How much would you spend on medical bills for your cat, before letting it die?

In My Humble Opinion
101

This is a good point. I hadn’t thought about it, but no - I don’t consider you a pet owner, at least in regard to the cats. Do you?

To me, a “pet” is an animal whose primary function is companionship. Fido might also be a great guard dog, and Whiskers might also be a great mouser, but the real reason you have them is because they’re your buddies. If they stopped guarding or mousing, you’d be perfectly content to just keep them around for the joy they bring you. And on preview of your latest response, I’d add - any (normal) damage they might do to your house or property is far outweighed by the pleasure of their company. You’d try to prevent it, sure, but you’d take a certain amount of scratched-up furniture and peed-on carpets as just part of the cost of having this great little buddy.

In your case, although you may vaguely like the cats, and even admire their beauty or enjoy their silly antics at times, it sounds like the only reason you have them is that they kill mice. Otherwise, you wouldn’t bother to spend the money to feed them, right? And further, you don’t actually keep them, if I understand correctly. They hang around because there’s food, but that’s more like putting out a bird feeder, to me. I wouldn’t say that the cardinals that visit your back porch are pets, and neither are the cats.

To my mind, what you’ve got there are - at best - farm animals. They do a job, and in return, you feed them and offer some shelter so they stick around. That’s a totally fine and reasonable relationship, but they’re not pets.

102

So you have no experience and no knowledge of people that spend vastly more than $1000 but well under “as much as it takes” on their pets’ health care?

It’s just not credible. It’s also not credible that a mature, sane adult can’t understand why some people find it reasonable to spend that kind of money on a cat. It’s also not credible that you cannot understand that people can have relationships with cat that cannot be replaced for free.

I’ve known people that deliberately killed strays and even they understood that many people develop attachments to individual animals.

I have a high tolerance for differences of opinion. But when someone is in complete denial about the status of pets in our culture and expresses ridicule about reasonable people, my tolerance ends. Not of your opinion about animals not being worth money to save, but your opinion that a vast swath of people are ridiculous for having the opinion that pets ARE worth spending resources.

People that have and care for pets (and I don’t mean people that occasionally feed a stray) have all sorts of health benefits from reduced stress and depression. Factor that into your “not worth a hundred bucks” equation.

103

AlienVessels, you. make. it. so. hard. Are you as literal like this with the people you meet in a bar or at a dinner party?

My statements of ridiculousness are my opinion. Not a statement of denial that such a thing could exist. :rolleyes:

104

I didn’t tell you my opinion on cats. My opinion of this thread however was for you to mock people who are attached to their cats and care for them enough to spend money. And I got that impression before I even saw your post in Lizardling’s thread. Looking at some of the other comments, I am not alone in that opinion. There’s another reason I think you started this thread but I can’t say it in this forum.

Why didn’t you make the poll about all pets, cats, dogs, rabbits, reptiles, etc.? Why haven’t you responded to anyone who posted that they would spend thousands of dollars on their dogs?

See above. Why focus on cats and why focus on responding to those who are willing to spend money on their cats?

You say you’re a pet owner but I would not call you a cat owner, apparently you tolerate some cats around your home but only as long as they provide a service, you do not seem to consider them pets. Therefore you will never understand or share the concern that those who do consider their cats as pets have for them. I don’t believe you started this thread in an effort to understand people’s attachments to cats.

105

I didn’t ask for it. I just asked if the eyerolling was because my opinion differed from yours. You clearly know my opinion. Only you can say if it is different from yours.

While you are entitled to an opinion of my motivation, I can assure you my motivation for this thread, is to understand how diverse the views about spending money on cats are across the doper population. I have clearly stated my opinion, defended it and asked questions of others about theirs. No hidden agendas there.

Pit away, if you must. It’s every Doper’s privilege.

As I said in the OP, the thread in MSIMP forum about having medical procedures done on cats is what prompted my thought to survey the masses. I didn’t respond to the people posting about dogs, as I wanted to stay on topic. If you would like to start a thread about dogs or snakes or gerbils, please feel free to do so. I might even post in it.

