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Thread: How much for vet bill??

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
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    Eastern Iowa
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    How much for vet bill??

    This is our dog Sam. He is a few years older now. He is the first to greet me when I come home from work. He sits and cuddles on my wife's lap when she is grading papers, He sits patiently outside my workshop till I am finished.
    sam.jpg

    Took him for his morning walk today and he started limping on his front paw about half mile out. Had to carry him home (he's a Bichon, only about 20 pounds). After closer examination it was only a burr, but it got me thinking... "How much would I have been willing to pay in vet bills if it had been more serious?"

    I started to talk to my wife about it and her reaction was, "I don't want to talk about it." I think she thinks if we don't discuss it, nothing bad will happen.

    Which leads to the title.. and a question - how many have insurance on your pet?

    I will broach the subject with my wife again, but I thought I would try to get an idea from some others.

    Cross-posted to FW
    Last edited by Charlie Velasquez; 01-13-2007 at 6:46 PM.
    Comments made here are my own and, according to my children, do not reflect the opinions of any other person... anywhere, anytime.

  2. #2
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    Jan 2004
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    Charlie.....I can tell you from experience....I've spent a lot of time and money when we had dogs......It's no object......One dog had to have some special eye surgery..several times......I can't wait until I retire and can have a couple of dogs again. Right now the wife and I both work and once of us needs to be home to house break a new pet.....but...I've spent thousands and will do it again.
    Ken

    So much to learn, so little time.....

  3. #3
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    North central Pa Tioga Co.
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    Dogs give you unconditional love! We spent 350.00 when our cairn terrier when she took on a porcupine and lost ,she had over a hundred quils in her mouth nose and face missed her eyes ,I guess that is why they have long snouts!!

  4. #4
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    Jan 2004
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    Menomonee Falls, WI
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    When we had to leave our last dog, Buddy, in an overnight pet hospital (following surgery) their intake form asked for a dollar amount that you would be willing to spend for an emergency. Struck me as cold and my heart wouldn't let me think about it. Later, after Buddy developed a heart murmur, we started thinking about whether insurance would be smart (for the next dog). The thousands we spent on Buddy's bills over his life time certainly would have been better spent on insurance. With our new dog, Sandy, we are getting insurance.

  5. #5
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    Feb 2003
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    Lewisville, NC
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    Charlie,
    My wife and I have 3 Bichons that sound just like yours. They are (in my mind) irreplaceable and therefore I have spent many a dollar on them. One of them had cataract eye surgery a few years ago (he was only 4 and almost blind). It has delayed me from having laser eye surgery to help my own eyesight. As much as they cost me, I would never be without dogs. I guess that I need that unconditional love that they are so good at giving. The best prayer I ever heard goes something like.... "Lord, please make me half the man my dog thinks I am".
    By the way, as my 3 have aged, I have definitely considered insurance, but have not bought it as of yet.

    Jim
    Attached Images Attached Images

  6. #6
    Join Date
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    Once a dog becomes a part of the family you find a way to take care of them. I've put a dog to sleep that was past his life expectancy and the vet told me that surgery, if successful, would give him another few months (cancer), because I didn't want him to have to go through the trauma of surgery for that little benefit. It seemed to me as selfish. On the other hand, our younger current dog swallowed a sewing pin, and it perforated his intestine (poked through) and became infected. The surgery was $3,200, plus another $400 for a night at the emergency vet because the regular one had no one on duty all night to watch him after the surgery. That's a lot of money and it was a hardship for us at the time. After that I did look into insurance, the best I found was $75/month, and it was $100 deductible for everything but the included checkups and vaccinations. We didn't go for it.



    Sammamish, WA

    Epilog Legend 24TT 45W, had a sign business for 17 years, now just doing laser work on the side.

    "One only needs two tools in life: WD-40 to make things go, and duct tape to make them stop." G. Weilacher

    "The handyman's secret weapon - Duct Tape" R. Green

  7. #7
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    It is a DOG. I have had to put down more than my share of pets over the years. Live on a farm for a while and discover that it is cheaper to make hamburger from a cow that had problems giving birth than calling the vet. Yes, even your beloved 4-H project.

