Glarb wrote:
I've been thinking about this. I have spent huge sums of money on
the cat I
have had for the past seven or eight years. But I have money, and I
don't
think about it. But if I didn't have money -- let's say living from
paycheck to paycheck -- and the vet came in and said, "$850 for
labwork and
surgery." Forgive me, but I would probably have to draw the line
there and
have the poor thing put to rest. I know this makes me a bad person,
but
come on y'all, what is your true limit on such matters?

Glarb

Yes we have a limit, but it is animal-dependant and procedure
dependant. I have a terminally ill dog who is 11. I could have spent
thousands of dollars on further diagnoses and exploratory surgery but
the question became "Why - what will I buy her in doing so? A month?
Will I make the situation worse?" On my vet's recommendation, we
decided to let nature take its course. So far THAT decision has served
her well - she has been alive 8 months since diagnosis and the vet
expected a few weeks at best.
When she develops complications, I will have to make that final
decision.

I have a cat that had a hairball blockage. I could have spent $800 on
further diagnosis (which had a good chance of telling us nothing), and
thousands more on exploratory surgery to correct the problem, and I
opted not to do so. He passed the blockage at home and is doing great.
If he had gotten worse, I would have elected to euthanize him. Not
because I don't love him, but because the benefit to cost ratio for
this particular cat was so low.

In the past I have donated surgeries for kittens at the vet who were
slated to be euthanized for lack of funds (by their owners), when the
owners were "good people" and truly loved their cats. It simply has to
be a case-by-case decision. In these cases it was broken bones that
could easily be repaired.

I tend to take a "let nature take its course" approach with myself as
well, within reason. I think people are far too eager to medicate and
have surgery done on themselves, as well as their animals.

-L.