As we've become more experienced and aware of "the stories out there", as well as the development of new diseases, seemingly every day, we've also grown aware that pets can suffer the same tragic diseases that often cripple human beings. With pets suffering things like cancer and meningitis, the question has often occurred to me, "How would I handle it if my pet was to suffer from a disease like this?" How would you handle it? Would you withstand the steep medical bill? Or would you, in light of other expenses you have, like having to maintain your family etc, with grief, "put the pet down" and allow it to die peacefully? What do you think about this?
That is a very difficult question I have asked myself often. What would I do if my beloved pet develops a life threatening disease and I can't pay for its medical bills? Believe me, it is something that would make me toss and turn in bed at night. I know I would try everything in my power to save my pet, as my animals are my family, and just as important as humans.
What I would do would be dependent on several factors. The first would be the prognosis. I have actually had a cat with cancer. In that case the vet told me it was aggressive and there was no treatment and no cure, so of course I had her humanely euthanized. In other cases dependent on the type and location of the cancer chemotherapy may be an option. Cats can get a type of cancer that is associated with vaccines - that's why they give the vaccines in the leg, so that the leg can be amputated in case the vaccine causes cancer. If you fear a medical bill like this, pet insurance can be a good option. I had another cat with a severe heart defect. In her case she was not suffering though her long term prognosis was poor. I took her to the veterinary cardiologist and got her on some medication that prolonged her life without suffering. Though the cardiologist was a little expensive, like $500, the medication was only about $10 a month or so.
For most people, they have no choice other than to let the animal suffer or put it down. Most people can't afford treatment, and veterinary practices don't offer payment plans themselves in most cases unless you take advantage of a credit program related to pets. You can't simply break your payments up unless you have a great relationship with that vet office. Therefore, most people don't have a choice in the matter, although those that can pay for the treatment often will, and that's always preferable for obvious reasons.
This is a very difficult question to answer but I think for me it would really depend on what my vet recommends. Me, my partner and his grandma had to take a similar decision a few years ago when her cat gave birth to a sick kitten. The kitten had a deformation on her spine and colon. The surgery to fix it would have been $800 at least. But then the vet also told us that she would most likely always be in pain when she went number 2 and would need to wear a diaper and have medical care for the rest of her life. She wasn't really mine but since our grandma is old we had the responsibility to take her to the vet. We decided to put her to sleep because it just didn't seem fair to have a cat live years in pain. So going back to cancer, if there was a chance that with the treatment, my pet could live a normal comfortable life, even for a few years more, I would pay whatever it is. Because for me my cats are part of the family. But if prolonging the treatment would mean that my pet would suffer I would be ok deciding to put them to sleep. So basically what I'm saying is I would not base that decision based on money but on the prognosis. My pets are part of my family. I would never put them down for lack of money, I would do whatever it takes to get that money. I would only decide to put them down if the condition is so bad that it would spare them pain.
