Limit to Veterinary Care?

How many of you have a cap off on your veterinary bills and expenses? How much is it before you let the animal "go"?

I have a cap. But it would be determined by medical problem x cost x likely hood of recovery x likely quality of life after recovery = decision.

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Originally Posted by dsirkle

I have a cap. But it would be determined by medical problem x cost x likely hood of recovery x likely quality of life after recovery = decision.

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I agree completely with this. My cap is pretty high, however. Last year one of my favorite geckos had the skin removed from a 3.5 cm x 2 cm area on her side by a male - the afternoon before we were leaving for a couple of weeks. She has healed up nicely and is breeding this year, but since I had to board her at the vet for the whole vacation while she healed it was quite a large bill. This puts me somewhere between the last two choices on the poll.

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Originally Posted by dsirkle

I have a cap. But it would be determined by medical problem x cost x likely hood of recovery x likely quality of life after recovery = decision.

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x 2

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Originally Posted by dsirkle

I have a cap. But it would be determined by medical problem x cost x likely hood of recovery x likely quality of life after recovery = decision.

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Same here pretty much. If there is a good chance of recovery & quality life, I'll spend whatever it takes.

if there was a chance of full recovery with out any thing that would affect quaklity of life i would spend as much as it takes.

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Originally Posted by dsirkle

I have a cap. But it would be determined by medical problem x cost x likely hood of recovery x likely quality of life after recovery = decision.

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Me too. Also, although it sounds bad, there is definitely consideration of which animal needs the care, and the individual circumstances of that animal. For the feeder mice, I would never take one to the vet for an individual problem. If I can't diagnose & treat it myself, I'll humanely dispatch it. Something that would threaten the entire colony is a different story. For the snakes, even the normal that I got for free, I'd go quite a bit further.

Another example: my dog is quite old, and knowing that no matter what we do, she won't live much longer, would make me lean more in the direction of spending less. I did spend over $1000 on a surgery for her back in '05, but the situation was different with her being a lot younger.

Such a decision is a very personal one since it means losing an animal for which you probably have deep feelings. However, most pet owners will have to occasionally make such very hard decisions since we're not made of endless money. I had to make a decision as to whether to spend $2500 for a risky surgery on a much loved old dog I had. After many tears, I decided not to spend the money since the potential for success was low. My dog died before I could even pick him up that afternoon which justified the decision since it would have been several days before he could have had the operation. Making the decision was incredibly painful. Good luck with your decision and do not feel guilty if you cannot reasonably afford the vet costs. However, if necessary, do seek vet care for humane euthanasia.

I have a cap for anything.. usually it's a $500 cap, becuase that's all I can spare. If I can run a bill, and pay it in payments, I'll go higher, if I feel it's a justified expense. I'm not going to pay $1K for a surgery for a snake that will heal on it's own, given a bit more time and care. I don't spend more on a morph than I do a normal though, becuase to me it's more about the animal is my responsibility, and I will do what I can to have it healthy.

But.. can't get blood from a turnip. If I don't HAVE the money, I don't have the money, period.

I have a very high cap when it come to my animals. even the baby normals are treated the same as the baby spider or other morphs.