    With all of the people that could use a hand I cannot se spending thousands or even hundreds of dollars on a dog. The local shelters are over flowing with animals that have bee abandoned and could use a good home.

    I think it is selfish and foolish to spend this kind of money on a pet.
    Chuck

    When all else fails increase hammer size!
    "You can know what other people know. You can do what other people can do."-Dave Gingery

  8. #8
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    Thanks for your quick replies.

    Charles - a few years ago I thought the same thing. Money was -and is- really a just a choice of wants and needs. I thought, "Mmmm. money on a pet, or money for my kids' college..?" Well, now all the kids are gone. Sammy was an "empty-nest' present from my daughter. When the choice was between a dog or my kids it was an easy decision. Now, not so easy.
    Comments made here are my own and, according to my children, do not reflect the opinions of any other person... anywhere, anytime.

  9. #9
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    Charles...........I've lived on a farm....slaughtered chickens, hogs.....Hunted squirrels, rabbits, deer, elk, pheasants, quail, doves, fished in the oceans, freshwater fishing in Canada, Idaho, Wyoming, Illinois, Colorado, Utah, Mississippi, Texas, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota......I'm sorry you don't feel as attached to pets as my family has. There's a difference! I elk hunted with a guy for 18 years. My only problem with him.....His horses and mules were pets...spoiled...and sometimes a pain in the rear as a result...But...they were his animals and I was a friend who had the privelege of having those spoiled animals carry elk out of holes that most humans couldn't carry a quarter out unless it was boned out.....

    Pets to some are members of the family and as a result get treated differently.
    Ken

    So much to learn, so little time.....

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Charles McKinley
    It is a DOG.
    If it's your dog then maybe it's just a dog. If it's my dog, then it's a different story. My dog wouldn't take precedence over my wife or kids but he's pretty close behind them.

    Charlie, I guess I'm a little like your wife, I don't want to think about it.

  11. #11
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    Pacific, Mo.
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    No insurance as the dogs are way to old to insure now. Our littlest one is my wifes dog. As such she, and I, would spend what ever was necessary to insure her health and safety.

    Now my dog is another story. "Get your dog out of here his paws are muddy"? She treats me like that too. I guess I could convience her to spend what ever I wanted to on him as well.
    Making new friends on SMC each and every day

  12. #12
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    Nov 2006
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    My wife and I own, show and breed basset hounds. We've had some enormous vet bills over the years.

    One of our females suffered from total kidney and liver failure due to a bad reaction to an antibiotic. Fortunately we got her to the right vets, all trained by UC Davis I must add, at the right time and saved her life. Part of her treatment even included dialysis treatments to help clean out her kidneys. Her vet bills from that one incident were somewhere between $11,000 and $12,000. Actually I never added everything up. If trips between Los Angeles and San Diego plus all our other costs were included, it may have been even more. My wife and I never looked back at what we paid. She's a special member of our family and we needed to do everything that we could do to save her.

    Would insurance have helped? Not much. We were well over the maximum for her bills for the policies that were available at the time. Since we own several (currently seven) bassets, having insurance on all of them would be very expensive.

    I do understand that AKC currently has some excellent insurance for dogs available through them. The maximum amount of coverage has increased from what it was just a few years ago. If you have only one or two dogs, it might be worth the price.
    Last edited by Don Bullock; 01-13-2007 at 11:55 PM.
    Don Bullock
    Woebgon Bassets
    AKC Championss

    The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything.
    -- Edward John Phelps

  13. #13
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    N Illinois
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    I love my dog but do not carry pet insurance. We take him to the vet as needed and the $ seem appropiate. Just MHO...
    Jerry

  14. #14
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    We have a tan and white border collie, he is a rare dog, because of his colouring for that breed. He has a large property, the beach, and everything else, He has never been sick, he is 5 years old, we have never considered insurance, and we probably won't.....
    Why do they say "an alarm going off," if it is really going on?

    Joash

  15. #15
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    Nov 2006
    Location
    Cleveland, OH
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    If i had to spend the money on my dog, and I had the money to spend, I would, no questions asked.

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