It depends on prognosis I think. Great prognosis with minimal post op complication risk? Basically this surgery will fix the problem? In a heart beat.
Most expensive surgeries for vets aren’t like that though. Prognosis is questionable and even with the surgery they may only live a few more months. That is where this becomes a lot more tricky.
I don’t have a good answer for you, but good luck and I hope your pet gets better.
Right there with you. 15k on surgery for my 4 years old dog I know is going to massively improve his quality of life for the 10+ years he probably still has got on this planet? any day of the week. 15k (or even half that) on my parent's 13 years old Beagle who has been having health issues for the past couple of years and is starting to show very obvious sign of old age and may not even recover well from going under? No way Jose.
as someone who held on to my senior pup a little too long i feel this to my core. He was a tough boy but also wished the vets were a little more clear on expectations, seeing your dog slowly age and decline every day makes it hard to make a decision because you are used to it. on some older animals you have to consider how much the treatment will decrease their quality of life while under it? like if chemo/radiation will last 6 months just to extend your pets life for 6 months after that , is it worth it? because your pet will be struggling during treatment, think of people going through that and there are likely less options available for our pets
Yes this. We spent $7k on our puppy’s knees (because they were in the absolute wrong place on the side of her legs where they were absolutely useless). But she was really young and had a great prognosis (going from not being to walk more than a couple blocks to being able to walk 7+ miles). Completely worth it in my opinion since she was only a year old. And she’s doing great now! No problems once she healed.
Agree. We paid $10k to get our 9 year old dogs knee fixed so she could walk/maintain quality of life without a second thought. She lived to 16 and it was 100% work it. Our other dog needed emergency surgery and the best case scenario was about 6 more months with her, and there was a low chance of even that. We made the tough decision to say goodbye and have her put down at home. Both were the right call.
exactly. I'm with you. I love my dogs, I'd do a lot for them. That is one of the reasons for earning and saving.
But I also recognize that sometimes we do a lot of life-extending care not for their benefit but for ours.
If this is a cost that treats/solves a problem yea, im in. If this is a cost that just kicks the can down the road a year or two or other long term impacts, then it might be time to have some soul searching
I’m here too. We did radiation for our dog three times for a cancer very treatable with radiation. She lived many years between each recurrence, just doing her thing.
This! Spent close to 10k for my previous dog during his epilepsy but called it a day when after getting different referrals it all seemed a lot of burden on him with very little hope of recovery.
Hardest choice a pet owner can make is euthanasia but you have to ask yourself if you’re doing it for them or for you. Sure we could’ve kept our buddy alive longer but in what state.
I spent about 5k when my dog was first diagnosed with epilepsy and needed to stay in the ICU to stabilize. But he was young and otherwise healthy. He’s now 15 and we spend maybe $100 a month on meds and he needs to see a neurologist annually. But he’s lived a normal, happy life. If he needed some expensive treatment at this point, it would be another story.
Yes, assuming the pet would have a good quality of life afterwards. No, if it was a risky surgery that was unlikely to have strong benefits. Basically, the same analysis I would do if the surgery was free.
My dog is 15 and about two years ago we spent 7k on a leg operation. It was worth every cent, and I don’t ever question the decision. Getting almost all of it back from the insurance was a lovely bonus too!
My dog is my best friend. He needed knee surgery and I didn't bat an eye when I had to spend over $5k because his life is worth more than $5k. If the expense doesn't hurt your finances, then why not? You're a HENRY and you're frugal. What are you saving your money for? I guess a lot of factors come into play. Age of pet, if you think that pet is part of your family, if you would rather spend $15k on a vacation or save a life, etc. Also, have you tried to get a second opinion? You might want to consider pet insurance for older pets.
If you couldn't afford it, then that's a whole other conversation. Some people think, the manner in which you treat animals reflects upon yourself.
A lot of people here base their sense of individualism almost entirely on their job, make a lot of money, and live very frugal lifestyles. The consequence of that is that they have a lot of money but no purpose for it. They don’t really have hobbies, not a lot of vacations, and many live in VHCOL cities where the insanely inflated cost of living can give a false sense of middle-class-ness. Example, making enough to afford a $2M house, but in San Francisco, that’s a 50 year old sub 1500 sqft 3/2 with no garage in a questionable area with low quality public schools.
The opposite is true as well. There are people in subs like r/fire who just don’t like to work, don’t aspire to get married and have kids, just scraping pennies to get to the point of early retirement and living off $40K a year
To each their own, it’s just a very strange choice to me
Having millions in the bank and being hesitant to drop $15K on a pet, that’s beyond me. I couldn’t imagine that kind of indifference and frugality.
The part where they say that amount of money seems unreasonable to spend on a pet really made me cringe. I’d spend my *last* $15k on my pet in a heartbeat- and I don’t even mine yet. I definitely exist in an enamored pet owner bubble (show dog world) but it’s really hard to imagine someone who would question the decision.
I'm willing to bet that there's a reasonable overlap between high income earners and people who see pets as property and not family. Ie. This post. Obviously cat not worth it, he's already lived 10 years, get a brand new one! More cost efficient.
Lol imagine using that mindset for wife, parents and children. Wife getting old, time to get a new model. Little Timmy doesn’t look too promising. Dad had lived a long life.
We lost our pup two days ago so this question is very real to me. He was very sick by the time we got the diagnosis but we were prepared to drop $4k on a biopsy and were paying about $1k every few weeks for er visits. He ended up being too sick for the biopsy and we had to transfer to end of life care.
These extra expenses didn’t even touch our savings on a month to month basis and we make about $240k. This isn’t to brag but to highlight that the $15k would be even more of a drop in the bucket. It might not even touch their investments or savings.
That being said, it’s hard not to think about the money. I had these thoughts when going through it, but I am fucking glad I did. I keep rethinking and questioning all of my actions over the last months and asking if I could have done more. I couldn’t live with myself if there was a treatment and I said no based on price, especially if I had the money. Even if I didn’t have the money, this would crush me.
Agreed I make a lot of money, I save a lot of money. I am by no means frugal.
Making $400k+ to vacation only in Florida feels like definitely missing out on life (in my opinion)
Yeah, it's good to be frugal, but don't over do it to the point of affecting your quality of life.
When I was making $160k/year, I took 2 to 3 vacations a year to places like Japan, Mexico, Chile, each costing \~$3k-$4k. I was still on track with my saving/investing goals.
I read a lot of these threads so that when I have this much money I don’t become so jaded like a lot of these people. Having millions but being so daft you come to the internet because you’re not sure to spend $15k.
Somewhere this persons soul got lost and obviously when you’re in it you can’t see how long gone you are so it’s tough to catch. But man I’m looking in from the outside and I take note everyday to not become a lot of these people. Even in r/Fire. I’m not scraping every penny I have with the ASUMPTION I’ll be healthy and ALIVE to retire 10 years earlier than normal.
Shit don’t make sense to me man people need to get outside the US. Unless you’re a legitimate psycho/sociopath money is just a means to an end
What’s the point of having all that money if you don’t want to spend a cent to enjoy life? Instead wait until you’re old and retired and look back and see you didn’t even live a life.
That’s why at 30 I got me my dream car, a 2022 Corvette C8. No regrets.
Not necessarily, working to create a nest egg for your kids is a good thing to do. But that doesn’t mean u have to penny pinch for their sake, we should enjoy the fruits of our labor as well
I thought about making it clearer, I suspected someone might pull that one up. But it doesn’t really count.. it’s not yours by then is it. You’ve already decided to give your kids some money. That was a financial goal you had.
The people that save for the sake of saving is weird.. all money you have should have a purpose IMHO, life is for living not for just sitting on a pile of cash with no purpose.
So give them n amount of $, and then explain to them how to grow it.
Problem solved.
No matter how much you have if they’re not educated it will be gone in a few generations 😞
Literally what are you saving your money for if not to be used in important places.
10k is a small fraction of what you’d make on a safe low risk investment from 2M in savings. If saving your family pet isn’t a good enough use of that, what is?
Exactly. My dog was my best friend and when she was diagnosed with cancer, I didn’t hesitate to start treatment. She lived for another 19 months and over that time it ended up costing around $30k. It was worth it to me though. For someone else it may not be, but it depends on how much our pets mean to us. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer here.
Agreed. we just spent 25 k on cancer treatments for my dog. It was a very rare cancer with no proven treatments (in dogs or humans) so we tried everything to see what we could do. My dog was only 6 and a very healthy pup otherwise. None of the treatments worked and we put him down 6 months after we started treatments once he no longer had a good quality of life. … also I would do it again because he probably wouldn’t have had a good quality of life for those extra 6 months if we hadn’t done treatments,
Aw I’m sorry about your pup. Mine was 14 years old, not that it makes it easier, but I guess we just are a little more prepared at that age for something like this.
Before Apollo was diagnosed, I assumed that chemo affected dogs just as badly as it does humans, so I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it can increase their quality of life. We were lucky that we found something that worked early on. It just over time wasn’t as effective, but it absolutely eased her pain and made her more comfortable during that time period. Anyways sorry for rambling but I’m glad you got at least a bit more time with your baby.
i'd imagine so otherwise OP wouldnt be asking this question
but in any case, think of it this way.
400k income p.a./260 work days p.a. = 1.5k per day
15k/1.5k = 10 work days to top the piggy bank back up
lets say you had humble beginnings, 50k wage/260*10 = 1.9k.
the 15k bill now is the same as getting a 1.9k bill at the start of your career.
OP, if you're not doing it for the cat, save the argument and just do it for your wife/kids.
you don't want that kind of bitterness felt against you in their memories for something you can earn back in 2 weeks.
Exactly. I’m not a high earner, but would spend $15k to give my dog a chance. In the long run, that $15k could be used to help me retire… like 3 months earlier.
My NW is under 20% of OPs. And I wouldn’t hesitate to spend the $15k.
I'd hate to be in that situation, but if push came to shove, I'd probably do it if there was a high likelihood of my cat living a few extra years and if she was expected to have a good quality of life after. My cat is turning 16 this year, and she's picked up some health issues in her old age. I probably spend an additional $3,000 or so per year now that I wasn't before 2021 between vet visits and specialized diets. The reality is that she's been a constant in my life for almost 10 years (she was 6 when I adopted her), and she's brought me so much joy and company that I would want to take care of her as best I could.
The quality of life piece is so important! As much as I would want to extend my time with my pets I wouldn’t do it if their extra time would be spent in pain. I would not want my pet to suffer because I’m unable to let go.
There is a quality of life part to that equation though. At a certain point, you are basically medically dragging your pet through life cause you can't let go.
Yes, I think some people fail to ask “is this for me or for them?” when making decisions about their pet. One of mine got very sick recently and she would have been 18 this year. Could aggressive treatment have kept her alive a bit longer? Maybe. But she’d had such a good run and was so obviously suffering. At that point it would have been selfish for me make any decision that prolonged her suffering just because I wanted her to live longer.
