# Poll: Annual expenses for non-routine vet care



## BaileyzMom (Nov 26, 2015)

As I prepare for bringing my pup home, I'm also researching pet insurance. I have narrowed my search down to Pet Plan and Healthy Paws. I see that Pet Plan offers three levels of annual coverage limits: $10,000, $14,000 and $22,000. This makes me wonder, about how much people are finding they are spending a year on non-routine veterinary expenses?


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

I have been very lucky with my two, they're both adopted and very healthy. I've only had routine annual physical expenses so far. One is 11 and the other turns 7 in March.


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## gold4me (Mar 12, 2006)

I have never purchased insurance but made a commitment to deposit a certain amount of money each month into a savings account that was only for the dogs. I did that for my horse as well. I started when they each were pups and upped the amount depending on how many dogs I had at the time. It has come in handy several times. When I was working I also increased that amount anytime I got a raise.


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## JDandBigAm (Aug 25, 2008)

In the past 2 years I have had 2 cats diagnosed and treated for cancer ($14000) and my rescue golden, Amber had a TPLO ($5000). The 2 cats passed away but my 12yo golden's TPLO has been very successful. 
After this experience, my young cat and other golden Jonah has been on Healthy Paws. I have already used the insurance because Jonah had a benign growth in his mouth that was discovered when the vet was checking. I would highly recommend getting any insurance before the pet has a preexisting problem.The first time you start an insurance claim the company will want all of the vet records to look for any illness prior to purchasing their insurance. Healthy Paws is pretty quick to get your claim started and I received my check very fast.


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## Champ (Jun 10, 2006)

Champ was fairly healthy when he was young and probably only ran a few hundred dollars or less per year on average for routine exams and an occasional treatment for hot spots. The only vet treatments that were considerable were as a senior. an $800 operation when he was around 9 years old to remove a growth on his eyelid, around $600 or so for ulcer treatments/pigmenary uveitis eyedrops/opthamologist visits at 11. What really added up was his last 3 months of life when he had cancer. $9,000 in 3 months. Unless you get a quite considerable diagnosis such as dysplasia or cancer, it would probably be rare instances to spend $10k or more on a year for vet bills.


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## laprincessa (Mar 24, 2008)

I haven't spent $10,000 in total in the eight and a half years Max has been alive! (Not on routine vet care, that is, if you count toys and treats.........never mind)


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## LittleRedDawg (Oct 5, 2011)

I *might* have spent $10K per dog for their lifetime on my 6 1/2 year old and 4 year old - *IF* I include the cost of traveling to train and shows and OFA etc health clearances.

My top concerns (recent grad DVM, with dogs at 6 1/2 years, 4 years, and 6 months) are CCL tears/TPLO surgeries and foreign body removals... the big catastrophies.... so I do have pet insurance on the youngest. I will be adding the 4 year old as we move into hunt test season because I recognize that training a high-drive dog on uncertain terrain carries the risk for CCL tears.

However - I do not anticipate using the pet insurance and at some point my savings account will be sufficient to drop it. Right now it's the best financial decision for me. I feel it depends on the dog and the person (and the veterinary costs in your area!) whether they need insurance. Prior to vet school, I had several dogs and my annual food bill more than exceeded the yearly vet costs. I have different types of dogs now and I might actually need it.


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## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

None, zip, zero. The only Vet bills here are expected annual care.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

I don't really keep track of non-routine expenses with my Jacks... necessarily... but I'll tell you this much, I have not spent more in one vet visit with him than I can afford to write a check from my checking account. 

With my Jacks getting up in age (he's now 8), we are definitely looking at rough roads ahead as far as me maintaining his quality of life. His thryoid issues are a big thing I'm struggling to get under control - so I can get his weight down... and definitely with his energy and overall health - if a spleen issue comes up, I would consider removing the spleen which could be a $2500 surgery and related care expenses. That's assuming best case scenarios. Please note that there is a gorgeous dog that I really loved following who just died this weekend due to a ruptured spleen. He was about 9 months younger than my Jacks. Once the spleen has ruptured - the dogs crash pretty quick and your options are very limited. We went through that with a dog and it's devastating. Note too that this is regardless of the ruptured spleen being cancerous or not. It doesn't matter at that point.

But even there, I have good credit and can simply use my care credit for a lot of stuff like that. I don't foresee my ever having to pay over $10K in a year for extraordinary care for a dog. Among else, my family has owned dogs long enough and seen both ends of the stick as far as bringing new life home and walking down the quiet sunset road with an old dog... there comes a time when you naturally have to let go. I think many of the major league cancer cases that people go through with dogs fall in that category - it's a losing battle and there really is no benefit to "fighting" for the dog. 

That's my perspective when it comes to those accelerated expenses that you have with an older dog.

If you have a younger dog... I think you should honestly have a reprieve from major bills for a few years. My youngest guy is 3 years old and the goofy Golden Retriever Lifetime Study check up that we have on Monday will be the first one in 3 years that I have anything to report. He had an ear infection the past few months. Was his very first ear infection. He hasn't had anything else wrong with him and no reason to go to the vet beyond the usual heartworm test, vaccinations, and OFA's.


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## BaileyzMom (Nov 26, 2015)

Thanks for all of your input! When I was first looking at the plans, of course I'm looking at the best I can afford... then really started thinking about just how much care is typically needed.


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## GoldenLabMix (Dec 3, 2015)

I'm researching pet insurance as well. We have never owned a dog as adults. The last of our 3 cats is almost 17 and the vet bills are adding up. She cost nearly nothing for the first 16 years. The other 2 cats didn't have the need for specialists near the end so it wasn't as much but they had more issues over the lifetimes. Realizing how much surgery has increased, I'm looking at buying it for our pup.


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## Goldylover2 (May 1, 2014)

Why would anyone spend 10-22k on their pet ANNUALLY? I could see one year costing that much for an emergency surgery or chemo. I probably spent 13-16k on my last golden. She lived 10.5 years and had three surgeries. All surgeries adding up to less than $2,500 total. The rest of the costs were food, treats, vet visits, meds, toys etc.


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

This is very hard to determine because most years my non-routine vet care is less than a couple hundred for my three dogs and two cats total, but all it takes is one catastrophic event or sickness, like I had one dog that had an obstruction - $5500. I can't afford insurance because I have too many pets.


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## ceegee (Mar 26, 2015)

I agree with Cubbysan: this is very hard to determine. Accidents happen - an intestinal blockage can cost thousands of dollars to deal with, but your dog may never get one. The main threat to Goldens is cancer, and it's here that the costs can really add up. Long-term treatments for certain cancers (e.g. some types of lymphoma) can quickly run up five-figure bills in the space of a few months. My dog developed cardiac hemangiosarcoma. We elected not to treat it, since her life expectancy even with treatment would have been very short, but even so our final vet bill was several thousand dollars. I'm in the process of taking out insurance for my new pup, because I want a financial safety net. If something catastrophic happens, I want to be able to make my decision based on what's best for the dog, not on whether or not I can afford it.


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## jennretz (Jul 24, 2013)

I agree that insurance is a good safety net for catastrophic events. I made the mistake of not insuring Duke when he was a puppy. Now I can't get coverage for him because he had a lump develop in the first year and nobody will ensure him. We've had 2 major events with Duke costing $3k each time in test/surgeries. I have insurance on my rescue.


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## Susan: w/ Summit we climb (Jun 12, 2014)

Even though we had never had a catastrophic expense arise for our previous two Goldens, I didn't want to let the chance to insure Summit at a reasonable cost (as a puppy) go by, and we went with Healthy Paws. We just can't do the same for our younger pup Jet, unfortunately.


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