Labradoodle & Goldendoodle Forum
I didn't have this for my dog Gatsby, and if I had it would have been a huge waste. In his 8 years, he never needed anything but routine care. At age 8, he caught blastomycosis, a terrible fungal infection, and he died in our living room one night just two weeks after I first noticed he wasn't eating as much. We did everything we could, including a very pricey medication series, but our sweet vet charged us just $100 at the end of the two weeks. I was expecting a bill in the thousands. (I have no idea why he charged us so little - we live in a small town, people take care of each other like that.)
That said, our new puppy Farley is here now and we adore him of course. I learned with my dog Gatsby that there really wasn't going to be a point that I would say, "Now it's costing too much, now we put him down." I would have emptied our savings to save him, but it didn't matter.
His first "puppy checkup" was $4.50. Again, small town. I really can't see paying the same ridiculous bills other owners have paid in bigger cities here, even if something big did happen. So, should I get pet insurance, considering all that?
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Most large vet bills are incurred at specialists and for testing, so the prices a small town general practice vet charges are beside the point.
The specialty blood panels my dog needs to monitor his inflammatory bowel disease cost $400 twice a year. Those are sent out to Texas A & M, so my vet has no say in the price. The endoscopy to diagnose the IBD cost $3000. The Xrays, barium swallow and ultrasound that were done prior to the endoscopy cost $1000.
The MRI to diagnosis a spine problem cost $1600. Surgery to correct it would cost $7000. None of these things are done by my regular vet.
Allergy testing cost $600, and the initial consultation with the dermatologist cost $225.
None of the costs of treating these diseases has even been mentioned yet. :) The treatment is ongoing for life, and involves drugs, (a couple of common drugs run about $180 per month) supplements, periodic checkups, and physical therapy/rehab treatments like hydrotherapy, laser or acupuncture.
Hip replacement surgery runs $2500-5000 per hip.
Surgery to remove an object that has been ingested (usually a sock, with these dogs) runs about $3000.
Treatment for an attack of acute pancreatitis costs about $2500.
Any of these things can happen to any dog at any age, and all of them have happened to DK dogs, plus much, much more. The fact that your previous dog didn't incur any major medical costs doesn't mean a subsequent dog won't. I hope Farley lives a very long, very healthy life, but unless you could easily pay $3000 + on the spot for an emergency surgery, you need pet insurance.
DRC has a doodle in the program with Addison's disease. The cost of his meds are $270 per month. That's why he needs (and can't find) a new home. And it's too late for insurance, the condition is now pre-existing.
After reading the post such as Karen's and others who have incurred massive expense, I looked back and I looked forward. Insurance just quite simply made sense to me for out two dogs. Costs are high and the value of my canine friends is immeasurable, but the budget has limits.
I agree with everything Karen has said. I too live in a small town and have a wonderful Country Vet. While my bills aren't quite as low as yours the things that I have encountered with my doodles has also sent me to the city for Specialists treatments. I just this week filed my third claim on Lucy's allergies. The first one covered the deductible, the 2nd one was for $500 and this last one was for over $600 and we aren't finished yet. I've also filed $1500 for a CCL surgery and I've filed over $2000 for cancer treatments. Sometimes it is a matter of it isn't something that the Vet is trained to do. Sometimes it is a matter of even if the Vet is qualified it isn't something they do all the time and in that case you have the option of going to someone who does do it all the time and has the most experience with it (lilke the CCL repair). I've said on more than one occasion that those who need pet insurance are those who don't have the money for a huge vet bill, or those who even if they did have a savings account with many thousands of dollars, is that really how they want to spend that savings. For me, that isn't how I want to spend it.
I also agree with Karen. I have Pet Plan and my package doesn't cover routine visits....it is for more financially catastrophic events. It has more than paid for itself in the four years that we've had it. Guinness's episode with Pancreatitis alone was several thousand dollars because he had to be hospitalized at a Specialty Clinic. I would highly recommend it to anyone after our experiences.
I can't even tell you how many times we have used our pet insurance! And like the others have said..we rarely have used it at our general practice vet, but we always use it when we have to go to the emergency vet, or specialist. I agree with what F said, look into plan that has a high deductible, that sounds like it may be what you are looking for.
Or, if you have a plan in mind, just call them up, and explain your situation, they may work with you on finding a policy thats best for you.
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