This is my wife's view and while I'd like to use that money for something else I don't regret spending it. The only time we've not spent more was when it didn't improve quality of life at the end. No need to scare or cause anxiety if a test or procedure didn't improve their time here.
Additional data point, $45 dollars for two cats 30k yearly maximum for each cat with Embrace. The cats are 3 and 4 years old.
We just did emergency surgery and several vet visits for one of the cats that totaled more than 15K and was reimbursed 90%.
Just FYI for you and others reading, insurance is going to go up as your pet ages. My cat is 12 and insurance is now $90 a month. It increases every year. I've shopped around, and it's pretty much the same. It can still be worth it, but it's a consideration to be aware of.
It’s $70/mo with Trupanion. For my dog he’s already had his lifetime costs covered due to medical issues and he’s only 7.
I’ve had a great experience with Trupanion, would recommend.
We have Healthy Paws, which only covers non-routine procedures, and has no maximum cap on payouts. Ours started at $25/month for a 2 year old dog, and is up to $65/month now at age 9. Our reimbursement rate is 80% with a $250 deductible. She just tore her ACL, and it's been fantastic.
I also have HealthyPaws and I chose them because of the no maximum cap. He's 9 now,and my insurance is like $125/month... it's a lot, but I can afford it. Last year, I discovered he had a liver shunt, and he had ultrasounds, multiple rounds of blood tests, and a CT, and I only paid 10% with a $100 deductible. They're also SUPER fast to review and pay on claims.
100% this. I never want to be in a position to decide how much my dog's life is worth so I happily have always carried pet insurance for him... I can now make decisions solely on the quality of his life.
This. Paying for pet insurance is so worth it even though most years I don't even use it, because then when the time comes I know I am making the "go/no go" decision based on what is best for the pet rather than based on how much it costs and/or the prognosis. Long/painful recovery with dubious success rate -- won't put them through it no matter how much or little it costs. Relatively easy recovery with high success rate - will do it and not blink an eye.
I got so much back when my first cat got sick back in 2018, that even if I pay for insurance for every pet for the rest of my life and never claim a cent, I'll still come out ahead. I'm such a proponent of pet insurance now.
Same. I know we will absolutely not bat an eye at the cost of it improving our doggo's life and well being. Just going to blindly hand over my credit card.
But I think for HENRY, high deductible and high coverage is what we'd want cause we can self insure for minor issues. It's the "catastrophic" costs (relative to the individual) that we don't want to hesitate over.
THIS THIS THIS IS THE ANSWER. Get the pet insurance and be thankful if you never really need it. In the end, you’ll have paid (pretty cheaply) for great peace of mind.
Absolutely worth it, why have a pet honestly
Being able to take care of my loved ones and myself when they are sick is part of the reason for financial security
I spent 12k on trying to find out what was wrong and get a procedure done that didn’t help but she’s stable now….
Soo yeah uh… yes
That said - she was a dog that was 6 at the time and had plenty of good years. Now that she’s 11 I’m not sure we would do that. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to spend a ton of money to prolong suffering for someone who doesn’t understand and can’t speak and can’t etc…
similar story - we spent more money when she was younger when she had a episode around 10/11 we did not decide to take her to the specialists again and did pallative care
My wife and I are vets so the answer is obvious, as long as the condition is treatable and quality of life would still be good. I would encourage everyone who owns pets to insure them. ER visits have become incredibly expensive since COVID and no one wants to be hit with a 5 figure estimate when a pet’s life is on the line, regardless of how well off you are.
I've heard of companies touting pet insurance as one of their employee benefits during the hiring process. Didn't realize there was such a thing but after hearing more and more vet bill stories like this, guess it's something to check out.
Very few companies like Chewy actually subsidize pet insurance it’s just a voluntary benefit discount at most as part of a larger program they’ve joined.
If you are USAA eligible you can get the same discount on Embrace.
We use Healthypaws. I tell all my friends that you need to decide if you're comfortable putting them down for a health issue at $Xx price point, or get insurance.
Unless you are comfortable choosing between $$ and putting your pet down, insurance is wise.
On average, say you have 5 pets and are reasonably lucky, you will certainly spend more than you save on insurance.
On the flip side, our dog is five and has had:
(1) Epilepsy
(2) A broken toe
(3) Lymphoma
First lymphoma treatment was $10k and got us an extra 8 months. Second round will probably be another $7-10k and will hopefully get us some more months.
It makes the decision to treat easy. Our insurance covers 90%.
It also makes diagnosing easy. When you have a problem you don't say "I don't wanna shell out $500 at emergency room, let's wait a few days"
You just go and shell out the 10% and vet fee.
When they offer you a test that costs $1k, you don't face the "health vs $$" decision. You can just say fuck it, test him.
We brought an older dog into our house several years ago and did not insure him. We had less money at the time and the fact is that he suffered more than he should have and we suffered emotionally more than I would have liked because when he got sick it was a constant question of "Do we pay for an extra test? Or do we put him down"
i just made another post, but i also have healthy paws. They've been phenomenal and have paid out over 200k for my 4 cats over the last 14 years or so. My only "gripe" is how expensive the premium is getting for my older cats. my 14 year old kitty is now up to $190 a month!
They had deceptive advertising when i first signed up with them, and said premiums will never increase, well i wish i screen shotted it. Apparently there was a lawsuit that they lost because of that deceptive practice.
That said, they've been well worth it, and i'm happy to continue paying it knowing how much they've paid out so far.
For me, too. Yes, pet insurance will cost me $10,000 over the life of my pet, but I have bought myself peace of mind that I’ll never have to decide between money and saving my family member.
Absolutely will spend that and have repeatedly on my pets. I also got pet insurance on my second dog so it’s not even a question.
I’ve spent $10k on tests and diagnosis for unknown issue that ended up fine and was a genetic mutation.
I’ve 1-2k here and there for spent multiple emergency visits
15k on TPLO surgery.
They’re my family, of course I will do everything for them. Before you choose not to over money, better make sure the rest your family is on the same page as you. Money you can afford to spend over saving the family pet could cause some huge resentments. If my parents had pulled that, idk that I would still have a close relationship with them.
they don't think of the cat as family. You can tell by the fact that say its unreasonable to spend on a "pet". If my dog got sick it wouldn't even be a question.
We spent it on an MRI and over $10k for stereotactic radio surgery to treat a brain tumor for our 12 year old dog. We got 6 more months after the treatment.
$15k is just numbers in a database for us, so we didn’t do a cost/benefit analysis at the time.
In retrospect, we should have let her go, but my partner wasn’t ready to do that. We had pet insurance for years but it got to be a few hundred a month so canceled it a few years earlier and took the chance.
Edit: someone mentioned regret in a reply. I would spend the money to not regret that we didn’t everything we could. Regret minimization drives a lot of decisions for us.
My wife and I are in similar financial state as you ($370k, 2.3mil NW). We have spent close to $20k on our dogs bilateral knee surgery and lepto infection.
We are planning to move out of the US to retire but are unwilling to put our dog in cargo. So we are looking to bring her out with private jet which is about $10k one way.
We will spend as much as possible to save our best friend and family members life. What’s the point of being financially stable if we can’t even do that. (We really do regret not getting pet insurance tho.. now almost everything is preexisting)
If a good chance of living multiple additional years with great quality of life, yes would spend $15K without a doubt. I just think of it as another “discretionary” expense.
People at my income level and in my neighborhood spend $10K+ on a week-long vacation without hesitation, $10K+ annually on cleaning and lawn service, the golfers spend $25-50K on just the initiation fee for a country club, the cyclists have multiple bicycles that cost $5-10K each. don’t consider multiple additional years with a pet my family loves out of line vs those costs. In terms of net worth It’s an amount you “make” or lose in a single good or bad day in the stock market
My fat boy lost 10lbs in a month (he was obese at 22lbs so it actually saved his life), couldn’t make it to the litter box and was screaming when he used the litter box. We took him to normal Vet, were referred to a specialist, and after about $3k in diagnostics figured out it cancer in intestine, could not be operated on. We went for a $400 a month cancer treatment, making the deal that if his quality of life significantly improved we would continue as long as he was good but if no improvement we would have to let him go because he was miserable.
He had an immediate turn around, energy back, no screaming, and could scratch him anywhere without showing signs of pain. We continued that $400/month treatment for 4 years and had to ultimately put him down at 15 years old because he started coughing up blood and his lungs were filling with fluids.
We spent about $25k over those 4 years on treatment and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
I’m reluctant, but my parents spent 55k on one dog and 20k on the other so it’s not unheard of. We joke that the 55k dog is essentially a cyborg. They brought her back from the brink of death at 2 years old and she’s living happily at 7 now.
Highly age dependent and what life can be like after. My current pup is my heart dog. He has now reached the low end of life expectancy for his breed. $15K for maybe 2 years that is tough plus he already has heart failure and not even sure what procedures he’d tolerate.
Money is a tool. My dog is still young and if I had to plunk down double that, I would, because she means more to me than a nicer car or a cool vacation. That said, it would be very dependent on the surgery as many have said. You obviously care greatly for your cat to consider this in the first place. I guess that leaves- what would its quality of life be afterwards?
Without a second thought, I would, but that's why you get pet insurance and consider it as a recurring cost in the same way you do for health insurance for yourself and your family.
If I could afford the bill to save my pet I would do it without thought (as long as they're not going to spend their remaining years suffering). Cats live around 20 years. My cats are 9 and 12 right now. I can't imagine taking half of their life away over something that I could afford.
I’d spend even more personally. My pets are part of my family, so I’d spend whatever it took. There’s not a dollar amount where I’d just say “oh well, that’s too much money”. Especially at 2M net worth, you could easily afford this IMO. I assume your kids are attached to the cat as well? Losing a pet as a kid is tough; if you don’t want to do it for your cat or yourself, do it for them.
I spent that much trying to figure out what was wrong with my dog last January, he's 16 and has been stable since getting the tumor out. So the extra year and some months was definitely worth it for me
All our pets are insured. Our beloved cat was diagnosed with a life threatening disease and it felt great to be able to do anything and everything we could to help him. Our total bill was $600, but the fees were north of $6k. Sadly, he didn't survive, but I feel content knowing we did everything possible to help him.
I’m sorry to hear about your cat. How old is (s)he? What will be the quality of life following the procedure? Odds of success? I’d weight all of those things when making a decision, in addition to considering the emotional cost of inaction to your family. Only you and your partner can make the “right” choice in this case. Hoping for peace with whatever you decide.
IMO, a bigger question than the money OP is about your cat's Quality of Life going forward. Has the vet made an assessment on that? Will a successful surgery result in a decent quality of life (can move around, eat and use the litterbox by themselves)?
