# How much would you spend on medical bills for your cat, before letting it die? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 14, 2011, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-spend-on-medical-bills-for-your-cat-before-letting-it-die/571355 "2011-02-14T20:55:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-spend-on-medical-bills-for-your-cat-before-letting-it-die/571355/121 "2011-02-16T00:42:12Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#): > > Both of my dogs have had surgeries and treatment which cost in excess of $5,000 and $1,000 in the first, and $4,000 in the second (I did not have to pay for any of the above thank goodness), > I do spend much more money than I could be every month for biologically appropriate food for my pets, with the intention of preventing many chronic health conditions. Seems to be working. Did you have pet health insurance (is there such a thing?)? If not, how did you avoid such bills? What’s biologically appropriate food for cats? ---
**Author:** ![AlienVessels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@AlienVessels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlienVessels)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-spend-on-medical-bills-for-your-cat-before-letting-it-die/571355/122 "2011-02-16T06:02:11Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > I’m sitting here laughing, because I’m not sure I fully understand all of what you wrote or even the context of your criticism of me, and whether I care. > > A broken leg would definitely get one of my cats put down. You not understanding me or others like me is exactly the point. When you say they’re your cats, it’s all about ownership and control. With people who have pet cats, it’s about the relationship between the pet and the owner. My guess is even if you had kids, you’d put Fluffy down for a broken leg. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-spend-on-medical-bills-for-your-cat-before-letting-it-die/571355/123 "2011-02-16T12:21:13Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Did you have pet health insurance (is there such a thing?)? Yes there is. Here is the insurance I have for my cat: [Pet Insurance UK - RSPCA - rspca.org.uk](http://www.rspca.org.uk/getinvolved/supportus/petinsurance) ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-spend-on-medical-bills-for-your-cat-before-letting-it-die/571355/124 "2011-02-16T12:28:59Z")
In my current income situation … up to $100. If I had plenty of cash … no more than $500. I don’t have pets, though. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-spend-on-medical-bills-for-your-cat-before-letting-it-die/571355/125 "2011-02-16T13:00:22Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Did you have pet health insurance (is there such a thing?)? If not, how did you avoid such bills? > > What’s biologically appropriate food for cats? 1. No - pet insurance exists, but I don’t have it. It’s not worth the cost IMO unless you do frequent ‘maintenance’ (6 month check-ups, teeth cleaning, yearly boosters, flea meds) which I don’t. I avoided having to pay for the surgeries because: a] my neighbor’s dog attacked her in our yard when she was on the lead, so my neighbor paid the full bill (also, I was 11), b] I had just turned 16 and had no money c] my second dog had his elbow replacement before I owned him. 2. Dead raw animals. Same for dogs. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-spend-on-medical-bills-for-your-cat-before-letting-it-die/571355/126 "2011-02-16T14:13:15Z")
> [@AlienVessels](#): > > When you say they’re your cats, it’s all about ownership and control. With people who have pet cats, it’s about the relationship between the pet and the owner. My guess is even if you had kids, you’d put Fluffy down for a broken leg. No. It’s not about ownership and control. My cats are free to leave anytime they want to. We don’t go hunting down the ones that seem to go missing. I say my cats because they are under my watchcare. I put food out for them. Make sure there’s dry hay in a spot in the barn for them to bed down. Hell, I even pet them everyonce and a while. We normally have 3-4 cats at the ranch. And I do have kids. When the kids are at the ranch, they play with them from time to time. If one of the cats was injured and couldn’t get around, yes, they would be put down. Fortunately, that’s never happened. ---
