Thankfully we haven't had too many super high vet visits yet, but we have yet to spend less than $200 on a single visit. Sometimes I swear they do things just to up the bill!! Though I shutter to think what the bill might be if we ever needed to get xrays or provide cancer treatment.

We do have VPI but I have to say I'm not to thrilled with it. From my understanding the payouts are based on national averages for costs, which is great if you live in the middle of no where, but for where we live their payout rarely covers 1/2 of the cost of care. I'm thinking we might be better off putting the $100 a month we spend on the two guys into a savings account that is solely for their medical needs. It would probably work out better for us in the long run.

when my dog got sick they tried everything they could to keep him alive. But seeing him on that table, I knew nothing could help with the pain.

They tried to euthiniz him, but his viens collapsed and yea it was pretty heartbreaking seeing him suffer

Thanks god my boyfriend was there

But just that hour cost me like $1000

so far i'm in the $1000-$5000 bracket ... for oral surgery of all things! steer clear of those cow hooves as chews - they can easily crack a dog's teeth and boy is the surgery pricy! ugh.

Yikes! Luckily I've never had any problems with my pets, and the most expensive visit was Newton's neuter, where I also had his front dewclaws removed, as well I had him microchipped. That cost me around $250 which wasn't half bad (considering at some of the other vet offices in the area, neutering alone was $250).

I'd pay whatever I could if I had to.

You dont want to know. We had a dog with leukemia, so, uh, yeah...

$$$

I am kinda ashamed to admit that it cost us $4000 to have our Westie's two back knees done but she is the sweetest girl in the world and loves to run and she was to the point that she couldn't anymore, now, 1 year later she can run after Moose and Chichi at the dog park and hold her own, but I am always afraid she is going to get hurt.

my cat had hip replacement surgery and it cost me over $800

$3000 for one bill for my kitty. But seriously, compared to human medicine, veterinary bills are nothing in the scheme of things. Being a veterinary student myself, it sometimes peeves me how upset people can get about bills when veterinarians make waaaay less compared to human doctors. It's kind of sad.

We haven't had anything bad happen, so hopefully I won't have to go through this. I know I would put myself in the poorhouse if B-Bop was hurt. It makes me so sad jsut thinking about it

I guess it depends what you mean. In a single visit? Or for one problem? Sara was just diagnosed with a tumor on her heart which has spread to her lungs. I have spent at least $1000 on this so far, and now we have chemo, prednisone, 2nd opinions, oncologists, etc to pay for. If we were going the surgery/radiation amount it would be even worse, but it is not really possible for her at this point.

I don't really care about the cost though- I will do whatever I can for her, even if it means using savings, racking up the credit card, begging the parents- whatever. She is my angel. I might have to put off buying a new car or a condo for a while, but I'd rather have my baby alive and happy for as long as I can. Unfortunately, money can't fix everything- we will be lucky if she lasts another 6 months.

When we first got Kasey, he had to stay in the hospital for 3 days with pneumonia. That was just a little over $1000 visit, and a great introduction to how expensive pet ownership can be!

He came through fine and no big problem since!

I rescued my second kitty, Eliot, from a storm drain on a busy road late at night. He had been kicked or grazed by a car or something and his gum was peeling away from his jaw. He also had ants all over his soft tissues, and he was hungry and dehydrated. I took him to the emergency vet ($) where he had tests ($$), IV fluids ($$$) and oral surgery ($$$$). The bill was more than $1000, but since he was charming and I was being a Good Samaritan, they knocked it down by almost half. Now my little sick baby is a healthy 14 lb. love monster!

ehadams I'm so sorry to hear that, but it sounds like you will make the absolute most of the 6 months that she does have!

My Heinz 57 had ACL repair surgery in September 2007. The bill was just shy of $2K.

Bubba's largest vet bill was just over 3 grand. Luckily, the vet's office is really understanding and allowed me to make payments towards the balance.

About 2 years ago Tara ate a poisonous mushroom at the local park (at least the vet decided that's what it was once she got the bloodwork back). She is only an 8lb dog, and it hit her like a ton of bricks. She collapsed, and I thought I might lose her then and there when she immediately started vomiting and going to the bathroom on herself. Luckily I had my cell phone on me, and my boyfriend rushed to the park and then to the emergency vet (thank goodness we had one nearby, as our regular vet was already closed for the day). In the end, the little munchkin pulled through, and it was well worth the over $1,000 it had cost us.

When Baxter was just a puppy, he had a complicated hernia and his heart and lungs were being crushed by his other organs. Our vet sent us (with orders to speed) to a trauma center that only takes patients by referral. I spent about $3000 between two hospitals and it was completely worth it.

The cost didn't bother me...but keeping a puppy from running, jumping, or playing roughly for six weeks after the surgery was pretty rough!

Happily, it's been about a year since all that and Baxter is great!

Viva had a UTI shortly after we got her. WE spent about $150+ for her 2nd set of puppy shots, the visit, and her meds. I was more upset about the fact that she had to take 3 weeks worth of pills. I was worried about over medicating, but after the pills were gone she was healthy again and hasn't had any problems.

I'm very sorry to hear about the other puppies and kitties who've had major boo boos!

I paid 600 euros for my dog's 2 ears sugery....

$1500 when Storm swallowed a rock and it had to be surgically removed.

I spent $1750 maybe a month and a half ago when one of my dogs hurt his back in three places. This month, my other dog broke a tooth and I was told a root canal would cost about $2100 with the medications, blood work, etc. They ended up pulling the tooth and it was a bit less, but it still ended up being an oral surgery and they had to remove bone to fish everything out. My poor pups, I feel like the worst dog owner. Two big injuries in two months.

At least $2K for oral surgery and teeth pulling with a bad vet, who didn't even clean the cat's other teeth while he was out. My current vet is fabulous but only takes cash! I've paid as much as $800 at one time for more oral surgery, even a filling for one cat's tooth. Still, I would max out all credit cards to keep my guys healthy. I've paid for surgery for my neighbor's cat when she couldn't afford it, but it was only $150. The only important thing is the animal, not the people. I volunteer at an animal shelter, and I have seen enough big brown sad eyes to fork over everything I make if necessary to save one.

Wow, I guess I've been really lucky with Scout...the most I've ever had to spend was a little over $100 for UTI labwork/meds. Even though she's almost 11, she hasn't even needed her teeth scaled yet. I'm sure at some point, I'll have to shell out for that to get done. I think if she had a life-threatening condition like cancer, I would just let her live out the rest of her life because IMHO, chemo for animals just stresses them out more than anything. Lately, I've just been having to pay for her routine shots (and my cat's shots, too)...my parents had to spend a bunch on one of their dogs who was cryptorchid (had to have a special neuter done that cost about $400) and they had to pay $500 to have one of their Shelties de-barked (a surgery that I personally thought was sort of cruel).

We have decided not to do chemo or anything for my dog. It is very expensive ($2000 a month) but price was not really the problem. Talked to two different vets and they agreed that it won't help (she has terminal cancer either way) and might make her very sick. I would rather give her a good life for the rest of her days. Instead I am using a holistic vet who is giving her ozone therapy and a bunch of herbs I sprinkle into the food. Not sure I believe in it, but at least it doesn't make her sick.