Vet (Dolla) Bill Bottom Lines?

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Originally Posted by Badgemash

Horse stuff is a bit different since I have medical/colic insurance on mine, so they get treated very aggressively (although like bcr229 said, age and performance level is a factor).

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LOL good luck finding any company willing to cover medical on a 26 year old horse.

That brings up another point when taking a snake to the vet when it has an RI - how many vets won't bother with a culture because it can double the total bill? While many folks here probably have a few hundred to put into a sick morph even if it meant living on Ramen for a while, the vet also sees cheap snakes with advanced RI's whose owners tried at-home treatments while the animal got progressively worse. So, rather than sock the owner with a $350-400 bill - and pretty much ensure the next time the snake gets sick the owner will most likely just let it die - they charge $100-175 for the visit + antibiotics, and save the expensive cultures and treatments for the very few cases where pushing Baytril + Fortaz isn't enough.

I would probably spend a few hundred on my snakes if they fell ill *knocks on wood*. They really aren't all that "valuable", but I took on the responsibility of their care when I purchased them, including vet bills. That said, I have been burned in the past by vets ($2000 jacked up bill because the vet decided to try to save my dog's dew claw... which later fell off :/ SMH). So I'll use my own discretion on what treatments and tests I'll approve if the need arises.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

LOL good luck finding any company willing to cover medical on a 26 year old horse.

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LOL too true, I can't find any that go over 18. And I totally agree with you on the colic thing, I doubt a 26 year old would make it out of anesthesia let alone recovery (although I truly hope you're never confronted with that). I just meant that if god forbid a tendon bows or something like that we'll be doing stem cells, blocks, and every other therapy I can throw on that leg, because I'd be paying the deductable only and not the full cost. So while I'd technically be racking up $15,000 or more in bills I wouldn't actually be paying that amount, which unfortunately is not the case for my dogs or snakes. If one of them needed intervention at that level I doubt we'd be able to do it. I just meant it to say that the horses get a different level of financial consideration than the dogs or snakes do because of the insurance, but the dogs and snakes are equal in my eyes.

For me, it depends on the issue, treatment, cost, and the animal. I also take into consideration quality of life before, during, and after treatment.
Hate to say it, but while my animals are equally cared for, they are not necessarily equally loved. Level of sentiment plays a pretty large role here.


And if it's minor and not life threatening/altering, I'll diagnose and do the treatment myself.


My dogs:
I would spend thousands of dollars for them if needed if they could continue to live a quality life.
So if a dog needed anything from basic care, surgery or emergency care, I would pay for them.

If my dog had cancer, for example, I would not do chemotherapy or radiation treatment. I would do just enough to make the dog comfortable, but I wouldn't pay for a treatment. I used to work in a cancer treatment ward of my University's vet school. It was not a pleasant sight. Many of these animals looked so unhappy and were in constant pain from the side effects of the radiation treatment. There would be no way I would put my own dogs through that. That's just pure human selfishness, in my opinion. While it would allow the animal to live longer, that quality of life would be lousy. I would rather have my dogs be at peace at home and live a shorter life than put them through that treatment and be uncomfortable and in pain.

My ferrets:
I've already spent thousands of dollars on them throughout the years.
I'll pay for a vet visit, basic care (vaccines), certain surgeries, and emergency care. Ferret medicine is pretty tricky to know when to accept or pass a treatment. You have to be knowledgeable and weigh the pros/cons. And not many vets are ferret knowledgeable.

90% of American ferrets get cancer. I just had to put down my 7 year old boy last month, but he lived the last 2 years with adrenal cancer and later insulinoma. If he didn't have insulinoma, he could have lived many more years just fine.
The most I do for cancer is to give them drugs/hormone implants that slow down adrenal tumor growth and cancel out clinical symptoms (hair loss/energy loss/etc etc). There are surgeries to remove tumors, but it's not worth it. The cancer almost always comes back and some ferrets do not survive the surgeries. It's very hard on their bodies. It's better just to not do the surgery and to make sure your ferret is happy, comfortable, and not in pain.


My rats:
I'll do a at home antibiotic infection treatments. But beyond that, I would just euthanize injured or sick rats.


My snakes:
These guys have a higher initial purchase price compared to my dogs and ferrets, but I think I would be less willing to spend as much money on them compared to my dogs and ferrets. Of course I would pay for a vet visit and testing. But paying for treatment will vary depending on the issue. I'll treat for infections and I have paid to treat rescues' RIs. But I also wouldn't pay for unnecessary treatment if the snake wouldn't live a quality life after.
If a female was egg bound, I would get her treated.

But overall, it really depends on the medical issue....

I agree it all depends on the person money and such. 4thesnakeslady points out about our butter male ball python, sadly II can see putting out ,ore money on a issue that keeps coming back up(hoping it don't).I am not sure I could just be one that says oh your sick and your worth less than $xxx then your going to be tossed in the fridge cause I don't want to spend the money to take care of you . I am willing to do without a lot of things if there a chance to save a animal ( with in my means of money/care) SO if it ment I only got 20 minutes naps for a 3 week period to drain a turtle/shell from a injury I sleep in 20 minute intervals.

Well, I'm a cheap s.o.b. but I didn't hesitate to drop 1300 when one of my dogs attacked the other. But as otthers have said, it depends on the problem and available cash. I can't sacrifice paying rent or power, or something the wife or kid need. But ramen and mac-n-cheese have been the menu on occasion. I do what I can when I can.