We spent over $900.00 on a stray that showed up at our house a couple years ago. She is a solid white kitty that had cancer so badly in her ears they appeared to be melted to her head. We thought someone had set fire to her. We have had her ears amputated and she is the most adorable thing. Looks like a little white owl!

Trish

If you count horses, we spent thousands at Cornell when one of our Morgans (Jill's soulmate in the show ring) came down with something mysterious. I don't think the diagnosis was ever pinned down.

Good for both of you for doing this for your animals. Stephanie, your last line is great!

I spent $488 on a cat that a friend of mine found and thought would be a good idea to put in a cage with raccoons. He was bitten, it abcessed and he had a systemic infection. That also was neutering him tho. Spent $700 for surgery on a cat's leg and had a horse that cut herself and I spent $900 alone on bandaging materials over the course of about 4 months, and I forget how much on the vet bills alone.

My daughter spent almost $1300 on her cat, when he had a problem with his ureter. It was an emergency that occurred on the weekend, so that increased the cost.

Our cat has required a monthly steroid injection for her entire life (12 years so far). Our previous vet charged only $5, but our current vet charges at least $25, sometimes more. We've also spent hundreds getting her teeth cleaned, and a year or so ago she had a bad UTI that required all sorts of tests and a four-day hospital stay, plus an x-ray and another hospital stay shortly after that when she fell because she was so weak.

Our dog has needed knee surgery on both rear legs, at a cost of over $4000 each (yes, four thousand). That's the most we've spent on any pet. We are very fortunate that we could afford to have that done.

So we are well over $10,000 and approaching $15,000 for all our pets, especially if you include vaccinations and routine care.

I was afraid to add it up when our Golden was dying..however the vet offered to have his staff drive me home, they sent me flowers, and sent me cards afterwards. Priceless...Kathy

We spent $1900 on one of our dogs for surgery and treatment to remove a stuffed mouse that she ate.

We also spent $1500 on our pet pygmy goat for surgery. The things we do for our animals!

I don't even want to know. We spend so much just on regular preventative care, arthritis, heartworm pills, food, vacs, etc and then we get a month where all heck breaks loose- euthanasia for one dog, a lump that requires biopsy surgery on another, etc. I've spent over $500 in the last month and there's no immediate end in sight. Currently we're giving antibiotics that cost $2 a pill and we're using 4 of those a day and will probably have to get at least 3 more weeks worth of that, that right there is another $160. Sheesh. And another surgery is looming, too.

I'm glad to hear that Spider is doing better and I hope this next round of meds does the trick for him, Stephanie.

We have spent thousands over the years on our pets. The most expensive was Cancer surgery for McKenzie while we were on vacation and had him along. He had to have surgery when we got to Florida. The total cost for his surgery was over $6,000. You can't put a price on love, we were lucky to have McKenzie for another 3 years at age 13. Would I do it again...you bet your live.

A small fortune, ha. Just this year, one of our kitties had to have surgery to determine if she had cancer or IBD, thankfully it turned out to be IBD. That set us back over $500. Then, our diabetic kitty had a hypoglycemic episode and stayed at the vet's on an IV over night, that cost a bundle. A few years ago, we spent almost $1500 on radioactive Iodine treatment for our hyperthyroid kitty. It was worth it though, he is completely healthy, and no more messing with Tapazole. Right now, our Boston Terrier has possible early stage Cushing's. The vet it holding off on treatment until there are more symptoms, but I already know treatment meds are very expensive.

I spent over $3K on my Ernie when I was pregnant with my first son. Ernie was in three different hospitals, including one in another state (that one was the shortest visit and also the most expensive). He was very close to death but he recovered and had a few more good years before he died. He was the best cat ever and worth every penny. Nick still talks about Ernie and tells me how much he misses him and Ernie's been gone for almost two years and Nick is only just about to turn 5. I thought kids were supposed to get over loss quickly but Ernie made quite an impression on him.