Well I would have to disagree with you here. I am a cat owner. I own several of them. Now as to whether they are pets to me, that has been discussed upthread as well. What one man considers a pet, another may not.

And you are right I did not start this thread to understand people’s attachment to cats. Are those the only threads permissible about cats? It was to understand the spectrum of views among dopers about spending money on cats for medical care. Just like the OP stated.

106

This isn’t a bar or a dinner party. Both of those settings have different assumptions of “normal” behavior. You might want to consider that when you write online.

Every time you express your opinion, the phrasing tells volumes. Being in denial about something doesn’t mean you deny the truth value of the statement. In fact, it’s common for people in denial to grudgingly allow the truth of a statement “such a thing could exist” while marginalizing it “ridiculous”.

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=1+1838&aid=1542

There’s also a chart here with typical costs of having a pet cat. If $100 is your limit, then it makes no sense to have a pet cat in other than a “feed occasionally” mode. Except that millions upon millions do, which means obviously that they operate under different assumptions.

What you deny with your comments is that most cat owners spend far more than that and in the context of the population of cat owners, it is your position that is “ridiculous”.

107

Thank you for your advice on posting styles and techniques. Too each his own.

When you got your psychology degree, was there a whole class on analyzing people from what they write on internet forums? :rolleyes:

Do you read minds as well?

The question in the OP was about medical bills, not about food and shelter. It’s right there, even in the thread title. Not hidden away or confused with another question.

108

I got my Psychology Degree in '83 along with my minor in English. We didn’t have Internet forums back then (even Usenet was barely around).

Your OP addressed people and their cats. I think most people feed and shelter their cats.

My goal in this thread is the “same” as yours. I just want to encourage you to speak your mind. You’re far more eloquent than any analysis that I could offer. I really like the “it’s just my opinion” and “how could the words I write tell you anything about who I am” lines of reasoning.

Yes, people spend “silly” amounts of money on their pets. I wouldn’t be surprised if people with outdoor or indoor/outdoor cats spent less on their pets. I’ve had 2 cats in the last 20 years. One passed a couple years ago at 20 or so. The other will be 21 this spring. She’s blind and mostly deaf. I would absolutely spend a grand or two on a procedure to keep her alive. She’s healthy for her age with one medication @ $30/month. Relative to the total cost of “ownership”, a couple grand isn’t all that much to keep a companion animal alive and in good health.

Obviously that depends your value of money and the degree of companionship and how you value it.

109

Jackie Kashian’s monologue about pet health care

110

:smack: READ THE TITLE. My question was about medical costs.

:confused: Thanks. I have been pretty shy about posting in this thread.

Considering my companionship primarily comes from my wife. I’m pretty sure that the cost/value of my companionship exceeds yours by a significant multiple. The number of digits in that multiple is an ongoing discussion she and I have.

111

What I would spend on medical expenses for my animals (I have 2 dogs and 2 cats) depends on so many factors that I didn’t feel I could vote in the poll. I believe that pets are property and it’s our choice what becomes of their lives. Preventing suffering is paramount, and death is much preferable to ongoing pain for animals.

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), to repair and treat serious injuries when they were young to middle-aged. Both had an excellent prognosis, a smooth recovery, and have gone on to have long happy healthy lives with very little chronic pain. This is the kind of situation I would shell out a lot of money for again (and I do not have a lot of cash to spend - so we’re talking going into debt, payment plans etc) - injury in a healthy non-geriatric animal with a great chance at full recovery. Spinal injuries don’t really fall within this category.

Now my dogs are 14 (18 lbs) and 11 (70 lbs) now and would be lucky to make it another 3 years… if they were seriously hurt tomorrow, my inclination would be to save my money, not put them through the pain of surgery and a long recovery at their advanced age, and euthanize.

I would not do chemotherapy, organ transplant, long-term intensive management of severe pain, or expensive experimental therapies under any circumstances. Once they are in pain or very ill, I would put them to sleep.

