Guys I'm sure you will all call me stupid and I completely agree I am I kept putting off getting pet insurance for my dog and now I'm suffering the effect. My now 2 year old lab is at the emergency vet and it's looking like just the tests alone are going to cost me in excess of 3k! I now have to find this cash or have him put down and it's not looking good. Please don't make my mistake it rips your heart out
He's been off for about a week, breathing a bit funny but still wagging tail etc so presumed a cold. Breathing was awful today so rushed him in (apparently labs are so happy dogs they just wag no matter how much pain they are in) He has fluid on either his heart or lungs, I have paid 1k for them to sedate and try to drain his chest and left him there for the night. Further tests are going to come to another 3k if the drain doesn't work and I just don't have it What's pdsa?
Bloods, test the fluid from a drain, mri, X-ray etc etc They said problem is an animal can't tell you what their symptoms are so everything has to be tested. Symptoms are looking like most likely a heart problem
Heart breaking is true. Gutted to hear this Martin mate. I found myself in a similar position with one of my old boy many years ago towards the end. We were throwing money to try and keep him going and it wasw alarming how quickly the bill escalated. That was why we went down the insurance route with Bert. It is a scam in its own way, and we've constantly joked about him being dearer than the Blade to insure, but now he's got his own 'old man' problems, we're seeing the benefit (to a degree). Everybody reading this, think on. I don't concern myself with politics on social media, but this is what private healthcare actually costs in the 21st century. Take it as an indication of a wider issue.
Sorry to hear this. I had the "will we/won't we get insurance" conversation when I got my two. It's a good thing we did because a month later one needed £6k of operations to reset her knee caps, a birth defect meant they kept popping out. But the breakdown of cost was mind blowing, 0.5ml of a painkiller was £50 on its own
Another vote for insurance..our old Dobie needed a cruciate ligament, very common in larger dogs. 4K cost to us. Luckily he did not need the other one doing after that, again very common. When he eventually got cancer the cost was ridiculous, a week in the vets doing tests, x-rays etc Then our new puppy was found to have a genetic liver disease, more time in the vets and medicine etc and eventually had to put him to sleep. Insurance would not cover this. When we got our new dog we bought the full pet plan cover for life.
Well toughtimes ahead, shes 16 now and had a stroke last week, had her from a pup so got some tough decisions to make soon but for now a visit to the vets today and its a "keep her going" which is a releif so shes still wobbling around with some dodgy back legs
Bit of an update on Alfie, after spending a night at a special animal hospital about 40 miles away one of the partners at the vet felt for us and capped our bill at 1k and has done 3.5k worth of checks and treatments. (Fantastic generous person I can't thank them enough) They drained 4.5 litters of a fluid which they think Is something called chyle off his chest but sent off for testing. The problem is they can't find what is causing the the leak of fluid. The plan of action is to return in a week and pay for some more scans and see how much fluid has built up and then make that important decision. So the expense has not ended yet and we have no idea the out come but he is home for now, very drowsy and I don't think he's keen on the haircut
It's a sad time when you have to make a decision to put a family pet to sleep. Hardest decision I ever made with my first dog Tyson. It was 8 years ago and I still miss him. Due to our lifestyle we've not got another dog yet but when we do it will be a rescue dog or two. In the meantime we foster for Bath Cats & Dogs home. Both of the dogs we've fostered so far have been re-homed and hopefully we'll foster another in a week or two. Blaze (18 month old Shar-pei, who I really wanted to keep as we just clicked) and Buster (7 year old Staffie)
The thing with vets is that they took up that profession because they love animals (they could easily have been Doctors or surgeons). All the best for Alfie bud.
My 'Trio infernale'. Carlos, Baxter and Mortimer. Carlos and Baxter passed away in 1998 and 2011. I miss the two standard Bullies. But for that I have the mercurial Mortimer still with me. Carlos Baxter Mortimer
My beast (Miniature Schnauzer) has got minging breath, like rotten fish. Vets says he needs his teeth cleaning and a couple of teeth removed (He is nearly 11), thieving gits want nearly £400 for what he says takes under half an hour. Now where's my dremel !
