Karen-in-Ohio made an excellent point, asking how families manage the kind of expenses that pets can incur. There are hundreds of small charities out there helping owners with overwhelming medical bills. If you search for "charities to help pay vet bills in -my state-" you'll quickly see what's out there. If you're an animal lover, looking for a way to help folks in straightened times, this is an excellent way to do so.
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Those of you who are regular visitors to JRW will remember the saga of Walker, the $15,000 cat. I was discussing the epic while a guest at Hallie’s house, and she pointed out it was more like $17,000, with the USDA certification fee, the in-cabin airline pet fees, and having to buy Youngest a brand new ticket when we discovered Jet Blue didn’t allow pets to travel IN the plane. So for now, Walker will be known as the $17,000 cat. That’s $26,265 CAD, for our northern friends.
I say for now, because I recently discovered Walkers stubborn refusal to put on weight is due to a hyperactive thyroid. Easily cured by giving him two pills a day (at the current cost of $200 a year) for the rest of his life, which should be another 13 to 17 years, if he doesn’t escape the house again and fling himself under a passing vehicle. OR I can solve the problem at one go with a radioactive iodine treatment for $1,700 - $2,000.
Dear readers, I invite you to picture my face upon hearing this.
Reds, have any of you gone to absurd lengths to keep a pet healthy? Does anyone have a veterinary tale as unbelievable as mine?
RHYS BOWEN: My daughter’s dog just tore an ACL. This involves surgery at UC Davis veterinary hospital, plus constant monitoring for two weeks, plus being confined to a small area so that she doesn’t overuse the leg. A month before surgery she tore the second ACL. That surgery will be two months after the first one. And believe me, neither is cheap. I gather the ACL tear is a common problem of the breed. My other daughter who has a delightful mutt sniffed and said, “Pure breeds!”
DEBORAH CROMBIE: Our German shepherd Jasmine hasn’t quite caught up with Walker, but it’s close–like maybe a new sofa and a trip to England amount on the good old Citibank card. What happened to her was so bizarre that I don’t think you can blame it on the breed. We will probably never know what caused the infection in her neck, and it wasn’t a sudden decision to commit to surgery or a course of treatment, it was one trip to the vet, another to the pet ER, then another to the vet, etc., etc. The good news is that after three months, even though she still has a couple of staples and still has a wrap around her neck and a soft e-collar, she’s almost completely healed. I sure wish we’d had pet insurance!
HALLIE EPHRON: I’ve never had a dog, and cats only briefly before being hospitalized with asthma and having to give those sweetie-pies up. But I get it. A pet is a commitment, a chore and a delight. Heck, we took our hamster to the vet when he came down with testicular cancer. Of course we did.
JULIA: Hallie, I'm trying SO hard not to laugh at the idea of hamster testicles...
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Oh, my darling cat Lola lived to be 20, and in her most senior years, she was often at the vet. She would NOT get into the cat carrier to go there, though. She would stick her legs straight out wide, stiff, like a cartoon cat, and refuse. The only way to get her to the vet was to put her on my shoulder where she;d ride like a parrot. Of course, I would have done anything for her, even at the end, where she was still fine, but frail, and would eat only fresh ground turkey or chopped up fresh shrimp. Fine with me, whatever she wanted.
As for giving Walker pills, Julia, good luck with that. Lola would gobble up whatever I gave her to try to hide her pills–lamb, tuna, chicken–then swallow dramatically, then daintily spit out the pill.
JULIA: I've bought some fancy pill pockets, Hank - we'll see how well they work.
JENN McKINLAY: Oof, I’ve had some pricey vet bills when the schnauzer had his cancerous toe removed and when one of our dogs went into kidney failure while we were traveling and we kept her on dialysis until we could get back (only because she wasn’t suffering and we returned within days). I’ve always had pets and I believe as their person our deal is that I take care of them to the best of my abilities and as long as their quality of life is at the forefront of every decision. Since I like my critters more than most people, paying for their care is a no-brainer. LOL.
