What is your healthcare budget for older pets?

[Carpediem]

Our family dog will be turning 11 years old in a couple of months. The average lifespan for this particular breed is 11-13 years with a high of around 15. We are starting to see more health related issues popping up and it seems every trip to the vet results in another $150-$200. We spent around $500 in Feb for a biopsy. This week we'll be going to a vet ophthalmologist. I'm starting to wonder if I have budgeted enough in retirement for HC. How much do you pet owners typically budget for healthcare for your pets?

 

[Whisper66]

We haven't specifically budgeted healthcare cost for our dogs. The costs are just one of many unexpected, random expenses that the fat we have in our budget takes care of. Just guessing, the yearly costs for our dogs have maybe doubled in the last couple years of their lives. So not a huge change but noticeable.

 

[timo2]

Great Question. We only loosely budgeted for it. But you are right, considering how expensive a trip to the animal hospital is getting, that is something we might want to nail down a little more.

A few years ago I investigated pet health insurance, but it looked like a break-even thing. the cost of the the health insurance then was about what we were spending anyway. I don't know about now since the animal hospital prices seem to have gone up quite a bit.

 

[Dawg52]

No budget, just do what I have to do. A few weeks ago my lab ate something he shouldn't have and he spent a week at the vet on IV's. Cost $800. He's pushing 9 so I will do whatever I can to maintain his health.....within reason. I know one lady who spent $10k on cancer treatments for her 10 year old Irish Setter. I'm not doing that.

 

[REWahoo]

No budget, just do what I have to do. A few weeks ago my lab ate something he shouldn't have and he spent a week at the vet on IV's. Cost $800. He's pushing 9 so I will do whatever I can to maintain his health.....within reason. I know one lady who spent $10k on cancer treatments for her 10 year old Irish Setter. I'm not doing that.

+1

Our old lab is pushing 14 - almost 100 in "dog years." We think the world of her but it is unlikely we would spend significant money on her should she develop a serious medical problem.

 

[Carpediem]

A few years ago I investigated pet health insurance, but it looked like a break-even thing. the cost of the the health insurance then was about what we were spending anyway. I don't know about now since the animal hospital prices seem to have gone up quite a bit.

Speaking of pet health insurance, we got roped into the Banfield program one year and not only was it a waste of money, but it was very difficult to get it cancelled.

It seems to me that the pet healthcare 'system' and costs are starting to follow the same path as our current healthcare system which is a scary thought.

 

[Midpack]

Essentially unlimited. We're talking about family members.

 

[Texas Proud]

No budget, just do what I have to do. A few weeks ago my lab ate something he shouldn't have and he spent a week at the vet on IV's. Cost $800. He's pushing 9 so I will do whatever I can to maintain his health.....within reason. I know one lady who spent $10k on cancer treatments for her 10 year old Irish Setter. I'm not doing that.

+2

We have cats and all of us love them.... but I am also one that says 'in reason'...

As an example... one of my sisters adopted a dog... months later is had a problem and cost her more than $5,000.... not sure how much more as she did not say... even though the dog was young I do not think it is worth that much for a pet... sure, part of the family but there is a limit that everybody will have... it might not be $5K, but I bet nobody here saying 'unlimited' is going to shell out $100K to save their pet... the question is where is your limit...

 

[Carpediem]

... it might not be $5K, but I bet nobody here saying 'unlimited' is going to shell out $100K to save their pet... the question is where is your limit...

+1 Is anyone willing to go back to w*rk if needed to save their pet?

 

[Silver]

Our 6 year old papillon is our constant companion, and we are besotted with him. But I believe that it is the nature of all living things to die, and I would/will treat him as I want to be treated when illness or age takes away most of my quality of life. Keep pain and fear at bay until it is clear that recovery is not likely, and then provide a quick painless death.

