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How much is too much??



 
 
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  #1  
Old August 5th 05, 03:47 PM
Marcel Beaudoin
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Default How much is too much??

This is a question that came up in discussions with the in-laws.

How much is too much to spend on veterinary care for your dog?? I am not
talking about routine vaccinations or things like that. I am talking about
surgery costs, antibiotics and things like that.

At what point do you say that the cost is too much?

I realize that this is a very personal question, and appreciate any answers
or insight that you could give on how you decided where the limit is?? I
honestly don't know where my limit would be. I don't know if any number
that I came up with today would actually have any meaning if the situation
came up. I know it is higher than Gen's number or the rest of the in-laws'
numbers. They are firmly in the "it is just a dog" camp.

(This topic came up because my BIL is having his dog put to sleep today.
She has some sort of bacterial infection that has done a great deal of
damage and the only option is a $5000 surgery that has a 25% chance of
working. Antibiotics are getting rid of the infection, but it was serious
enough that a great deal of damage was done. I don't know all the details,
I am getting this through my wife who didn't ask those things)
--
Marcel and Moogli
http://mudbunny.blogspot.com/
  #2  
Old August 5th 05, 04:53 PM
Scott
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Default

For me, the outcome of the surgery is the most important. If the
surgery will prolong the dog's life in a manner that will allow the dog
a high quality of life, I go for the surgery. If, on the other hand,
the end result of the surgery is questionable, I consider the cost very
carefully. The most I have ever spend on K9 surgery is about $3500, and
that was for a total hip replacement many years ago.

$5000 for surgery that has a 25% chance of working would cause me to
seriously question whether or not putting the dog through the surgery,
as well as the cost, would be worth it.




Marcel Beaudoin wrote:
This is a question that came up in discussions with the in-laws.

How much is too much to spend on veterinary care for your dog?? I am not
talking about routine vaccinations or things like that. I am talking about
surgery costs, antibiotics and things like that.

At what point do you say that the cost is too much?

I realize that this is a very personal question, and appreciate any answers
or insight that you could give on how you decided where the limit is?? I
honestly don't know where my limit would be. I don't know if any number
that I came up with today would actually have any meaning if the situation
came up. I know it is higher than Gen's number or the rest of the in-laws'
numbers. They are firmly in the "it is just a dog" camp.

(This topic came up because my BIL is having his dog put to sleep today.
She has some sort of bacterial infection that has done a great deal of
damage and the only option is a $5000 surgery that has a 25% chance of
working. Antibiotics are getting rid of the infection, but it was serious
enough that a great deal of damage was done. I don't know all the details,
I am getting this through my wife who didn't ask those things)



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  #3  
Old August 5th 05, 04:55 PM
Suja
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Default

Marcel Beaudoin wrote:


How much is too much to spend on veterinary care for your dog??


That's really tough. I think that if the prognosis is good, and the
probability that the dog will enjoy good quality of life is high, I'd be
willing to spend as much as is necessary to fix the dog. If the dog
is older, has other problems, would have a difficult and long rehab,
etc. I would be less likely to do so.

This is all hypothetical, of course. My heart doesn't always listen to
what the head tells it, and for all I know, I will take out a second
mortgage on the house on the most miniscule of possibilities that I will
have my dog back for a few more days.

Suja
  #4  
Old August 5th 05, 05:01 PM
Robin Nuttall
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Default

Suja wrote:
Marcel Beaudoin wrote:


How much is too much to spend on veterinary care for your dog??



That's really tough. I think that if the prognosis is good, and the
probability that the dog will enjoy good quality of life is high, I'd be
willing to spend as much as is necessary to fix the dog. If the dog
is older, has other problems, would have a difficult and long rehab,
etc. I would be less likely to do so.

This is all hypothetical, of course. My heart doesn't always listen to
what the head tells it, and for all I know, I will take out a second
mortgage on the house on the most miniscule of possibilities that I will
have my dog back for a few more days.


I pretty much go by the same thing. For the most part, it has to do with
long term prognosis and whether I can keep the dog comfortable. For
instance I personally am not comfortable with radiation/chemo unless the
prognosis is extremely good for full recovery--which in most cases it's
not once those treatments are called for. Yes, it might buy me some time
with my dog but I'm not sure the price for the dog is worth it--they are
just so bad at telling us when they don't feel good. That's not to say I
think others who do choose to go those routes are wrong. It's just
probably something I wouldn't choose. OTOH, if my dog had something like
a slow growing fibrosarcoma I'd almost certainly opt for surgery to get
rid of it.

I have this whole thing that revolves around quality of life for the
dog. The thought of keeping a dog going because I myself can't deal with
losing my companion fills me with horror. I did it once long ago--kept a
dog going with a liver shunt because I couldn't bear to let her go. And
she died in slow, painful agony. Never, ever again. I've known people
who have kept treating and treating very old, very sick dogs, who have
kept them going when they can't walk or interact well, have kept them
going when it's pretty obvious that their day-to-day lives are just
pretty miserable. I'm more the type that will go ahead and let go, maybe
faster than some people think is right. But when I know the dog's
quality of life is gone, I'm not going to keep it dragging on.


