Poll: Spending on dog health

[skylark002]

How much would you spend to keep your dog alive vs. having to put him down?

Edit: well I posted without the poll and now I can't figure out how to add it. Your options are under $1000, $1,000-$2000, $3,000-$5,000, $5,000-$10,000, and no limit.

[vk]

no limit. We faced something similar (not a life or death situation) back in October when our dogs Paw might have to be amputated/surgery/etc. I would do whatever I could to make sure he was okay.

eta: our bill was probably around $4000. And that was best case scenario. we would have been up to $10-15 if it didn't work out the way it did. 

[aaemommy]

Less than $1,000. The answer might be different if we had more money but we don't. Regardless, it would depend on what was wrong. If it was something that would fix whatever was wrong and the animal had a long lifespan left with high chances of having good quality of life, I would spend more. But if it was a chronic problem that would only delay the inevitable or would require more big expenses a year or two down the road, or if the animal was older and didn't have much of a natural lifespan left anyway, I'd be less likely to spend too much.

[gahorseygal]

I don't know!!! We recently thought we may be faced with this question - my dog either had an infection or a tumor. Thankfully it is just an infection and we don't have to go down that road of what we will spend.

It is such a hard question. We love our dogs and want to do what we can to help them live a happy and healthy long life. But they are just animals and if it was a question of spending money on treatment to only extend their life by a few months - I don't think we would do it. If it could give us a few years or full recovery - maybe. But I'm glad we haven't had to make that decision yet. I truly don't know what my answer would be until we are faced with that situation. I want to be practical but I also love my dogs to pieces.

So TL;DR - I don't think you can put a money value on it. For me - it's more of how long it would extend the dogs life, would they be comfortable, etc.

[ice61313]

I think it depends on what it is, how the outcome looks, how old the dog is, and other factors.

[Deleted]

A couple years ago we spent about 5K on a dog because he was so close to my husband. We also made a lot more money then. Now, I don't know. We would probably be more realistic about the prognosis. Plus our dogs are 11 and 9 so I would say 1-2 K.

[weeklyplanner]

Mar 9, 2016 8:52:22 GMT -5 RedBean84 said:

For me, it depends on the dog's age and the health issue. I'd probably spend 3-5 thousand on a young to middle aged dog with a health problem that could be fixed.

Pretty much this, but maybe $5-6k if it was a definite cure. For example, I don't think we could comfortable afford 5k for exploratory surgery. My DH would have to be convinced though because he would easily spend tens of thousands that we don't have for our dogs. Which is funny, because they're tiny little things that annoy the crap out of him...but he loves them! . Hmmm, now I'm getting all emotional and welling up. I don't know. I guess in the heat of the moment I might take on a lot of debt for my pups.

[bobloblaw]

For me it would depend on the quality of life for the pet after the treatment. If it's really serious and he/she will lose a lot of what makes them happy, it would be hard for me to spend a lot when the prognosis is not great. I would prefer to make him/her more comfortable. We've had to deal with this a number of times in my life. Really sick pets just make me so sad.

My limit would likely be 1-2K but I could see going up to 5K like others said if it was a true cure to the issue. It's really hard to say without knowing the specifics.

[lucilleaustero]

Less than 1k. Maybe more if the dog was young and the money would go towards a cure, not just an extension of life where the dog was not living a full life.

I love animals and grew up in a zoo, but my parents passed on the animals are animals mentality to me. Love them while they are here, enjoy them ,treat them kindly, play with them, do right by them, give them a good life, and put them down when it is time.

[khopec]

No limit. My dog is family. I spent $2500 on a cat in a 3 day span and lost him anyway to cancer...I don't regret a penny.

[minervamae]

So far I've always run into a quality of life barrier before I ran into a monetary barrier with my animals. The monetary barrier would be relative to our financial status at the time. I will prioritize my family over the animals and that includes protecting them from a financially stressed out Mom. I grew up in a very financially unstable home, so money stress is a real trigger for me. I won't risk passing on that legacy.

[sweetpies]

Under $1000. I may sound like a cold hearted bitch, but I really don't care for my husband's dog. Even if I liked the dog, it would be hard to spend more than $2000 without a strong prognosis for recovery and meaningful life after the intervention.

[weeklyplanner]

Mar 9, 2016 16:39:27 GMT -5 sweetpies said:

Under $1000. I may sound like a cold hearted bitch, but I really don't care for my husband's dog. Even if I liked the dog, it would be hard to spend more than $2000 without a strong prognosis for recovery and meaningful life after the intervention.

You know you love that dog

[sweetpies]

Mar 9, 2016 16:46:22 GMT -5 weeklyplanner said:

Mar 9, 2016 16:39:27 GMT -5 sweetpies said:

Under $1000. I may sound like a cold hearted bitch, but I really don't care for my husband's dog. Even if I liked the dog, it would be hard to spend more than $2000 without a strong prognosis for recovery and meaningful life after the intervention.

You know you love that dog

Grrrrrr!

[bobloblaw]

I knew when I saw sweetpies responded that this would be good! It did not disappoint!

[sweetpies]

Mar 9, 2016 16:59:28 GMT -5 bobloblaw said:

I knew when I saw sweetpies responded that this would be good! It did not disappoint!

[silvermelody]

Depending on the age of the dog and the likelihood of a good outcome, about $1000 would be my limit.

It also depends on if it's all at once or spread out over time. When my first dog was getting sick, I was dropping $200 here and there for appointments and tests over about 4-5 months. That is far more feasible than having to spend $1500 on surgery or something.

[withsilverwings]

I too have run into quality of life issues prior to having to decided about money. It would depend on the prognosis and quality of life after treatment, and our current finances. We had insurance with our last dog, and would get it for future animals as well.

[sosayweall]

I would probably spend up to $2,000 if it was something that would truly improve my animal's life.