon was at the vet this morning for his booster and health check - weighing in at 7.2kgs, the vet declared him a 'big cat' and then felt him over for lumps and bumps and apart from his gut, didnt find anything fatty sticking out. He is 8 years old and it was decided today that he needs a dental within the next 6 months, a quote was given for dental, antibiotics, pain relief and some IV fluids to support his kidneys when he has an anaesthetic.

The cost came in at $580 - which will be claimed as periodontal disease so my insurance will pay up, I have to pay $200 excess, well I have to pay the whole lot but get some back from our insurance. We have time to save up for it and he will get it done.

Now ages ago - last year I do believe, I was talking to an Aussie colleague who said he would never dream in a million years in paying that for an animal, he would keep it and if things got too bad, give it the lethal injection and he is horrified that us 'soppy POMS' would even contemplate it.

In my opinion if you have an animal then you have a duty to look after it. Yes vet fees sure are expensive but I couldnt imagine having my pet destroyed because I didnt want to spend money on it. I know it must be hard if your pet is seriously ill and you dont have the money to pay, I remember when my whippet broke her leg and our vet let us pay in installments thank god.

We keep a credit card for emergencies and I guess if our cat/dog needed urgent treatment then we would use it and then claim back on insurance.

Would you pay out for your pet if it needed it? Vet fees are expensive which is why I am glad I have insurance but I couldnt imagine having Gordon put to sleep because I didnt believe in paying out for him. There is a big difference between 'Can't pay and won't pay', I am talking about the people that wont pay.

Anyway, best I start saving up for the ginger one to have his teeth done - I wonder if this will stop him chewing up my towels.

spottydog

I can't imagine anyone having their pet destroyed because of not being willing to spend money on the vet. From what I've seen at our vet and the small animal hospital plenty of people are happy to spend the money when required.

Our pup is only a few months old but we've already spent well over $1000 on vets bills for her and I know there is going to be at least another $1000 spent in a couple of months (we've decided to use a specialist recommended by the vet which put the cost up a bit). I don't regret this one little bit and always tick the box to resuscitate if necessary.

I know the people over the road bought a rabbit and she became ill and they spent around $800 on pet intensive care for her despite the rabbit costing near to nothing originally.

Sally Simpson

We took on a 10 yr old mini fox terrier late last year, after his owner died. We discovered very quickly that he was having fits so off to the vets we went. He needed pills that were about $17 per month. I was astounded by how many people told me to just get rid of him!
He became very unwell a month ago & we paid out for what was needed. We were advised by the vet that we would need to make some hard decisions regarding his life based on quality of life, which we would have done once life was no longer enjoyable for him.
Sadly he died in his sleep two weeks ago & we never had to make that decision but I would never have had him put down because I couldn't be arsed to pay for his treatment.

Cheetah7

At least he died in his sleep and spent his last days in a loving home.

Yes it was suggested to me to destroy my kelpie because he has a problem with his right hip - it pops out sometimes, he is on some shark powder supplement in his food and later on will need regular expensive injections.

I do often wonder why people have pets and then when they need things like flea/worming/vet treatment - they wont pay out.

As a vet nurse I have seen families get rid of cats as the cat has fleas and they are worried about their kids. Never mind using their common sense to deflea/worm the animal, they just get rid.

Officer Dibble

Hes probably chewing your towel in an attempt to floss.

Vets, as well meaning and supposedly caring as they are are in business to make money. My neighbour has a little dog and everytime I speak to him hes telling me that the little mutt needs pills for this and creams for that. Im pretty skeptical as Im sure vets are well aware how attached people are to their pets and charge what they think the owners can stand to pay.

My neighbours dog was apparently eating dirt due to a B vitamin deficiency. Suppose its gonna need bifocals next too and liposuction.

Cheetah7

Gordon has always enjoyed a towel or two, he actually licks his lips when he sees them. Our towels are awful with threads hanging down. We keep them in a cupboard but if Gordon ever breaks into the bathroom which he sometimes does as he can open doors, he will have them.

He never used to eat wet towels but now the gloves are off, when wet towels are on the clothes airer, he is in there like a rat up a drainpipe.

Officer Dibble

Love that name, Gordon for a cat. Classic. My brother used to have a Doberman called Chris and I had a budgie called Gary. People dont believe me but I asked my budgie what his name was after I bought him and he whispered 'Gary'. No shit.

Sally Simpson

iamthecreaturefromuranus

No pet insurance here... which is why I'm now $1700 out of pocket after vets treatment last week on my dog, Wilbur, after he got very sick. On top of a similar bill for the car the week before, it was a bit of a financial killer.... but not paying wasn't really considered. Having said that, if the cost had been even higher, then it would have been one of those difficult decisions about how much more we could afford to pay out before we had to stop treatment.

Pet insurance has now been arranged... which probably assures he won't get sick again.

Cheetah7

What happened with Wilbur?

Cheetah7

Human names are funny for animals, I love it.

At the cockatoo rescue place where I work at weekends, we have Denmark, Gunther, Cathy, John to name but a few.

The_Foulgers

On the subject of pets, we're going to be bringing out our 3 cats, Derek, Clive and Alan and we are going to be taking out Pet Insurance, can anybody recomend any insurers (we used Pet Plan in the UK)?
Think Alan knows he's moving abroad, he's been practising catching more exciting stuff than mice (not that he ever caught a mouse he prefered leaves and newspapers) - thus far, in the past 4 weeks, we've had 3 squirrels and 2 slow worms - so dred to think ...!

rebnatoli

For my cat and dog I would pay anything but I did decide not to pay $400 for an investigation into why our guinea pig was very sick as with any treatment it may have cost a $1000 + However now I know I'm not prepared to pay I will never have another guinea pig!

p.s he died a day after seeing the local vet and I wouldn't have let him suffer.

Kingseat

2 of my past dogs were Simon and Dave.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Well the vet says it was pancreatitis. Wilbur was violently ill for several days and spent three days in 'hospital' on drips for fluids and anti-biotics. He's home now but still not right and probably won't be for another week or so. This is an old picture but it sums up how he looks and probably feels at the moment.