Spay and neutering are done by laser. as is declawing. Is that considered cosmetic? While I agree with the first 2, I would not let anyone get near my cat if I thought they might declaw him, laser or otherwise.

While taking donations to the animal shelter, I remarked to one of the workers how sad it was that people here would not take care of their animals. He said "they don't take care of their kids, why would they take care of the animals". Sad but true. One of our rescue cats broke her hip, it was around $400. to have her cared for. I mentioned it to a friend and another gal over heard and said "For a CAT ???????" like it was the worst thing she ever heard. It's heartbreaking some of the things you see.

I know of a veterinary practice that used to have an endodontist come in and do root canals on dogs and cats. And of course with sedation this can be thousands out of pocket. But in the same area patients will complain about relatively small copays for their own care.

Hmmm, pal, our rescued 9 year old mini doxie has a sad history I won't go into, but as a result of his early years, his teeth are terrible. We keep working on saving as many as we can and my vet says he could actually be okay if we lose that fight. But I guess I can imagine a scenario where I might pay to save a tooth. Some of them hold the tongue in their mouth, for example.

Now, pet laser cosmetic surgery? I'm going to have to start googling. Could it be for like those fat lumps, maybe?

One last story. After we'd had him for two months, our doxie's back legs went from wobbly to paralyzed in an afternoon. Anyways, given what he'd already gone through in his young life, we gulped and paid for surgery. My DH now jokes that he's our $5,000 foot long. It wasn't quite that bad. :)

Extreme pet care- I take this as making a buck at your pet's expense. It is alive and well in all states.

For example- My 16 year old dog had a great yearly physical consider her age. She was very vibrant and taking a 2 mile walk everyday. . I was worried about some bloody discharge and she was worked up and I was told it was her anal glands and all was good. It was not. 6 months later she was diagnosed with a huge tumor that filled her whole abdominal cavity and was pushing on her organs. So what was advised? Surgery. Surgery on a 16 year old dog with a grade 4 heart murmur that would most likely result in a life ending arrhythmia which would likely kill her but may, just may add a couple months to her life. While it was not cosmetic the advice was to basically pay 5K to have my dog spend a terrified day while she was preparing for surgery with almost no hope for recovery as she died on the operating table.

She enjoyed her monthly spa days, her homemade food and her daily exercise. She deserved them. She didn't deserve to spend her last day on earth with strangers trying to make a buck by cutting her open knowing she had almost zero chance of surviving the surgery. But still they pushed it.

I'm trying to imagine what kind of laser cosmetic surgery a pet would need? Maybe if they'd had a tumor removed? But still, even that kind of cosmetic surgery is about the owner, not about the pet.

Beachem, service dogs and emotional support animals are everywhere here! (Im also in Cali) I'm thinking there will eventually be a tipping point where so many people have their pets declared service animals that the government will throw up their hands and just let pets live among us (like they don't anyway). I don't understand why it so bad for a pet to be in a store when I can see a half-dozen "service" dogs in Costco on any given day and none have caused a health crisis that I'm aware of.

Pal, don't forget that some of those patients are likely paying giant monthly premiums in addition to those relatively small copays.

The only truly cosmetic surgeries I can think of are tail docks and ear crops, which are not new or extreme -- and both are, fortunately, becoming less common in the profession as more and more vets are declining to do them. Unfortunately, there are still lots of owner who want them, which means some are being done badly and cruelly by lay-people (but that's another discussion).

In addition to that, there might be an occasional benign lump removal because the client doesn't like to look at it, but that's about it.

TO vet, I grew up with standard poodles and back then the standard was to dock tails and ears. The standard poodles I see now have longer ears and tails. It's a little getting used to for me, but has to be better for the dogs :) Although, the ears dipped in the food and water dishes . . .

A Dozen Camels Disqualified From Saudi Beauty Pageant Over Botox Injections

Blue Onblue, People love their pets, they're in agony at this point as you were, as I've been, and I hear you. I've had family members take what I considered extraordinary, and ill advised, measures to delay this heart wrenching loss. I'd like to think, though, their vets aren't motivated by money, or at least, not solely at these moments.

Re: lump removal - sometimes those lumps do need to be removed depending on their location but then that wouldn't be cosmetic. I agree with you, beacham, that's just disconcerting phrasing to me.

BTW, we were assured prior to surgery that Huey had a good prognosis for regaining leg function and he has!

It makes me sad to see a whole region put down because of a few high profile oddballs. Most southern Californians are perfectly normal.

But cosmetic surgery for pets sure seems weird. My dog looks like he came in 5th at a junkyard dog battle.

Cosmetic surgery is a sad euphemism for declawing.

"Cosmetic surgery is a sad euphemism for declawing."

No.....no one wants or performs a declaw to make their pet look better. You may not agree with the reasons why anyone would want to declaw their cat, but you should know that it's not to beautify their pet.

oh, and the camel thing makes me laugh hysterically. Gotta love those pouty lips!

SoCal here. My bird has beak issues; he requires periodic trimming. I have done this before on a previous pet, but not this one with his attitude. How many parakeets could I have purchased with the same funds? Not logical, maybe, but he's my boy. It isn't just cosmetic, poor boy needs to eat...

