for me it's not a question of money, but my animal's quality of life. If visits to the vet or invasive procedures become too frequent, I might make the decision to stop and let nature take it's course - but, there would have to be a significant, daily strain on one of my guys quality of life for me to get to that point.
Pets are part of the family and very loyal. I spend whatever I have to. Sometimes they are the only bright spot of the day. They always make me feel better after a rough day. It's an individual thing you have to decide on. I could never part with a pet by selling them like some do. I also have a couple of birds and don't keep them in a cage. They are very happy and are potty trained. I wouldn't want to be kept in a cage. I hope your pet survives.
we had a toy fox terrier form 2002-2006 we got him as a stray he was 4 or so when we got him
long story short he had diabetes developed cataracts evertually went blind...we spent in those 4 years just over 55k ..he was on insulin twice a day got fluids in the morning...had eye surgeries...had a pancreas issue that kept him hospitla for a week........and then at the end we would have to take him in once a week and he would stay in an oxygen tube( his lungs were getting fluid)......it was a lot he was our baby though
have a pit /lab mix now and would do the same for her
long story short he had diabetes developed cataracts evertually went blind...we spent in those 4 years just over 55k ..he was on insulin twice a day got fluids in the morning...had eye surgeries...had a pancreas issue that kept him hospitla for a week........and then at the end we would have to take him in once a week and he would stay in an oxygen tube( his lungs were getting fluid)......it was a lot he was our baby though
have a pit /lab mix now and would do the same for her
Rephrasing the question to end with, "...before giving up and mercifully euthanizing them"?
Me? True story from last fall.....Was told that I could extract the dead eye (following a couple week infection and non-response to treatment that left him with a bulging eyeball that was very likely quite painful) for about $800 and I chose instead to help him pass
True story from about six weeks ago with my 15 year old top cat.....She had lost about 1/4 of her body weight and had a body temp under 97....Doc said it was quite likely an indicator of at least one failing organ - either kidney or pancreas. Blood tests and related followup would have been upwards of $1000 before any kind of surgery. I brought her home with expectation to euthanize in following week.
But then I segregated her food/water from her annoying pest brother and within about a week she regained a couple pounds and as I type this is pretty much back to fully normal behavior.
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Finally, the FP is only four years old and in presumable solid health. I'm pretty sure I would draw the line at a couple thousand bucks max....But the SheBar would be in charge of that one and has stated there is no ceiling.
Its a tough call and I agree it all comes down to quality of life. I had a black lab who was just an awesome dog, he died of natural causes and I cant lie, I felt a little guilty about if I should of had him put down, his last few days were a bit rough, nothing over the top, but I could tell he was in bad shape. Selfishly I let him go the extra 2 days or so, but my wife and I were with him and I am thankful of that
WOW...great to see this post because earlier this afternoon (no joke here) I was thinking, "It's been almost a week since JW posted at Rx....I hope he's okey dokey"
Looks like some one (or more) of his friends & family are doing whatever it takes to keep him alive and rockin'
solid