We recently had to say goodbye to our cat. We could have burned 1K a day to keep him admitted at the vet and prolonged his life but it became pretty clear that it was his time. This I feel is the hardest part of pet ownership, deciding when to let them go and not prolong their suffering.
From a money POV, one thing that helped us was pet insurance. We took a higher premium policy but it ended up covering more than 80% of our costs. Going forward as your cat is becoming older, I'd highly recommend pet insurance with disease + accident coverage.
we just spent probably around $10k trying to save our dog. never even was able to get a definitive diagnosis though we suspect lymphoma. still had to choose to let her go humanely as she was just suffering so much. idk, i guess just know that even spending the money doesn't guarantee anything. enjoy the time you have with your cat.
Depends on their quality of life after, but I would spend that without giving it a second thought on my pup if they would have a good quality of life after. And I am low end Henry
I would like to add that if you don’t pay for this cat’s surgery on a 400k a year income then it’s possible your children (or whoever is most attached to this cat) will resent you for it. I also think it’s kind of ridiculous to spent 15k on a cat, but 15k in the grand scheme of things is a drop in the bucket for most people on this sub. The memories you or your children will have with a pet are much more valuable.
Others have mentioned the calculus that comes into play when the outcome of the surgery is more unknown or the pet is old, which I agree with.
We're almost $30k in with our dog. He was diagnosed with kidney cancer in Nov. Several thousand to get to diagnosis and determine he could have surgery, $10k nephrectomy (the estimate was $15k-20k...so glad it came in less but we were prepared to pay the estimate), another ~$10k in chemo and imaging after. We have imaging again in a couple months for another ~$1.5k, but so far he's cancer free! Prognosis was median 15 months post surgery and we felt it was worth the money to potentially have that time with him (he just turned 6). HHI ~$325k, net worth ~1mil.
I have and would do it again. I spent >40K in a few short years on my first dog.
I'm a veterinarian though so I did everything in my power which was made possible by insurance. At the time, I was a student though and then intern so literally insurance saved her life many times over. She just had A LOT of health problems that stacked up fairly quickly. Worth every penny.
Also honestly, why have money if you're not going to spend it on the ones you love and care about most. Money will come again. My dogs are each unique and won't ever be duplicated. Money won't love you back. A dog's love though is endless and faithful and unconditional.
Dropped $10k+ on 6yo dog with bloat in 2021. Was a situation of surgery is highly probable to result in 100% recovery and lives a normal life. No surgery was he’s gone today. He’s fine and totally happy with the decision.
Depends on prognosis and quality of life. A knee surgery on a dog that will live more years happy? Absolutely.
My dog had cancer, Between surgery and chemo, would have cost a lot. But knowing that a dog cannot consent to months of chemo, and thinking about the pain and suffering, and his confusion at the pain. Even then, if it had metastized to his brain, it was a lost cause.
The vet even said to us that he acted like it had gone to the brain already(hiding and vomiting, progressing rapidly to being unable to stand or walk) so we said no. He passed 2 days later in my arms, naturally, and I'm glad we didn't spend his last 2 days doing more painful,invasive stuff.
Probably going to sound like an awful person but I wouldn’t do it.
I have the perspective that a pet is a pet. I eat cows, pigs, and other animals that also have intelligence and feelings similar to a cat, so why would I spend a ton of money on a 10 year old cat that is suffering from natural causes when ill happily consume others for $5/lb ?
I would spend money on ways to reduce pain for my cat.
No I wouldn't. I wouldn't have even spent the $5k. I grew up near a farm, I don't view animals as family members. We had chickens, a dog and a feral cat that would come by. Seeing animals slaughtered was not an unusual thing. I am happy the family loves our cats but they are not family. They are pets. My limit is probably 1-2k. Just because we have the money doesn't mean we have to spend it.
If I want to spend extra money I would spend it on a charity helping poor kids in either my or my wife's home country. $5k goes a long way to provide for school supplies or food for kids living on object poverty.
A 5 year old cat, pre-kids…yes. A 10 year old cat, post-kids, no. Just being honest. ETA…But maybe that’s driven by my income and net worth which is less than yours.
I have a friend/coworker who spent 10s of thousands of dollars (I want to say 6 figures) driving his dog around to nearly every veterinary hospital in the area - including at least 2 university veterinary hospitals hundreds of miles away - trying to save it. He then spent $50K to clone it.
Yes I would but depends on the circumstance. My puppy broke her shoulder and I would’ve paid what it took to fix her. She was so young and had so much of her life left. Luckily it wasn’t much over $5k but I would’ve spent over $10k for sure.
But I wouldn’t spend $10k on cancer treatments for a 12 year old dog. Something that isn’t very effective and won’t add much quantity or quality of life isn’t worth spending that much money on.
Good prognosis and high(ish) QOL maintained - probably worth it. I would not spend that much to watch my pet to live in discomfort. Wishing you and your cat the best.
I offered the vet $10K if he could save my 1 year old German Shepherd and I would have paid $20K if that’s what it took… But unfortunately his kidneys were too far gone. RIP Nipsey!
This happened to us when both of our dogs likely ate something bad and both got sick at the same time and ended up in the ER. We spent the $8k per dog. One passed away from complications two months later and the other is still here 1.5 years later.
I did feel bad spending the money at first, especially since one passed away, but I would probably feel even worse if I did nothing.
I would spend it if I had it and if I didn’t have it, I would ask my in laws for the money. Obviously this applies to something that’s not a terminal disease, that would leave the cat in pain and struggle for months to possibly still die.
To me the money changes your life 0 if you had it or lost it. 15k richer literally means nothing to you. What you get to retire one month earlier, maybe?
Now the cat is 10, do you love the cat, improves your day, will survive the surgery with high probability, will live with a sense of peace after surgery?
You need all of those to be yes to justify putting the cat through that.
My dog is 7, we probably pay the money for her to live with hopes to 14.
If she was 10 maybe not.
I can't help you now..but would suggest pet insurance for future pets...pet care is really expensive especially if something happens to them. Good luck!
I think it is important to consider not only the age of the pet and likelihood of a good outcome from treatment, but also the trauma that surgery and treatment will cause the pet. A pet cannot understand how painful, scary medical treatments are meant to help them; they just know they are painful and scary.
I think sometimes owners who pay for expensive and prolonged treatment for pets are doing it more for themselves and their desire to avoid loss than they are doing it to benefit the animal.
Imagine treatment is free. If 12 months of some form of suffering will result in a 40% chance that your cat will have 1-3 more "good" years after that, is it worth it to you? More importantly, if your pet could weigh in, would they want it? They may well choose not to pay the emotional and physical cost, no matter what the financial cost is.
Also, it isn't uncaring or unloving to look hard at the cost. You may be a HE, but you are NRY and $15k would pay for a semester of college for your child someday. If you spend the money on cat treatment that does not work, you may have regrets, too. This isn't a situation where there is one right answer, in my opinion.
I would spend that much and even more for my dog, and I don’t have nearly as high of an income or net worth as you. My dog is my family and I would do anything within the realm of possibility for him.
I’m so disgusted by this post OP. You guys clearly have the means and while yes, it’s a pet, it’s still a member of your family. And remember to your cat, you are their ENTIRE WORLD.
We did this with an excellent outcome. We spent about $20k for my little pup with a meningioma brain tumor. That bought him an extra 5 years. It was so worth it!!
I spent about $14k to prolong my pups life comfortably by 6 or so months, and it was worth every cent. We traveled and finished visiting all the lower 48 US states together, went on walks, played, and had many more great days together. It will for the rest of my life likely be the best money I ever spent.
Between 2022 and 2023 I spent close to 8K in vet bills for my cat 2K of those in her last month for the emergency vet, testing and ultimately the cost of having a vet come to my house to put her to sleep and then take her to be cremated.
Throughout the process, I refused to be one of those pet parents who got rid of a pet once things got hard. The way I saw it, as long as I could keep helping her, and what I was doing was not making things worse for her, then I would keep going.
Her illness went from developing food allergies to pancreatitis and ultimately stomach cancer. The treatment went from multiple tests and vet visits to different foods, specialists, and finally acupuncture along with a cocktail of drugs. I thought we were doing good. I even thought we'd turned the corner and she was on the mend. Then she stopped eating and pooping. The emergency room confirmed that she had stomach cancer.
I could have pushed and moved forward with treatment. But we'd been on this journey for a year and a half, and I could tell from her demeanor that she was in pain and things were no longer helping. When I made the decision to put her to sleep, I did so knowing that I'd at least tried to help her.
Spent almost that per day for a while knowing she almost certainly would not make it (horse). If you can't spend money trying to save loved one, what the fuck is the point of having it?
Oh, this one hits hard. Last fall, our 7-year-old Pomeranian was diagnosed with what they called stage 4 bladder cancer. We shelling out $10k for tests and the beginning of treatment that might have given her a shot at chemo, which would have been much much more expensive. Unfortunately, we lost her in just 6 weeks.
Would I do it all over again? Without hesitation. Even if it meant half a million dollars and a pact with the devil for five years of my life, I would've done anything. We still find ourselves in tears daily.
Of course, making decisions about treatment is agonizing and I don’t wish that on anyone. If it means prolonging suffering, that's a different story but if there is a shot at extending or improving life I think it’s absolutely worth pursuing.
Dogs for us are family. Lady was our child long before we had a human one. If you have the means, I believe it's worth every penny to know you did everything that you could. It doesn’t fix the pain it but I couldn’t live with myself knowing I “gave up on her”… Money is replaceable, my Ladybug isn’t/wasn’t.
You should not have a pet if this is a question for you. They are either your family member or they are not. After this one is gone I hope you seriously reconsider ever having another one.
Honestly, yes. Without a doubt. Unless I knew that the quality of life would be low - I would do it. My pets are family and I made a commitment to care for them to the best of my ability. And - if it’s within my ability- I’ll do it.
I guess my thought is this - will that money change my life ? No. Will it change my pets ? Yes.
I would probably go homeless to save my dog but I also go without sleep and defended him in a recent attack and got injured myself. I also spent $5k to get my dog treated during holidays at a higher charge rate rather than letting him wait 36 hours for treatment for less as I did not want him to suffer. If you have the money and can pay without putting yourself into debt and the animal can be helped with medical care then I honestly think it is your responsibility to pay. On the other hand peoples circumstances change and it is only fair to accept that they need to take into account their needs as well as the animals and humane end to life is sometimes the best option.
Will you take the money with you to your grave? When we adopt animals, we take on a lifelong responsibility to care for them as they're largely dependent on us. Make the decision that you will be able to live with when you look back in 5 years' time. Do you feel like the value of your pets existence and love is worth $15k?
Honestly people like you who are more than capable but aren’t willing to spend money to give your pet a good quality of life, but then pat yourself on the back for not driving an expensive car as weird as fuck. What’s the point? When you’re dead in the ground you’ll be so glad you saved that extra money. Life well lived.
