How Much is Your Pet's Health Worth?
All pet owners hate to think about it, but when the family pet gets sick, money matters. New results of the AP-Petside.com poll reveal just how much.All pet owners hate to think about it, but when the family pet gets sick, money matters.
For Nancy Gates, whose dog, Arabella needed a $500 heart surgery, the only option was to put her dog down.
"It was pretty straight forward because I had four young children to feed. The vet said surgery was my only option. I did not want my dog to suffer," said Gates, 41, who lives in Cotati, about 50 miles north of San Francisco.
Money is something to consider for the majority of pet owners dealing with animal health care, according to a new AP-Petside poll.
Most pet owners, 62%, say they would be likely to get vet treatment if the bill exceeded $500. But for a bill of $1,000, that figure drops to 42%. If the cost is $2,000, 35% would pay, and if the cost reaches $5,000, 22% would foot the bill.
Surprisingly, people earning below $50K answered about the same way as those earning $50K and up.
But even with examples like Nancy and Arabela, only 20% of pet owners say they worry a lot about being unable to afford the vet. Dog owners, women and low-income pet parents are among the biggest worriers. However, 95% of pet owners lack pet insurance.
When asked if they thought pet insurance was a good way to save money on vet bills, 27% did say it was a good idea: That's five times the number of people who actually have it.
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Comments (10)
I have an 8 year old German Shepherd who has had epilepsy since age 2. I have spent well over $15,000 in the past 6 years on vets, meds, treatments, tests, special diet, etc. I love this dog and the meds the neurologist give him make his life FAIRLY normal. Yes, he still has seizures and some other minor issues, but has had a good life. I have had to make the full time commitment to medicate twice daily, treat him after seizures, and be a full time nurse/mom to my dog, but I chose to accept that responsibility. He is now having other issues that I knew would occcur. and he would not have a normal lifespan. Now that his end will be fairly soon, I am sure I have given him a GOOD life, and he has given me years of love and companionship. I was lucky I could afford to keep him. As a prior post noted: if you cannot afford NORMAL treatment (not this!) DO NOT get a cat or dog!
Well pets aren't human but I think I am one who would spent almost any amount on my pet ferrets. Call me crazy but I even went into debt with the IRS one year so I could pay my ferrets vet bills.
Regards, Sophia
I agree with Karen. To me, it feels like a horrendous waste of money to keep a suffering animal alive when there are starving, homeless human children in the world. Pets were domesticated by humans - domesticated. If they were sickly or injured in the wild, they would die. That's the harsh reality, and I will not put myself or my family in a financial bind over an animal. I love my pets, I take care of my pets, I have pet insurance, I feed my pets high quality food and exercise them, but I do have a financial limit. In my opinion, any human being who passes judgment on another person for choosing to not pay outrageous vet bills is not only disillusioned on the reality of our planet, but also quite silly for believing that your pet is so special that it can provide a type of comfort that no other pet can provide you. They have value and "personality" because WE, human beings, created that. Value and personality are things that we created in our mind. I don't care if you choose to spend all your money on an animal that will treat most people who feed them the same way they treat you, but don't throw stones at those who decide to make different choices with their hard-earned money. And don't dare say whether someone should or should not be pet owners...that's akin to saying who should or should not be parents and everyone knows that regardless of one's opinion, no one is in any position of might to make that judgment call.
PS Feed you pet a good healthy diet (not purina)and exercise them. Yes, I do have pet insurance!
From what I understand animals live in the present and they are not humans nor do they have human emotions. I love my dog, but I realize she is a dog. The person that states if you do not have the money then you should not get a pet is pretty funny. With people starving I am suppose to spend 5-10k on my dog to ease my suffering.
WELL IM JOINING ALL YOU ANIMAL LOVERS 2 YEARS AGO I SPENT A TOTAL OF 10,000 ON MY PUG I WAS TOLD HE EITHER GETS A PACEMAKER OR HE DIES AND THERE WAS NO WAY I WAS ABOUT TO LET THAT HAPPEN I CAN WORK MORE HOURS TO MAKE THAT MONEY UP BUT I COULDNT GET ANOTHER DOG..I HAVE RECIEVED ALOT OF NEGATIVE ATTENTION FROM THIS AND I DONT CARE I WOULD DO IT AGAIN
If you cannot afford to treat your pet through a serious illness, you have NO BUSINESS having a pet. A dog or cat is not a commodity to be used until it no longer is of benefit to YOU, and then put down because of money. Buy a FISH for God's sake. I just put down my dog who was dying from cancer. She was 14 1/2 (average life expectancy for her breed is 12-14 years). I utilized every single option I could regardless of cost until it came down to the cancer was winning and she no longer could receive any treatment. I would have spent every cent I own if there had been something that could have spared her.
If you have kids and property to protect first, then DON'T GET A PET. They give all they have for YOU, and it IS a betrayal of trust to take their life because it is fiscally convenient for you.