I would pay for treatment and medications of certain fairly inexpensive conditions, such as thyroid dysfunction, mild arthritis, eye issues, diabetes, etc. I will also pay quite a bit for testing/diagnosis if there is a problem - my younger cat, 4 years old this spring, has already cost me $600 just in tests, anti-nausea meds and antibiotics because he is always eating nasty things and making himself ill.

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.

112

You said in that post “Do people really throw down this kind of money on something they can replace for free? Seriously, cats are useful on farms and ranches for keeping down the mice population, and I can even see the general amusement as a pet, but do people really break the bank over caring for these animals?”

I’m sorry to hear you put a dollar amount on that relationship. And speaking of “analysis from text”, you sure seem to be ready to do so when it comes to my personal life and relationships, Mr. Pot.

Again, it’s not about your take on cats. It’s about your dismissal and even fundamental failure to understand the values of others. If the vast majority of cat owners are “ridiculous”, it might be time to take another look at your value system.

113

Get down from the table Norma Rae. We’re just having a discussion here. Hey, I think there are a lot of people’s behavior and traits that I think are ridiculous (NASCAR fans, University of Texas graduates, people who watch those Real Housewives shows, people that drive and talk on their cell phones, people that take internet forum discussions too seriously etc. ) But that alone doesn’t make them bad people in my eyes. It just means I don’t agree with their points of view.

ETA: You really are hung up on the term ridiculous. If I had used the term exorbitant or excessive by my standards, would your opinion of me change?

114

Not in the context of your other comments, the structure of your poll, and your responses to other posters.

But based on this exchange, it’s pretty clear this is a fish in water problem. It’s your POV that is the outlier.

The confusion about what qualifies as a pet is indicative. The level of association with cats you describe dates back to 10,000 years ago when cats first began to integrate into human society. The modern version in a first world society is more interrelated.

Your level of commitment to your “pet” doesn’t even cover a broken leg.

115

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.

116

I’ve heard that those Real Housewives shows are real popular, so I’m not that suprised by your assessment.

117

Hey, how’d my alma mater get dragged into this?

118

But have you ever shaved the longhorn logo into the side of your cat?

119

Broken leg, my ass. It doesn’t even cover treating an abscess (such as they get from fighting with other cats) here in rural Appalachia. The exam is $35, a sedative shot so they can lance the thing is $20, lancing the abscess and cleaning things up is another $25, antibiotic injection is $17, and a bottle Clavamox to go home is $20. And that’s for one in a place that will drain well. If you need a drain tube placed, that’s blood work and anesthesia and about 15 minutes of surgical time, so another couple hundred bucks. That’s for a place with a pretty minimal standard of care. At my most recent clinic, there would be IV fluids for the anesthesia, pain meds to go home, at least a CBC and likely a full panel before sedation, and probably other stuff I’m not thinking of off the top of my head.

And no, barn cats are generally not considered pets by farmers or by vets.

120

For me, it depends on the age of the animal and the prognosis. A few years ago, we spent a very large amount of money on our 5-year-old Russian Blue cat, because I loved her and I wanted to give her a shot at beating her lymphoma (we were told that odds weren’t good that she would but that her quality of life would be good up until the end. We got to keep her for 8 months because of the treatment). Honestly, I’m not sure I would spent that much again after going through it the first time for a cancer diagnosis, but I would at the very least spend whatever it took to make sure the cat was as happy and pain-free as possible. Once this was no longer possible, I’d make the decision to let her go.

One of our other cats has a heart murmur caused by supravalvular aortic stenosis. He’s had this since he was a kitten. We joke that our cat has a cardiologist, but he does. He’s 10 now, healthy as ever, and just has to go in for ultrasounds every couple of years. We happily pay for these to verify that he’s still healthy.

Other than that, our cats have all been fairly healthy and just need checkups every year. To treat something that’s treatable and wouldn’t affect quality of life (like lifesaving surgery or a broken bone) I would pay what is necessary (assuming I could afford it) and would almost certainly go into at least some debt if I couldn’t afford it. I love my cats enough that I think they deserve that. A more chronic ailment like cancer? See above.