How much would you spend on your dog to have it's injuries taken care of by your vet?

[CSH Kucinski]

I was talking to my neighbor earlier today, he got the total bill from his vet for injuries to his pure bred black lab. She is now 14 weeks old, was 8 weeks old when she was attacked by a neighbors boxer. Before I tell you the dollar amount, I will tell you the story.

My neighbor was on her curb holding the pup in here arms, my wife and daughter had pulled up to say hello and see the pup. A neighbor from the street over was walking his boxer on a leash, decided to walk between the curb and my wives car instead of going around it. Not sure why he did that! As they walked between everyone the boxer and the pup noticed each other, touched noses and kept walking. After they had completely walked by but were still in range, the boxer suddenly turned. Unfortunately there was enough play in the leash that it jumped up on to my neighbor almost knocking here over and it grabbed the front leg of the pup not letting go. You could imagine the screaming, crying and yelling from everyone including the pup as they tried to make the boxer let go. Blood was all over the place and only through the grace of god the boxer finally let go but the pups leg was mangled as was the neighbors thumb. Well the pups leg was shredded and broken in three places, luckily between the growth plates. After two emergency surgeries within 24 hours, pins, rods and a lot of loving care she is now enjoying her young life again. It was cute to watch her running and jumping in the snow today. Although she has a limp, the vet said it will eventually go away.

Now the cost and I will preface it further. My neighbors suddenly had to put their 10 year old yellow lab down about two months prior to getting this new pup. She had a tumor which they did not know about and it caused her to suddenly stop eating. They were devastated from their loss and there was no way they weren't going to do what they had to, to save the pup. There was discussion of putting her down but that quickly was not an option.

Not sure how this is going in to be resolved, but insurance companies are involved, animal control is involved, the health department is involved and my neighbor has had to hire an attorney because the boxers owner is not cooperating. Another known fact is that the boxer attacked another dog while walking down the street prior to this event but it was not a mauling like this.

The grand total is $6800.00, yes $6800.00. I can honestly say that I would have probably spent the $ too.

I'm not sure I would spend $6, 800.00 of course I suspect they didn't know it was going to be that much going into it. But to each his own I have a friend that gives his cat insulin shots. I put a dog down because I wouldn't do that. He also recently spent $3,000 on his dog because it has Addison's disease also pays monthly meds.

The owner of the Boxer may have HO insurance and they would handle it but may only owe the value of the dog which may be les than $6800.00

[CSH Kucinski]

I know it is getting sticky so to speak because New York State laws also have something to say about what is covered and what is not. My wife and daughter are also getting dragged into this because they are the only two witnesses. Not sure if quotes were given ahead of time but I do know an orthopedic vet/surgeon had to be called in and he did the two surgeries. I do think the $6800.00 does include some co-pay $ for my neighbor to have her thumb taken care of.

[MrD]

Don't have a dog so can't say. Looks like neighbor could get a lawyer to sue for mental trauma also. Think boxer's owner should pay full bill or threaten to sue.

[MassillonBuckeye]

Being someone who has spent a mint on their pooch, I'm not sure if I had a limit. Depends on your situation I guess. And how much you value their companionship.

[MN1965]

I would probably spend that much on a young puppy that has 12-15 years ahead of it. If it were already 12, I think it would be a different story both in terms of longevity and ability to fully recover from a severe injury and live a good life.

[ffishman]

What ever it takes, no limits. We love our dog.

[George55057]

Wonder how much it would have cost at a human hospital? Bet you could multiply that by 10x if not more.

Boxers owner better plan on paying out a lot of money or filing for bankruptcy soon. Dog bill will be the least of his worries compared to pain and suffering of the individual will likely sue for ( right fully so to a limit). What a idiot to walk by the people with his dog when he knows its aggressive.

just my 2 cents

[B-man]

I love my three beagles.

They sleep in the house. They sit on the couch. I use them for rabbit hunting. Sometimes they go fishing with me. They are great with the kids etc etc.

But each one of them has an imaginary cash register hanging over their heads that stops ringing at $1,000 (for a single occurance).

As I said, I love all of them very much. I will cry and grieve when they die, but a line has to be drawn somewhere (for me).

If one of them needed $5,000 worth of surgery or chemo, I'm sorry, and will bawl my eyes out. But $5,000 can pay a lot of bills and buy a lot of diapers.

Before I get attacked here, I will say a thousand dollars of vet work will go a lot farther for you if you find a "real vet", not a city vet that pulls on your wallet just as hard as your heart strings.

If you have a non-emergency ailment, it literally pays to shop around.

When one of my beagles was two years old, he needed knee surgery.

One vet wanted $2,200.

Another wanted $1,200.

Yet another wanted just $600.

Eight years later his $600 knee is still as good as new.....

Guess which vet has gotten all of my business since then??

[Kouki7]

Originally Posted by B-man

When one of my beagles was two years old, he needed knee surgery.

One vet wanted $2,200.

Another wanted $1,200.

Yet another wanted $600.

Eight years later his $600 knee is still as good as new.....

Guess which vet has gotten all of my business since then??

I will second that, my lab blew her knee out and those were the quotes I got. With something like 60 - 70% probability of the dog blowing the other knee out with in a year, you have to be willing to invest double what you're quoted as you could be doing two knees and well 1200 i could stomach if i had to do both knees.

I'm starting to think i need pet insurance, I have a bit tied up in both of my dogs and since i waited 1.5 years just to import the dog from France, not like I can replace them quickly and hunting just isn't right without them.