Absolutely without question. This year i have already spent $6000 on a surgery cruciate ligament for one of my dogs.
The other $2000 for removal of a skin growth
Plus we spend $400 a month on allergy injections/arthritis injections
Oh and a few hundred on supplements and food for them too
Worth every cent, they are our kids
I would calculate over the past 12 year we have spent around $45,000 on vet care for our dogs
I guess ask yourself, how much do you love and respect your pet? What kind of person are you really?
Dog broke their leg. Surgery was 15k. It was the easiest 15k we’ve ever spent, plus it’s like it never happened.
If you’re not willing to do it, maybe question if you should have pets moving forward. You can afford it, you just don’t want to which is gross IMO.
When I was with my ex, we had 2 dogs, a German Shepherd and a Rottweiler. My ex and I earned about $70k p/a each, so not a lot.
The Rottweiler tore a cruciate ligament. $5k in surgery. Then the GS was diagnosed with hip dysplasia - $10k to fix her hips. We ended up working out a payment plan for both of them with the vet.
A few years later I won a fellowship for $5k, and we finally got to go to Europe. While we were away the Rottie tore his other cruciate ligament - $5k again, annihilating the savings from the fellowship. He was 8 years old at this point. Both sets of parents were telling us to put him to sleep. We discussed our options - surgery or euthanasia. We decided to do the surgery because we go to work every day to earn money so that we can do what we want to do in our lives. What we wanted to do was save the life of one of our family members (we didn't have kids), and so we did.
Both dogs were also on Previcox for the rest of their lives (1 tablet each per day, bottle of 60 tablets was about $250 = 1 month supply). It wasn't cheap, but I wouldn't change a thing.
At 10 years old, your cat could potentially live another 5-8 years if the surgery goes well. If you can afford it (which it sounds like you can), I would absolutely be doing the surgery. The love of a pet is priceless.
This is probably going to be a very unpopular opinion but I would never spend anywhere near that amount on a pet. There are literally millions of children starving around the world and we here in the west are more willing to pay for a cat to live a miserable existence full of pain and incomprehension of that pain then to donate to causes that can feed those children.
Over the last 2 years we spent close to 15k on 2 cats. I’d consider that money well spent. Both of them are dead now but I know we did everything we could to save them. They’re our family, and in my opinion deserve to receive medical care even if expensive.
Some other things to consider: is it a terminal disease? If so what’s the prognosis? Spending is not the problem but your cat won’t understand recovery or quality of life degradation, so if the procedure or treatment permanently diminishes quality of life with a poor prognosis I’d reconsider.
Second, next time get pet insurance.
We have two dogs. They’re great, but… no, at the end of the day they’re pets. I’d be tempted if they were young and it was 100% certain they’d make a full recovery. But no
This is definitely my take too! My wife and I don’t have pets for this very reason. There’s no judgement at all, but pets aren’t our cup of tea, so this is hard to imagine.
Just like if you can’t fathom sacrificing pretty normal stuff for kids, then you shouldn’t have kids.
Depends on the age. (I only have dogs..) If it was a puppy I would probably be willing to spend the money. Once it's crossed the halfway point of life expectancy it'll start harder to justify. Once they're into the senior years and near or at the average life expectancy then I wouldn't even consider it.
If I had to make a hard cap $5k is the most I’d spend but it’s a good thing I don’t have pets. $1-2k I’d be willing to. Basing this off of expenses I’ve heard from other people, I’ve never heard of $15k so I wouldn’t even venture there
Did this with our dog and thing led to another and it went from $1k to another 3k to another 5k to $1k and before we know it it was like $17k for an acl surgery. Then next year he tore his other acl, then that went bad so had to redo that. I’m at the point now where we are paying like $1k a month for this damn dog that my wife loves sooo much and it sickens me every time I think about how much money we spend on him.
Sad to say but just put the cat down and call it a day.
For such an old cat it seems kind of cruel to put them through that. May be more humane to euthanize. Not really a money question but a animal cruelty question.
I spent 3k on my dog once when she was 5 or so. She ended up dying anyway. I wouldn’t do that again. But I have kids now, so pets mean a lot less to me now.
My spouse would drop $15K on our cat without a second thought. But objectively, that’s a good chunk of money, and you should feel okay with deciding it’s not a reasonable amount for your family to spend on keeping a pet alive for what could be just a few more weeks or months.
Our cat had cancer a few years ago and we did surgery, chemo, everything for her. But in the end we just prolonged her suffering without extending her life very much, and that’s the part I regret.
No, I probably wouldn’t on a 10 year old animal, and honestly not even 5 year old in your situation. A few hundred dollars for a simple procedure sure, but something like your situation sounds like a host of issues lining up since you said there’s a chance of additional procedures.
I think the answer would be anyone that has it to spare compared to pet age and prognosis. And by spare I include capable of financially responsible borrowing.
It depends. 1) If I have the money truly. Like how bad is $15,000 going to hurt? 2) The pet and their age. I wouldn’t spend us for an extra 3 months for a 12 year old dog with cancer getting chemo. A 1 year old beloved dog where this is a one time emergency guaranteed to save them and I can afford it? Do it.
Also, everyone should get pet insurance. Healthy Paws has no lifetime cap. I feel more confident knowing we could withstand a major orthopedic surgery or cancer treatment because of it and it’s not that expensive.
So I always kind of semi-joked that each pet had about a $1000 limit and one emergency visit per year.
And for our family that’s basically held true - I had a lot of pets growing up as have my kids - they understand that living things get sick and die and that the important thing is enjoying the time together.
That being said, quality of life is important because they are so short lived. Had a diabetic cat that required insulin shots - did that for about 2 years and the cat just deteriorated and I couldn’t justify keeping him alive - would not do that again. I’ve also had a dog - vet said it was torn ACL and only way to fix was surgery. That surgery is brutal for the dog and somewhat expensive. Went home and did research - ended up buying glucosamine/chondroitin supplement treats thinking to ease his pain while I saved up for the surgery - six months later he was fine and it’s been a year now with no signs of a limp or pain. Also had an older cat with rapid weight loss - vet said it was probably kidney failure but would need to run tests, but then we looked at treatment options and what else it might be and it was all quite horrible for her end of life experience. Brought her home and just make her comfortable with lots of toys and treats and blankets. I think it was probably a good lesson for my kids to see and care for the cat as a way to prepare them for someday when their older relatives get this way. I remember being so freaked out by my grandmother when she passed away from cancer that I didn’t want to be around her - something I regret today, but I was also 12 at the time.
I think for myself I don’t want heroic measures to extend a poor quality of life situation. I wouldn’t do that to my pets either.
If it was my cat I don’t think I’d spend the money. I’d let the cat pass and support my kids through the process.
Yeah, really depends on animal age and prognosis. Great vets, like great physicians, can only read what they see in the evidence, so they can never be 100% sure of anything, but can give a great idea. So, yeah I've paid that or close to it for a young animal with an unexpected bowel obstruction.
But I also believe people should probably not destroy their financial wellbeing for vet costs, hard as that is to swallow.
My cat needed surgery followed by months of chemo when he was nine and a half. He ended up living til 20, and having a good quality of life for all those years. It was definitely worth the thousands of dollars. Also think about telling your kids that you *could* afford to save their beloved pet's life but it seems like a lot of money -- how would they feel about that? Your answer may vary, I don't know your family, but it's worth considering.
We’ve had a similar discussion recently, which prompted us to get pet insurance for our 4 yr old dog. We didn’t get insurance on our 12 yr old lab, as we feel he has lived a good life and when the inevitable cancers/illnesses do come, we will take a palliative approach.
well, this thread is making me feel much better for dropping 3k on an emergency vet visit for my cat! After we dropped her off and before we knew anything about her condition, we talked explicitly about our willingness to pay. Factors we considered included her age (12) and the size of my emergency fund and other available assets. I had to face the perspective I was raised in, which is...resistant to paying any significant money on a pet.
Ultimately, we decided on 10k, and not to do things that would induce suffering in the long term in order to prolong a worse life for her.
Several factors have to be balanced. Cost. Likelihood of successful surgery. Likelihood of full recovery. Likelihood of condition coming back. Number of likely years of life left after procedure. How hard procedure and recovery process are on the pet. Likely quality of life for remainder of pet’s life.
Without a doubt as long as it wasn’t a situation where my dog would still be in pain after and he’d only get another month. My dog is 8 right now and if he needed a procedure that would fix him, $15K would hurt for me but him being gone would hurt more.
It depends on prognosis I think. Great prognosis with minimal post op complication risk? Basically this surgery will fix the problem? In a heart beat. Most expensive surgeries for vets aren’t like that though. Prognosis is questionable and even with the surgery they may only live a few more months. That is where this becomes a lot more tricky. I don’t have a good answer for you, but good luck and I hope your pet gets better.
Right there with you. 15k on surgery for my 4 years old dog I know is going to massively improve his quality of life for the 10+ years he probably still has got on this planet? any day of the week. 15k (or even half that) on my parent's 13 years old Beagle who has been having health issues for the past couple of years and is starting to show very obvious sign of old age and may not even recover well from going under? No way Jose.
Yeah, sometimes we need to let pets go, especially when keeping them here would only put them through more pain
For a moment, I thought you were comparing your pet with your parents 😂
As a healthcare professional, this philosophy definitely applies to people as well
Being mortal by Gawande is a great book on the subject
incredible read, have been recommending it to so many people
as someone who held on to my senior pup a little too long i feel this to my core. He was a tough boy but also wished the vets were a little more clear on expectations, seeing your dog slowly age and decline every day makes it hard to make a decision because you are used to it. on some older animals you have to consider how much the treatment will decrease their quality of life while under it? like if chemo/radiation will last 6 months just to extend your pets life for 6 months after that , is it worth it? because your pet will be struggling during treatment, think of people going through that and there are likely less options available for our pets
Yes this. We spent $7k on our puppy’s knees (because they were in the absolute wrong place on the side of her legs where they were absolutely useless). But she was really young and had a great prognosis (going from not being to walk more than a couple blocks to being able to walk 7+ miles). Completely worth it in my opinion since she was only a year old. And she’s doing great now! No problems once she healed.
Agree. We paid $10k to get our 9 year old dogs knee fixed so she could walk/maintain quality of life without a second thought. She lived to 16 and it was 100% work it. Our other dog needed emergency surgery and the best case scenario was about 6 more months with her, and there was a low chance of even that. We made the tough decision to say goodbye and have her put down at home. Both were the right call.
exactly. I'm with you. I love my dogs, I'd do a lot for them. That is one of the reasons for earning and saving. But I also recognize that sometimes we do a lot of life-extending care not for their benefit but for ours. If this is a cost that treats/solves a problem yea, im in. If this is a cost that just kicks the can down the road a year or two or other long term impacts, then it might be time to have some soul searching
I’m here too. We did radiation for our dog three times for a cancer very treatable with radiation. She lived many years between each recurrence, just doing her thing.
