The reason im asking is last night my dog began to act funny and had a drool/snot coming from his mouth. My Gf called me at work and told me this so I told her to bring him to the ER. She bring him there and they dont do a whole lot, they give him a few shots and some fluids under his skin they take some x-rays and say he has a reasonable amount of gas which is usually a sign of blockage in his stomach/ intestine. They give us the option to leave him there or take him home with us. to leave him there for 5 hours they want $1000 or we can take him home and our bill will be $500. At this point its 5:00am. so I decide to take him home and stay awake till the vet opens.

The minute the vet opened in the morning he was there they take a few more x-rays and give him some dye to see if there is a blockage. They find there is something there stopping movement but they can't see it. so he is going to need surgery to see what it is. total bill for that is going to be $1000. So now im at work with my stomach in knots worried about a possible phone call I may get.

So here is my Question, How can some with a family pet just decide not to give him treatment and let him die? The thought that there may be something really wrong that he doesn't make it makes me sick to my stomach. I hope what I wrote makes sense.

Edit: can someone add the r for your. thanks

 

For me it depends on age.

If my dog is already older and will probably die anyways within a couple years and the bill is gunna be like 1000 or over I would have to call it off and just let the dog go.


If it was young and my financial situation was good then yeah I would probably pay for it.



Now this could be different if there was a deep emotional attachment for some reason or the dog had sentimental value. I just think its smarter to save the big bucks for other catastrophies whether it be family medical issues or truck problems or whatever.

 

This is a tough question, and I don't have a good answer for you. If it were my dog and he was young, with a good chance of survival after the operation, I'd probably give it a go. If he's near the end of his days, or the prognosis is not good, I'd ask them to "put him down", which, after all is one of the kindest things we can do for our pets when they aren't going to recover. AND, I'd be there with him when they did it!

Hope this helps. It's not an easy decision.

- Jack

 

I feel for you and hope all turns out well.

I do not know what the number would be, but it would be a lot before I would say no, and her quality of life would figure into it as well. Maggie Mae is like a family member, so yes, a lot.

 

Im 21 I have had the dog for 6 months he is about a year old. My finance situation isn't the best but I can get by. I own a house and I still owe money on my truck, but as I see it I would be willing to take out a loan if needed to help him.

 

Everyone is different, my Jack Russell is a member of the family and I don't know if I could just put her down. Unless she would never fully recover. Shes so energetic and playful if she just lay around all day in pain it would kill me.

 

We have a dog I got when I was 9 so I would do anything to keep her unless she was constantly in pain. My roommate got a kitten last semester and I didn't spend a dime on her. She was awesome but when he gave her back to the people he got her from there was no emotional attachment. Was just weird not having her around.

 

That is a tough choice. Only you can make it, but you have received some good responses here.

Our English Shepherd came home Sunday of New Years weekend, and had been shot by a high powered rifle. She probably could have survived with surgery. But I didn't want to see her suffer the way she would have. Her whole left rear flank was destroyed, and I could see her intestines. They looked in tack, but She was going into shock. I'm amazed that she made it home. It was 9PM when I found her, and it took awhile to find a vet. I could tell by his expression when he pulled the cover off of her what my choice should be. I still miss her. But she isn't suffering.

 

I'm young, and have two young dogs...they are 100% family. But if something really went wrong, I couldnt afford to have it "fixed." I cant afford to go into debt for them either. Love 'em, but stuff happens.

We're also fairly rural, and things sometimes end up like Old Yeller (havent seen that movie in forever). Sad as hell, but *shrug* hell...it's life

 

One thing you did not mention was the prognosis.From my own experience I wish I would of taken this into consideration.$3000 later I still had to put her down...that was almost worse than spending $3000.

 

I would pay and have payed every penny i had in my acct at the time to keep my rottie alive. Shes 8 yrs old and its a never ended battle but to me it is worth it to know she lived everyday of her life to the fullest.

 

Thanks for the replies, I finally heard good news, kinda, he had twisted his intestines. hes sedated and I can pick him up Sunday.

 

That is great! Sounds like something that will not affect him permanently.

 

Good news!!!

 

Here is the way I see it and from what little you have said here, I think it may apply to you. If I had that choice to make and made the same choice you did, it is only money and in a relative short time, I would recover from teh loss of the money. If I made the decision to not spend it and the dog had to be put down, I would always wonder what would have happened had I spent the money. Did I make the right choice? I think you made the right choice for your buddy and the right choice for piece of mind, too.