i have two dogs, thor the dobie, jake the mix, and two fixed male cats, clark the good one,...roland the evil one. Here is my year. Jake gets an ocular ulcer, my vet grids it twice,(eye) makes a blood serum from jakes blood for high drops. used human eye drops...

did you know there are canine opthomoligist?
She is a very nice lady. She grids the eye more aggressively....heals....

how much so far around 900 bucks. I am not rich. I had to do payments etc.

thor gashes the inside of his thigh....er vet to boone.....to clean the wound and make it bigger....the wound had began to heal. ( o yea i feel proud that we didnt notice it for two days but it was up at his groin and it wasnt till he turned over ....man i feel bad enough alright?)

this set me back 291.20 what the hell the 20 cents was I have no clue.

now added on to normal shots, worming, flea treatments...well I just can not afford another free dog or cat lol.....so what is your worse story of stupid vet bill.

and how far will you go to save your pet? one of my dobermans was thought to maybe have bone cancer, i researched it....before the test came back so I knew I would not do the treatment but let him go. (the treatment would have been total amputation of his hip and leg) giving him maybe 3 months to a year.

__________________
There is no greater sorrow
Than to be mindful of the happy time
In misery.

Dante

You go as far as you have money to pay.
When you can't afford it, time to thin the population.

I've been lucky in that I've always been able to afford my pets, but I'm ruthless when it comes to not having more than I can afford. I have horses, so we're talking $$ and time and trouble. I've kept horses when I couldn't really afford them, was lucky enough to have a mother to supplement my habit (she's a horse person too) but finally said enough is enough let's sell the lot, and I vowed not to have any more until I could afford them myself, without depending on others, and without praying they wouldn't get injured or ill.

I've never kept more than a couple of house pets...when the older boys were growing up I had one that was always bringing animals home so we had to deal with that. But finally when he grew up I made it real clear to him, you leave that dog here and it WILL be gone when you come back, so he doesn't do that anymore.

My mom always kept more animals than we could accomodate when I was growing up. Made a lasting impression on me, and it's something I won't do. Now we have one dog, thankfully a Russell who doesn't tolerate cats (or any other animal) so I don't have to worry about any other house pets. She keeps the kids busy and they keep her busy, she keeps pests out of my yard and my home (at least I assume so, I don't have any. And the skunk only came once, thank goodness, she sleeps with me and/or the kids in our beds. Under our covers.)

I can treat almost anything myself, including infections, if I can lay hands on the antibiotics which you used to be able to in the feed store. I don't know if you still can or not, it's been so long since I've had to treat anything. Horses I have the vet out if there's infection, otherwise, I haven't known many vets that can tell me much more than I know myself. EXCEPT in the case of illnesses that need to be tested for. Or stitch jobs.

The eye thing, I don't konw I'd spend much more on it myself, but that's just because I couldn't afford it. I'd probably opt for having the eye removed if it was a chronic and/or painful problem. A domestic dog can function fine with one eye.

The leg thing, just one of those things. I think if it was beginning to heal I probably wouldn't have taken him to the vet, but you never know, it sort of depends on how bad it looked and whether it was badly infected or not. I've treated infections with hot compresses before and had pretty good luck (no antibiotics, either, on the one I'm thinking of...an abcessed dog bite). But I'm not anti-vet, either. If I don't feel comfortable with something, it's to the vet we go and damn the torpedoes. Or, to my house the vet comes, damn the torpedoes, the time of day or night, and whether or not it's a holiday....

__________________
Poor Spot! He was tired of being thought of as stupid. "I'm gonna join Mensa," he said to myself, "and then I'll be legally permitted to wear the society's insignia--a tattoo of a little map pin pushed into my flesh--and then everyone'll know that I'm not dumb at all!"
Spot Joins Mensa
by James "Kibo" Parry

i guess i am a sucker. if more showed up i would take them in...and work on getting them better. i just dont mind doing without....i would never removed the eye of a dog if it could be saved.

as for the bills i dont owe anyone any vet bills...*knock on wood* and pay my bills. when i said I make payments....i mean to credit card if I have too.

the leg wound was not going to heal well...right in the inner thight.....next to the groin....I would rather spend the money than have a beat up looking dog.

__________________
There is no greater sorrow
Than to be mindful of the happy time
In misery.

Dante

I took Savannah for a booster on her rabies shot (she already had the one year 4 months before) because she got within 20 feet of a rabid groundhog. They charged me $90 for a rabies booster and a "psychological" screen, the vet was new. Savannah's perfect, except for being possessed by the Tasmanian Devil.....but come on, $90????

you paid what for a what? lol....i have to wonder who is mental now?

__________________
There is no greater sorrow
Than to be mindful of the happy time
In misery.

Dante

I spent almost $3000 to save a $600 cat that ended up having to be put to sleep anyway.

That does seem pretty high for rabies booster.If you have more than one vet near you, you should call and shop their prices before you take in your pet.

It was actually about $15 for the shot, the rest was for the "pshychological screen". Translation: the vet had a short schedule that week and a car payment coming up.

Okedokie

i will bite....what the hell is pshychological screening for a dog? scare them and make them pee...what?

__________________
There is no greater sorrow
Than to be mindful of the happy time
In misery.

Dante

She just handled Savannah, moved her back legs. I thought she was checking to see if she thought Savannah was a candidate for displacia. Actually, she was seeing what Savannah would do, how she would respond to being handled. Savannah is such a happy dog, she didn't care. Just don't try to clip her nails! But, it blew my mind to be charged so much extra for that.

Holy crapholy. I just realized this afternoon that my vet charged my $75 to see if Savannah would freak out when she handled her back legs. Good Dog, indeed.

__________________
"But don't bring the hide back in the house once you've squirted the scent on.
It smells pretty bad, you understand." Alvin Godwin, Godwin's Outdoor Supply

wouldnt that type of thing be included in the examine fee? and why didnt you question this when you paid? i would have...(admits to spending 132 bucks on two worm pills) man i wished i had noticed that one.

__________________
There is no greater sorrow
Than to be mindful of the happy time
In misery.

Dante

My dobie, Sam, cost my husband and I $3000 because he got bloat and almost died. We got two more years with him - some of the best money we ever spent.

I agree, if you can't afford it - you have to remember it is a dog and that you and your family are more important.

But if you can afford it...and you're like me...I'd gladly go without dinners out or new clothes for quite awhile in order to have my dogs safe and with me for as long as possible.

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"The less government we have the better." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I feel this way, I WILL afford it where my girls are concerned. I've been pretty fortunate with their health so far. The baby caught parvo at the end of August and I took all my sick days to stay home and nurse her back to health. My vets were very supportive, they sold me a bottle of glucose and showed me how to inject it under her hide to help support her with fluids. But, I thought the "psychological" was a little ridiculous, especially $75 worth of "Let's see what Savannah will do".

__________________
"But don't bring the hide back in the house once you've squirted the scent on.
It smells pretty bad, you understand." Alvin Godwin, Godwin's Outdoor Supply