Summer is just about here! I’m bracing myself for a busy month while my wife is away, taking of care of family in Germany.
Friday, June 25th is “Take Your Dog to Work Day.” I am terrible at keeping track of occasions like this, but Company of Animals, who have been so generous with their Nina Ottosson toys, sent me a press release about it, so I can share it with you. If you can, celebrate! Unfortunately, I can’t bring a pet to the day-job, but I get to bring Buddha all over the place for dog training, so that pretty much makes up for it.
As summer approaches, it’s time to start thinking about travel, and many of us travel by car. Edie Jarolim has some great car travel tips over on the Will My Dog Hate Me? Blog.
How much would you spend on your dog’s healthcare? The NY Times “Well” blog posted some information about a survey that was done in April. I’m pretty sure I saw this somewhere before, but it’s worth discussing again. I’ve already passed every dollar amount mentioned with Caffeine and Gage. Not sure about Buddha — I would need to look at the costs of his dental surgeries, and that would make me sad.
How much would you spend? Let me know in the comments.
I remember reading that NYT story and couldn't believe the number of people who would not spend more than $500 on a vet bill for their pet. I'll have to go take another look to see how the question was framed. Well call me crazy, but I'm in the $5000 category, since that's all they went up to. More than that, I would expect I'd have to find a vet that would have to agree to take payments. Not many people have money now, and wondering if your job is safe is no picnic either, but wow, only 22% would go to $5000…that makes me a little sad because I know how expensive operations can be.
I read that story too. I think our limit would be $2,000. That is what we paid to have Mr. Earl Gray's leg fixed when we found him. It depends on the circumstances and where we are financially. It's a hard decision. I wrote about a friend who was presented with a $25,000 vet bill to fix her dog's legs. Most of us can't afford this. Pet insurance is an option, but that doesn't cover everything.
I'm not typically not too concerned with costs when it comes to my pets care. One of our dogs, Hannah, has already had two knee surgeries that put her well above $6000. To me its simply cost of owner ship, so I'm not really sure where my limit would be. To me what's more important than the cost is the long term prognosis. I'm not going to spend $5000 for surgery if my pet is not likely to survive or will likely be in pain for the remainder of their life.
If I can get and out of the vet's office with one of my “sickies” I feel like I dodged a bullet.
I really need to get insurance…..
That's a great point – the other side of the issue, which is holding on when it may not be best for the pet.