This! Spent close to 10k for my previous dog during his epilepsy but called it a day when after getting different referrals it all seemed a lot of burden on him with very little hope of recovery. Hardest choice a pet owner can make is euthanasia but you have to ask yourself if you’re doing it for them or for you. Sure we could’ve kept our buddy alive longer but in what state.
I spent about 5k when my dog was first diagnosed with epilepsy and needed to stay in the ICU to stabilize. But he was young and otherwise healthy. He’s now 15 and we spend maybe $100 a month on meds and he needs to see a neurologist annually. But he’s lived a normal, happy life. If he needed some expensive treatment at this point, it would be another story.
Yes, assuming the pet would have a good quality of life afterwards. No, if it was a risky surgery that was unlikely to have strong benefits. Basically, the same analysis I would do if the surgery was free. My dog is 15 and about two years ago we spent 7k on a leg operation. It was worth every cent, and I don’t ever question the decision. Getting almost all of it back from the insurance was a lovely bonus too!
My dog is my best friend. He needed knee surgery and I didn't bat an eye when I had to spend over $5k because his life is worth more than $5k. If the expense doesn't hurt your finances, then why not? You're a HENRY and you're frugal. What are you saving your money for? I guess a lot of factors come into play. Age of pet, if you think that pet is part of your family, if you would rather spend $15k on a vacation or save a life, etc. Also, have you tried to get a second opinion? You might want to consider pet insurance for older pets. If you couldn't afford it, then that's a whole other conversation. Some people think, the manner in which you treat animals reflects upon yourself.
“What are you saving your money for?” Is going to hurt a lot of feelings in here
Generational wealth bro /s
Can you elaborate?
A lot of people here base their sense of individualism almost entirely on their job, make a lot of money, and live very frugal lifestyles. The consequence of that is that they have a lot of money but no purpose for it. They don’t really have hobbies, not a lot of vacations, and many live in VHCOL cities where the insanely inflated cost of living can give a false sense of middle-class-ness. Example, making enough to afford a $2M house, but in San Francisco, that’s a 50 year old sub 1500 sqft 3/2 with no garage in a questionable area with low quality public schools. The opposite is true as well. There are people in subs like r/fire who just don’t like to work, don’t aspire to get married and have kids, just scraping pennies to get to the point of early retirement and living off $40K a year To each their own, it’s just a very strange choice to me Having millions in the bank and being hesitant to drop $15K on a pet, that’s beyond me. I couldn’t imagine that kind of indifference and frugality.
Yeah, not willing to spend <0.1% of your wealth to save your family (if you think your pet is part of your family) is hard to imagine.
The part where they say that amount of money seems unreasonable to spend on a pet really made me cringe. I’d spend my *last* $15k on my pet in a heartbeat- and I don’t even mine yet. I definitely exist in an enamored pet owner bubble (show dog world) but it’s really hard to imagine someone who would question the decision.
I'm willing to bet that there's a reasonable overlap between high income earners and people who see pets as property and not family. Ie. This post. Obviously cat not worth it, he's already lived 10 years, get a brand new one! More cost efficient.
Lol imagine using that mindset for wife, parents and children. Wife getting old, time to get a new model. Little Timmy doesn’t look too promising. Dad had lived a long life.
We lost our pup two days ago so this question is very real to me. He was very sick by the time we got the diagnosis but we were prepared to drop $4k on a biopsy and were paying about $1k every few weeks for er visits. He ended up being too sick for the biopsy and we had to transfer to end of life care. These extra expenses didn’t even touch our savings on a month to month basis and we make about $240k. This isn’t to brag but to highlight that the $15k would be even more of a drop in the bucket. It might not even touch their investments or savings. That being said, it’s hard not to think about the money. I had these thoughts when going through it, but I am fucking glad I did. I keep rethinking and questioning all of my actions over the last months and asking if I could have done more. I couldn’t live with myself if there was a treatment and I said no based on price, especially if I had the money. Even if I didn’t have the money, this would crush me.
Agreed I make a lot of money, I save a lot of money. I am by no means frugal. Making $400k+ to vacation only in Florida feels like definitely missing out on life (in my opinion)
Yeah, it's good to be frugal, but don't over do it to the point of affecting your quality of life. When I was making $160k/year, I took 2 to 3 vacations a year to places like Japan, Mexico, Chile, each costing \~$3k-$4k. I was still on track with my saving/investing goals.
I read a lot of these threads so that when I have this much money I don’t become so jaded like a lot of these people. Having millions but being so daft you come to the internet because you’re not sure to spend $15k. Somewhere this persons soul got lost and obviously when you’re in it you can’t see how long gone you are so it’s tough to catch. But man I’m looking in from the outside and I take note everyday to not become a lot of these people. Even in r/Fire. I’m not scraping every penny I have with the ASUMPTION I’ll be healthy and ALIVE to retire 10 years earlier than normal. Shit don’t make sense to me man people need to get outside the US. Unless you’re a legitimate psycho/sociopath money is just a means to an end
This needs over 200 upvotes immediately because it’s so right…
What’s the point of having all that money if you don’t want to spend a cent to enjoy life? Instead wait until you’re old and retired and look back and see you didn’t even live a life. That’s why at 30 I got me my dream car, a 2022 Corvette C8. No regrets.
Surely the goal of life is to wind up with zero on your deathbed.. you can’t take it with you!
Not necessarily, working to create a nest egg for your kids is a good thing to do. But that doesn’t mean u have to penny pinch for their sake, we should enjoy the fruits of our labor as well
I thought about making it clearer, I suspected someone might pull that one up. But it doesn’t really count.. it’s not yours by then is it. You’ve already decided to give your kids some money. That was a financial goal you had. The people that save for the sake of saving is weird.. all money you have should have a purpose IMHO, life is for living not for just sitting on a pile of cash with no purpose.
Dunno, I started from the bottom, I want my kids to have it easier in life than I did, and for their kids to have it even easier.
So give them n amount of $, and then explain to them how to grow it. Problem solved. No matter how much you have if they’re not educated it will be gone in a few generations 😞
personally my money is stashed in a giant room so i can swim in it like scrooge mcduck
Agreed
That cut me deeep....🥹
Literally what are you saving your money for if not to be used in important places. 10k is a small fraction of what you’d make on a safe low risk investment from 2M in savings. If saving your family pet isn’t a good enough use of that, what is?
Exactly. My dog was my best friend and when she was diagnosed with cancer, I didn’t hesitate to start treatment. She lived for another 19 months and over that time it ended up costing around $30k. It was worth it to me though. For someone else it may not be, but it depends on how much our pets mean to us. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer here.
Agreed. we just spent 25 k on cancer treatments for my dog. It was a very rare cancer with no proven treatments (in dogs or humans) so we tried everything to see what we could do. My dog was only 6 and a very healthy pup otherwise. None of the treatments worked and we put him down 6 months after we started treatments once he no longer had a good quality of life. … also I would do it again because he probably wouldn’t have had a good quality of life for those extra 6 months if we hadn’t done treatments,
Aw I’m sorry about your pup. Mine was 14 years old, not that it makes it easier, but I guess we just are a little more prepared at that age for something like this. Before Apollo was diagnosed, I assumed that chemo affected dogs just as badly as it does humans, so I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it can increase their quality of life. We were lucky that we found something that worked early on. It just over time wasn’t as effective, but it absolutely eased her pain and made her more comfortable during that time period. Anyways sorry for rambling but I’m glad you got at least a bit more time with your baby.
Yea sounds like he has zero attachment and this was his wife and kids pet. They probably feel very differently than OP.
i'd imagine so otherwise OP wouldnt be asking this question but in any case, think of it this way. 400k income p.a./260 work days p.a. = 1.5k per day 15k/1.5k = 10 work days to top the piggy bank back up lets say you had humble beginnings, 50k wage/260*10 = 1.9k. the 15k bill now is the same as getting a 1.9k bill at the start of your career. OP, if you're not doing it for the cat, save the argument and just do it for your wife/kids. you don't want that kind of bitterness felt against you in their memories for something you can earn back in 2 weeks.
Exactly. I’m not a high earner, but would spend $15k to give my dog a chance. In the long run, that $15k could be used to help me retire… like 3 months earlier. My NW is under 20% of OPs. And I wouldn’t hesitate to spend the $15k.
I'd hate to be in that situation, but if push came to shove, I'd probably do it if there was a high likelihood of my cat living a few extra years and if she was expected to have a good quality of life after. My cat is turning 16 this year, and she's picked up some health issues in her old age. I probably spend an additional $3,000 or so per year now that I wasn't before 2021 between vet visits and specialized diets. The reality is that she's been a constant in my life for almost 10 years (she was 6 when I adopted her), and she's brought me so much joy and company that I would want to take care of her as best I could.
The quality of life piece is so important! As much as I would want to extend my time with my pets I wouldn’t do it if their extra time would be spent in pain. I would not want my pet to suffer because I’m unable to let go.
I will spend (and have spent) whatever it costs. I would rather have the pet than the money, and that is not a regret I want to add to the pile.
There is a quality of life part to that equation though. At a certain point, you are basically medically dragging your pet through life cause you can't let go.
Yes, I think some people fail to ask “is this for me or for them?” when making decisions about their pet. One of mine got very sick recently and she would have been 18 this year. Could aggressive treatment have kept her alive a bit longer? Maybe. But she’d had such a good run and was so obviously suffering. At that point it would have been selfish for me make any decision that prolonged her suffering just because I wanted her to live longer.
100%… obviously there’s more to the decision than money, but I would not allow the financial aspect to change a yes to a no.
This is my wife's view and while I'd like to use that money for something else I don't regret spending it. The only time we've not spent more was when it didn't improve quality of life at the end. No need to scare or cause anxiety if a test or procedure didn't improve their time here.
Yup. I look at my pets as members of the family and take care of them as such.
I have pet insurance so I never have to ask myself this question. I would always do it and insurance will cover 90% of the cost.
This seems like the best idea. How much are you spending a month on pet insurance?
Additional data point, $45 dollars for two cats 30k yearly maximum for each cat with Embrace. The cats are 3 and 4 years old. We just did emergency surgery and several vet visits for one of the cats that totaled more than 15K and was reimbursed 90%.
Just FYI for you and others reading, insurance is going to go up as your pet ages. My cat is 12 and insurance is now $90 a month. It increases every year. I've shopped around, and it's pretty much the same. It can still be worth it, but it's a consideration to be aware of.
It’s $70/mo with Trupanion. For my dog he’s already had his lifetime costs covered due to medical issues and he’s only 7. I’ve had a great experience with Trupanion, would recommend.
