Highest veterinary bill?

[Sunnyday]

I'm planning long term... 

I don't like buying insurance unless I really need to. So instead of getting pet insurance, I've always preferred to "self-insure," so I was wondering what is the largest vet bill that you needed to pay for a dog?

Do you think that 10 K is enough?  Or is that too low? The highest I paid was about 800, but it was nothing serious.  My cat got into a fight and his wound got infected, which required cleaning and antibiotics. 

In all my years of owning a cat, I never had to deal with a major bill. 

[Sharon]

The largest vet bill I had for a cat was $1000 for thyroid treatment.  There was also the bill that led up to that treatment that was over $300.  It was worth every penny.  Because of the treatment we didn't have to pill every day and have blood tests quarterly, in the long run it saved me money and frustration.  That cat has had a good 10 years of health.

ETA: Yes that was the bill from 10 years ago, it is probably considerably higher now.

[steph08]

This is so dependent on where you live. I know people that use the vet in the town closest to me. It is very high priced (to me) - like $500 for a spay/neuter. $3-4k for an ACL repair. 

I go to a vet that is an additional 7-10 minutes away. It is still a large, family-owned practice, but I've never paid more than $150 to spay or neuter my pets. My beagle's eye removal was $100, which included surgery and an overnight stay. My in-law's boxer's ACL repair was $1k. 

I would think $10k would be enough. It seems you have high vet bills if you paid $800 for wound cleaning and antibiotics. Of course, some people have luck with pet insurance, though I have never gotten it (given the low cost of our vet). 

In my opinion and in my life - I know others don't agree - I go for puppies from responsible breeders who show/health test/etc. their dogs. That catches at least some of the structural and genetic flaws that can cause high vet bills. Of course, that doesn't always work (our one boxer died at age 6 from lymphoma), but it is a route that I have chosen to take. 

[bean29]

My understanding is that the vetrnary practices are being bought up and absorbed into larger group practices that are charging higher fees.

I paid over $3,000 to get IV treatments for one of my dogs about 10 years ago.  He did live a few years longer. I never told my DH until just recently when DD's friend paid about $10,000 for similar treatment for her dog.  He died anyways.

If I get another puppy, I will seriously consider buying some insurance, but I have no idea how much they charge and what it covers. ETA friend's dog was very well behaved.  It was a small dog, and she was able to travel with it under her seat on the plane.  He was having non-stop seizures if I remember correctly.  She has an uncle that is a vet but he lives about an hour away, so she took her pet to an animal er.  My dog was just a super good family pet.  

[Sunnyday]

Jan 24, 2024 16:44:22 GMT -5 steph08 said:

This is so dependent on where you live. I know people that use the vet in the town closest to me. It is very high priced (to me) - like $500 for a spay/neuter. $3-4k for an ACL repair. 

I go to a vet that is an additional 7-10 minutes away. It is still a large, family-owned practice, but I've never paid more than $150 to spay or neuter my pets. My beagle's eye removal was $100, which included surgery and an overnight stay. My in-law's boxer's ACL repair was $1k. 

I would think $10k would be enough. It seems you have high vet bills if you paid $800 for wound cleaning and antibiotics. Of course, some people have luck with pet insurance, though I have never gotten it (given the low cost of our vet). 

In my opinion and in my life - I know others don't agree - I go for puppies from responsible breeders who show/health test/etc. their dogs. That catches at least some of the structural and genetic flaws that can cause high vet bills. Of course, that doesn't always work (our one boxer died at age 6 from lymphoma), but it is a route that I have chosen to take. 

Yes, routine care with vaccines would cost me about $200-250, and I only get the basics. They would always try to upsell (guilt trip) me into something, "For the health of your cat, would you like to do a stool and urine analysis?"   No, I don't. I really don't. 

[chiver78]

Jan 24, 2024 16:25:46 GMT -5 Sunnyday said:

I'm planning long term... 

I don't like buying insurance unless I really need to. So instead of getting pet insurance, I've always preferred to "self-insure," so I was wondering what is the largest vet bill that you needed to pay for a dog?

Do you think that 10 K is enough?  Or is that too low? The highest I paid was about 800, but it was nothing serious.  My cat got into a fight and his wound got infected, which required cleaning and antibiotics. 