I would never do cosmetic surgery on my dog, but I did get him a DNA test (feel like was worth $75 in entertainment to me). I also did $4000 to repair his torn ACL last year... during my remodel, ouch.

I have mixed feelings about extreme dog medical care. Need to consider personal finances as well as quality of life. Cosmetic surgery, no way. So hard to watch him recover from knee surgery, can't imagine doing it for aesthetics.

Certain breeds of cats, particularly Persians, can have an eyelid issue called entropion. Besides being terribly uncomfortable for the cat, if entropion is left untreated and if severe enough, it can cause corneal damage. Entropion can be corrected with a CO2 laser. The laser treatment for entropion has been found to offer advantages over traditional surgery, with easier recovery and better results.

I have always considered myself an animal lover, but the things people do these days, for their pets, just make me wonder about their sanity.

I am lucky to have a great vet, who always gives me the options without pressure. When asked what they'd do for their own, they know me well enough they just say.

When I had a house fire, they boarded my 2 dogs for 2 weeks, then took them home with them for another month. They were as heart broken as we were at the loss of our Golden and 3 kitties to smoke inhalation. When the got the faxes from the emergency vets, they not only called, but came out to find us in the hotel (God Bless the Red Cross!) with two who were not injured. Tosha survived for 5 extra years with lung damage, but I had to finally let him go when inflammation wasn't letting him breathe. I see his sweet face every day. They let me pay $17K in those bills over time. Took me 5 years to pay them off, but I did.

I love my vets and so do my pets!

What about neuticles? That's cosmetic, yes? And if you don't know what they are, google and have a good laugh.

Re: euthanasia, "better a day too early than a day too late"

It's so hard but I try to be strong to make sure they don't suffer

^^^ I go so far as a week too early rather than a day too late.

Agreed. It's so hard, but it's also kind.

My poor cat suffered before he died because we didn't get the timing right. As much as I loved my vet (who saved my cat's life years before when his kidneys started shutting down), he was crap at giving advice about pain and suffering and euthanasia. He didn't want us to do it too soon (cat was clearly fatal but only a little uncomfortable) but warned us not to wait until "the last gasp." There's a lot of gray area between too soon and too late. I like to think he died mid-yawn, not mid-writhe, but when I found him he was stretched out with his mouth open in a horrible shape and his eyes wild. He looked like a taxidermied animal in a natural history museum, shaped to show that even house cats are still hunters and can be fierce. :(

I know cold laser therapy is used for athletic and soft tissue injuries on people as well as dogs. Not sure why you would do cosmetic unless the dog had a really disfiguring injury.

I have a dog who happens to be very good looking. I'm biased, but she really is beautiful. At one point I had a boyfriend who really adored her and, for some odd reason, took pride in her looks, even though it seemed out of character for him. My dog had one of those little lumps on her side dogs sometimes get. I had it checked out when It first appeared and was assured it was nothing. So one day we were at the vet, and my boyfriend asks about the lump again, to make sure. The vet assured us again, "It's fine, it's just fluid. You could have it removed if it gets really disfiguring, but it would really just be cosmetic." Boyfriend replies, "If it GETS really disfiguring??!!!! Look at her!" It was funny.

If you want to see people go way overboard in how they pamper their small dogs you need to take a trip to Tokyo, Japan.

Stillpitpat, thanks for the laugh! neuticles!

I forgot about Neuticles! Yes, cosmetic (as well as psych therapy for owners with transference issues), but I don't personally know any vet who's installed them.

Just checked to see if cats can get neuticals too. Yep. Maybe I'll get my boys a couple pairs apiece. Not that anyone would ever notice, since they're long haired, and Orion doesn't go near people anyway. But it may help their self esteem. (Not that the other one needs any help with that!)

But my poor little girl will feel left out. Do they make replacement ovaries?

Idk about neuticles for cats, but we did use bright red soft paws on one of our cats. People would always ask if I had painted his nails. Sometimes, if I was feeling crotchety, I would say, "yes, as a matter of fact, I did put fingernail polish on my cat's nails." I mean, come on! What cat would tolerate that??

I have an issue w/emotional support animals in certain places. We watched a woman at the grocery store come in w/her emotional support dog. Over to the deli. Not a small dog. Nice big dog. Gave itself some big shakes, could literally see the fur in the air, hopping up to see the food displayed behind the glass. Licking things as they walked around. Jumping on people. Sniffing and snuffling at the packaged cookies and muffins in the bakery.

I also don't appreciate sitting in a restaurant while a dog paces back and forth next to us, climbs up on a chair next to their table, climbs up into their booth, putting paws on the table, coming over to sniff at me when I'm trying to eat. Or going thru a buffet. *That's* appetizing, right? You seriously can't go thru a food buffet w/out your dog in your arms or on a leash running his nose along the counter? If I wanted to eat pet hair in my food or things a cat or dog has slobbered on, I can do that at home.

Ummmm...Neuticle earrings? I can't unsee that.

I have to admit I've not experienced the "emotional support" dogs. Is that another CA thing?
Artimis, perhaps they're kitty boob jobs for girl kitties. Oh, now that's a picture! LOL!