 

[Tadpole]

My dog is 11 and I just paid for a CCL repair which, all told, cost about $1000. If the treatment was likely to improve his quality of life, I probably wouldn't hesitate to pay. But, I've had a dog get cancer that progressed rapidly and I don't think I would put a dog through a lengthy period in pain while I tried lengthy treatment.

 

[timo2]

Often the dog will often let you know when it is time to go if you pay attention to it and don't just think of yourself.


That said, we have ended up near $5K a couple of times over 30 years and 6 dogs (we still have 2). What happens is there is this test and that medicine and then another test and then an overnight stay or two. and an ultrasound or x ray thrown in which require anesthesia. Eventually one pulls the plug, but you don't know when you walk in with a sick dog where it will end up. No one wants to put a potentially healthy animal to sleep. But the animal health system will bleed you dry if you let them.


My sort of unwritten rule for my dogs is if they can't poop on their own anymore, it's time to go. (in my experience it means the dog is in too much pain to poop). I have not decided if that rule should apply to me also.

 

[euro]

Our 6 year old papillon is our constant companion, and we are besotted with him. But I believe that it is the nature of all living things to die, and I would/will treat him as I want to be treated when illness or age takes away most of my quality of life. Keep pain and fear at bay until it is clear that recovery is not likely, and then provide a quick painless death.

+1. No point in letting the animal suffer without any sort of quality of,life. Fortunately, for animals, that option exists. Wish it was more broadly available for people too.

 

[Bamaman]

Often the dog will often let you know when it is time to go if you pay attention to it and don't just think of yourself.

My sort of unwritten rule for my dogs is if they can't poop on their own anymore, it's time to go. (in my experience it means the dog is in too much pain to poop). I have not decided if that rule should apply to me also.

Healthcare budget for a pet? I cannot even come up with a healthcare budget for the family.

Best thing I've done is find an animal hospital that doesn't charge nearly as much as the other vets. They're downright cheap.

I did spend $1000 to get Hank The Rottweiler's leg fixed when he had an accident with the garbage truck. But I swore I'd never spend that much on him again, and we got another 5 more years before prostate cancer got the best of him.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Over the last 12 years we have spent about 35k total on vet bills and sometimes we have had 4 dogs. WE got our first one 12 years ago and I never heard of a puppymill. So we take her to the vet and she is 2 months old and the vet said she will be dead shortly after she turned 1. It turns out she came from a mill and had a heart defect where your blood rushes back and forth, your heart enlarges and you die. The pet store only guaranteed the dog for a year. So we paid 4k for surgery and she is alive and well 12 years later. Now all our dogs are between 12 and 20. 3 are on meds (about 300 month). So I have decided that we will be pickier about how much we spend at this stage. Our big guy is 80 lbs and we spent 1k on bloodwork, xrays, ultrasound over a period of months because he was throwing up so much. I wanted to make sure he was not suffering from cancer, etc. Now he is on a bland diet for life but if he gets sick again and we can't resolve it with meds then it will be time. For the one that is 20 beyond meds we would let her go. This experience has taught me that just like people animals get old and the expenses go way up. We will probably only have 1 or 2 dogs in the future.

 

[W2R]

No budget for pet health care, because I don't have a pet. Neither does Frank. We love animals but just are not ready to commit to that responsibility any time soon.

 

[ivinsfan]

Essentially unlimited. We're talking about family members.

Would you put quality of life into this equation. Do you think you would give a pet aggressive Cancer treatment? In my mind the pet does not know that the effect of the treatment is to prolong their lives, they just know they feel bad and or sick all the time. Would you ever euthanize a pet, it certainly seems to be bad form to euthanize a person, but it is quite accepted in the animal medical world.

What if a pet required such expensive treatment and you couldn't pay for your own health insurance, would go without insurance.

I understand the sentiment of your answer, but many people think of their pets as family and wouldn't spend unlimited money on them.