In all my years of owning a cat, I never had to deal with a major bill. 

I have zero experience with cats, but I do have two large dogs. one guy had knee surgery for a torn ligament, that ran about $8k. my golden girl, though....she's had that same surgery on both knees and last March had a competitive eating session with a puppy out of the recycling bin to the tune of FOUR CUPS of shredded cardboard being removed from her stomach in another surgery. her policy has paid out over $20,000. 

until the last couple of adventures, I was paying $110.77/mo for both pups. the policy covers 90% of all non-administrative and non-routine/checkup sort of charges related to their care. it included meds after surgeries, and will cover the cold laser therapy the little guy will start when I get back from vacation, instead of the maintenance pain meds he's been on for a little while. both pups turned 9yo over the fall. 

not sure if that helps you at all, hopefully it does! 

[TheOtherMe]

My cats have pre-existing conditions so I can't insure them.

I have a savings account that I auto transfer money in to monthly.

I spent more money on my first cat that any other.  He had a very serious surgery and I expect in today's world would be thousands of dollars.  

Compared to Boulder veterinarians, vets are cheap here.  My sister's malti-poo had her ACL operated on for $600.  I couldn't believe it and I don't know if they get a discount because they also treat the pigs on the farm.

People recommend this vet for their caring veterinarians and prices.  

[haapai]

Jan 24, 2024 16:25:46 GMT -5 Sunnyday said:

I'm planning long term... 

I don't like buying insurance unless I really need to. So instead of getting pet insurance, I've always preferred to "self-insure," so I was wondering what is the largest vet bill that you needed to pay for a dog?

Do you think that 10 K is enough?  Or is that too low? The highest I paid was about 800, but it was nothing serious.  My cat got into a fight and his wound got infected, which required cleaning and antibiotics. 

In all my years of owning a cat, I never had to deal with a major bill. 

Sunny, you live in Canada!  Why are you asking questions denominated in dollars without specifying that you are talking about Canadian dollars?  I'm all for planning for taking care of a dog but why are you polling the Yanks?  It's not as simple as converting US dollars into Canadian ones. 

Please talk to other folks living in Canada for much better advice than we can possibly give you.

[chiver78]

Jan 24, 2024 18:33:17 GMT -5 haapai said:

Jan 24, 2024 16:25:46 GMT -5 Sunnyday said:

I'm planning long term... 

I don't like buying insurance unless I really need to. So instead of getting pet insurance, I've always preferred to "self-insure," so I was wondering what is the largest vet bill that you needed to pay for a dog?

Do you think that 10 K is enough?  Or is that too low? The highest I paid was about 800, but it was nothing serious.  My cat got into a fight and his wound got infected, which required cleaning and antibiotics. 

In all my years of owning a cat, I never had to deal with a major bill. 

Sunny, you live in Canada!  Why are you asking questions denominated in dollars without specifying that you are talking about Canadian dollars?  I'm all for planning for taking care of a dog but why are you polling the Yanks?  It's not as simple as converting US dollars into Canadian ones. 

Please talk to other folks living in Canada for much better advice than we can possibly give you.

not for nothing, but I think she knows where she lives and where we live and has accounted for currency exchange. I read the question as an order of magnitude one, not a penny accounting of expenses. 🤷‍♀️

[Pink Cashmere]

I am aghast at the costs chiver78 quoted to “fix” her fur babies, and thanking my lucky stars that I’ve not run into that, since I’ve never had pet insurance.

I’ve spent between $1k and $2k for specific certain things over the years, and a few hundred dollars here and there, but never more than $2k. When my Bullmastiff’s kidneys were failing, the vet said he could try surgery to “fix” her, but it would cost a few thousand dollars, and the odds were not favorable that it would actually help her.

At the time, I was broke, that was during what I still refer to as the worst years of my life. But if he had said that spending all of that money would’ve had a good chance of helping her, I would’ve been ready to beg, steal or borrow the money to make it happen, because she was my responsibility. But because he thought the chances of doing all that, actually helping her were slim, I had a very difficult decision to make.

I appreciated his honesty, and still do, because I know in hindsight even today, that if he’d said “yeah, I can fix it, and she’ll be fine afterward, but it’s gonna cost you several thousands of dollars”, I would’ve said “do it” and turned myself inside out, to get the money that I didn’t have, to pay for it.

