what's a dog worth??

[GasoLane]

If you want to discuss breeding issues, start another thread please.

The topic is 'what's a dog (or any pet) worth?' please try to stay on topic.

[The G6ET Spot]

In February I had to put down my 12 year old cattle dog. Even after spending over 2k on tests and treatment the diagnosis was very unfavorable for an operation that the vet actually talked me out of having done as the chance of her surviving the operation was no better than 10-15%. Tore my heart out as I still feel that I let her down by not at least trying as she had never been sick before. The operation with follow ups and medication was going to cost over 10k.



Then there is my border collie cross that has had problems with his back legs and has cost us over 8k.



So if the question is what a dog is worth, in my case it is whatever it costs.
They are a part of the family and are always there for you so I return it to them.

[GREGL]

You forgot to mention the in laws !
Good on you people , money whist it hurts is irrelevant when it comes to your mate . The only drawback for me is if he can't come on holidays with us hence we are limited to where we go , but that's part of the deal .

[Kempe]

Originally Posted by poppa smurf

picked them up yesterday and copped a bill of $2,350 following "complications during surgery".
.

I would pay whatever it takes for my dog but situations like above leave a bad taste in the mouth, what proof is there that there were any complications costing that much!!
Could be a nice little money earner

[poppa smurf]

Originally Posted by Kempe

I would pay whatever it takes for my dog but situations like above leave a bad taste in the mouth, what proof is there that there were any complications costing that much!!
Could be a nice little money earner

yes mate it could be and if I hadn't known people who had dealings with these folks before I would tend to be sceptical as well but I spoke to everyone i could find to gain knowledge, all I got was "they are fantastic, couldn't do enough".

I found nothing but praise.

Originally Posted by danzvtil

I was dog sitting my sisters malteese/shitzu while she went on a holiday to Melbourne. The first day he started limping, I called her for advice, with out a lie she was hailing a cab back to the airport to fly back to her boy while on the phone to me.
My ex has bought a little maltese rat looking thing, I look after her the weeks my daughter stays with me, I can understand why people are so attached, they give all in return unconditionally, and are better companionship than most people.

Hah! I can understand that, we have a really good friend who takes care of our dogs when we go away, they love her almost as much as they love us, if it wasn't that way I don't reckon we would go away either, we drove back from Perth a few years back under a similar circumstance, turned out to be nothing.

these little buggers get right under our skin.

we see a lot of folks taking their pets on holidays with them, that makes our mind wander back to home and has often shortened our break.

[BradEL]

Back when I was a kid this stray ginger cat turned up in our neighborhood and hang around our place. As all the other people in the area had pets at that time, we took the cat under our roof. 15 years later she is still a much loved member of the family. Earlier this year she was hit by a car and suffered a broken hip. As she was an older cat we were told her chances of a successful operation were very slim, but she meant so much to the family we decided to go ahead with the operation which cost a few thousand dollars.
Thankfully after a few months of recovering the bone healed and she is almost as she was before she was hit. Although she isn't a dog she still a family pet and you cant put a price on that

[poppa smurf]

Brad it doesn't matter, dog cat ferret or fish........we love our pets and it is obvious we would do anything for them.

[Rodge]

Originally Posted by The G6ET Spot

In February I had to put down my 12 year old cattle dog. Even after spending over 2k on tests and treatment the diagnosis was very unfavorable for an operation that the vet actually talked me out of having done as the chance of her surviving the operation was no better than 10-15%. Tore my heart out as I still feel that I let her down by not at least trying as she had never been sick before. The operation with follow ups and medication was going to cost over 10k.

image

Then there is my border collie cross that has had problems with his back legs and has cost us over 8k.

image

So if the question is what a dog is worth, in my case it is whatever it costs.
They are a part of the family and are always there for you so I return it to them.

As an accountant and a real dog lover I hope I can add some perspective to the money is absolutly no object brigade.

I think your vet did you a favour and you should thank them for doing so. People often make completly irrational decisions based on strong emotional attachement and a 10-15% possible success survival rate on a 12 year old dog for an operation that costs $10,000 is a classic case for taking a common sense approach rather than a money is no object approach. Lets get real, even if he had of survived he'd probably suffer some side effects and would be dead in a year or two anyway.

I suspect many vets would have just taken the $10,000 and been happy to do so, greed is still a pervasive factor in some vetinary business operations. I am sure you put that $10,000 to good use for your family or if you didn't then perhaps some reflection on how many starving kids in Africa could you help survive with $10,000 is another way to look at this and I am sure your canine friend would understand taking that sort of approach and I am certain he had a very good life and is resting in peace

On another subject - Pet Insurance. As Poppa Smurf has commented it doesn't always make sense. 3 dogs x $30 month x 12 months x 8 years, we would have paid $8,640 in insurance premiums for our 3 boys compared to less than $1,000 its actually cost us over the 8 years of their lives to date.

