Pet Insurance?

[tranquility]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

That’s easy. There’s more than ample supply of random dudes around, and more than a few of them annoy me, so…

Exactly. Now we're talking.

[infinitekidM2C]

I do my own medical treatment and surgery on my pets. Saves me some quid.

[Maynard]

I'd drop 10k on my cat a dozen times over before I'd spend it on CF splitters, alacantara steering wheels, or new rims; and no shortage of that on these boards.

Also kind of amusing to me that so many posters imply that human medical care is less cynical, bashing on the veterinarians - humans have better insurance so you don't notice the cost as much, but they have whole departments devoted to figuring out what the market will bear for a new drug or medical device (i.e. how much your kid/spouse's life is worth). And my vet does pro-bono for the poor folks and for our TNR program.

[XutvJet]

Originally Posted by Watching The World Burn

But I would say its important to not lose perspective and realize that at the end, they are still just an animal. They aren't your son / daughter despite lots of people treating them exactly like that. They aren't human.

I think "pet people" that don't have kids and/or have never lost someone close to them (parent, child, good friend, etc.) have a bit of a misguided perspective on their animals and life in general. When you have kids or loose people close to you, it hardens you and makes you look at life way differently. I'm not saying it makes you superior in any way, but it certainly changes you and where you invest your energy in those "beings" close to you.

The pet people I really don't understand are those that will put their pets through surgery after surgery and lots of meds to eek out another year or two because they simply can't let them go. I wouldn't even do that to a person I love.

[Esteban]

I love animals, I love the pets here on the forum; JJ 911SC's cat Tiggie, RickFLM4's dogs Winston and Ginger, The Ox Princess, all of them. I'm always gushing over them. I do that here at home too. I love my cat dearly, love the animals I see in my neighborhood and on the street. They're soft and furry, cute and cuddly, and sweet and innocent.

That said, I would not spend $10,000 on a pet. It is an animal, completely different than a human. I would spend endless amounts of money on anyone in my family to help them and keep them alive. Doesn't mean I don't love animals, I do as mentioned above. When their lives come to an end, it's over. It's happened to my pets and everyone else who has pets. It's sad, but we usually get over it.

For me it helps to get another pet right away, and always from the local animal shelter. I have a new one to get to know, to get attached to and take care of. And it gets my mind off the one I just lost because it hurts. I will have fond memories of the pet when I’m over the pain. Some people think it’s wrong to get a new pet right away because you need time to grieve, to get over the one you just lost. I don't feel that way. Like I said, it's an animal. I just try to move on. What I do works for me but to each their own.

PS - granted, I would not want to lose a pet while it’s still young and would do everything within reason to save the pet and I guess that’s where pet insurance would be good to have (to get back on topic).

[UncleWede]

Leah had an issue at around age 8. Seems when she jumped off the bed she landed wrong. Initially she was limping, but it progressed over the next 3 days into dragging her ass (literally) We went to the emergency vet, since these things always happen on Friday afternoon. She had collapsed her spine and it was pinching the nerves. Vet came in with news, and 3/4 of us in the room were ready to say goodbye. Tears abounded. My wife then asked for an estimate to do the surgery. Somewhere just north of $10G. OK, bye Leah.
My wife (who doesn't really even like the dog) starts searching around in bank accounts and then tells them to do it. Surgery goes well, but Leah has to stay in a cage there for 3 days. We had to learn how to "juice" her, because her bladder wouldn't empty without manual intervention.

That was close to 3 years ago. Every time we run out to the front yard together, I'm pretty sure she's happy we spent the dough on her.

It took a little scraping, and $ was tight for a month or two, but we/Leah were lucky to be in a position where we could swing it.