LUCY BURDETTE: Agree with the others–paying exorbitant sums for medical care as needed is part of the deal when acquiring a pet. After we adopted Tonka the Aussie, who was “free” because his teeth were not show-dog quality, he tore his rotator cuff three weeks into our tenure. The breeder told us to bring him back, she’d exchange him for another dog. Can you imagine? After three weeks we were hopelessly in love. So we paid for the $3000 surgery and many other procedures over the year. Money well spent for the joy he brought!
JULIA: This reminds me of the Mastercard ads: Pet Food - $30, Pet Cataract Surgery - $3000, Having a best friend for life: Priceless. How do you feel about it, dear readers?
Julia, I don’t know what happened with your post but it is unreadable
ReplyDeleteSorry, Danielle! See the explanation below.
DeleteAll the lines are cut off at the right. As Danielle says, that makes it unreadable.
ReplyDeleteMe three … if not unreadable, there are some full words, it is unintelligible, Must be a Monday! Elisabeth
DeleteIt just got a little bit better, but a lot is still cut off.
DeleteThank you for fixing the line wrap! And good luck with Walker and the pills, Julia. Not easy!
DeleteForty years ago our fierce little Malian cat had a broken hip. Vet said he needed a replacement which would cost hundreds of dollars. My husband and I had two young sons and no money. I called a friend who was a vet, and she said plenty of cats do fine on three legs and that he might form a new joint. We kept him unhappy in a cage for three weeks, and he lived a long hunter's life for years after that. His body figured out how to heal itself.
Hugh and I aren't really into heroic measures for our beloved furry feline housemates, despite how much we love them. (Ducking from the icy glares...)
I especially want to read about the hamster testicles! The rest of the story please!
ReplyDeleteI imagine it's very short, Gillian.
DeleteROFL
DeleteProblem with right side cut off too.
ReplyDeleteSorry, Anon! See the explanation below.
DeleteNo pets these days, so no vet stories to share --- Joan
ReplyDeleteI was able to keep scrolling right to read each line, but yes, Blogger must have a Super Bowl hangover.
ReplyDeleteFeeling really lucky after reading these stories. Our second dog also needed to be on thyroid pills for many years - we were not offered the one-time treatment.
Glad to hear Jasmine continues to get better.
Sorry, Lisa! See the explanation below.
DeleteI tried to figure out how to do that Lisa but couldn't. Hopefully it will be resolved soon.
ReplyDeleteIn order to do what Lisa did you have to be in the regular text version, not the web version. Marjorie
DeleteSorry, Marjorie! See the explanation below.
DeleteJulia, no reason to be sorry. I so rarely use the web version. Thus I could scan and read text so only a minor issue. Marjorie
DeleteI highlighted Julia's entire post, copied, then pasted in Word on a blank page and viola - the whole post was readable.
ReplyDeleteYes, that works!
DeleteYeah, but...
DeleteThat's what I did too...
DeleteBrilliant, but annoying. Thanks for sticking with us!
DeleteIt's dog shot month for our two standard poodles. $$$. And then there's the grooming bill. Worth every penny.
ReplyDeleteI'm with the others - I'd love to read the rest of the stories, but the text is cut off.
ReplyDeleteI've been fortunate to avoid exorbitant vet bills with both dogs. So far. Now going to knock on every wooden surface available.
Sorry, Liz! See the explanation below.
DeleteRhys, what breed is your daughter's dog? I've heard that purebred animals can be susceptible to various things. Maybe better not mess with mother nature.
ReplyDeleteNo pets, but most likely would care for them by whatever means necessary.
ReplyDeleteAs a no pet person, I agree with Dru Ann. Elisabeth
DeleteMust reread when Blogger gets this fixed!
ReplyDeleteIn our second floor apartment, where we lived after we married, my cat, Napoleon, hopped up to the railing on the front porch and slid off into the snow piled in the pocket handkerchief front yard. He ruptured the ACL of his left rear knee. (I hadn’t even realized cats had knees) A $600 surgery later we were home. No jumping, please. (The surgeon asked if I had a room I could move all the furniture out of for 6 weeks. Hah! In a 5 room apartment?!) And then, because they hadn’t put a cone on Napoleon calmly picked out all the stitches on his leg. $100 later we had a cone. Napoleon loved to be 16 but he never skied again. (Sorry)
Before they got married, youngest and her husband-to-be lived together for a few months, along with their chocolate Lab Samson. She sent us all a cryptically-worded message: "Jay just paid for a $6,000 rock." Because Sam ate a chunk of their landscaping and had to have emergency surgery.
