Vet Bills !#@%**

[ElizabethH]

Junior is our first dog and it seems like we live at the vets. We expected of course to pay for shots, neutering etc
but recently we have spent a small fortune on pain relief shots (bad hip), ultrasound massages and medicine. Our vets are wonderful and have been giving us discounts best they can but does it ever stop??? If you saw him, he is strong and beautiful but then whammo- he overdoes it (ie twists his leg going down the stairs) and we are back at the Vets. We love this dog more than anything but we are talking well over 4 figures in the last 2 months....
Does anyone else experience this? Does it ever stop?

 

[Anthony]

We got Morley 6 months ago as a rescue. They treated him for heartworms so we expected some bills. In the first week he got skunked and had more worms (intestinal) than a bait shop. All was fine for a few months and my wife takes him to the park and he sprains his ACL. Not too expensive and he seems to be healing fine but one vet told me he has a 75% chance of tearing it in the next 6 months and repair is an expensive surgery. Then he wakes us up one Sunday peeing blood. One very expensive trip to the animal ER and we are still giving antibiotics 2 months later for his UTI. He is a great dog and I wouldn't trade him for anything ( my wife wouldn't let me) but your are right it is a bit of a shock.
We just got him signed up for insurance so we will see how that goes. At the very least it will insure he doesn't get sick now. vbg
The responsibility for ownership is also financial.

Good luck
Anthony

 

[karens]

In trying to merely find out what was wrong with one of my Boxers, we spend 3K over a period of two months. This figure did not include chemo and surgery to remove a mass. That is one dog in one situation. Today, I have three. I can over look the expense because these dogs are the only thing I have wanted since I could talk. Knock on wood, no injuries or illnesses in a while.

Let me know how the insurance thing works out. I always feared with our history, they would reject us or premiums would be too high!

 

[Tulsa-Dan]

Yes, I would recommend looking into pet insurance.

I'm sure you feel as I do however, that whatever the cost, my baby's health and well being are of the utmost importance. I'll spend whatever it takes to make sure she's healthy and well.

 

[brindlemom]

I definitely recommend the pet insurance.
We have veterinarypetinsurance.com

They have been great for us. When Striker was 3 months old, he developed bronchial pneumonia, from kennel cough, and he did have the vaccine. It was very expensive, but we ended up getting most of it back. I have been very impressed.
We have full coverage though, with routine care and vaccination coverage, which does wonders! Includes spay/neuter, flea/heartworm pills, shots....

If you have two or more dogs, you get a Pet Buddy discount also. They have started asking about pre-existing conditions, which they didn't do when we first signed up. They are getting smart! They are also asking for your vet hospital in case they want to get records. They cannot deny you though, but they can raise your premiums.

 

[karens]

Brindlemom, thanks for the info. I never really looked into it before because I didn't know anyone who had it. It is one of those things, I was not sure if it was hoaky or not. I will check out your link!

 

[tugger]

I always wondered about pet insurance. So far so good with Britany. Cinders was a different story. Thanks for the information. We own Harley Davidson's so we know about being insurance poor!

 

[Brutus and Amaya's Mom]

With two the bills add up. We battled colitis with Amaya for about 3 months before getting her back to normal. Recently we spent $175 on ear infections and another $100 to have a skin growth removed. The pups are still little so we had shots, worms and spaying this year as well.

I do have pet insurance and I know they have lot money on me this year We have premier pet insurance and they have been great. You pay $100 deductible then they pay 80%. I have always gotten my money within 30 days and not had a single problem in the 8-10 claims I have had. Their website is http://www.ppins.com

 

[brindlemom]

Yeah I think the deductible for Veterinary Pet Insurance is $40 and then they pay 80% up to a certain amount, and then 100%.

We recently added Nellie to our policy, so we're getting a buddy discount also.

You can change your policy at any time.

 

[Lisa M]

Yes it is a fortune. On superbowl sunday sumi hurt herself at a dog park and she needed stitches on Monday, then Monday night she pulled the stitches out and ate them! @$%%^@. So she was back again yesterday, we are one of the best customers so the vet only charged me $10 for the second surgery plus the cost of the meds. When you have active dogs they will always get into trouble. Sumi has had three major boo boos as a result of her enthusiasm in the woods and at parks or in fellow dog chasing mode. So far Casper hasn't had any but we did spend a lot to get him back to health after getting him from the shelter (so much that we were joking that we could have gotten a show prospect pup from a good breeder ). I haven't looked into insurance, but I guess we should. I suppose I've just been used to it.