The kind of money Chiver threw out there, makes me not even want a dog, because I don’t have that kind of money, even though there are 2 dogs in my household already. I am committed to taking care of whatever they need, they are stuck with me and I am happily stuck with them, even though Boy drives me crazy. But I have always thought I would get another Bullmastiff one day, and now I am thinking that maybe I cant afford to do that.

[raeoflyte]

Dh is an vet tech in an icu. His patients regularly have $10k bills. Some have more but you're definitely cutting down on how many people can pay at that point.

[minnesotapaintlady]

Jan 24, 2024 16:58:46 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

until the last couple of adventures, I was paying $110.77/mo for both pups. the policy covers 90% of all non-administrative and non-routine/checkup sort of charges related to their care. it included meds after surgeries, and will cover the cold laser therapy the little guy will start when I get back from vacation, instead of the maintenance pain meds he's been on for a little while. both pups turned 9yo over the fall. 

Does the cost go up with age and/or claims?  Is there an annual or lifetime limit?

[pooks]

The biggest vet bill so far has been $1,600 to repair Ms M's hernia.  I was quoted $2,500-3,000 to treat heartworms, but thankfully her rescue handled that.  She just tested heartworm negative!!!

Previous dog had an autoimmune issue that attacked her eyes.  Vet appointments, specialist, medication, and surgery only came to about $1,500.  She had cancer at the end and surgery would have been $1,500, but it was terminal and not worth doing.  

[Pink Cashmere]

Jan 24, 2024 19:57:02 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

Dh is a vet tech in an icu. His patients regularly have $10k bills. Some have more but you're definitely cutting down on how many people can pay at that point.

I’m a long way from even being able to pay $10k.

When I had dogs that only I was responsible for, I saw the info for pet insurance in the vet’s offices, but I mostly thought it wasn’t worth paying for. Chiver’s post has made me rethink that.

In my mind, I was already doing right by the dogs I had as an adult, by taking them to a veterinarian in the first place, for preventive care, and when something didn’t seem right with them. And to be fair to my Mom, even though she has never really liked dogs and was just indulging me by letting me have them, she did spend money on veterinary care too. From regular visits to try to keep them healthy, to emergency care when something was wrong. I have no idea how much all of that cost her, for dogs she didn’t even necessarily want in the first place.  I have literally never thought about it until now.

She never complained about the costs for routine care or emergency care. The only time she ever fussed about dogs was when my first dog died (the one she took me to pick from a litter of puppies as a surprise) and she was upset that I was so upset, and she said we couldn’t have another dog, because they become family members and it’s too hard when they die. A month or so after that, she took me to the animal shelter, and I got my next dog. 

[chiver78]

Jan 24, 2024 20:06:39 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Jan 24, 2024 16:58:46 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

until the last couple of adventures, I was paying $110.77/mo for both pups. the policy covers 90% of all non-administrative and non-routine/checkup sort of charges related to their care. it included meds after surgeries, and will cover the cold laser therapy the little guy will start when I get back from vacation, instead of the maintenance pain meds he's been on for a little while. both pups turned 9yo over the fall. 

Does the cost go up with age and/or claims?  Is there an annual or lifetime limit?

yes, and idk I'd have to check that.

that said, the increases have been fairly minimal til the last couple years. I forget what made me call in to ask about the increase for LD, he hadn't yet had a claim and it went up more than $10/mo and I wanted to know why. the explanation was age, breed, etc...actuarial shit. Punk just went up $25/mo with her renewal this month. I need to call on that one, but it kind of follows. they are both 9 now, expenses are not going down.

[giramomma]

One of our neighbors had a dog that ate a sock. The sock did not pass. That was a 4K emergency vet bill, maybe 10 years or so ago, now.

So, I am risk adverse. And I probably have a 4-5K pet EF.

[chiver78]

Jan 24, 2024 20:23:59 GMT -5 Pink Cashmere said:

Jan 24, 2024 19:57:02 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

Dh is a vet tech in an icu. His patients regularly have $10k bills. Some have more but you're definitely cutting down on how many people can pay at that point.

I’m a long way from even being able to pay $10k.