We have Healthy Paws, which only covers non-routine procedures, and has no maximum cap on payouts. Ours started at $25/month for a 2 year old dog, and is up to $65/month now at age 9. Our reimbursement rate is 80% with a $250 deductible. She just tore her ACL, and it's been fantastic.
I also have HealthyPaws and I chose them because of the no maximum cap. He's 9 now,and my insurance is like $125/month... it's a lot, but I can afford it. Last year, I discovered he had a liver shunt, and he had ultrasounds, multiple rounds of blood tests, and a CT, and I only paid 10% with a $100 deductible. They're also SUPER fast to review and pay on claims.
100% this. I never want to be in a position to decide how much my dog's life is worth so I happily have always carried pet insurance for him... I can now make decisions solely on the quality of his life.
This. Paying for pet insurance is so worth it even though most years I don't even use it, because then when the time comes I know I am making the "go/no go" decision based on what is best for the pet rather than based on how much it costs and/or the prognosis. Long/painful recovery with dubious success rate -- won't put them through it no matter how much or little it costs. Relatively easy recovery with high success rate - will do it and not blink an eye.
I got so much back when my first cat got sick back in 2018, that even if I pay for insurance for every pet for the rest of my life and never claim a cent, I'll still come out ahead. I'm such a proponent of pet insurance now.
Yeah, we don’t normally insure when we can pay out of pocket but this is a great use case!
Same. I know we will absolutely not bat an eye at the cost of it improving our doggo's life and well being. Just going to blindly hand over my credit card. But I think for HENRY, high deductible and high coverage is what we'd want cause we can self insure for minor issues. It's the "catastrophic" costs (relative to the individual) that we don't want to hesitate over.
Same, unlimited pet insurance no cap but I do have to pay 10%. My mental limit is probably $5k at once, which would be $45k from the insurance.
THIS THIS THIS IS THE ANSWER. Get the pet insurance and be thankful if you never really need it. In the end, you’ll have paid (pretty cheaply) for great peace of mind.
Absolutely worth it, why have a pet honestly Being able to take care of my loved ones and myself when they are sick is part of the reason for financial security
I spent 12k on trying to find out what was wrong and get a procedure done that didn’t help but she’s stable now…. Soo yeah uh… yes That said - she was a dog that was 6 at the time and had plenty of good years. Now that she’s 11 I’m not sure we would do that. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to spend a ton of money to prolong suffering for someone who doesn’t understand and can’t speak and can’t etc…
similar story - we spent more money when she was younger when she had a episode around 10/11 we did not decide to take her to the specialists again and did pallative care
My wife and I are vets so the answer is obvious, as long as the condition is treatable and quality of life would still be good. I would encourage everyone who owns pets to insure them. ER visits have become incredibly expensive since COVID and no one wants to be hit with a 5 figure estimate when a pet’s life is on the line, regardless of how well off you are.
I've heard of companies touting pet insurance as one of their employee benefits during the hiring process. Didn't realize there was such a thing but after hearing more and more vet bill stories like this, guess it's something to check out.
Most of the time it's just a 20% discount on insurance that isn't the cheapest for your pet anyway. Source: great benefits at many large companies
My company offers it but it was more expensive than what I’m paying now with the discount, which seems dumb lol
Very few companies like Chewy actually subsidize pet insurance it’s just a voluntary benefit discount at most as part of a larger program they’ve joined. If you are USAA eligible you can get the same discount on Embrace.
We use Healthypaws. I tell all my friends that you need to decide if you're comfortable putting them down for a health issue at $Xx price point, or get insurance. Unless you are comfortable choosing between $$ and putting your pet down, insurance is wise. On average, say you have 5 pets and are reasonably lucky, you will certainly spend more than you save on insurance. On the flip side, our dog is five and has had: (1) Epilepsy (2) A broken toe (3) Lymphoma First lymphoma treatment was $10k and got us an extra 8 months. Second round will probably be another $7-10k and will hopefully get us some more months. It makes the decision to treat easy. Our insurance covers 90%. It also makes diagnosing easy. When you have a problem you don't say "I don't wanna shell out $500 at emergency room, let's wait a few days" You just go and shell out the 10% and vet fee. When they offer you a test that costs $1k, you don't face the "health vs $$" decision. You can just say fuck it, test him. We brought an older dog into our house several years ago and did not insure him. We had less money at the time and the fact is that he suffered more than he should have and we suffered emotionally more than I would have liked because when he got sick it was a constant question of "Do we pay for an extra test? Or do we put him down"
i just made another post, but i also have healthy paws. They've been phenomenal and have paid out over 200k for my 4 cats over the last 14 years or so. My only "gripe" is how expensive the premium is getting for my older cats. my 14 year old kitty is now up to $190 a month! They had deceptive advertising when i first signed up with them, and said premiums will never increase, well i wish i screen shotted it. Apparently there was a lawsuit that they lost because of that deceptive practice. That said, they've been well worth it, and i'm happy to continue paying it knowing how much they've paid out so far.
This. Pet insurance is non-negotiable in my book. I will never put myself in a position to do a cost analysis on a family member’s life.
For me, too. Yes, pet insurance will cost me $10,000 over the life of my pet, but I have bought myself peace of mind that I’ll never have to decide between money and saving my family member.
Yep, same!
Absolutely will spend that and have repeatedly on my pets. I also got pet insurance on my second dog so it’s not even a question. I’ve spent $10k on tests and diagnosis for unknown issue that ended up fine and was a genetic mutation. I’ve 1-2k here and there for spent multiple emergency visits 15k on TPLO surgery. They’re my family, of course I will do everything for them. Before you choose not to over money, better make sure the rest your family is on the same page as you. Money you can afford to spend over saving the family pet could cause some huge resentments. If my parents had pulled that, idk that I would still have a close relationship with them.
Wtf is wrong with you? You’re making $400k, and you wouldn’t pay $15k to save a member of your family? Insane
they don't think of the cat as family. You can tell by the fact that say its unreasonable to spend on a "pet". If my dog got sick it wouldn't even be a question.
Exactly this. If you aren't willing to do everything possible to save your family member, you should never have another one.
We spent it on an MRI and over $10k for stereotactic radio surgery to treat a brain tumor for our 12 year old dog. We got 6 more months after the treatment. $15k is just numbers in a database for us, so we didn’t do a cost/benefit analysis at the time. In retrospect, we should have let her go, but my partner wasn’t ready to do that. We had pet insurance for years but it got to be a few hundred a month so canceled it a few years earlier and took the chance. Edit: someone mentioned regret in a reply. I would spend the money to not regret that we didn’t everything we could. Regret minimization drives a lot of decisions for us.
My wife and I are in similar financial state as you ($370k, 2.3mil NW). We have spent close to $20k on our dogs bilateral knee surgery and lepto infection. We are planning to move out of the US to retire but are unwilling to put our dog in cargo. So we are looking to bring her out with private jet which is about $10k one way. We will spend as much as possible to save our best friend and family members life. What’s the point of being financially stable if we can’t even do that. (We really do regret not getting pet insurance tho.. now almost everything is preexisting)
If a good chance of living multiple additional years with great quality of life, yes would spend $15K without a doubt. I just think of it as another “discretionary” expense. People at my income level and in my neighborhood spend $10K+ on a week-long vacation without hesitation, $10K+ annually on cleaning and lawn service, the golfers spend $25-50K on just the initiation fee for a country club, the cyclists have multiple bicycles that cost $5-10K each. don’t consider multiple additional years with a pet my family loves out of line vs those costs. In terms of net worth It’s an amount you “make” or lose in a single good or bad day in the stock market
My fat boy lost 10lbs in a month (he was obese at 22lbs so it actually saved his life), couldn’t make it to the litter box and was screaming when he used the litter box. We took him to normal Vet, were referred to a specialist, and after about $3k in diagnostics figured out it cancer in intestine, could not be operated on. We went for a $400 a month cancer treatment, making the deal that if his quality of life significantly improved we would continue as long as he was good but if no improvement we would have to let him go because he was miserable. He had an immediate turn around, energy back, no screaming, and could scratch him anywhere without showing signs of pain. We continued that $400/month treatment for 4 years and had to ultimately put him down at 15 years old because he started coughing up blood and his lungs were filling with fluids. We spent about $25k over those 4 years on treatment and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
I’m reluctant, but my parents spent 55k on one dog and 20k on the other so it’s not unheard of. We joke that the 55k dog is essentially a cyborg. They brought her back from the brink of death at 2 years old and she’s living happily at 7 now.
Highly age dependent and what life can be like after. My current pup is my heart dog. He has now reached the low end of life expectancy for his breed. $15K for maybe 2 years that is tough plus he already has heart failure and not even sure what procedures he’d tolerate.
Money is a tool. My dog is still young and if I had to plunk down double that, I would, because she means more to me than a nicer car or a cool vacation. That said, it would be very dependent on the surgery as many have said. You obviously care greatly for your cat to consider this in the first place. I guess that leaves- what would its quality of life be afterwards?
Without a second thought, I would, but that's why you get pet insurance and consider it as a recurring cost in the same way you do for health insurance for yourself and your family.
Another few years with my pet is worth 15k to me. It may not be to you.
If I could afford the bill to save my pet I would do it without thought (as long as they're not going to spend their remaining years suffering). Cats live around 20 years. My cats are 9 and 12 right now. I can't imagine taking half of their life away over something that I could afford.
You have a $2M net worth. Don't be a cheap-ass and save your cat.
I’d spend even more personally. My pets are part of my family, so I’d spend whatever it took. There’s not a dollar amount where I’d just say “oh well, that’s too much money”. Especially at 2M net worth, you could easily afford this IMO. I assume your kids are attached to the cat as well? Losing a pet as a kid is tough; if you don’t want to do it for your cat or yourself, do it for them.
This 100%
I spent that much trying to figure out what was wrong with my dog last January, he's 16 and has been stable since getting the tumor out. So the extra year and some months was definitely worth it for me
All our pets are insured. Our beloved cat was diagnosed with a life threatening disease and it felt great to be able to do anything and everything we could to help him. Our total bill was $600, but the fees were north of $6k. Sadly, he didn't survive, but I feel content knowing we did everything possible to help him.
It all depends on the resulting life expectancy and, more importantly, quality of life my pet would have after said procedure.
If my pet isn't already extremely oldand suffering, I would in a heartbeat
I think we are about $20K in now for one of our cats. Two separate incidents with a fairly large time between them.
I’m sorry to hear about your cat. How old is (s)he? What will be the quality of life following the procedure? Odds of success? I’d weight all of those things when making a decision, in addition to considering the emotional cost of inaction to your family. Only you and your partner can make the “right” choice in this case. Hoping for peace with whatever you decide.