ReplyDeleteYes, please: fix the text in the essay! Thank you.
Ten years ago my friend's beloved beagle Lucy had a severe health crisis. Estimate from the vet to fix: $25,000. She was 14 years old, and up to pretty close to that time she was a 25-pound eating machine who could open any refrigerator that had not been padlocked against her. (Not kidding. She could even move barstools close to counters so she could climb up and eat cooling roasts, etc.) My friend decided against the operation, knowing in particular how long it would take Lucy to recover from surgery. She lived a good while after that, even without it.
DeleteSorry, Karen! See the explanation below.
DeleteHey, sometimes there are glitches in posting, right? Things happen. Julia's away, I fixed, all good.
ReplyDeleteOf course, and thanks for fixing. We all just wanted to read the full post!
DeleteThanks for stepping in Hank! Hope all is well with Julia and her "babies".
DeleteThank you Hank
DeleteThank you Hank!
DeleteYay, thank you!
DeleteThank you, Hank. And yes things just happen. Elisabeth
DeleteThank you, Hank, and thanks to everyone for staying tuned. I've written out an explanation below.
DeleteThank you, Hank! Great post, Julia. Very relatable!
ReplyDeleteMy first golden retriever, Gloria, had an eating disorder. Like Bob, the golden retriever in Janet Evanovitch's Stephanie Plum series, Gloria ate everything. She ate plastic toys, my asthma inhaler, my pilates video, a couple of hairbrushes, a paint roller, a rotisserie chicken from the counter, my dark chocolate Dove pieces for my holiday cards (which were on a high mantel). This necessitated many trips to the vet. The three that stand out were #1 the dove chocolate incident--the vet told me to give her hydrogen peroxide to make her vomit. She didn't vomit until we were in the car on the way to the vet. The vet induced more vomiting until she was all cleaned out. #2 She ate a plastic food container (along with the food) which required a specialist visit, anesthesia and an endoscope procedure to remove the obstruction. #3 She ate the neighbor dog's plastic dog toy which required abdominal surgery and all the recovery that entailed. I have no idea how many thousands I spent, but it was a lot!
ReplyDeleteOh, my, Gillian. A Weimaraner named Ben lived with me for a while. He also ate anything…or tried to…never swallowed the large rocks…his favorites nylon underpants and nylon USCG dress socks. Both seemed to pass through his system without harm. Elisabeth
DeleteOmg! Gillian and Elisabeth! We had a dog who ripped into a trash bag and gobbled down at least a week old chicken carcass. She got deathly ill and was hospitalized for several days. She never really recovered completely but she did live a long life (about 16 or 17 yrs)
DeleteIt occurs to me, reading these posts, that having a pet more complicated than a goldfish is an absolute luxury these days. How could a family with little income afford to own a cat or dog?
ReplyDeleteMany just ignore their pet’s health problems or surrender them to the local pound.
DeleteKaren, one of my favorite places to give are charities that help owners pay for necessary pet care. I began giving to the Shamrock Animal Fund in Syracuse as a way to honor my dad and his beloved cat Skitters.
DeleteI just checked for what's available in your state, and a whole host of charities - mostly tiny and all of them, I'm sure, in need of funds - popped up. See:
https://www.ohioanimaladvocates.org/grants-and-assistance
Our daughter poured a lot of money 💵 into her hedgehog named Barbie, but I do not know the total. Barbie was anorexic and had a brain tumor. First she lost one eye. She had to be fed a special formula stuff with a syringe.
ReplyDeleteAfter that she had a rescue dog who also developed cancer. She spent more big bucks on her until was no longer worthwhile and not keeping the dog from suffering. She was not deterred though as she then adopted a bonded pair of dogs. So far they have been healthy, but one had a brief scare with a liver issue with extra bloodwork and things.