When I had dogs that only I was responsible for, I saw the info for pet insurance in the vet’s offices, but I mostly thought it wasn’t worth paying for. Chiver’s post has made me rethink that.

In my mind, I was already doing right by the dogs I had as an adult, by taking them to a veterinarian in the first place, for preventive care, and when something didn’t seem right with them. And to be fair to my Mom, even though she has never really liked dogs and was just indulging me by letting me have them, she did spend money on veterinary care too. From regular visits to try to keep them healthy, to emergency care when something was wrong. I have no idea how much all of that cost her, for dogs she didn’t even necessarily want in the first place.  I have literally never thought about it until now.

She never complained about the costs for routine care or emergency care. The only time she ever fussed about dogs was when my first dog died (the one she took me to pick from a litter of puppies as a surprise) and she was upset that I was so upset, and she said we couldn’t have another dog, because they become family members and it’s too hard when they die. A month or so after that, she took me to the animal shelter, and I got my next dog. 

remember though- my stuff is 90% covered by insurance, I'm not getting hit with all of that on one shot.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

$1500 for a tumor removal for Sabah. It was the size of a softball.

$1200 for heartworm treatment for Charlotte a couple years ago.

Vet care is pretty cheap here. Charlotte is a little over $200 for her annual cause of her size. Wilbur is much less.

We easily cash flow that.

We need to get Charlotte's teeth cleaned that'll be $400-$600 depending on if she needs a tooth removed.

IDK what would get us to $10k. Chemo would have probably cost that much for Sabah but by that time she was 14 and chemo has very low success on lymphoma in Austin's based on my research.

Age 5 it turns out is when it tends to first appear. Hence the tumor. It usually goes into remission for several years then come back more aggressive the second time. Which was accurate according to our experience.

So we chose to let her live out her days till it was time.

[mollyanna58]

I spent close to $10,000. for my dog's cancer treatment, including diagnostic testing, surgery to "debulk" the tumor which could not be entirely removed due to its location, and radiation.  It was just over three months from when I found the lump in her neck to when she had to be euthanized. 

I looked into insurance for the next dog, but decided to just bank the annual premium and have a pet fund.

[TheOtherMe]

I do have a dollar limit in my mind that I can not spend.  

The vet told me Amelia and her auto immune disorder will eventually lead to her needing most or all of her teeth pulled.  He said some pet parents choose euthanasia at that point.  He said in part because they have spent so much money by then and it is near the end of her life.  

Maddow has only had the one vet appointment for his kidney disease.  He did not have stones, which is good.  Time will tell.

It definitely will depend on their quality of life.

I am not putting them through anything I wouldn't put myself through.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

We divert $200/mo for the brats.  This does NOT include boarding!bb

Our largest bill was $5000+ to fix Harpo’s eye.  Dental, depending on what’s done funds $300/(which I realize is cheap).  We had Harriet’s teeth cleaned and a lump taken off her neck, with pathology done.  Her bill was about $600 for that.

Harpo’s end of life care probably ran us about $300/mo.  He had arthritis of the spine and the periodic treatments kept him comfortable.  

Yearly vaccinations run about $150/animal.  Sheldon’s cat food runs me $45 every 3 months.  Harriet’s food about $20 every 6-8 weeks.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

$4,000+ for Jack.

[bean29]

Jan 24, 2024 20:38:34 GMT -5 giramomma said:

One of our neighbors had a dog that ate a sock. The sock did not pass. That was a 4K emergency vet bill, maybe 10 years or so ago, now.

So, I am risk adverse. And I probably have a 4-5K pet EF.

My Charlie once ate one of DD’s footie socks. It passed through him and came out the other end. I saw something white sticking out of his but and started to pull. He got a lecture of how gross he was. I guess we lucked out on that one, but it did not feel lucky.

[seriousthistime]

I had a black Lab that developed Addison's disease around age 7.  She needed to go to the vet every 25 days for a $175 injection. She also took a daily medication, plus the usual heart worm and flea/tick preventives.  She was easily the $20,000 dog, not counting the usual annual vaccinations and teeth cleaning. 

She lived to age 14.  I adored that dog. I had a very hard time letting her go.  They just don't last as long as we want them to. 

