Quote:
Originally Posted by Dadhawk
Having grown up in a very rural area where we raised a lot of our own food (chickens/pigs/cows/etc), I probably have a skewed view from some but here goes.
I love my dogs, they are always family members and I always form a tight bond with them. That said, I will not spend more on treatment for them than I consider reasonable. That changes depending on my own financial situation, but right now it would be about $1,000 for any single incident, and maybe $100 or so for monthly treatment of "treatable and curable" disease.
I am not going to give a pet chemo treatments, insulin treatments (yes, I know someone that does that) or other extreme measures. Two reasons, it makes no financial sense, and it makes no sense to put the dog through that pain. It's a quality of life thing.
I'll be there for them at the end, and will cry when they are gone, I'll miss them, and then move on to the next pet to bring into the pack.
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This sums up the feelings my wife and I have on the issue very well. Several years ago our 7 year old Saint Bernard had gastric torsion,(basically her stomach/intestines were twisted around). Vet said the surgery for it would cost $2500 and had a 50% chance of success. It was one of the most difficult decisions we've ever made to have her put down, but weighing the cost, her age, and risk factors, I believe we made the correct choice. Had the vet said there was a 80-90% chance of success, we may have let our emotions sway us.