Pet Insurance is no different to any other insurance, its simply a means of spreading risk between owners and making the insurance company a lot of money. The starting point with all insurance considerations is can you manage the risk yourself ? The reason you should ask this question is that the insurance company arn't providing cover because they love animals, nor because they want to be kind to you. Fact is for every dollar of cover you pay a substaintial part is eaten up with heap's of overheads, staff costs and administration, another substaintial part goes in profit to the insurance company and actual vet bills paid on behalf of pet owners may account for well under half of each dollar of premium paid.

If you have the foresight to manage the risks yourself, clearly in the long run you'll be better off and probably as a result make more common-sense pragmatic decisions like the example I've referred too above.

My local vet has the most grand house in the street, worth about $2m...think about it...this didn't happen by accident did it !!

[poppa smurf]

a lot of good points in there Rodge........I would have to have thought long and hard if the Vet came out with a possible Bill in excess of $10,000.

very, very tough decision.......one I would really not like to make.


edit....I just asked the wife about whether we would pay the $10,000........no comment, (but our bank account would be down.)......so decision would be made for me.

[LoudPipes]

I agree with Rodge’s assessment of insurance, we had thought about it but our experience did not justify the outlay.
Over the past 50 years we’ve had 6 dogs and apart from the occasional off to the vet because of a minor illness or a check-up, we have only twice needed to outlay for any expensive work.
One slipped off the top of an embankment and fell over a 2 metre drop and broke his leg and another was asleep under a friend’s car in our driveway and was reversed over.
All up it cost about $7,000 which is way less than a continuing insurance policy.
Still you don’t know what’s around the corner, I’d never drive a car without comprehensive insurance and I’ve only ever had 2 claims and my pets are more important than the car.

A far as vets are concerned we’ve never had anything but good dealings.
We could have extended the life of 2 of our puppies but under the vet’s advice we had them put to sleep as father time had caught up with them.
The option to operate to remove tumours with a 50 50 chance of success was there but we took the advice of the vet.
If they’d been unscrupulous they could have easily taken our money as both were very harrowing decisions and the slightest prompting from them would have changed our mind.
As they say there are good and bad in all walks of life.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Depends on what the dog is I guess, some people see the dog as part of the family and as pets while others see the dog as a tool (such as cattle dogs rounding up cattle/sheep etc ie working dogs)

I know a good working dog can be worth a lot of money, but at the same time my neighbour who is a drover has about 5 or 6 if something goes wrong with one, they usually get a bullet. If the dog decides more than a few times not to listen or to nip at sheep etc same end result.

So different strokes for different folks.

Personally I think your vet has done the wrong thing. from $700 (what you expected) to well over three times that?? I think you got ripped.

Last time that happened to me I payed the agreed amount took my dog and left without another word, finding a better vet for next time.

My own dogs are family pets and both are desexed, it's not a major operation and they do it in about 30 minutes, even if it took them three hours $2300 is ridiculous unless they were in surgery for two full days.

[GasoLane]

I don't remember ever being without a dog of some sort around and all are missed.

Cats however are different, if you lose one you just grow another

[Rodge]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

Depends on what the dog is I guess, some people see the dog as part of the family and as pets while others see the dog as a tool (such as cattle dogs rounding up cattle/sheep etc ie working dogs)

I know a good working dog can be worth a lot of money, but at the same time my neighbour who is a drover has about 5 or 6 if something goes wrong with one, they usually get a bullet. If the dog decides more than a few times not to listen or to nip at sheep etc same end result.

So different strokes for different folks.

Personally I think your vet has done the wrong thing. from $700 (what you expected) to well over three times that?? I think you got ripped.

Last time that happened to me I payed the agreed amount took my dog and left without another word, finding a better vet for next time.

My own dogs are family pets and both are desexed, it's not a major operation and they do it in about 30 minutes, even if it took them three hours $2300 is ridiculous unless they were in surgery for two full days.

image

That's a pair of very beautiful dogs you have there and they look very well cared for

[poppa smurf]

there are a lot of beautiful animals shown in this thread, everyone of them obviously very much loved.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by In Focus

You don't happen to feed them a lot of dry food, do you? I remember reading somewhere that the kibble feeds are often full of salt, which affects the kidneys.

I have a 19 year old cat, which lives inside at night, which I think has helped keep it alive - no stress over fighting with other cats, cold nights etc.

Yeah we did, we know not to do that now, we used to give them dry food and canned stuff.

This is one of my cats, "Martin":



He was a bit concerned with me trying to pat him while he was on his chair.

Martin and Nigel:



These two pretty much never leave each others side.



The one on the left is also one of ours, the one on the right is neighbours cat.

They all pretty much get along with each other, except for one of the neighbours cats, big black bastard but all he does is come around to eat any food lying about, he has never actually been in a fight with any of them, but they dont like him for some reason.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by Rodge

That's a pair of very beautiful dogs you have there and they look very well cared for

Yes they get spoiled, but are well trained and extremely well cared for, they are also very fit and healthy.

