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How Far Would You Go to Keep Your Pet Around?

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demien3k5

demien3k5

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Joined
Mar 24, 2017
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We have a 21 yo cat that has over time developed a wide variety of age-related health issues. We have over the last year or so invested probably close to $2k on tests and meds and special diet, but he's going downhill fast and the vet is now throwing out crazy numbers for recommended new treatments. Frankly, I'm having a hard time rationalizing net new spend for a pet, no matter how cherished he may be. We absolutely don't want the animal to suffer for any reason, but are also not prepared to keep him going at any cost....

Thoughts?
 
Dog's life span is 8 to 14 years depending on the breed. For cats, add another 7 years. He is due, don't let him suffer.
 
demien3k5 said:
We have a 21 yo cat that has over time developed a wide variety of age-related health issues. We have over the last year or so invested probably close to $2k on tests and meds and special diet, but he's going downhill fast and the vet is now throwing out crazy numbers for recommended new treatments. Frankly, I'm having a hard time rationalizing net new spend for a pet, no matter how cherished he may be. We absolutely don't want the animal to suffer for any reason, but are also not prepared to keep him going at any cost....

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I feel you man. I just spent $3500 to keep my 14.5 year old cat Shadow alive. Acquired for free with my lovely ex-girlfriend in 2003. 2 Nights in the hospital, along with blood work and x-rays, and a prescription for four different medications a day for seven days. I would have gone all the way if I needed to. My child loves her. Anything for her! Trying to "pill" a cat at home, is like mission impossible, but 4 medications later along with a week of therapy, and we got it done. She started eating on her own. However if that didn't happen, it would've been clear there is an underlining issue, and I would've had some tough decisions to make.

It's a tough call to make. 12 years ago.....During my darkest hours, when I didn't even have a pot to piss in, Shadow was the only one that cared lol.

Philip
 
I have been fortunate that all it costs me is $550 a year for her checkups but she is over 10 years old now so saving my pennies just in case.
 
Toronto Passions said:
I feel you man. I just spent $3500 to keep my 14.5 year old cat Shadow alive. Acquired for free with my lovely ex-girlfriend in 2003. 2 Nights in the hospital, along with blood work and x-rays, and a prescription for four different medications a day for seven days. I would have gone all the way if I needed to. My child loves her. Anything for her! Trying to "pill" a cat at home, is like mission impossible, but 4 medications later along with a week of therapy, and we got it done. She started eating on her own. However if that didn't happen, it would've been clear there is an underlining issue, and I would've had some tough decisions to make.

It's a tough call to make. 12 years ago.....During my darkest hours, when I didn't even have a pot to piss in, Shadow was the only one that cared lol.

Philip
Click to expand...

:PEACE:
 
I just spent $1500 last week on my 7-month-old puppy who had toxic poisoning. I still have no idea what she got into or where.

I bought a puppy and a week later, he broke his leg. That was 5K. He was a sicko puppy too. Only lived to be 6, was on meds for 2 years at a cost of $100/month for meds and $200 every 3 months for testing.

I use the most expensive vet in Durham of course too.

Having said that, my vet knows I will pay and pay and pay no matter what. So thankfully he doesn't take advantage and lets me know when it is time to stop paying and let them go peacefully. I would just not be able to do it any other way. I have 3 dogs BTW. So animals and health are a pretty big thing for me. I don't really want to think about what I actually pay out.
 
Jessica Rain said:
I just spent $1500 last week on my 7-month-old puppy who had toxic poisoning. I still have no idea what she got into or where.

I bought a puppy and a week later, he broke his leg. That was 5K. He was a sicko puppy too. Only lived to be 6, was on meds for 2 years at a cost of $100/month for meds and $200 every 3 months for testing.

I use the most expensive vet in Durham of course too.

Having said that, my vet knows I will pay and pay and pay no matter what. So thankfully he doesn't take advantage and lets me know when it is time to stop paying and let them go peacefully. I would just not be able to do it any other way. I have 3 dogs BTW. So animals and health are a pretty big thing for me. I don't really want to think about what I actually pay out.
Click to expand...

I'm assuming from previous comments that you are single, no kids? If so, do you think your perspective might change if you had both children and the pets?

EDIT: Scratch that last comment, as I just read elsewhere you do indeed have adult children. My comment was more in the context that many childless adults tend to treat their pet as a surrogate child and extend all the financial benefits that that entails to their pet instead.
 
