We have pet insurance for our dogs. Last year our 7 year old goldendoodle tore his ACL. The surgery would have been about $8k, but with pet insurance we were out of pocket about $1000. Six months later the other ACL went out, which is extremely common if the first one tears. I will never go without pet insurance.

Anonymous wrote:I've never seen a bill that high and I've had dogs my entire life. The most I dropped in 1 day was $3000 for an emergency urinary blockage surgery and maybe in a separate incident $4000 for the dog who stayed at a critical care unit for over a week because of pancreatitis.

I have never had a vet bill for a cat. The cats my family had as a child never went to the vets at all and lived decent lives. One was with us for about 14 years and the other just a little less. 12K on a cat seems ridiculously high, and if I took a cat to a vet who said that I might have to find that amount of money for treatment I would decline on the spot.

If the vet feels that I am being too mean or cheap with the pet in declining 12K treatment and doesn't want the animal to suffer, then I can give the animal to the vet and they can then treat the animal for free. I think this would be better than euthanizing the animal.

Anonymous wrote:Usually you don't get expensive procedures until dogs are 10+ years old. My 15 year old Yorkie needed new hips and a cat scan (or was it an MRI?) because he was having seizures. His quality of life was so poor though that we couldn't do any surgeries as he might not wake up from anesthesia.

The most expensive thing that I've ever had to pay for for my dogs has been dental cleanings and extractions. They're $$$. Make sure to brush your dogs teeth daily or at least weekly from the start!

Nope. Any age, puppies too

Eating something they shouldn't have..possible poison
A broken bone
A dog fight with injuries
Intestinal blockage
Weird inherited things