$13K in vet bills associated with squamous cell cancer for our first GSD, Luka.

I chuckle when I hear people talk about the "value" of veterinary care. For anything other than a legit "working dog," this will always be a 100% emotional decision because until someone can calculate a tangible value to happiness, there's no way to logically weight the cost vs. benefit. We boarded the train, figuratively, not knowing what the end total would be (first attempt was surgery, when that wasn't successful, radiation, later a second surgery, with all sorts of twists & turns along the way.) I might have balked if I had a crystal ball going in. Or maybe not, but I wouldn't judge anyone who chose not to go all-in. You can't be homeless or too far in debt to retire or take care of your HUMAN family over it. Look for a balance point that you can live with.

A little off track........I have a relative that is a vet in a $$$$$ part of CA. I was visiting out there this spring and I asked her about the high cost of vet care. Her response oh, out here its not the money its the time. Her clients don't worry about the cost just don't take too much of their time! this sort of took me back a step. By the way I was very careful to keep politics out of the conversation during the visit, they took my lead and it was a friendly visit.

Pets as family war story:
In the early 80s, I lived above a ceramic studio. The resident tom cat often slept on the window sill. One day, the building blew up. Damn near blew me up too. The resulting fire destroyed the building completely. Killed my two cats. Everyone human got out safely. The ceramic shop cat was on the window sill snoozing and the blast blew his ass out through the plate glass. He was found a couple days later, badly burned and cut and minus about seven of his lives. He was rushed to emergency care and although scarred and missing some fur, recovered fully. I would visit him at the owners new store where he once again napped in the window. Several years passed and on one visit, I noticed the window sill was empty. I was told the cat was having cardiac problems and the outlook was not good. On my next visit, the cat was back and had an odd looking lump under his fur. The owners told me they had taken him to the OSU Veterinary School and..... They installed a pacemaker in him!
I asked about the cost. The owners would not say.
They told me that the cat had become a symbol of not only his survival, but of their survival too. Cost was not a factor. He lived another four or five years. After he died, the owners had him cremated and put into a custom made ceramic urn. Which sat on the window sill.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: YooperSigs,

$13k... $20k... $30k... I couldn't make that happen if it was for ME!

Sounds like a ticket to Memphis and the procedure would be half the price...

Seriously, I would consider going rural. We have a great vet down here but I am sure there are plenty great ones closer.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: dar185,

What you're experiencing is the same thing that happened to our health care and then the dental profession__finally the vets. It's the insurance companies that first high jacked the health business.
They gradually raised "...what we're paying for office calls. All the other doctors are doing it."
Eventually even the very wealthy had to buy their product!
Most vet insurance pays very little (The $40 a month policies) and then there's co-pay.
Original insurance was for ships and their cargo.
Then it went from there! But that was several hundred years ago.
I've been ripped off too relative vet costs.
It's be interesting to see what people in Europe pay for vet services. Anyone here know?
These posts have really ruined my day! I've always had dogs and loved and miss every one of them......

When I was a kid, the (young - this happened when he was 5 or 6 years old) beloved family English Pointer got cancer. My parents paid for surgery, chemo, and radiation therapy. I was a little kid, so I have no idea how much it cost, but I'm sure it was a lot. We were fortunate to be able to afford it. Anyway, the cancer was cured and the dog lived a long time afterwards, he made it to 14 or 15.

Copefree, you can hop a flight to Memphis and for a quick Uber ride just South, I can fix you up. Even get together with you for some ribs and beverage of your choice that night, then ship y'all off back home next day. Probably still save a buttload...

Paid roughly $4000 for a knee surgery on a 3 year old blue heeler. The dog just turned 13 and runs around like he did when was 2 years old. It was a tough decision but it came down to the fact that I love the dog and I’ll make more money. I put it on a credit card and payed it off over 6-8 months. In the grand scheme of things I’ll never miss the money (it did suck at the time) but I’m sure I would have missed the dog. He’s my buddy and goes wherever I go, he’s the coolest little dude I know.

Also check out valley vet. Out of rainier Oregon, it’s just right over the river from Longview. It’s a drive but I’ll bet they do it for under a grand.

We spent $2500 on surgery for bladder stones for our 6 year old miniature schnauzer. We felt that was around the top we are comfortable with so we ended up getting insurance so we don't have to make that decision again.

These Vets go to the same medical schools that our family physicians and surgeons attend - thus - the same cost of education.

Many of these surgical procedures would be 2-3x higher if they were performed on you or I. The difference being we probably have health insurance.

But - it does suck to be in a scenario where these types of choices have to be made. Best of luck.

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
I’m all for taking car of my animals, but they are pets. $1K is about the one time max for a serious condition around here.

That is the same limit that wifey and I set on our kitties. We love them, but they are pets. There is no comparison to our children.

Seek another vet out. That seem's like he is either paying for a boat or she wants a sheshack

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
Seek another vet out. .....

Look for an old country vet that is NOT LOCATED near Seattle ( or any large city). I'd bet dollars to donuts that the prices will be more reasonable.

Simple as that......

Spent about 30K on My Golden, Radiation, Chemo, ICU for Pneumonia. I am not rich but I did make a very smart move to get pet insurance for her as a pup and I have it now on all my pets. They paid 90% of everything minus a few incidentals.
It was a lifesaver financially. Treatment helped to reduce her pain for awhile and gave her more time.

I could see in her eyes she wanted to fight so I would have done anything to help her with the battle. Don't care if I had to sell my all my guns, etc. to pay for it. For me a life is more precious than the "stuff".

I hope it works out for you. Do shop around you never know who might be able to help for less $.


^ Mike had it right... I have found that the older vets who have been around are not afraid to do a complicated surgery and are usually more reasonable. They were doing these removals while these new vets were still in diapers.

I have had dogs all my life since I was 16.
But after my last dog died last summer, no more.
The vet bills are off the charts. I think a person could get treated for less in most cases, provided he does not get that treatment at the hospital.

I would love to have another dog, but not with the cost of vets service.

*** photo of stitches / blood below — heads up ***



UPDATE 12/18/18 — we got the surgery done today. Back in June, when I originally posted this, we decided to forego the surgery. We simply couple justify $4,000 to have it removed. As luck would have it, about a week later it ruptured (on its own) and the cyst got much smaller. Over the past six months it’s grown a bit more (it’s still really small compared to what it once was) and, worst of all, Bella constantly is licking / messing with it. So it would leak / bleed spots everywhere. Disgusting.

Enough was enough. She deserved to have it fixed up as it was getting worse.

I took her in today for surgery at a local vet in my small town (who wouldn’t treat it previously) and they took care of it. Dr said it was rooted deeply and he had to cut a lot more out than anticipated.

Oh .. and total cost?! $1,300. That place in June that wanted to charge us $4,000?! They can kindly go f*ck themselves.

Post-op:



Photo from this morning:

Glad that things worked out.

There definitely is a difference with vets. The vets that take care of pets (including the ones that care for our dogs, though they are better than some of the others) seem to be more expensive than the local large animal vet who shows up in a pickup and deals with all sorts of things right there in the field. Then again, their staffing and real estate costs are less. I’m sure some of it though is that they are working on livestock, often that hasn’t been named, versus someone’s “fur baby.”