# What would you pay for a family pet's medical care?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-pay-for-a-family-pets-medical-care/345554>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [February 22, 2006, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-pay-for-a-family-pets-medical-care/345554 "2006-02-22T00:17:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\
**Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-pay-for-a-family-pets-medical-care/345554/41 "2006-02-23T16:59:55Z")

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> [@Trunk](#):
>
> I think a good learning experience when you’re a kid is that when your dog is old and incontinent and not ambulatory and a little crazy. . .that’s a good time to say goodbye to Ol’ Shep.

Which is not at all, in any way, comparable to the situation I was referring to. Working together to solve a problem (getting enough money to pay for a surgery) is what that family did.

Knowing when (and how) to say goodbye when nothing can be done is another matter entirely.

I do know a several people whose parents snuck off and had pets put down while they were at school, I guess in some sort of misguided attempt to spare their kid pain. Instead it was actually much more painful since they didn’t get a chance to say goodbye or have any kind of say at all in what happened to a pet they loved.

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**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\
**Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-pay-for-a-family-pets-medical-care/345554/42 "2006-02-23T22:35:25Z")

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Anything over a thousand bucks, and I start asking about euthanasia.

My dad is a vet, if that means anything. At the end of the day, it is still an animal.

Regards,  
Shodan

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**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\
**Post date:** [February 23, 2006, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-pay-for-a-family-pets-medical-care/345554/43 "2006-02-23T23:13:48Z")

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> [@Shodan](#):
>
> Anything over a thousand bucks, and I start asking about euthanasia.
> 
> My dad is a vet, if that means anything. At the end of the day, it is still an animal.
> 
> Regards,  
> Shodan

Except for my dad being a neonatal pathologist, I agree with this entirely. And make the amount $500 per animal.

There are many animals without homes. Right now I am somewhat “off” pet ownership, but in terms of life lessons for kids, they are invaluable, so eventually I would get another cat. But, there are limits.

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