I've spent thousands over the years for various cats and dogs.
I have to tell the story of my parakeet, though. He had a fuzzy ball which he bonded to and played with constantly. It never dawned on me to wonder where the fuzz was going as the ball became barer and barer. I'd just give him another fuzzy to play with. As a matter of fact I bought about 15 of these ball so he'd have a lifetime supply.
Then he got sick. Turns out that he'd been eating the fuzz and a fuzzball had accumulated in his crop. The vet tried some oily type medicine to make it dissipate. I had to catch him twice a day and give him the meds. Birds are not easy to catch. Anyways, it didn't work.
Now it's surgery time....little anesthesia mask, shaved neck and all. He came thru with flying colors and has been a faithful companion for the past 2 years.
I figure that the bottom line was about $1500.
He now has plastic balls to play with.

We cut costs whenever we can, because we adopt rescues and they come with an assortment of "issues" and on-going needs. But they all get their basic care, and when it comes time to spend ... we spend.

Rocky the yorkie was diabetic ... when it hit, it hit hard and he not only went blind, but ended up in ICU for four days. That was $900 a day. Then the tests that determined he had a heart murmor, a liver mass, totally blind in both eyes (had an opthamologist for that for three years, he almost had to have one of the eyes removed), only 25% usage of both kidneys, plus the diabetes. His total hospital cost was about $4,800 plus three years of insulin, needles, three different antibiotic eye salves and an occasional antibiotic ... oh and the special diet he was put on. Can't forget how much he hated that! I had to hand-feed him, because he DESPISED no-fat food. That's when we started switching over to boiled chicken.

Woofman Jack, who died two weeks ago (just before his 11th birthday), was an American Tundra Shepherd ... VERY large dog. He was on gluclosimine treatment for a bad left hip. And then he blew his right knee out ... and we had TPLO surgery done to repair that. The hospital had never done this surgery on a dog his size before (over 160-lbs) and had to use two sets of everything ... from the pin in his leg to the screws holding it in place. When arthritis set in, in that knee, he was on a pain pill at $2 each for a month, we used in sparingly. Then they gave us permission to use aspirin to just take the edge off. So he was well over $5,000.

We've got a financial break right now, but Patsy and Molly (both former puppy-mill girls who were so neglected as puppies) need dental care AGAIN and we're trying to hold off til after the first of the year. Scrappy's allergies are starting to lessen now that it's getting colder. That's the only good thing about winter as far as I'm concerned.

Anyway, it's an on-going thing based on the choices we made to adopt these guys. On the light side, I figure if I lose my job and we have to file bankruptcy, and the creditors come wanting the items we spent all their money on ... they'll go running right back out the door when we hand them all these wiggling, squirming dogs with their "issues." LOL! That'd be a funny sight!

The most I ever spent was about $200. when my cat, Smokey was diagnosed with Diabetes. Then it was monthly office visits, insulin and syringes for the next couple years.

You guys really love your animals! I wish all animals were so lucky.

I've probably spend $400 at one shot.

My sister just spent $11,000 on her golden retreiver over a period of 3 months. He just had heart surgery to remove the heart sac and she found out he had mesothelioma in his heart. He'll probably live another few months.

Probably around $40 for our little Frenchie who had allergies. I've spent much more on the kids show steers and horses. Thank goodness that's all in the past!

To geld Banjo the colt and give him his shots was $340.
I could probably get $75 for him at the horse auction.
His mother was put down when he was 5 weeks old (note she was bred when I bought her).
I had to make the decision if I wanted her to have colic surgery (she had a twisted intestine and would not stand up) which most times does not work. Even if the initial surgery works a lot of the horses are found later dead in the field.
The place was in VA (I am in PA) and if they live long enough to make it to the operating table the bill starts at $7500.
The vet said I would have thousands of dollars in her and odds were she would probably end up dead.
I made one hard decision that day and it left me with a 5 week old colt to raise. It cost $260 to euthanize her. Banjo will cost another $1000 to get saddle trained in 2 years.
Yikes.
The going rate for broke unregistered horses around here is less than the training will cost, but he is mine and I will do what will get him a home when I can no longer care for him.
Hubby and I discussed what we would do if one of the dogs were to need expensive surgery. Probably whatever we had to do. One is getting older and I pray he goes in his sleep.
Here is Banjo and his mom a few weeks before she died. It still breaks my heart that she is gone. He is 18 months old now.

