The only seo part of this post is that the pet industry is a money industry to go after.
I need some help fixing my perspective about taking care of pets. I grew up with a goldfish as a pet. When a goldfish gets sick it, it floats upside down and gets a one-way ticket to the porcelain flusher. Because of this experience my perspective WAS that pets are replaceable. My fiance has a cat which recently got very sick and almost died. For the first time I experienced the joy of a trip to veterinary hospital. The cat is doing much better and I have a $1,500 bill.
The idea of a significant bill for a pet had never crossed my mind. Remember I come from the concept of 50 cent goldfish are very easy to replace. I understand my fiance has a special place in her heart for her cat and many people see their pets as family members. Since I did not grow up with a significant pet I just never considered extraordinary measures for pets. Since this happened I learned one of my friends has had chemotherapy for several of their cats and even a hip replacement that cost over $25,000.
What is normal? How much money and effort is considered taking good, loving, humane care of a pet and at what point does it turn excessive? If you comment please note what pets if any you own.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Here is my advice.
You could “let that cat get lost”
OR
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0517545160/102-2651555-7373733?v=glance&n=283155
As a animial lover, I will tell you cats, dogs.. or what ever your pet may be.. they have big personalitys and once you’ve had them so long, they are like a child to you. I would glady spend $5k $10k on my cat as I would myself for a much needed surgery.
This is something I could not understand myself years ago.. so I see your point of view. Just think of it this way.. many consider their dog or cat family and spend money on them accordingly.
Thanks for the comments, still trying to balance Mr. Mackin telling me to “lose the cat” and Tricia telling me $10k is ok to spend.
Well, I own two cats and I could tell you that the bond I have with my cat is much different then the bond my wife has with the cats. To me, the cats are cool to have, to her they are family.
When I was in my early 20’s and doing the roommate thing we had a cat and it was there really to provide us with entertainment. Kind of like your goldfish… We would setup hamper traps with food bate. We would test to see how smart he was by teasing him with certain treats.
Eventually that cat turned on us and became freaking evil. It got to the point I was scared of him sleeping with me in my room. There were times I woke up with him hovering over my neck looking for a nice place to sink his teeth into. He would have no problem sneaking up to you while your watching TV at one o’clock in the morning, jump over your body while doing a triple flip, fling out one sharp nail and slice you as he was in mid air. He would land and find a hiding spot so you could not kick its ass.
I hate to say it, we raised a monster kitty. It was totally our fault.
But the two cats I have now with my wife are very much part of the family. I am not sure I would spend 25K on a cat if it was sick; then again, it’s not about the cat it’s about making my wife happy!
The money you spent was not for the cat – it is for the one you love and that is just the way it goes. As for me, it’s not cats I don’t like, they don’t care about me – I don’t care about them, it’s the people that talk about them all the time that I can’t stand.
shandyking i agree with ya. it is more about making her happy but at a certain point it is cheaper to buy her diamond rings and they will make her happy for a long time and don’t require feeding
Fuck ALL if I would ever spend 25K on an animal. I grew up with cats and dogs my whole life. Even had a iguana or two in my late teens. There is only one of these animals I ever considered “family” – an orange cat I owned for seven years who literally was more like a dog and was awesome. I spent between five hundred to one thousand on him during an emergency where he needed a layer of his eye removed due to a cat fight. As much as I loved this animal (may he rest in peace) I would never have spent 25K on it.
I would say that I have a $500 per year limit (aside from regular vet bills). So, if I’ve had a pet for seven years and it got sick for the first time, he has a $3500 budget to work with. That would also be conditional. If the condition is going to come back or be the first in a long string of ailments (because it is so old or whatever) then I wouldn’t spend it and would likely have it put to sleep if dying naturally was going to be painful.
Granted, aside from that one cat, I’m not an animal person. I don’t currently have any and my kids and the man know we never *will* have them in the future.
25K for a cat? No way. No fucking way. 5K would depend on the circumstances (they’d have to be damn good ones). I get the cats are family deal, but trust me, don’t care how “nutty” you are over your pets, from personal experience – having a severely ill child (which I think is what someone said to you re: spending that on a cat?) and a severely ill pet are no where near the same.
25K.Shit. Not unless that cat can do PHP.
Rae.. remember.. what you can spend on your cat can be relative to your income. 25k is a lot to some of us, but not all.
Tricia I would say $25k is a lot of money to everyone. Some of us can pay that in cash and others will have to mortgage their mobile homes but it is a lot of money.
btw you can increase the cost of the cat another $1000, this weekend it pissed on my fiances couch and now we need to go buy new cushions/upholstery.
You are aware of pet health insurance, right?
$25/lead http://www.quickcarepetinsurance.com/Affiliates.htm
hey nev
long time no hear, i guess you were busy getting another haircut
and yes pet insurance is a good affiliate area
>>>what you can spend on your cat can be relative to your income. 25k is a lot to some of us, but not all.
No, it isn’t the relative to income. I am spending 30K to have my teeth done all Hollywood. I don’t mind spending 25K on something I think is worth it. I just don’t think a cat is worth it. Will I spend 500 on a pair of shoes? Yes. Will I spend 6K to have tatoos removed? Yup. 30K on teeth? Sure. 25K on a damn CAT? No. But, then, I’m not an animal person. I’d rather send the 25K to an organization that helps abused children and put the cat to sleep. For me, the income isn’t relative. The worth of a cat is. To some, it may be worth it. To me it’s not.