Let's say your cat has proven herself an expensive adoptee over the years. She's managed to a) break her leg after falling off a shelf; b) develop diabetes in mid-life; and c) not so long after, surprise you with a nasty — but treatable — form of brain cancer.
A couple of years later, tumor in remission after surgery and radiation, she developed hyperthyroidism. How far did you go to get her well? How much did you spend?
If you've been lucky enough to own pets for long enough and you're not filthy rich, you've doubtless pondered this issue: How far to go when it comes to treating your seriously sick or injured pet given that a) the severity is great and the outcome isn't guaranteed; b) your pet may be really old or not in great shape to begin with; and/or c) treatment is really, really expensive?
This last point often seems the most crucial one, doesn't it? This pay-to-play conundrum is the one I would most often tangle with when it comes to my own disaster-case pets — that is, if my local specialty facility did not generously offer discounted services for the lucky pets of area veterinarians.
Yes, that means my fancy vet care is much cheaper than yours. On average, I pay about 25% of what most people pay for their pets' care, which may be more than some might think, but less than what most would suppose. Because yes, we still have to pay something. And even 25% can add up to a lot when we're talking about very, very pricey services, like CT scans, myelograms (a special radiographic study of the spine), MRI studies and neurosurgery.
Repeat twice and here's where I've been with my own dog, Vincent. Figure into this series the fact that he started out his life with a surgically challenging cleft palate and severe allergic skin disease and you've now got a recipe for a French bulldog in need of the kind of rescue that only a highly motivated, wealthy person can provide ... unless she's a veterinarian with close ties to veterinary specialists and a way with cookie dough.
Yet even I have a limit. Over the summer when Vincent developed pain in his spine and progressive weakness in his hind limbs, a herniated interevertebral disc was identified and the spinal cord was surgically decompressed at that site. He improved after that event but less than six months later the pain and weakness were back. This time with some incontinence in tow.
Back to the specialists for more expensive imaging. Which is when the neurosurgeon (board-certified in neurology and surgery) found a subarachnoid cyst on Vincent's spine, a rare congenital malformation that becomes progressively more debilitating over time.
At the same time, we also confirmed that his spinal canal is becoming ever-narrower, given that his congenitally misshapen vertebrae (called hemivertebrae or "butterflied" vertebrae) are crowding the delicate nerve bundles that make up the spinal cord. So it was that Vincent finally underwent surgery last week. After which –– as I was warned he would –– his neurologic function declined to barely ambulatory functionality, with all the hind leg dragging that entails.
Thankfully, the easy-grip protective booties, pain relievers, Vitamin E and physical therapy in a water-filled giganto Rubbermaid-brand bucket have all helped him move better. Yet there are still some things that cannot be made whole after such a high-tech enterprise.
Which brings me back to finances, because I couldn't help but wonder where Vincent would be if I didn't get a big financial break. Yet if I'm honest with myself, I do know: He'd be in one of those "K9 Karts" getting pain relief until I could no longer manage his discomfort with drugs, acupuncture, massage and other modalities. Because $10,000 is just not doable right now.
Sometimes it may seem that veterinarians will never understand how pet owners feel when they can't afford to pay for expensive vet care. Rest assured, however, that most of us do recognize how lucky we are. And we do still have to make price-based decisions, just at a lower price point than yours.
But would I spend full-price if I had the cash to do so? Sure I would!
Though my detractors may call me wastrel and worse for spending big bucks on one little dog when so many starve every day all over the world, I reject such specious arguments by pointing to leather packages in luxury cars and similar such frills we defend with our economy-pumping, consumerist claims.
Because I happen to feel I'd rather go broke paying for my pets than racking up bills on things like plasma screens and cable TV. Call me crazy, but some things I consider more indispensible than others.