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What Price For Kitty?



 
 
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  #11  
Old February 14th 05, 12:07 PM
Jim Lawton
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On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 04:43:48 GMT, "Glarb" wrote:

I've been thinking about this. I have spent huge sums of money on the cat I
have had for the past seven or eight years. But I have money, and I don't
think about it. But if I didn't have money -- let's say living from
paycheck to paycheck -- and the vet came in and said, "$850 for labwork and
surgery." Forgive me, but I would probably have to draw the line there and
have the poor thing put to rest. I know this makes me a bad person, but
come on y'all, what is your true limit on such matters?


In the UK we have this organisation - do you not in the states?

http://www.pdsa.org.uk

maybe it's time for someone to set it up, if not ...

Jim

  #13  
Old February 14th 05, 06:11 PM
Mary
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"Phil P." wrote in message
...

"Mary" wrote in message
.com...

"Glarb" wrote:

I know this makes me a bad person, but
come on y'all, what is your true limit on such matters?


What the hell is wrong with you?



Nothing! That's perfectly normal behavior for an asshole.



Once I really thought about his question, it ****ed me off.
What cat lover thinks that way? If you are unfortunate
enough to have to cross that bridge, that is bad enough.


  #14  
Old February 14th 05, 06:27 PM
Monique Y. Mudama
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On 2005-02-14, Mary penned:

Once I really thought about his question, it ****ed me off. What cat lover
thinks that way? If you are unfortunate enough to have to cross that bridge,
that is bad enough.


If you're claiming that you've never, ever thought about how much you could
spend on a pet before it got to be too much, I say you're a liar. In fact,
your previous post about mortgaging your house, etc. to pay for the cats'
health shows that you *have* thought about it.

It's a scary question, but I'm sure that all of us have wondered at one time
or another how much we could really afford to spend to keep our loved ones
alive. That's one of the reasons so many folks talk about either having pet
insurance or keeping a separate account just for pet emergencies.

--
monique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eros was adopted! Eros has a home now! *cheer!*
  #15  
Old February 14th 05, 06:30 PM
-L.
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Glarb wrote:
I've been thinking about this. I have spent huge sums of money on

the cat I
have had for the past seven or eight years. But I have money, and I

don't
think about it. But if I didn't have money -- let's say living from
paycheck to paycheck -- and the vet came in and said, "$850 for

labwork and
surgery." Forgive me, but I would probably have to draw the line

there and
have the poor thing put to rest. I know this makes me a bad person,

but
come on y'all, what is your true limit on such matters?

Glarb


Yes we have a limit, but it is animal-dependant and procedure
dependant. I have a terminally ill dog who is 11. I could have spent
thousands of dollars on further diagnoses and exploratory surgery but
the question became "Why - what will I buy her in doing so? A month?
Will I make the situation worse?" On my vet's recommendation, we
decided to let nature take its course. So far THAT decision has served
her well - she has been alive 8 months since diagnosis and the vet
expected a few weeks at best.
When she develops complications, I will have to make that final
decision.

I have a cat that had a hairball blockage. I could have spent $800 on
further diagnosis (which had a good chance of telling us nothing), and
thousands more on exploratory surgery to correct the problem, and I
opted not to do so. He passed the blockage at home and is doing great.
If he had gotten worse, I would have elected to euthanize him. Not
because I don't love him, but because the benefit to cost ratio for
this particular cat was so low.

In the past I have donated surgeries for kittens at the vet who were
slated to be euthanized for lack of funds (by their owners), when the
owners were "good people" and truly loved their cats. It simply has to
be a case-by-case decision. In these cases it was broken bones that
could easily be repaired.

I tend to take a "let nature take its course" approach with myself as
well, within reason. I think people are far too eager to medicate and
have surgery done on themselves, as well as their animals.

-L.

  #16  
Old February 14th 05, 06:42 PM
-L.
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Phil P. wrote:
"Mary" wrote in message
.com...

"Glarb" wrote:

I know this makes me a bad person, but
come on y'all, what is your true limit on such matters?


What the hell is wrong with you?



Nothing! That's perfectly normal behavior for an asshole.


So are you saying you have no limit, Phil? Would you go without
medication? Food? Lose your house?

I'm not being snarky - just curious.

I don't consider my cats equal with my child. They are a family member
- a beloved companion - but NOT equal to my child. Practicality and
cost-to-benefit ratio comes into play. It is situation-dependant. I
have seen far too many people throw far too much money at a hopeless
situation, and vets, by and large, will allow them to do so. In the
end, the animal suffers far longer than it should have. And there is
absolutely *no* compassion in that.

I also recognize that many people with cats truly cannot afford
adequate vet care. Yes, they shouldn't have cats if they cannot afford
them, but many people do. They do the best with what they have.

-L.

  #18  
Old February 14th 05, 07:13 PM
KellyH
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"Glarb" wrote in message
...
I've been thinking about this. I have spent huge sums of money on the cat
I have had for the past seven or eight years. But I have money, and I
don't think about it. But if I didn't have money -- let's say living from
paycheck to paycheck -- and the vet came in and said, "$850 for labwork
and surgery." Forgive me, but I would probably have to draw the line
there and have the poor thing put to rest. I know this makes me a bad
person, but come on y'all, what is your true limit on such matters?

Glarb



I don't have a set limit, like "I will only spend X amount per cat" should a
situation occur. It would all depend on: the general health of the cat,
what the diagnosis/prognosis was, how much discomfort the procedure would
cause the cat, and how likely this test/procedure was to tell us something.
In the past, I have borrowed from credit cards, borrowed money from my
parents, and spent money I could have used for myself, for my cat. We also
keep an emergency credit card for things like house, car, cat and human
medical emergencies.

--
-Kelly
kelly at farringtons dot net
"Wake up, and smell the cat food" -TMBG


  #19  
Old February 14th 05, 07:14 PM
Mary
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"-L." wrote in message
oups.com...

Phil P. wrote:
"Mary" wrote in message
.com...

"Glarb" wrote:

I know this makes me a bad person, but
come on y'all, what is your true limit on such matters?


What the hell is wrong with you?



Nothing! That's perfectly normal behavior for an asshole.


So are you saying you have no limit, Phil? Would you go without
medication? Food? Lose your house?

I'm not being snarky - just curious.


Because you are an asshole too.





 




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