It’s clear that I could never afford to have a dog, the only animal I would ever want. I know people who spend more money annually for pet food and veterinary care than I paid for my first (used) car. To get my dog “fix” I’’ll just need to visit pet owner family and friends! Nearly all dogs are attracted to me, and it’s rewarding to have the love of a canine friend!
ReplyDeleteDebRo
DebRo, that's one of the nice things about dogs - if you like them, there are all sorts of opportunities to share their company. I knew a family whose little boy LOVED dogs, but the mom had allergies, so it was out of the question. He started up a neighborhood dog-walking business - a win-win for everyone.
DeleteAnything for our critters!
ReplyDeleteI had a thyroid cat when iodine treatment was still a big deal and we would have had to travel to New Hampshire and leave Elvis for at least a month in their care - we opted for the pills and it worked out fine. Elvis was easy to pill, I use a straight stick pill shooter and secure the cat between my knees, open his mouth, and press the plunger and down it goes. Once we got the hormones straightened out, he lived a long happy life, considering it was estimated that he was in his teens when someone dumped him, probably because he was sick and he lived to be approximately 21.
My priciest cat, another dumped one, Cub. He, his sister, his and mother turned up in my yard Thanksgiving week 2012. They came with their own box. We had him a few months when he started acting funny. Took him to the vet who did exploratory surgery on his abdomen. $2k later, it turned out the cat had a bad case of gas. Then he developed kidney issues, urinary tract infections, and has completely blocked twice. Don't even remember what those treatments cost. Oh, and Cub has a bad attitude and hates his mother. Until we realized we had no choice but to keep them separated on different floors, we paid a few thousand when he attacked her and she abscessed. Twice. Let you be concerned - Cub just walked over my keyboard, and that habit has gotten me a timeout from Facebook for a week. Never figured out what he posted. Keep fighting the good fight, Julia.
Kait, I'm doing the annual cost calculation in my head, and my plan is to get Walker the iodine treatment when I have the money to spare. He's only 3, and, as you note, it's not unusual for strictly-indoor cats to live to be twenty! I figure if he makes it to 13, I'll break even, and every year after that will be savings!
DeleteA dog is a member of the family. We've racked up some vet bills over the years for various problems. The hard part is deciding when it is best to let nature take her course, with help. That is always a heartbreaker.
ReplyDeleteIt is, Pat. I've been fortunate in that the times I've needed to make that decision, it was obviously the right thing to do.
DeleteThank you for getting Today’s Jungle Reds all on the page. Elisabeth
ReplyDeleteAll thanks go to Hank, who always proves that "Help me, Hank" isn't just a reporting slogan, but her essential personality!
DeleteHA HA! Love that. xoxooo awww..
DeleteGlitch is fixed and I have disappeared! Trying again.
ReplyDeleteI have inherited my sister’s 2 cats whose names annoy us (she named them after my great grandmother and great grandfather and I find that disrespectful and also difficult in talking family lineage – “WW – do you mean the grandfather or the cat?” Anyway, they being her companions are probably approaching with various tests the $17,000 ($26,265 CAD). Our philosophy is check the cat/preference of amount of like – yes we do like some more than others/age/condition/what it involves and look at the economics of the situation, keeping in mind that we have a vet friend (can dispense advice but not meds as he is not “our vet – he says we can’t afford the practice he is with) and for 400-600$ you can get a new cat/dog from the SPCA. Cruel – probably, but practical, and you have to keep in mind we were farmers, and may view life and death differently. We do contemplate the diagnosis – eg 13 year old cat, cancer, quality of life with chemo or an easy death – you can guess our decision. Also, we now have 11 cats and 1 cranky dog who spragged his shoulder at 1 year old and lives on meloxicam (aspirin for dogs) and prednisone – oh and animal marijuana. All cheaper than the surgery.
