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Pit Pet Thread

I've never had pet insurance, though when my last cat was dying, I would have likely been able to afford to do more to save him. I remember hearing an acquaintance mention that sometimes the major common issues in certain breeds are often not covered by insurance - they were talking about a $5,000+ surgery for their Great Dane's stomach bloat, which is apparently too common to be covered. Some quick googling doesn't necessarily support that though.

That said, my own health insurance only costs me about $50 a month. Does your dog breed have common expensive issues that might make spending $540 a year on insurance worthwhile? Cats are smaller and all, but I think my annual vet visit is around $60 or something.
 
This opinion will be extremely unpopular I think but I'd never go through that amount of trouble for a dog. Broken leg, sure, surgery to remove a benign tumor, yeah, but anything that is just delaying the inevitable and racking up vet bills I would have to pass on. I see them as best friends/family just as everyone else does and treat my dog like shes a queen but at the end of the day its a dog and you can buy another one before spending a few grand to keep one alive for a few extra months.

Sorry if that opinion offends anyone on here
 
Don't be sorry. President Obama drone strikes innocent bystanders with no apparent remorse.
 
Screamindemon3 said:
This opinion will be extremely unpopular I think but I'd never go through that amount of trouble for a dog. Broken leg, sure, surgery to remove a benign tumor, yeah, but anything that is just delaying the inevitable and racking up vet bills I would have to pass on. I see them as best friends/family just as everyone else does and treat my dog like shes a queen but at the end of the day its a dog and you can buy another one before spending a few grand to keep one alive for a few extra months.

Sorry if that opinion offends anyone on here
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I have always said this too but I wonder what I would do if push comes to shove for Titus.
 
Screamindemon3 said:
This opinion will be extremely unpopular I think but I'd never go through that amount of trouble for a dog. Broken leg, sure, surgery to remove a benign tumor, yeah, but anything that is just delaying the inevitable and racking up vet bills I would have to pass on. I see them as best friends/family just as everyone else does and treat my dog like shes a queen but at the end of the day its a dog and you can buy another one before spending a few grand to keep one alive for a few extra months.

Sorry if that opinion offends anyone on here
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I'm kinda with you. I still feel guilty sometimes about not trying more things ($$$$) when my cat was dying, but the vet wasn't even sure it'd get him up to 50/50 survival. I have a coworker who basically uses all her PTO taking her dog to monthly chemo, and it costs a lot, and I just don't think I'd do that either. I love my critters but I'm not going into debt for vet bills.
 
We didn't spend any money keeping our last Lab alive but we also didn't put her down as early as we should have either. Her hips gave out and she couldn't walk. It was nothing money could fix, just age. So we spent a year and a half walking her down a ramp we made for the stairs and cleaning up shit 2 times a day from where she couldn't control anything. It was our first dog so I understand why we waited but moving forward I'll probably make the call at least a year and a half earlier next time around
 
Maverick is still a young guy (he's 1), but he's super active and I take him to daycare 2-3 times a week so he can play and go wild all day and not be confined in my place. I guess I worry he'll get his leg caught in something and then I'm stuck with a 2-3,000 vet bill. Maybe it's overkill, but we'll see.

I got a $300 deductible since he's young and healthy and it's a 90/10 co-insurance if I have to file for something.
 
Probably depends on where you live as well. Cool story, with Cocoa (first dog), my parents brought her home and when we sat her down she couldn't put pressure on one leg (my mom was first in line at the adoption center and picked her up out of a crate full of puppies, everyone kept coming up to her and saying if you don't get that dog give it to us, so she never sat her back down). We took her to North Davidson vet (Dr. Schmunk) and long story short, he charged us 7.00 (his gas) for the surgery. Broken leg in two sports, fully repaired. I think he knew if we took her back that they would just put her down rather than paying for the surgery. I'd recommend him to anyone in the area.
 
