Man’s Best Friend
How much is that doggy in the window?
The one with the waggley tail may seem like a bargain these days compared to the dog with the $3,000 pacemaker. Or the cat with the $8,000 kidney transplant. Or the pet chicken undergoing radiation therapy after cancer surgery.
Medical care for pets now rivals medical care for humans, with veterinary oncologists, neurologists, cardiologists and other specialists providing high tech, big-bucks treatment for Fido and Fluffy.
But when cats have chemo and dogs have dialysis, their owners have something too: unexpected ethical issues triggered by enormous medical bills.
“Is the 15-year-old tabby worth $12,000 in dialysis?” asks a newspaper story with the nagging headline: Do some pet owners go a little too far?
“I admit sometimes questioning the reality of spending $11,000 on my cat when there are greater human needs,” said a California college professor, who readily paid for feline chemotherapy and pancreatitis treatment.
U.S. pet owners will spend more than $24 billion this year on pet medical care, an amount greater than the gross domestic product of more than half of the world’s countries.
But when man’s best friend is a integral member of the family, the question of whether it’s appropriate to spend top-dollar for animal medical care is often more emotional than financial. With the unconditional love, friendship, and support of a beloved companion at stake, many pet owners feel they don’t have the option of not providing—and paying for—expensive medical care.
It’s not a simple issue, said one veterinarian. When you hear of a medical bill of $14,000 for a dog, he explained, people ask, “Should you not just buy a new dog and give the money to charity? That, I have to say, is a non-starter of an argument. You then have to ask all sorts of questions about how people spend their money—should they spend it on big cars?”
Tell us what you think: When it comes to expensive veterinary medical care, is it more responsible to pay for a pet or perhaps give the money to charity instead?
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it is difficult when you have a large dog and there are no services here in alabama to get a sick dog transported when you are willing to pay you are told u will have to surrender your dog they will transport horses bue a person is left on their own to go thru emotional torture to wait endlessly for animal control
patricia l thompson | 2 months, 4 weeks ago
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My furry kids...
My boyfriend and I made the decision with me being sick with a genetic disorder not to have kids instead to have furry children. We currently have 4 little ones (a Great Dane, a Labrador Retriever, a Pomeranian and a Himalyan cat) who all mean the world to me as well as our family. They are even spoiled to the grandparents like human kids down to picture frame with there picture that says “My Grand Kids” that sits on my mother’s desk at work. With that being said they even get medical treatment as human kids do. We spend close to $200 a month on medicine for our pom who has a skin problem. Now I ask you how could any human put there pet down with a simple case of itchy skin. There’s nothing really wrong with him exsept for the fact that he has to take meds everyday of his life. But when you add the numbers we spend approx. $3000- $4000 a year on him due to his skin. Then resently our Great Dane started showing signs of bloat after being spayed, by the time her little 2 day ordeal was over with we racked up an ICU bill over $1000 and in the near future she will have to have a $4000 surgery to insure a lower chance of this not happening again. The point I’m trying to make is it depends on what you belive your finacial means are and where there medical condition stands. If there’s hope of a great life sure try to save the pet but just like a human don’t make them a vegetable who is simply exsiting instead of living, that is a horrible way to live. I always look at it like this “If I was in there shoes (paws) would I want to be saved to all possible means” because there does come a time when you need to let go… but until then money is no object and I’d rather be poor with my animals love than to be rich without them.
Sierra Scott | 2 months, 4 weeks ago
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vets
i like how you do surgury on animals
cheyenne aucense reid | 2 months, 4 weeks ago
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Pets Going Wild
i love pets to please don’t harm your pets
Kristia simmons | 2 months, 3 weeks ago
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RETIRED
i HAVE AN OLDER (7YR) ORANGE TAN & WHITE TRIMED CAT.GREAT FRIEND TO ME.HE HAS FELINE AIDS.I’VE SPENT ABOUT $2500.00 ON HIM,EVERY 6 WEEKS A SHOT OF STERIODS,AND EVERY DAY HE GETS A CAPSLLE OF COSEQUIN,ONE OFMODUCARE,,AND A PILL OF BREWERS YEAST.SO FAR ITS WORKING.HE NEVER !!! GOES OUT OF THE HOUSE.AND I WILL KEEP HIM AS LONG AS HE SEEMS HAPPY.BEST TO YOU ALL.CHET
CHESTER J. BURKEY | 2 months, 3 weeks ago
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i feel so bad
this is sad how did this hapen this stuff is so veryveryvery sad
alhaileyfuvjeitf | 2 months, 3 weeks ago
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Um......if someone in your family was dying..would
no… i didnt think so! but anyway, in my opinion, a pet is a part of the family just as much as your son, daugther, mother, father, etc. we all understand that donating to charity is important….but not as important as saving a close family member’s life! And this question depends on wether your pet will suffer in pain, even after the 12,000 doller treatment….i mean i wouldnt want my pet to suffer in pain for the rest of his life….would you want yours to? My point is that I personaly think that spending the $12,000 on your pet to save there life is deffinetly worthet.
I am very sensitive about dogs/pets!!!!!!!!!
Cameron | 2 months, 3 weeks ago
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BOLD
not all of the bold subject show up above!!!!
Sorry!
Cameron | 2 months, 3 weeks ago
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The question is not should you care for your pet,
I believe that it’s more responsible to help human beings in need, than animals. At the same time I know that if my pet is injured I will spend the money that could save a child from starvation to save a dog or parakeet. “You become responsible forever for that which you have tamed”. It’s impossible to tell someone, including myself, to let a loved animal die in order to save a person, unless that person is my family or friend and my immediate responsibility. The ONLY solution to that quandry, as I see it, is to not have a pet. Once you’re a pet owner you’re responsible, we even have laws about that in this country, it’s not something you can shirk, even for the greater good. I don’t have pets anymore because I would rather have people in my life and support them than to support domestic animals, but I realize that’s not a choice many people make and it’s hard to step back from the current American pet culture far enough to see the choices we are making. I’d like to add that I think the tone of the question is biased and offensive to pet owners and that something less argumentative would make for a better open discussion of the topic; referring to peoples’ beloved pets undergoing treatment as “Fido and Fluffy” is uncalled-for unless you’re being comical and I think this is a serious topic.
Darcy Stumbaugh | 2 months, 3 weeks ago
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dog
my moms dog seems to be sick but we do not have money to go to a vet she keeps wheezing and throwing up and dont know what might be wrong can you help me for my mom
DAVE | 2 months, 3 weeks ago
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