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May I have a 15 second whine about vet bills?

Discussion in 'Non-Vegas Chat' started by LolaDoggie, Jun 10, 2017.

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  1. LolaDoggie

    LolaDoggie VIP Whale

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    I'm OK with annual check ups and whatnot. I've made my peace with $115 a bag vet food (the one has male kitty pee pee issues). I know I pay a premium to have a vet who makes house calls. I don't want to go back to transporting angry cats to the vet clinic. Totally OK with it, and he's an awesome vet on top of that. But, the unexpected vet bills are still such a boot to the scrotum. In my head I'm like OK, budget for 1 surprise vet bill a year and take it as a bonus if you don't need it. And most years, I don't need it. But, yeah $340 today and it would have been $400 maybe $420 if I didn't already have the urine kit in the house and paid for. That was housecall, blood work, exam and a bag of food which I mentioned is stupid expensive. I wasn't expecting the blood work but, I should have. It's pretty routine when you consider Max is now 9 years old, a senior. Oh yeah, that was all 1 cat by the way. Not like hey let me look at this other cat.

    PS. I have looked for alternatives to the food but it's metabolic as well as urinary. So, Jack has lost 2.5lbs on it (which he needed to lose) and is now at his ideal weight. He's also never looked better. And Minou lost her baby fat with that food as well. She was on her way to being a sausage with feet. She's now at her ideal weight. Max, the one who caused the vet bill today, has never had a weight issue but he's got the pee pee issue. I used to work in pet food retail as a side job to support my pet food habit so I can read a label. But, I haven't been able to find an alternative that I feel comfortable with.

    I might have gone over 15 seconds. I'm sorry.
     
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  2. BlacklabberMike

    BlacklabberMike MIA

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    I understand and can relate....... been there... best wishes
     
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  3. LolaDoggie

    LolaDoggie VIP Whale

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    Thanks man. Just waiting on bloodwork now. A bit concerned because he's 9. We lost both Pia (cat) and Lola (dog) at 9 years old. Giving me the willies a bit.
     
  4. MTMONGO

    MTMONGO High-Roller

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    I hear your pain. Fremont goes twice a year for his check ups, (more than I do). He is only 4 and started getting lame, come to find out he has a blown ACL in his right back knee. Vet tells us its a Lab thing and his left knee will most likely go also. $1500 per knee. Vet tells us not to wait on the right knee, so on Friday surgery. Poor dog is a ball chasing junkie and he can't be running around. We will do anything for our fur kid, hell I make him homemade dog food.
     
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  5. LolaDoggie

    LolaDoggie VIP Whale

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    Oh geez. That sucks! Poor thing! I hope it goes smoothly.

    I considered making these guys their cat food. But, it's too complicated with their varied needs. That and Max, the one I worry about the most is not an eater of "people food". He's not picky about any kind of cat food, canned, dry whatever. He's an eat to live guy. Like he'll eat cheese if it's in a cat food. But, not real cheese that you hand him. Same with tuna, any meat. He's a weirdo. The only exception is jello, he loves jello. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't touch any kind of homemade food, raw or otherwise. And Minou is a munchkin, she really can't be fat. So, I don't want to be taking chances when we've had good results with this food. I hope whatever is going on with him doesn't require changing foods.
     
  6. Camp Rusty

    Camp Rusty VIP Whale

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    I will post more on this particular assault on one's finances when I get to a tablet and not on a phone.....but I feel your pain for sure.

    Our Golden "was" an off leash outside country dog for a few years, but, he is a giant knucklehead ( we love him) that has cost us a TON in vet bills.

    The proliferation of the chain vet clinics has really jacked the prices too, the upsell at the end of an exam is worse than rental car insurance pitches.
     
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  7. breanna61

    breanna61 Super Moderator

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    $1500 for surgery for torn ACL is a bargain. A couple of years before we lost Buster, he had TPLO surgery for a torn ACL and it was $4500 plus rehab therapy costs. The good news; he beat the odds for the two years after and the other knee didn't go.
     
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  8. LolaDoggie

    LolaDoggie VIP Whale

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    Yeah keep us updated for sure. Lola never cost us too much in vet bills despite being a problem child. But, we lost her too soon. (still not over it) The record for vet bills still belongs to Oscar. That cat was never supposed to see his 3rd birthday and he was like 15 or 16 when he died. 2 big pee pee surgeries including the lopitoffame (removal of the penis and forming of a bigger pee pee), diabetes, squamous cell carcinoma on the face, dementia, I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting a few things. He was an amazing cat though.
     
  9. LolaDoggie

    LolaDoggie VIP Whale

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    The vet sent me an email. The dip of the urine was OK. Waiting on blood and culture now. They're saying they'll Monday. Knowing this guy, he'll call or email tomorrow or later tonight. The vet clinic is attached to the house and he has his own lab.
     