Kathy

Do you mean for a single treatment or total year?

We spent $5000 on Boots' radiation treatments. We've spent $2-3 thousand on various individual surgeries and emergencies.

We've done surgeries to remove an eye, bladder curetage, various tumor removals, emergency urine blockages, infected tooth removals, tear duct blockages, and I can't remember what all.

But we also spend thousands of dollars a year on meds - 90 cc's of Interferon is $110. That's a daily medication, so you're looking at $440 a year. PZI Insulin and syringes cost us about $1360 a year. SubQ fluids, needles and IV sets cost about $500 a year. Prozac, Methionine, Tapazole, Lactulose, Lysine and Norvasc probably run another $1000 a year. And then there are the intermittent treatment meds - Tobrex eye drops, Clavamox, Flagyl, Amoxicillin, Prednisone, Depo Medrol etc.

Gah! I better stop while I'm ahead ;)

Two and a half years ago we spent $6,000 on Bear for cancer surgery. At the vet who sent us to the surgery place we spent a few hundred dollars for tests etc. He lived less than two months after the surgery. It was a lot of money, but I would do it again to try to save a beloved pet.

Luther cut his paw a few months ago and had to have a few stitches in it. That was almost $400.

Stephanie, I hope Spider gets better soon.

Linda

I never added it all up, but our free rescue Cairn Terrier cost us a bundle between three days in intensive care for pancreatitis, removal of an eye because of a luxated lens, numerous allergy-related visits, thyroid issues, tumor surgery and a host of other medical problems, which is the reason she was up for adoption in the first place.

When my son walked through the door last January and announced "look Mom, a free puppy!", I sat him down for a loooong talk.

Jodi-

This all makes my $170 bill at the vet this afternoon look like nothing. I'll have to point that out to DH.

Maxie's spleen removal cost around $5000 with ER and diagnostic etc. There was no way to know if he had cancer without it as it was an emergency situation. I would never have chosen to put him through surgery otherwise.

He had TPLO a couple years previous. Twice on the same knee since he popped screws within 2 weeks of the first surgery. That ran over $4000 and DH was unemployed at the time.

Within the year our other dog got the same type of cancer. Her tumor was on the heart. I had the myocardial sac drained which bought her 3 months. Diagnostic and treatment was around $1500 for that.

I adopted a dog from a "rescue" for $250 and had my vet put him down for another $250+ (big dog) 2 days later.

DD spends hundreds of dollars per rat over their short lifetimes what with spaying,neutering and regular health check-ups and tumor removals.

Most of our debt when we have it is animal related.

Maxie was our most expensive dog. He had all sorts of intestinal issues,injuries,ear problems etc. throughout his 11 wonderful years with us. Turned out to be the most expensive "free" dog ever. We named him appropriately. Max certainly maxed out our credit cards. I would do the same all over for him. He was all mine and I miss him to this day. RIP Max 1992-2003

Stephanie - I am an infrequent poster but your topic caught my attention. Can you tell me what was wrong with your dog and for how long? From what I can tell your story sounded similar to mine. In early October I noticed my dog's eye was tearing and it was swollen underneath. I took her to the vet to find she had conjunctivitis. I had to put gel in it and she was suppose to wear a cone, but we had to go away and the dogsitter removed it out of fear of her getting stuck somewhere. The eye became ulcerated from scratching so she was given another gel to put in. After a couple more weeks of no great improvement, we took her back to find out the culprit was a bad tooth. She ended up having 2 teeth removed, the swolling is gone, but the eye is still tearing. It was the tooth that caused her to scratch her eye and have it become infected and ulcerated. She is very old and is healing so slowly, but hoping we are near the end.