**Author:** ![AlienVessels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@AlienVessels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlienVessels)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-spend-on-medical-bills-for-your-cat-before-letting-it-die/571355/127 "2011-02-16T14:51:33Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > No. It’s not about ownership and control. My cats are free to leave anytime they want to. We don’t go hunting down the ones that seem to go missing. I say my cats because they are under my watchcare. I put food out for them. Make sure there’s dry hay in a spot in the barn for them to bed down. Hell, I even pet them everyonce and a while. We normally have 3-4 cats at the ranch. > > And I do have kids. When the kids are at the ranch, they play with them from time to time. If one of the cats was injured and couldn’t get around, yes, they would be put down. Fortunately, that’s never happened. Um, yes, it is. People track and control the location of their pets. Those cats are no more your pets than birds you put out a feeder, water and a birdhouse for and who’ve learned to feed from your hand. Thanks for responding though. Each post you make makes the details that much clearer. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-spend-on-medical-bills-for-your-cat-before-letting-it-die/571355/128 "2011-02-16T15:09:53Z")
> [@AlienVessels](#): > > Each post you make makes the details that much clearer. Clearer for what?:dubious: I got nothing to hide. What sort of fuzziness in my point of view are you wanting to maker clearer? If you’ve got questions, don’t be so obtuse, ask away. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-spend-on-medical-bills-for-your-cat-before-letting-it-die/571355/129 "2011-02-16T15:16:10Z")
> [@AlienVessels](#): > > Those cats are no more your pets than birds you put out a feeder So? What’s your point? And I don’t recall ever my calling them my pets. ---
**Author:** ![AlienVessels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@AlienVessels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlienVessels)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-spend-on-medical-bills-for-your-cat-before-letting-it-die/571355/130 "2011-02-16T16:33:59Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > So? What’s your point? And I don’t recall ever my calling them my pets. You said earlier in the thread: "I’m guessing some of you guys wouldn’t consider me a pet owner. " Cue the “I forgot” or “you’re not worth me going back and checking what I said” excuses. Like I said, I don’t find your presumed intent in this thread credible. You claim to be honestly questioning but the gist of your posts says otherwise. I find it amazing that people actually have convinced themselves that the “I never said those exact words” argument flies. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-spend-on-medical-bills-for-your-cat-before-letting-it-die/571355/131 "2011-02-16T16:43:22Z")
I think I may have also said what you may consider a pet and what I consider a pet may be two different things. So what? It doesn’t change the point of the OP. I think that spending significant amounts of money on cats is ridiculous…what do you guys think…how much are you willing to spend? What’s the intent of your posting? Change my opinion on how I should view cats? If so, great. Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-spend-on-medical-bills-for-your-cat-before-letting-it-die/571355/132 "2011-02-16T17:42:16Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > I think I may have also said what you may consider a pet and what I consider a pet may be two different things. So what? The definition of pet: " a domesticated animal kept for pleasure rather than utility" (Merriam-Webster) You have some cats, that you do not dislike, that you keep for their utility = not a pet owner. A cat owner, yes. You also own cows, but you don’t own pet cows. I’m sure you are somewhat more fond of certain cows than others, for whatever idiosyncratic reason (I know for me, that some horses I wanted to punch in the face, some I was indifferent to, and some had habits I found amusing). You feed them and give them shelter, but you wouldn’t consider them pets, even if you liked one or two more than others. (the case of the horses, they were pets for the most part, they just weren’t _my_ pets). ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-spend-on-medical-bills-for-your-cat-before-letting-it-die/571355/133 "2011-02-16T17:58:29Z")
So the posit here is that if I truly viewed these muff buttons as pets, then I would be willing to spend that kind of money because I would have a relationship with them? Is that right? I don’t think so. I think that even if I let one of those cats live in the house, and it’s presence was only there for my pleasure. I don’t think I would develop a relationship with it to the extent that I would not view it as replaceable. I might develop feelings for it, but I’m of the belief that it can’t develop feelings for me. It still would have a utility factor of being a cat, not much beyond that. Individual cat traits are not that unique, and easily replaced. Now that’s my opinion, and I fully realize that others may differ. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-spend-on-medical-bills-for-your-cat-before-letting-it-die/571355/134 "2011-02-16T18:05:05Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > So the posit here is that if I truly viewed these muff buttons as pets, then I would be willing to spend that kind of money because I would have a relationship with them? Is that right? > > I don’t think so. I think that even if I let one of those cats live in the house, and it’s presence was only there for my pleasure. I don’t think I would develop a relationship with it to the extent that I would not view it as replaceable. I might develop feelings for it, but I’m of the belief that it can’t develop feelings for me. It still would have a utility factor of being a cat, not much beyond that. Individual cat traits are not that unique, and easily replaced. Now that’s my opinion, and I fully realize that others may differ. You keep on saying “cat”. Would you feel the same about a dog? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-spend-on-medical-bills-for-your-cat-before-letting-it-die/571355/135 "2011-02-16T18:10:43Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > You keep on saying “cat”. Would you feel the same about a dog? I think so. A heinz 57 mutt, most definitely. For a pure bred dog, depending upon the replacement cost, I might justify a higher medical cost threshhold. I’ve had hunting dogs in the past, that I would have spent over a $1,000 on medical costs. But the replacement costs for the dog, including training time, etc. would have been near $3,000 to $4,000. I’m aware there are pure bred cats, but I fail to see the value of different breeds of cats. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-spend-on-medical-bills-for-your-cat-before-letting-it-die/571355/136 "2011-02-16T18:33:57Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > I don’t think so. I think that even if I let one of those cats live in the house, and it’s presence was only there for my pleasure. I don’t think I would develop a relationship with it to the extent that I would not view it as replaceable. I might develop feelings for it, but I’m of the belief that it can’t develop feelings for me. I think this is the sticking point. Cats do display affection for certain humans, and it’s not solely anthropomorphization on the owner’s part - it’s a survival trait. Cats that displayed affection toward humans and had neotenic traits that we find “cute” had a better chance of getting fed and surviving longer to pass on its genes. A cat may not have the deep and abiding love for you that your wife or kids do, but it can have genuine affection for you. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-spend-on-medical-bills-for-your-cat-before-letting-it-die/571355/137 "2011-02-16T18:37:28Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > but it can have genuine affection for you. And you know this how? ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-spend-on-medical-bills-for-your-cat-before-letting-it-die/571355/138 "2011-02-16T18:38:23Z")
Having once spent a not-so-small fortune trying to save a _guinea pig_… and having spent close to a grand on a cat we served for just 2.5 years… I said “up to a thousand”. The guinea pig? was because of the kids. I wouldn’t have spent that much on the critter otherwise for sure (and he did NOT survive). I was grateful the next piggy to pass on did so undisturbed in her cage. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-spend-on-medical-bills-for-your-cat-before-letting-it-die/571355/139 "2011-02-16T18:45:14Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > And you know this how? Biology and simple obsevration. The domestic cat is displaying affectionate social behavior towards humans that wild cats display towards mothers and kittens in the same litter. They don’t do this because they realize what a great person the human is, it’s because humans are the cats’ biological niche. Affection has historcally been rewarded by selection, so cats are affectionate. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-spend-on-medical-bills-for-your-cat-before-letting-it-die/571355/140 "2011-02-16T18:46:52Z")
I said up to a grand because that’s a little over what I spent on my cat that I had to put to sleep last March. I think it was around $800. She was having renal failure and, despite getting her treatment, she refused to eat or drink afterward for a couple of days. It became clear that she wasn’t going to get any better, so we had her put down. If my other cat became sick, depending upon his prognosis, I’d probably pay up to $500. I really couldn’t see myself doing continued, complicated treatments for him if he developed a chronic condition. My sister administers IV fluids to her cat every two to three days for his kidneys, I think. I’m not certain I would be willing to do much more than that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-spend-on-medical-bills-for-your-cat-before-letting-it-die/571355.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-would-you-spend-on-medical-bills-for-your-cat-before-letting-it-die/571355.md?page=8)