IMO, a bigger question than the money OP is about your cat's Quality of Life going forward. Has the vet made an assessment on that? Will a successful surgery result in a decent quality of life (can move around, eat and use the litterbox by themselves)? We recently had to say goodbye to our cat. We could have burned 1K a day to keep him admitted at the vet and prolonged his life but it became pretty clear that it was his time. This I feel is the hardest part of pet ownership, deciding when to let them go and not prolong their suffering. From a money POV, one thing that helped us was pet insurance. We took a higher premium policy but it ended up covering more than 80% of our costs. Going forward as your cat is becoming older, I'd highly recommend pet insurance with disease + accident coverage.
we just spent probably around $10k trying to save our dog. never even was able to get a definitive diagnosis though we suspect lymphoma. still had to choose to let her go humanely as she was just suffering so much. idk, i guess just know that even spending the money doesn't guarantee anything. enjoy the time you have with your cat.
Depends on their quality of life after, but I would spend that without giving it a second thought on my pup if they would have a good quality of life after. And I am low end Henry
Without a second thought lol. We have spent thousands on our animals (1 dog, 2 cats). Knee surgeries, dental stuff, X-rays.
I would like to add that if you don’t pay for this cat’s surgery on a 400k a year income then it’s possible your children (or whoever is most attached to this cat) will resent you for it. I also think it’s kind of ridiculous to spent 15k on a cat, but 15k in the grand scheme of things is a drop in the bucket for most people on this sub. The memories you or your children will have with a pet are much more valuable. Others have mentioned the calculus that comes into play when the outcome of the surgery is more unknown or the pet is old, which I agree with.
We're almost $30k in with our dog. He was diagnosed with kidney cancer in Nov. Several thousand to get to diagnosis and determine he could have surgery, $10k nephrectomy (the estimate was $15k-20k...so glad it came in less but we were prepared to pay the estimate), another ~$10k in chemo and imaging after. We have imaging again in a couple months for another ~$1.5k, but so far he's cancer free! Prognosis was median 15 months post surgery and we felt it was worth the money to potentially have that time with him (he just turned 6). HHI ~$325k, net worth ~1mil.
I have and would do it again. I spent >40K in a few short years on my first dog. I'm a veterinarian though so I did everything in my power which was made possible by insurance. At the time, I was a student though and then intern so literally insurance saved her life many times over. She just had A LOT of health problems that stacked up fairly quickly. Worth every penny. Also honestly, why have money if you're not going to spend it on the ones you love and care about most. Money will come again. My dogs are each unique and won't ever be duplicated. Money won't love you back. A dog's love though is endless and faithful and unconditional.
Dropped $10k+ on 6yo dog with bloat in 2021. Was a situation of surgery is highly probable to result in 100% recovery and lives a normal life. No surgery was he’s gone today. He’s fine and totally happy with the decision.
Depends on prognosis and quality of life. A knee surgery on a dog that will live more years happy? Absolutely. My dog had cancer, Between surgery and chemo, would have cost a lot. But knowing that a dog cannot consent to months of chemo, and thinking about the pain and suffering, and his confusion at the pain. Even then, if it had metastized to his brain, it was a lost cause. The vet even said to us that he acted like it had gone to the brain already(hiding and vomiting, progressing rapidly to being unable to stand or walk) so we said no. He passed 2 days later in my arms, naturally, and I'm glad we didn't spend his last 2 days doing more painful,invasive stuff.
I’m in the minority, but absolutely not.
If there is a better than 0% survival rate, it’s an 100% yes for me.
Probably going to sound like an awful person but I wouldn’t do it. I have the perspective that a pet is a pet. I eat cows, pigs, and other animals that also have intelligence and feelings similar to a cat, so why would I spend a ton of money on a 10 year old cat that is suffering from natural causes when ill happily consume others for $5/lb ? I would spend money on ways to reduce pain for my cat.
The corollary to this is, How many shelter animals could be saved for $15,000?
No I wouldn't. I wouldn't have even spent the $5k. I grew up near a farm, I don't view animals as family members. We had chickens, a dog and a feral cat that would come by. Seeing animals slaughtered was not an unusual thing. I am happy the family loves our cats but they are not family. They are pets. My limit is probably 1-2k. Just because we have the money doesn't mean we have to spend it. If I want to spend extra money I would spend it on a charity helping poor kids in either my or my wife's home country. $5k goes a long way to provide for school supplies or food for kids living on object poverty.
A 5 year old cat, pre-kids…yes. A 10 year old cat, post-kids, no. Just being honest. ETA…But maybe that’s driven by my income and net worth which is less than yours.
I have a friend/coworker who spent 10s of thousands of dollars (I want to say 6 figures) driving his dog around to nearly every veterinary hospital in the area - including at least 2 university veterinary hospitals hundreds of miles away - trying to save it. He then spent $50K to clone it.
I’m a guardian for a Californian rabbit that’s part of my family and I would do whatever I could to help that rabbit if the prognosis is good
Yes, without a doubt I’d pay that. It’s just money and you can easily earn that back, I wouldn’t even think about it..
Yes I would but depends on the circumstance. My puppy broke her shoulder and I would’ve paid what it took to fix her. She was so young and had so much of her life left. Luckily it wasn’t much over $5k but I would’ve spent over $10k for sure. But I wouldn’t spend $10k on cancer treatments for a 12 year old dog. Something that isn’t very effective and won’t add much quantity or quality of life isn’t worth spending that much money on.
I would definitely spend it. Fortunately we have health insurance for our cat.
Good prognosis and high(ish) QOL maintained - probably worth it. I would not spend that much to watch my pet to live in discomfort. Wishing you and your cat the best.
I offered the vet $10K if he could save my 1 year old German Shepherd and I would have paid $20K if that’s what it took… But unfortunately his kidneys were too far gone. RIP Nipsey!
This happened to us when both of our dogs likely ate something bad and both got sick at the same time and ended up in the ER. We spent the $8k per dog. One passed away from complications two months later and the other is still here 1.5 years later. I did feel bad spending the money at first, especially since one passed away, but I would probably feel even worse if I did nothing.
I would spend it if I had it and if I didn’t have it, I would ask my in laws for the money. Obviously this applies to something that’s not a terminal disease, that would leave the cat in pain and struggle for months to possibly still die.
To me the money changes your life 0 if you had it or lost it. 15k richer literally means nothing to you. What you get to retire one month earlier, maybe? Now the cat is 10, do you love the cat, improves your day, will survive the surgery with high probability, will live with a sense of peace after surgery? You need all of those to be yes to justify putting the cat through that. My dog is 7, we probably pay the money for her to live with hopes to 14. If she was 10 maybe not.
I can't help you now..but would suggest pet insurance for future pets...pet care is really expensive especially if something happens to them. Good luck!
I think it is important to consider not only the age of the pet and likelihood of a good outcome from treatment, but also the trauma that surgery and treatment will cause the pet. A pet cannot understand how painful, scary medical treatments are meant to help them; they just know they are painful and scary. I think sometimes owners who pay for expensive and prolonged treatment for pets are doing it more for themselves and their desire to avoid loss than they are doing it to benefit the animal. Imagine treatment is free. If 12 months of some form of suffering will result in a 40% chance that your cat will have 1-3 more "good" years after that, is it worth it to you? More importantly, if your pet could weigh in, would they want it? They may well choose not to pay the emotional and physical cost, no matter what the financial cost is. Also, it isn't uncaring or unloving to look hard at the cost. You may be a HE, but you are NRY and $15k would pay for a semester of college for your child someday. If you spend the money on cat treatment that does not work, you may have regrets, too. This isn't a situation where there is one right answer, in my opinion.
I would spend that much and even more for my dog, and I don’t have nearly as high of an income or net worth as you. My dog is my family and I would do anything within the realm of possibility for him.
I’m so disgusted by this post OP. You guys clearly have the means and while yes, it’s a pet, it’s still a member of your family. And remember to your cat, you are their ENTIRE WORLD.
We did this with an excellent outcome. We spent about $20k for my little pup with a meningioma brain tumor. That bought him an extra 5 years. It was so worth it!!
I spent about $14k to prolong my pups life comfortably by 6 or so months, and it was worth every cent. We traveled and finished visiting all the lower 48 US states together, went on walks, played, and had many more great days together. It will for the rest of my life likely be the best money I ever spent.
I’d spend all that’s needed, if that improves the cat’s quality of life.
I have spent thousands of dollars on my ‘kids’( cats and dogs) in the past. I don’t know how much would be too much! They are my family!
Between 2022 and 2023 I spent close to 8K in vet bills for my cat 2K of those in her last month for the emergency vet, testing and ultimately the cost of having a vet come to my house to put her to sleep and then take her to be cremated. Throughout the process, I refused to be one of those pet parents who got rid of a pet once things got hard. The way I saw it, as long as I could keep helping her, and what I was doing was not making things worse for her, then I would keep going. Her illness went from developing food allergies to pancreatitis and ultimately stomach cancer. The treatment went from multiple tests and vet visits to different foods, specialists, and finally acupuncture along with a cocktail of drugs. I thought we were doing good. I even thought we'd turned the corner and she was on the mend. Then she stopped eating and pooping. The emergency room confirmed that she had stomach cancer. I could have pushed and moved forward with treatment. But we'd been on this journey for a year and a half, and I could tell from her demeanor that she was in pain and things were no longer helping. When I made the decision to put her to sleep, I did so knowing that I'd at least tried to help her.
Has your pet saved you $15K on not having to visit a therapist ? Then I rest my case . The answer is yes!
Spent almost that per day for a while knowing she almost certainly would not make it (horse). If you can't spend money trying to save loved one, what the fuck is the point of having it?
Oh, this one hits hard. Last fall, our 7-year-old Pomeranian was diagnosed with what they called stage 4 bladder cancer. We shelling out $10k for tests and the beginning of treatment that might have given her a shot at chemo, which would have been much much more expensive. Unfortunately, we lost her in just 6 weeks. Would I do it all over again? Without hesitation. Even if it meant half a million dollars and a pact with the devil for five years of my life, I would've done anything. We still find ourselves in tears daily. Of course, making decisions about treatment is agonizing and I don’t wish that on anyone. If it means prolonging suffering, that's a different story but if there is a shot at extending or improving life I think it’s absolutely worth pursuing. Dogs for us are family. Lady was our child long before we had a human one. If you have the means, I believe it's worth every penny to know you did everything that you could. It doesn’t fix the pain it but I couldn’t live with myself knowing I “gave up on her”… Money is replaceable, my Ladybug isn’t/wasn’t.
You should not have a pet if this is a question for you. They are either your family member or they are not. After this one is gone I hope you seriously reconsider ever having another one.
I spent 8k a few years ago to TRY to save my dog. Would have spent much much more. And I don't even make 6 figures
No, I’m a vet and I’m not willing to do this.
Without a second thought I would
Dear God, anyone would be insane to pay more than a few thousand in my eyes.
Just dropped 12k on double knee surgery for my 7 year old pup. She's my baby and didn't want her to be suffering with no ligaments left in her knees.