[Rodge]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

Yes they get spoiled, but are well trained and extremely well cared for, they are also very fit and healthy.

You're on to it mate as are many others.
With all the wars and B.S. that's going on in the world it's starting to make me feel sick to be honest.

What we need is some sort of weekend "dogathon" where we all meet up and pat each others dogs

Cats arn't real pets so arn't welcome

[poppa smurf]

"cat's aren't real pet's".......R.O.F.L.........that'l go down like a lead balloon.

[Ben73]

As the owner of a 11 month old Golden Retriever I have pet insurance. Goldens are known to eat anything that can fit in their mouth. Already had him throwing up at the vet once after eating who knows what. But luckily that time it passed through and no operation was needed.
He also has atopic syndrome. Basically extremely sensitive skin. So many things make him itch you wouldn't even know where to start. Cost us hundreds to dollars to figure it out on vet bills, food trials, medication.
Basically he has to take medication every second day which cost about $30 a month. If he doesn't take it, he will be scratching and sneezing all the time.
He is worth it though. Such an excitable and loving dog.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Rodge

Cats arn't real pets so arn't welcome

I reckon they're alright.

At least they bury their crap, and amuse themselves, then if they want pats they come up to you lol.

Perfect lazy man pet

[tut0r]

Damo you're right, cats are the perfect lazy man pet, I must say I've seen a dressed up dog before it was funny! But nothing beats dressing a cat up and having them give you a look of pure hate and anger, try having a house full of dogs and cats.

We had 2 cats and 2 dogs, had to run out to a fire call out when we were in the RFS, were right in the middle of cooking dinner....Suffice to say the two steaks left on the table were handled by the dogs, cat took a few bites up on the bench then threw it to the pups.....Sneaky bastards!

[Hell Cat]

Im still recovering from a $6900 vet bill from a few months back. Ouch.

[poppa smurf]

Originally Posted by Hell Cat

Im still recovering from a $6900 vet bill from a few months back. Ouch.

well thats just not nice at all, why didn't you seek a human medical practitioner.

sorry couldn't resist, what was the problem, what sort of animal.........

took our little girls back for a check up yesterday, clean bill of health, praise from the vet on our diligence and cleanness routine........nothing like the praise from strangers to brighten up a day.

[Rapid05xr6]

Just be careful with pet insurance, it may seem like the be all end all but from what i have heard they do tend like most insurance companies to weasel out of many situations.

Pet attachment can be a cruel thing, our last little cat was stupid but we loved her, until she decided to play with a baby eastern brown, it got her in the mouth and $600 for 1 vaccine shot that may or may not work just wasn't going to happen. as hard as it is I still miss our old salt&pepper miniature schnauzer, he was my first real pet, unfortunately had a brain anurism and there was nothing we could do.

Our current cat is a lazy ginger tom who has a habit of sleeping on my work clothes covering them in cat hair!
I found some pics
the evil one

the lazy one

[hawkgirl]

those of you considering pet insurance might want to take a look at this -
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MOystMTu9Q

I guess I have been lucky in that I worked for vets & knew enough to treat my own animals when necessary (and if you think vet bills for dogs are pricey, try having horses!); that also gave me the insight into when treatment would not be a viable option & only for my benefit, not my animals benefit.

I also am not a fan of the RSPCA, having heard many bad things from shelter workers there about bequested properties & such.

I have spent lots of $$ on snakes (and lots of you may be questioning why , as its "just a snake") and cried just as much over the one I had to euthanise as any of my previous furry children.

If you are looking for a rescue dog, don't forget that breed clubs also have rescues to rehome.

Once my redundancy comes through in January, the fences will be fixed here & I will be allowed to get my rescue dog (belgian shepherd), so I will be rejoining the ranks of dog owners again

[GREGL]

The answer I have just found out is whatever you can afford . $1800 later and we have the little bloke home . Very stressful week .
Whether or not we were ripped off was a issue but if he comes good and we get another couple of years out of him it will be worth every cent !

[buggerlugs]

What's a dog worth ? Everything................

[FPV+fteT3]

The costs depend a lot on your vet my mate has to go to the vet every 2-3 weeks now to manage his condition. (we can not cure him) The vet no longer charges me a consultation fee just a $47 charge to cover the injection, he looks at Mr Putz every visit, needles him and we re book for the same again this has been going on for about 3 months now and will continue until Mr Putz cashes in his chips or gets to a point where he cannot lead a somewhat normal life.

[99AUXR]

My families spring spaniel is everything. If it ever got that bad with the cost of surgery Id sell my car for her. I can get another car but dog is special

[NTF6]

I must be a heartless bastard because whilst I love and care for my dog, I understand that it is only a pet and not something that was a blood relative of mine. I wouldn't let it suffer but know when to call it quits and spend the $145 to get it euthanized.