 

[MRG]

I recall a recent check up on our 10 year old Maltese with a new vet. She was happy his cloudy eyes were not cataracts but something else that won't make him go blind. I responded good as his health care plan did not include eye surgery.

We've had a few expensive bills($1000- $1500) but not the megabucks kind.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

my dog is like my child(he loves me more i think)

No budget, just do what I have to do. A few weeks ago my lab ate something he shouldn't have and he spent a week at the vet on IV's. Cost $800. He's pushing 9 so I will do whatever I can to maintain his health.....within reason. I know one lady who spent $10k on cancer treatments for her 10 year old Irish Setter. I'm not doing that.

we spent well over 23k, worth every dime to us, it was one of the few times i told the bride instead of asking her,"i dont care what it costs, as long as they save my baby", they saved him, thats all that mattered he is not suffering,its only money, thats y i worked, when they put us in the ground im sure i will have enough to bury me so the rest was excess

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

i would go back tomorrow

+1 Is anyone willing to go back to w*rk if needed to save their pet?

i would go back sweeping streets if it would give me the means to save my dog

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

i agree

Essentially unlimited. We're talking about family members.

i told (instead of asked which i always do) the bride if we have to sell the house ,im saving that baby, we didnt have to sell, they saved my baby, thats all that mattered to me, he is my best friend

 

[RunningBum]

Would you put quality of life into this equation. Do you think you would give a pet aggressive Cancer treatment? In my mind the pet does not know that the effect of the treatment is to prolong their lives, they just know they feel bad and or sick all the time. Would you ever euthanize a pet, it certainly seems to be bad form to euthanize a person, but it is quite accepted in the animal medical world.

What if a pet required such expensive treatment and you couldn't pay for your own health insurance, would go without insurance.

I understand the sentiment of your answer, but many people think of their pets as family and wouldn't spend unlimited money on them.

Yep. One of my cats, age 7, recently got sick. I took her in 4 or 5 times as she was losing a lot of weight, not eating much, less social, and finally starting to hide. Finally diagnosed with a tumor. She was almost certainly too sick to survive an operation and chemo, and I think cancer usually comes back within a year or so. I didn't want her to go through surgery, recovery, treatment, and then start all over soon again. Just the 40 minute ride to the vet was always hard on her. I didn't have a set expense limit, but I know there was a limit somewhere. It turned out to be a quality of life decision to put her down rather than budget. I've probably been lucky in that this was the first of four cats that had any extended illness, and even this was only a couple months and I'm pretty sure didn't exceed $1000. I certainly would've spent more if there was a decent chance she'd have gotten better

 

[StaceyR]

Would you put quality of life into this equation. Do you think you would give a pet aggressive Cancer treatment? In my mind the pet does not know that the effect of the treatment is to prolong their lives, they just know they feel bad and or sick all the time. Would you ever euthanize a pet, it certainly seems to be bad form to euthanize a person, but it is quite accepted in the animal medical world.

Sadly, we had to make that decision in February. Our 13 year old Danish/Swedish Farmdog had suddenly stopped eating and chasing his ball...the two things in life he loved best. After several expensive vet visits an ultrasound scan revealed major tumors causing internal blockage. The prior Mast Cell tumors we had removed several years ago had returned internally and were too far advanced to be treated. We decided to end his suffering which was not an easy decision. Apparently this broke my heart as less than a week later I suffered a heart attack. Thanks to my health insurance I spent less on my hospital and doctor bills than for my dog's vet bills. We don't have true pet insurance but do pay to belong to a plan that offers large discounts on most pet health care expenses.

 

[Carpediem]

We don't have true pet insurance but do pay to belong to a plan that offers large discounts on most pet health care expenses.

Do you mind sharing what plan you belong to? If you'd rather not, that's okay too. Thanks.

 

[StaceyR]

The company is called United Pet Care. They are only in AZ and CA right now so I don't know if this will help you. Our younger dog has epilepsy so this plan easily pays for itself.