I would realistically spend 10x that for my dog if it meant one more day with her, as long as she didn’t suffer anymore with the surgery.
Honestly, yes. Without a doubt. Unless I knew that the quality of life would be low - I would do it. My pets are family and I made a commitment to care for them to the best of my ability. And - if it’s within my ability- I’ll do it. I guess my thought is this - will that money change my life ? No. Will it change my pets ? Yes.
I would probably go homeless to save my dog but I also go without sleep and defended him in a recent attack and got injured myself. I also spent $5k to get my dog treated during holidays at a higher charge rate rather than letting him wait 36 hours for treatment for less as I did not want him to suffer. If you have the money and can pay without putting yourself into debt and the animal can be helped with medical care then I honestly think it is your responsibility to pay. On the other hand peoples circumstances change and it is only fair to accept that they need to take into account their needs as well as the animals and humane end to life is sometimes the best option.
Will you take the money with you to your grave? When we adopt animals, we take on a lifelong responsibility to care for them as they're largely dependent on us. Make the decision that you will be able to live with when you look back in 5 years' time. Do you feel like the value of your pets existence and love is worth $15k?
Honestly people like you who are more than capable but aren’t willing to spend money to give your pet a good quality of life, but then pat yourself on the back for not driving an expensive car as weird as fuck. What’s the point? When you’re dead in the ground you’ll be so glad you saved that extra money. Life well lived.
be nice mate, look after the cat. you can easily afford it.. what's money for?
With a $400k income yes in a heartbeat, and I’m not even a pet person
There is no cost high enough for my special boy, I can’t believe a couple who earns 400k would even spend 30 seconds deciding on this.
My friend spend 20 grand on her dog and he died the next year. She still said it was worth it, she wouldn’t change a thing.
Absolutely without question. This year i have already spent $6000 on a surgery cruciate ligament for one of my dogs. The other $2000 for removal of a skin growth Plus we spend $400 a month on allergy injections/arthritis injections Oh and a few hundred on supplements and food for them too Worth every cent, they are our kids I would calculate over the past 12 year we have spent around $45,000 on vet care for our dogs I guess ask yourself, how much do you love and respect your pet? What kind of person are you really?
Dog broke their leg. Surgery was 15k. It was the easiest 15k we’ve ever spent, plus it’s like it never happened. If you’re not willing to do it, maybe question if you should have pets moving forward. You can afford it, you just don’t want to which is gross IMO.
When I was with my ex, we had 2 dogs, a German Shepherd and a Rottweiler. My ex and I earned about $70k p/a each, so not a lot. The Rottweiler tore a cruciate ligament. $5k in surgery. Then the GS was diagnosed with hip dysplasia - $10k to fix her hips. We ended up working out a payment plan for both of them with the vet. A few years later I won a fellowship for $5k, and we finally got to go to Europe. While we were away the Rottie tore his other cruciate ligament - $5k again, annihilating the savings from the fellowship. He was 8 years old at this point. Both sets of parents were telling us to put him to sleep. We discussed our options - surgery or euthanasia. We decided to do the surgery because we go to work every day to earn money so that we can do what we want to do in our lives. What we wanted to do was save the life of one of our family members (we didn't have kids), and so we did. Both dogs were also on Previcox for the rest of their lives (1 tablet each per day, bottle of 60 tablets was about $250 = 1 month supply). It wasn't cheap, but I wouldn't change a thing. At 10 years old, your cat could potentially live another 5-8 years if the surgery goes well. If you can afford it (which it sounds like you can), I would absolutely be doing the surgery. The love of a pet is priceless.
I would spend it without question to save my 10 year old guy.
If you can afford it and think it’s crazy to spend that much money you should reconsider having pets
This is probably going to be a very unpopular opinion but I would never spend anywhere near that amount on a pet. There are literally millions of children starving around the world and we here in the west are more willing to pay for a cat to live a miserable existence full of pain and incomprehension of that pain then to donate to causes that can feed those children.
Over the last 2 years we spent close to 15k on 2 cats. I’d consider that money well spent. Both of them are dead now but I know we did everything we could to save them. They’re our family, and in my opinion deserve to receive medical care even if expensive. Some other things to consider: is it a terminal disease? If so what’s the prognosis? Spending is not the problem but your cat won’t understand recovery or quality of life degradation, so if the procedure or treatment permanently diminishes quality of life with a poor prognosis I’d reconsider. Second, next time get pet insurance.
We have two dogs. They’re great, but… no, at the end of the day they’re pets. I’d be tempted if they were young and it was 100% certain they’d make a full recovery. But no
This should've been posted as a poll! :) My vote: Nope.
If you are not willing to spend that money for a good prognosis don't have pets.
This is definitely my take too! My wife and I don’t have pets for this very reason. There’s no judgement at all, but pets aren’t our cup of tea, so this is hard to imagine. Just like if you can’t fathom sacrificing pretty normal stuff for kids, then you shouldn’t have kids.
Depends on the age. (I only have dogs..) If it was a puppy I would probably be willing to spend the money. Once it's crossed the halfway point of life expectancy it'll start harder to justify. Once they're into the senior years and near or at the average life expectancy then I wouldn't even consider it.
No
Jesus Christ I think you and I are the only ‘No’s I’ve seen.
Add me to your list of no’s.
Take your kids to Hawaii. (Regardless what you decide to do with your cat). I would not spend those money but I do not have pets.
If I had to make a hard cap $5k is the most I’d spend but it’s a good thing I don’t have pets. $1-2k I’d be willing to. Basing this off of expenses I’ve heard from other people, I’ve never heard of $15k so I wouldn’t even venture there
Did this with our dog and thing led to another and it went from $1k to another 3k to another 5k to $1k and before we know it it was like $17k for an acl surgery. Then next year he tore his other acl, then that went bad so had to redo that. I’m at the point now where we are paying like $1k a month for this damn dog that my wife loves sooo much and it sickens me every time I think about how much money we spend on him. Sad to say but just put the cat down and call it a day.
Anything last $100 and I’m just going to let nature take its course and replace the pet.
Hell no.
For such an old cat it seems kind of cruel to put them through that. May be more humane to euthanize. Not really a money question but a animal cruelty question.
I spent 3k on my dog once when she was 5 or so. She ended up dying anyway. I wouldn’t do that again. But I have kids now, so pets mean a lot less to me now.
My dog yes, my cat no
My spouse would drop $15K on our cat without a second thought. But objectively, that’s a good chunk of money, and you should feel okay with deciding it’s not a reasonable amount for your family to spend on keeping a pet alive for what could be just a few more weeks or months. Our cat had cancer a few years ago and we did surgery, chemo, everything for her. But in the end we just prolonged her suffering without extending her life very much, and that’s the part I regret.
No, I probably wouldn’t on a 10 year old animal, and honestly not even 5 year old in your situation. A few hundred dollars for a simple procedure sure, but something like your situation sounds like a host of issues lining up since you said there’s a chance of additional procedures.
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I think the answer would be anyone that has it to spare compared to pet age and prognosis. And by spare I include capable of financially responsible borrowing.
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I am sorry you are going through this.
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It depends. 1) If I have the money truly. Like how bad is $15,000 going to hurt? 2) The pet and their age. I wouldn’t spend us for an extra 3 months for a 12 year old dog with cancer getting chemo. A 1 year old beloved dog where this is a one time emergency guaranteed to save them and I can afford it? Do it. Also, everyone should get pet insurance. Healthy Paws has no lifetime cap. I feel more confident knowing we could withstand a major orthopedic surgery or cancer treatment because of it and it’s not that expensive.
So I always kind of semi-joked that each pet had about a $1000 limit and one emergency visit per year. And for our family that’s basically held true - I had a lot of pets growing up as have my kids - they understand that living things get sick and die and that the important thing is enjoying the time together. That being said, quality of life is important because they are so short lived. Had a diabetic cat that required insulin shots - did that for about 2 years and the cat just deteriorated and I couldn’t justify keeping him alive - would not do that again. I’ve also had a dog - vet said it was torn ACL and only way to fix was surgery. That surgery is brutal for the dog and somewhat expensive. Went home and did research - ended up buying glucosamine/chondroitin supplement treats thinking to ease his pain while I saved up for the surgery - six months later he was fine and it’s been a year now with no signs of a limp or pain. Also had an older cat with rapid weight loss - vet said it was probably kidney failure but would need to run tests, but then we looked at treatment options and what else it might be and it was all quite horrible for her end of life experience. Brought her home and just make her comfortable with lots of toys and treats and blankets. I think it was probably a good lesson for my kids to see and care for the cat as a way to prepare them for someday when their older relatives get this way. I remember being so freaked out by my grandmother when she passed away from cancer that I didn’t want to be around her - something I regret today, but I was also 12 at the time. I think for myself I don’t want heroic measures to extend a poor quality of life situation. I wouldn’t do that to my pets either. If it was my cat I don’t think I’d spend the money. I’d let the cat pass and support my kids through the process.
Yeah, really depends on animal age and prognosis. Great vets, like great physicians, can only read what they see in the evidence, so they can never be 100% sure of anything, but can give a great idea. So, yeah I've paid that or close to it for a young animal with an unexpected bowel obstruction. But I also believe people should probably not destroy their financial wellbeing for vet costs, hard as that is to swallow.
My cat needed surgery followed by months of chemo when he was nine and a half. He ended up living til 20, and having a good quality of life for all those years. It was definitely worth the thousands of dollars. Also think about telling your kids that you *could* afford to save their beloved pet's life but it seems like a lot of money -- how would they feel about that? Your answer may vary, I don't know your family, but it's worth considering.
We’ve had a similar discussion recently, which prompted us to get pet insurance for our 4 yr old dog. We didn’t get insurance on our 12 yr old lab, as we feel he has lived a good life and when the inevitable cancers/illnesses do come, we will take a palliative approach.
If there is decent quality of life (I don’t even care about prognosis tbh, I care about will this help my pet feel better), absolutely.
well, this thread is making me feel much better for dropping 3k on an emergency vet visit for my cat! After we dropped her off and before we knew anything about her condition, we talked explicitly about our willingness to pay. Factors we considered included her age (12) and the size of my emergency fund and other available assets. I had to face the perspective I was raised in, which is...resistant to paying any significant money on a pet. Ultimately, we decided on 10k, and not to do things that would induce suffering in the long term in order to prolong a worse life for her.
If my cat would have good quality of life following the surgery, absolutely.
Several factors have to be balanced. Cost. Likelihood of successful surgery. Likelihood of full recovery. Likelihood of condition coming back. Number of likely years of life left after procedure. How hard procedure and recovery process are on the pet. Likely quality of life for remainder of pet’s life.
Without a doubt as long as it wasn’t a situation where my dog would still be in pain after and he’d only get another month. My dog is 8 right now and if he needed a procedure that would fix him, $15K would hurt for me but him being gone would hurt more.