[Bonny]

I think 10k is a good number. As you can tell from the responses those kinds of treatments are somewhat rare and a round number like that should have you take a hard look at the cost benefit of treatment for the animal. By that I mean I probably wouldn't spend that kind of money to squeeze six more months of life.

Our single biggest bill was about $5k nearly 20 years when our super-sized Siamese got bit by a rattlesnake. Anti-venin back then was about $600 a vial. Turns out he had an allergic reaction to the serum (actually pretty common in cats 1: 100) and had to have multiple blood transfusions because his body was consuming its white blood cells. He had to stay in the emergency shop for about a week. This was in the Scottsdale area where people pay big $$$. He was a strong young cat lived for another 9 years so well worth the cost. Still miss that bad boy. 

[greenthumb59]

I had a cat who developed diabetes.  She was very ill and nearly died.  She also ended up losing all of her teeth.  Her highest single bill was about 400 for surgery to remove some of the teeth and clean up her gums.  Her insulin ran about $150 a bottle.  Over the years between her teeth and her diabetes we did spend quite a bit on her. I would guess about 2500, which is a lot of money for us.

She was the best cat ever and we still miss her.  

We had a yorkie mix who tore her ACL's - first surgery cost about $2500.  When the second one failed a few months later, they only charged us $1000 to repair that one.  She was a crazy little thing and we still miss her too.

Right now I have a lab mix and a polydactyl cat.  The lab is 9.  She is developing lipomas.  As we find them, we take her in to have them checked.  So far no problems.

The cat is about 4.  She is a healthy brat.

I have only had one dog from puppyhood - the yorkie mix.  All the others were adoptees.  

I would consider pet insurance.

[TheOtherMe]

The prescription cat food is over $100 a bag.  It lasts about 2 1/2 months.  But if it keeps Maddow from stones, that is fine.  

They do get their annual check ups.  When I had Amelia in for the first time with her auto immune disease, they were able to give her all of her vaccines except for rabies.  One of the shots she got for the auto immune disease can not be given at the same time as rabies.

The next visit no other shots were involved so she got her rabies shot.  Vet said that is probably how she will get her vaccines from now on.  

[jerseygirl]

We had a darling black and tan mini dachshund named Tootsie. She developed diabetes but the doctor recommended not to treat her. Dr felt treatment would be difficult and not that effective. She was around 7. She had to be euthanized about a month later

[chiver78]

Jan 25, 2024 14:31:34 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

We had a darling black and tan mini dachshund named Tootsie. She developed diabetes but the doctor recommended not to treat her. Dr felt treatment would be difficult and not that effective. She was around 7. She had to be euthanized about a month later

what I just said aloud in my house would violate CoC. I'm sorry your vet was an asshole. 

[souldoubt]

Approaching $20K and counting while the initial bills were about $14K.  Our older cat started throwing up repeatedly about 20 months ago.  Started off at the vet and initially they didn't see anything, recommended prescription food and sent us on our way.  She got worse and we ended up at another vet about 2 days later where they took a scan, thought it was cancer and recommended VCA. Took her to VCA where they kept her over night and did more tests.  They did 2 biopsies but had issues getting enough of what they needed to confirm what kind of cancer.  They thought it might be small cell carcinoma and recommended removing the growth.  The surgeon performing the surgery said this would be only the second case of small cell carcinoma she had seen in a cat in almost 20 years as it's extremely rare.  After removing it they got a better sample and found out it was lymphoma which if it had to be cancer was the better as the life expectancy is much longer.  

Had to do e-tube feeding until everything healed up and our poor cat was miserable as she was quarantined in one of our rooms to reduce her activity and keep the other cat away.  Since then we kept both cats on the prescription food, she regularly takes a steroid and chemo pill while going back for check ups every 6-8 weeks which involve blood/lab work and a physical.  She continues to do great and gained the weight she lost and then some as the steroid increased her appetite.  It hasn't been cheap but she's family and absolutely worth it.  We have a wellness plan for both cats which includes check ups, teeth cleaning, shots and discounts on flea meds/other items but not actual insurance.  At a point will look into insurance for our other cat as he ages but some time back they thought he had an irregular heart beat (he hates getting in the carrier and going anywhere so likely stress related) which is on file so not sure we could.