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My cat suffers from pancreatitis so has to be on a special diet.

Picked him up at the local shelter some 6 years ago. Found through an ultrasound about the pancreatitis and that he had significant scaring of his pancreas as well. Which means of course he had this condition before I adopted him. so in short someone just probably dropped him off there to be rid of him.

Then 2 years later I suspect he has diabetes because he is drinking and urinating an abnormal amount. So off to the vet and sure enough he is a diabetic. Now I have to give him a shot of insulin twice a day as well monitor his blood glucose with a AlphaTrak monitoring system. Which is done every 2 hours throughout the day about every three months or so.

So I figure with all the visits and tests I'm up to about 3500 so far. But the problem is that the more that you spend the more that feel you must continue to spend to justify what you have already spent. and I'm not even touching the emotional attachment that we have with our pets who accept us on a level that really no human can.

I swear the vet clinics are the anti Christ in this whole thing just preying on us as well. I know there are exceptions but most are just a licence to sprint money.

https://postimages.org/

The feline in question.
 
demien3k5 said:
I'm assuming from previous comments that you are single, no kids? If so, do you think your perspective might change if you had both children and the pets?

EDIT: Scratch that last comment, as I just read elsewhere you do indeed have adult children. My comment was more in the context that many childless adults tend to treat their pet as a surrogate child and extend all the financial benefits that that entails to their pet instead.
Click to expand...

It is a good point and I am sure that is true. I didn't have as many dogs when I was raising my kids. I was a single mom.

When they got to teens, I upped it to two, and now as an empty-nester, I got three. I am the crazy dog lady. :yahoo:
 
I hear you and in many ways I totally agree about the mercenary nature of some vet offices. We have four cats all told, and this one is now the oldest, so the emotional attachment is def there all around.

My biggest concern was that he not be in pain. A cat is for all intents and purposes just a 'dumb' animal and can't really reason out why he's in pain like humans can as a coping mechanism. They simply suffer in silence which to me is not cool at all. But my sense now is that his overall quality of life is very low, and the high cost to extend that low quality of life for selfish reasons seems unjustifiable.

Stranger still is that my wife's side of the family are all farmers, who see animals mostly as a means to an end. When they can no longer serve their intended purpose, they are discarded with little to no emotional impact. Cow, pig, chicken, cat, dog makes no difference. A very callous mentality, perhaps born of necessity in farming communities.
 
demien3k5 said:
I hear you and in many ways I totally agree about the mercenary nature of some vet offices. We have four cats all told, and this one is now the oldest, so the emotional attachment is def there all around.

My biggest concern was that he not be in pain. A cat is for all intents and purposes just a 'dumb' animal and can't really reason out why he's in pain like humans can as a coping mechanism. They simply suffer in silence which to me is not cool at all. But my sense now is that his overall quality of life is very low, and the high cost to extend that low quality of life for selfish reasons seems unjustifiable.

Stranger still is that my wife's side of the family are all farmers, who see animals mostly as a means to an end. When they can no longer serve their intended purpose, they are discarded with little to no emotional impact. Cow, pig, chicken, cat, dog makes no difference. A very callous mentality, perhaps born of necessity in farming communities.
Click to expand...

There is a difference between a Companion and a Resource.
On a Farm the critters who live outside the house are resources.
 
So, yesterday was THE day. Surprised, and at the same time not so much.

Got up to find the cat could no longer walk without wobbling all over as if he were drunk, hadn't been able to keep his food in for 2-3 days, vomiting up anything right after eating. Had lost all control of his bowels Sat.

By noon Sunday he was only vomiting up frothy white bile, and had hidden quietly in a tiny ball behind a couch refusing to come out for any reason, which was absolutely not his usual at all. His rear hind quarters had been over-groomed almost raw where he was trying to lick away the pain. Finally, he had a bowel movement that was just one big mass of blood and I knew it was time.

Gathered the family at the emergency pet hospital, the doc confirmed our fears, and had him gently euthanized late Sun evening surrounded by the entire family he had loved, and who had loved him dearly right back for so many years. My children's grief was almost unbearable to watch.

Even though we have two others, the place just seems so empty today.

Tough day all around.

He will be sorely missed.
 
Hey sorry for your loss. I know losing a long time pet can be a sad occasion.
 
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