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  10. Geogran

    Geogran VIP Whale

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    Hope the rest of the tests are OK too - keeping good thoughts. Lucky for you to have a great vet; back in the day when we had pets we were also fortunate to have a family friend as our vet for over 25 years.

    I can appreciate needing a good whine from time to time. No pets of our own now but often help our pet loving kids with vet expenses and expensive food and meds, but they bring such joy to our families that who wouldn't do the same? We did wince at the costs of cremation for two of their beloved pets before either of them had children of their own but they each were so heartbroken, again, who could say no..
     
    Last edited: Jun 10, 2017
  11. Auggie

    Auggie Dovahkiin

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    Around here going in for a visit to the vet: if the bill is under $300 it feels like a major victory... if its under $400 its still a win in my book.

    That said, I don't mind spending the money if it helps keep them happy and healthy, plus you can look at if from another angle: yes, the special cat food can be expensive, but if you let your cat bloat up like a "sausage with feet" that cat food is probably cheaper and more convenient than having to buy the cat food and insulin and giving them a shot every day and taking them in for more exams more often.
     
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  12. LolaDoggie

    LolaDoggie VIP Whale

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    Oh exactly. I wouldn't do it any other way. I like to know that I'm doing everything for them I can.
     
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  13. LolaDoggie

    LolaDoggie VIP Whale

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    Final expenses suck the most.
     
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  14. merlin

    merlin MIA

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    You may find out that the cats "pee issues" are the same with a $110 bag as they are with a $20 bag. Because if it was only diet, you wouldn't need to keep bringing him to the vet.
     
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  15. Pea

    Pea Low-Roller

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    LolaDoggie, you have to collect pee from the cat? How do you manage that? Were Max & Oscar related? - they both had/have pee pee issues -- something in your water? Poor Oscar lost his penis?!

    My Peanut tore both her ACLs at separate time$$$. The first time the vet told me what happened I said "but she never moves." I later told Dave, says "but she never moves" LOL

    Then I'm supposed to keep her still, then she wants to go. I set up a private litterbox upstairs so she wouldn't go in the basement, I put up laundry baskets as barriers, but she jumped over anyway.
    Peanut bandage.jpg
     
  16. LolaDoggie

    LolaDoggie VIP Whale

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    I dunno man. I can't say you're wrong. After Oscar's 2nd big surgery I was able to find an alternative food and he never had pee pee issues again. Then many years later when he became diabetic I found an alternative for his food and managed that. I don't really want to switch foods when the other 2 are doing well on it too. I'll look into it. Keep in mind those prices I'm quoting are Canadian. Which means they're highly, highly, stupidly inflated.
     
  17. Jaci2014

    Jaci2014 Low-Roller

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    I am so lucky that I have a vet that allows me to pay partial payments! We own 3 dogs and 2 cats. All the best!
     
  18. LolaDoggie

    LolaDoggie VIP Whale

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    How does Max give me a pee sample? OK, the vet tech has only known of one other cat that does this. Max made a big deal out of peeing outside the box, in front of my husband Friday night. I said OK, we'll do a sample in the morning and call the vet. So, I grab the special non absorbing litter and asked Max to please come downstairs for a sample. He followed me downstairs. I set up a dish with the litter while he watched. He hopped in the dish and squeezed out a sample. Then watched while I poured into the sample bottle.

    Oscar and Max are not related by blood. And my water situation isn't the same as when Oscar had his issues. We were in an apartment, not the house. And I've got a filtration and softening system that was installed after Oscar passed away. And yes, Oscar had no penis. It didn't seem to bother him any. That's what they do if they block up totally.

    I feel your pain about your Peanut though. When Jack was 8 months he knocked over a mason jar my husband used as a pen/pencil jar on his desk and jumped into the broken glass. He ripped up his front paw pretty good. Emergency surgery at 1am. I had to stay home from work. He reacted to the kitty morphine. He was basically like John Belushi on a bender for 3 solid days. The vet was like well there's nothing else that will help his pain and it's not dangerous, he'll sleep when he sleeps. So, I had to keep him on the morphine for those 3 days. No sleep for either of us. He decided he had to be Mr. Clingy and attached to me 24/7. The second my eyes closed or if I tried to make a sandwich or go pee he would destroy his bandages. I had to bandage all his feet so he couldn't get a grip on the bandages and tug on them. Like bandage, baby socks, medical tape on all 4 legs. He went through 2 cones. One of them reinforced with duct tape. It was a total nightmare. Cost about $900 in total when it was all said and done. Actually I need a drink just talking about it.
     
  19. mafig

    mafig Low-Roller

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    How do they diagnose cat dementia?
     
  20. Jerseyguy

    Jerseyguy MIA

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    Guess why I dont have any more pets.
     
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