We had insurance for jackson, but it was more to cover teeth cleaning than anything else, and it was absolutely worth it for us. because he was trained for birds, he never chewed on bones or other dental-cleaning type things, and his teeth were awful from a pretty young age. That poses a big risk for other disease/infection, so when they recommended extractions/extra cleanings, we did them. I think it was $39/mo. Basically it just allowed us to spread a $500 cleaning bill over the whole year... but I'd much rather do it that way.
 
Screamindemon3 said:
This opinion will be extremely unpopular I think but I'd never go through that amount of trouble for a dog. Broken leg, sure, surgery to remove a benign tumor, yeah, but anything that is just delaying the inevitable and racking up vet bills I would have to pass on. I see them as best friends/family just as everyone else does and treat my dog like shes a queen but at the end of the day its a dog and you can buy another one before spending a few grand to keep one alive for a few extra months.

Sorry if that opinion offends anyone on here
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1) Buy another dog? Try adopting, it is better for everyone.

2) Mostly, in theory I agree with you. However, in practice it is much easier said than done. I have a sad story about deciding to not spend $2500 to save my 16 year old poodle after a near drowning incident. It has been almost 2 years since he died and I still rethink that decision every week. He would have spent the money on me, no doubt.
 
birdman said:
1) Buy another dog? Try adopting, it is better for everyone.

2) Mostly, in theory I agree with you. However, in practice it is much easier said than done. I have a sad story about deciding to not spend $2500 to save my 16 year old poodle after a near drowning incident. It has been almost 2 years since he died and I still rethink that decision every week. He would have spent the money on me, no doubt.
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1) I've adopted one and bought one from a breeder

2) 2,500.00 on a 16 year old dog? In all respect to yourself and your poodle, you made the correct decision.
 
Fair or foul: I'm leaving for NC today so I have my dog in the car while I'm at work. Leaving Alexandria and driving back into the city before turning around and heading back south would take like two hours. It is a temperature controlled private garage with the windows cracked and his bed in the backseat. I have done it many times before but a few of my coworkers think I am a monster. I think there is absolutely nothing wrong with it (the back seat of the car isn't any different than the couch he sleeps on all day). What say you?
 
huh, if it's a temp controlled garage/no sunlight on the car and you're leaving the windows cracked I don't feel like that's a problem.. the main concern is obviously shit like overheating..
 
lbE08 said:
We had insurance for jackson, but it was more to cover teeth cleaning than anything else, and it was absolutely worth it for us. because he was trained for birds, he never chewed on bones or other dental-cleaning type things, and his teeth were awful from a pretty young age. That poses a big risk for other disease/infection, so when they recommended extractions/extra cleanings, we did them. I think it was $39/mo. Basically it just allowed us to spread a $500 cleaning bill over the whole year... but I'd much rather do it that way.
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Was it insurance or a health plan? We signed up for a health plan that covers an annual dental cleaning, free office visits with appointment (doesn't cover meds or tests) and annual physical (with annual tests). Basically the same cost as doing the annual cleaning.
 
timdunkandthefunk said:
Fair or foul: I'm leaving for NC today so I have my dog in the car while I'm at work. Leaving Alexandria and driving back into the city before turning around and heading back south would take like two hours. It is a temperature controlled private garage with the windows cracked and his bed in the backseat. I have done it many times before but a few of my coworkers think I am a monster. I think there is absolutely nothing wrong with it (the back seat of the car isn't any different than the couch he sleeps on all day). What say you?
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Completely fair.
 
bojanglefunk said:
Was it insurance or a health plan? We signed up for a health plan that covers an annual dental cleaning, free office visits with appointment (doesn't cover meds or tests) and annual physical (with annual tests). Basically the same cost as doing the annual cleaning.
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this, but i feel like there was an insurance component to it as well, or maybe just an out-of-pocket max?
 
I think my 19 year old boy is nearing the end. I will be devastated. My wife will be catatonic.
 
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Had to say goodbye to my little guy today. I'm heartbroken.

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