Off topic – today is my first day alone – ok, I still live with the Uber driver. Thank you to all for your kind thoughts. Pat, my sister’s name was Pat, and as the vicar said she was called Patsy, Pat and even Paste. Apparently, she was not fond of Paste, but did prefer Pat. So today it is dishes, laundry, put away, repeat and next week will be start to clean her house, and decide what to distribute where. I may be buying my transplants this year as I don’t have time to even read the catalogues! Live does go on…
I forgot one of our cat stories. When Jolly, our sweet black and white male, was around two he started having severe urinary tract blockages. No treatments helped and we were eventually told the only option was surgery. I remember it was several thousand dollars, a lot for the time. So Jolly had his plumbing redone (cat sex change lol) and then had to be kept in a cage for six weeks so that he wouldn't jump. It was all worth it. He was a lovely cat and lived a long and happy life after that.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad all's well that ends well, Debs, but if I had known about Jolly, I would have added "cat sex change" to the labels!
DeleteI apologize to everyone for getting your mornings off to a weird and unhappy start, although it's lovely to know so many of you don't start the day without JRW. I had a doctor's appointment in Portland this morning, and, as those of you who live in rural areas know, you don't waste a trip in to the city. So I added on my city-specific shopping (did you know Portland has the ONLY Trader Joe's in the entire state? It's true!) blissfully unaware of the chaos left behind me.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, when I write a document in Google Docs, and then paste it into Blogger, it gets all wonkey. Now, you might think, aren't they both Google products? Yes! Yes, they are! And should in theory work together seamlessly. Alas, we live in the age of enshittification of the internet.
Much, much gratitude to Hank for rescuing this post, especially since we all know how busy she is. Thank you, Hank!!
We have spent thousands of dollars on our animals when they were ill and we would do it again, in a heartbeat. But it’s hard when you don’t have a lot of disposable income. You do the best you can for them. They give so much to us and ask so little in return. — Pat S
ReplyDeleteAmen to that, Pat! There have been times when our family has crowd sourced for pet care, with every one of the kids and me all chipping in.
DeleteKaren-in-Ohio made an excellent point, asking how families manage the kind of expenses that pets can incur. There are hundreds of small charities out there helping owners with overwhelming medical bills. If you search for "charities to help pay vet bills in -my state-" you'll quickly see what's out there. If you're an animal lover, looking for a way to help folks in straightened times, this is an excellent way to do so.
ReplyDeleteI'm adding this to the front page, because it's so important. Thank you, Karen, for bringing up the subject - I'm embarrassed I didn't think of it myself!
♥️
DeleteJulia, good luck with the pills! I was in tears at times trying to get my Miniature Schnauzer to take pills. My neighbor suggested liver sausage. I’d never heard of it, but found it at the store. He snarfed that that little lump of liver sausage down so fast he never noticed pills hidden inside! Good luck!
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI'm all in where a pet is concerned, and so is my husband. I'm not sure how much we spent trying to save Lulu, our Brittany Spaniel, who passed away right before Thanksgiving in 2024, but I know it was at least a couple of thousand, probably more. If we could have saved her, I would have gladly spent even more. Our dogs are part of the family, and Philip keeps sending me pictures of rescue Brittanys to adopt. Knowing we will be gone twenty days in a row late July and first two weeks of August, I hate to adopt one and leave it that long. So many are insecure and have abandonment issues, that I don't want to traumatize one with that long absence.
A dear friend of mine loves both dogs and cats. At one time she owned two large dogs and two cats. But that wasn't enough!! She also did foster care for kittens which she loved doing. That's always a great way to have a pet but not the vet costs.
DeleteWe’ve never hesitated treatment for any of our animals because of cost. Penny Lane needed both knees reworked before she was a year old at $4000. But the surgery worked and she was better than new afterwards. In almost thirty years we have had three dogs, only one purebred, and eight cats. Haven’t kept track of vet bills but I’m sure we’ve topped $30,000 in medical alone, whether emergent or routine visits, including tests and meds. Theme there is grooming, boarding or house and animal sitting, food, toys, and shoes and furniture.
ReplyDeleteNot cheap.
having a best friend (pet animal) for life is priceless! I am reminded of ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL.
ReplyDeleteYes All Creatures G and S is on tonight on our PBS station.
DeleteMy homeopathic vet does nonsurgerial ACL repairs. He treats dogs with torn ACLs using micro-current treatments and holistic methods. While we haven't had that come up (yet...I think we've had every other expensive thing you could think of)....we have used this approach with other health issues with amazing results.
ReplyDelete