I almost lost my dog this week.............

We had a similar situation with our 2 year old Lab last year. He quit eating, lost 20 lbs, no energy. 6 weeks and about $2k later, we found out he has Addisons Disease. He now is on daily meds for life, and a monthly shot. It's not hard to draw a line in the financial sand and say "I'd never spend $X on a dog", the problem is, is doesn't come in a single expense, rather it's usually drawn out over time.

Glad to hear your pet is ok.

 

It is indeed very expensive to go to the vet these days, with my dog's itching problems it costs $900 just to walk in through the door.

 

900 bucks for an office fee? You must mean $90 or 9 dollars?

 

How did the dog swallow 6 feet of rope?

$3,000 is steep but tests, a few office fees and surgery plus recovery isn't soo bad, Ive seen worse.

 

Dan,

Very sorry to see that. But great that he came through it. I lost a dog to this very same reason some years back and it is a hard thing to go through.

 

6 ft? Strange that a 6 year old dog would be ingesting something like that. Glad you were able to figure it out.

 

I once assisted a general surgeon operate on a young retarted guy from a psych hospital with an intestinal blockage. Got in there and it felt like a rat in his intestine...... Really.

So we opened the bowel and fortunately it was no rat, it was a twisted up piece of vinyl (from the arm of a vinyl reclining chair) that the guy ate.

Uneventful recovery.

 

I saw a bill for $900 for testing a paw of a cat... the vet thought the cut may be cancerous.

$900 bucks for a cut...

A money maker for sure.

 

Glad to hear that your St. Bernarnd is going to be ok, Dan.

 

Like I said any injury or illness and it's bank loan time.

 

Pet insurance! $30-$40 a month is a small price to pay when that surprise bill pops up....and it inevitably will.




















Sort of like owning a Ferrari

 

Yes, Pet Insurance.com is the way to go. I took a policy the first week I got Rigby (And have been paid quickly on three minor claims). Go to their website to see the four-page pdf in small print of all the things they cover. When you have a claim, you pay the Vet, they sign a form that they did the work and you fax the form and the bill off to Pet Insuranece .Com. They get a check off to you in about ten days.

If you sigb up, call them Vs. doing it on line. Not that there is any difference, but doing it on the phone, you get to talk to the people that open your policy and they are super nice and a good chance to get to know them a little better. I pay monthly that is billed to my AMX. For all the things you pay for every month, this type of insurance is a drop in the bucket to take care of a FAT bill for a misshap, God forbid if you ever need it (and probably will over a period of time).

Taking Rigby in on Monday for an issue. I know this bill will be about $500. Glad I have the insurance, as I know I'll have a check before my AMX bill comes in!

 

I assume pet insurance rates will go higher and higher as more people sign up to that idea.

Pets are getting cancer and all other types of diseases that they shouldn't be getting. Human food, pesticides, bad air etc. Whatever the cause, pets aren't dying of old age anymore.

 

Glad he is ok. My St.Bernard never eats anything strange and then about a year ago he threw up a little stuffed animal. You never know why they get interested in something. I would pay anything if he needed something. You can't put a price on that face when it looks up at you!

 

nope $900 Ive got my math right and I have been there to see the fee.

 

So you pay $900 to walk in the door then add all of the fees for the vet checking out your pet plus the meds or special foods etc?

There has GOT to be a cheaper place! No human hospital on the planet has office fees that high.

 

I'm freaked out if anything happens to rigby after 6PM where I live. The closest emergency Vet is an hour away!

 

well, they include hypoallergetic food..... all im saying is that the hospital that I go to to bring my dog is very expensive, its good to invest into pet insurance now before rates get higher.

 

That's what I was getting at. Your dog food for a couple of months and the office call and the test{s} = $900.