  #5  
Old August 5th 05, 05:48 PM
ZPL
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Default

I think in this case, 25% chance of working is the "too much", not really
the price. I have worked with the dying and the dead for almost 20 years
now and have become very cynical of the last ditch efforts.

"Marcel Beaudoin" wrote in message
. ..
This is a question that came up in discussions with the in-laws.

How much is too much to spend on veterinary care for your dog?? I am not
talking about routine vaccinations or things like that. I am talking about
surgery costs, antibiotics and things like that.

At what point do you say that the cost is too much?

I realize that this is a very personal question, and appreciate any
answers
or insight that you could give on how you decided where the limit is?? I
honestly don't know where my limit would be. I don't know if any number
that I came up with today would actually have any meaning if the situation
came up. I know it is higher than Gen's number or the rest of the in-laws'
numbers. They are firmly in the "it is just a dog" camp.

(This topic came up because my BIL is having his dog put to sleep today.
She has some sort of bacterial infection that has done a great deal of
damage and the only option is a $5000 surgery that has a 25% chance of
working. Antibiotics are getting rid of the infection, but it was serious
enough that a great deal of damage was done. I don't know all the details,
I am getting this through my wife who didn't ask those things)
--
Marcel and Moogli
http://mudbunny.blogspot.com/



  #6  
Old August 5th 05, 06:01 PM
Melinda Shore
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Default

In article ,
ZPL wrote:
I think in this case, 25% chance of working is the "too much", not really
the price.


It seems to me that the question here isn't so much "how
much is too much?" but rather "what are the inputs into the
question of how much is too much?" The inputs range from
things like what the dog is to you, what the prognosis is,
what your financial situation is like, and so on. Some
people won't spend the money because they can't, others
won't spend it because they don't want to, some will
regardless of the low likelihood of success, and so on.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Let's start racial profiling tax cheaters.
  #7  
Old August 11th 05, 11:57 PM
Paula
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Default

On 5 Aug 2005 14:47:42 GMT, Marcel Beaudoin
wrote:

This is a question that came up in discussions with the in-laws.

How much is too much to spend on veterinary care for your dog?? I am not
talking about routine vaccinations or things like that. I am talking about
surgery costs, antibiotics and things like that.

At what point do you say that the cost is too much?


It depends on a lot of variables. First is probably how much money I
have. When I was a starving student, I could not have handled much of
a vet bill no matter how much I might have wanted to. That may have
something to do with why I have lots of dogs now but didn't then. Of
course, that wasn't the only reason, but it is important to me to not
take on more dependents than I can provide for. Other factors are
what the expense is for, the age and prognosis for continuing life and
quality of life for the dog with and without the procedure, what other
alternatives can be tried, and how much do I trust the vet that is
giving me the information on cost, necessity, prognosis, etc. I think
most people who know me think I am a big sucker for dogs. But I am
practical. I don't fault people for their own decisions as well. I
don't think I am in any position to tell anyone else what they can or
must pay before they can say they have done what they had to for their
dog. It just depends too much on too many things I would have no way
of knowing. For the same reasons, I can't really tell you what I
think is too much or too little. Even for myself, probably, unless I
am right there in the moment with all the information I can get, and
even then I won't guarantee that I won't second guess myself several
times.

I realize that this is a very personal question, and appreciate any answers
or insight that you could give on how you decided where the limit is?? I
honestly don't know where my limit would be. I don't know if any number
that I came up with today would actually have any meaning if the situation
came up. I know it is higher than Gen's number or the rest of the in-laws'
numbers. They are firmly in the "it is just a dog" camp.


You never know, though. I have known "just a dog" people who changed
their tunes!

(This topic came up because my BIL is having his dog put to sleep today.
She has some sort of bacterial infection that has done a great deal of
damage and the only option is a $5000 surgery that has a 25% chance of
working. Antibiotics are getting rid of the infection, but it was serious
enough that a great deal of damage was done. I don't know all the details,
I am getting this through my wife who didn't ask those things)


$5000 for 25% chance of working? I don't think that is the norm, so
whatever comments family members are making about that situation may
not have much to do with any future decisions you might have to make.

--
Paula
"Anyway, other people are weird, but sometimes they have candy, so it's best to try to get along with them." Joe Bay
  #8  
Old August 12th 05, 12:03 AM
Janet B
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Posts: n/a
Default


At what point do you say that the cost is too much?


It seems I'm always faced with costs of diagnosis, rather than
care/cure. The choice is different. I want to know what the deal is
in order to make a decision. It's not so easy...........

I'm trying to not add up a certain cat's costs for no actual
diagnosis. OTOH we've finally hit a medicine protocal that seems to
be working, so......

--
Janet B
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bestfr...bedience/album
 




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