I don't even want to think of the grand total that we've spent over the years on our cats, but the largest single bill was for more than $10,000. Chewie was diabetic, and for about 5 years I'd been giving him insulin injections twice a day. Then we had to board him at the animal hospital for three days while we went to hubs' family reunion several hundred miles away... The techs at the animal hospital managed to overdose Chewie's insulin (one tech gave the evening injection but hadn't charted it, then another tech gave him a second injection)... to make a long story short, we had to abandon the reunion and rush back here, get Chewie and take him to the UC Davis Vet Med hospital where he was in intensive care for over a week before he died.

Foxy's illness & surgery this past spring totaled up to a little over $4,000 over a 2 month period.

Thankfully, she is healthy and happy now. It was well worth it.

Have any of you considered insurance. I have VPI gold plan and it helps. The premiums are expensive, but if the pet gets sick you're glad to have it.
Donna

Lindsay_ca, since it was the vet clinic's fault, I hope they paid for the treatment?

Petra, no they didn't. They had the cajones to send me a bill for having boarded Chewie with them!

Stephanie - I found your original post. I don't know why i assumed you had a dog. I am glad that Spider is better.

Lindsey, I am so sorry you lost your Chewie. They should be put out of business for not owning up to their mistake. One of our kitties is on twice daily PZI insulin and recently had to stay at the vet's because her blood sugar dropped rapidly after a normal dose. They kept her overnight and did a blood sugar curve, it looks like she might be going into remission.

We spent 4500.00 trying to save our collie in 1991...2 days of emergency vets and one day at University of Georgia animal hospital and we still lost her...I woulda spent 10 times that if I coulda saved her...it just wasn't meant to be and I never looked back...I feel your pain...3 dogs and 2 cats just getting their yearlys runs us about 1,000.00...We've started buying their monthly flea/heartworm meds online...saves a bundle!

I'm glad I asked that question. I have enjoyed reading your personal pet stories, thank you so much for sharing them. My sympathies to those who didn't win the battle and lost their pets.

This cat is the first pet I ever had. My mom didn't allow pets growing up, just her thing, she does not enjoy the company of animals. She grew up on a farm, but always said she left it for a reason and animals belong in a barn, not a house. Other than that, she really was a great mom! She supported us on every single other thing we did, just never pets. (She did let us keep a stray cat until it's kittens were weaned, then found homes for all of them... She was softer than she let on.)

Anyhow. For 15 years Spider has been the best cat. He's got his own personality, not a cuddly cat, but loyal as they get. I swear to this, he used to (when he was feeling better) "tuck in" all the kids. He knows the bedtime routine and would follow each of the kids around meowing until they went to bed, jump on their bed, stay a while, then move on to the next. Then he'd come for me. These days, he just comes for me. He let's me know when I'm up too late. He wants to go to bed, but won't without me.

DS#1 is really attached to this cat. He learned to crawl to chase this cat. Among DS's first 5 or so words was "Spider." He'd sit in his crib at about a year old and call "Pi-buug!" (Spider Bug.) And the cat would come! I asked DS if he was willing to give up Christmas presents to treat the cat, he didn't even hesitate. "YES!!" (He won't, however, force a pill down the cat's throat... some things a mom still has to do.)

I spent 1800 on my lab cause he got into some chicken bones and had to get his stomach cut open...

I recently spent $1200 on my dog Molly when she had an ear infection. I've had bills around $1000 when animals were ill. My Westie that died of brain cancer years ago cost me a fortune, including having the vet come to my house to put her to sleep. When your pet is sick, money is not a consideration,I know.

This year we spent about $5,000 on a cat that was diabetic and ended up having two types of cancer. By the time he was diagnosed, treated and put to sleep the bill was enormous.

Our dog has an eye disease called Pannus and sees an opthamologist frequently. She is also on pain meds for arthritis to the tune of about $100 a month. When we boarded her one week at a "resort" they gave her a Greenie treat and that cost us $1,600 in vet bills for a bowel blockage that fortunately didn't need surgery.

Our fur babies are now geriatrics so I imagine that we will be spending more in the future.