Vet bills.. what would you pay?..

freckles22uk

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My horse (6 year old home bred appy stallion) got colic 2 weeks ago, (no idea why) called the vet out, and she said it was a displaced colon... best thing was to get him straight to the vet hospital incase he needed an op, as its an hour drive from here, down in Alicante (Im in Spain)

So we load up and take him down there... anyway, turns out no op needed, he ends up ok and comes home..

vet bill was 500€ (he had ultrasound scans, blood tests, etc....) plus Ive got my local vet to pay and friends petrol costs as well... so Im looking at 800€ in total. (all paid)

Now if he needed an op, that would of been and extra 4,000€ (just under £4000) now I dont have mine insured, (cant afford to insure 5 of them) so if he needed an op, then I would of had to of had him PTS ( which would of devistated me ) but I have no income apart from the paintings, and cant afford to go into debt

So how much would you be prepared to spend out of you own pocket and would you go into debt for your horse...
 

Montyforever

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As much as I needed to if it was to save her and yes I would go into debt if I had to. If it was risky or a 50-50 chance i wouldn't! Although hard to say until you are in the situation I guess
 

fizzer

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We have 7 horses as a family and yes we would go into debt to pay for them. I personally would give them every chance they could have, being realistic with it though.
 

Wagtail

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We faced a £4k vet bill for a horse that needed colic surgery 3 years ago. Sadly, he was paralysed by the operation and was PTS. We had to take a bank loan out to pay for it as he was not insured.
 

Devonshire dumpling

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Yes I would go into debt and then pay it back....... But this is why I insure... I like to think that I have decided to take the horse on and they are my responsibility and it's not there fault I can't pay, and if I didn't own them, they might be in a really wealthy home who could afford it.
 

Nailed

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Sorry.. forgive me for being blunt but.. if you knew all along that, if it came down to it and the horse needed an op, that you would have had to have the horse put down , why did you take it the horspital?

I went in to massive debt for my old horse.. Id do it again.

Lou x
 

burtie

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Mine's insured. But I am wondering why you took him to the hospital in case he needed an op if you wouldn't have had it anyway? Didn't you just risk potential further complication by travelling?

Not having a go just being nosy!
 

glenruby

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Nailed a lot of people will send their colicking horse to a hospital for full exam and iv fluids and set a price on how far to go. Nothing wrong with that. The difference between that and field veg care is a proper diagnosis of surgical or not and the best care available.
 

russianhorse

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I got myself into a huge amount of debt for my lad when he got EMND in 1999 (and that was with him insured aswell :rolleyes: )

Would I do it again? absolutely - he's still going strong at 23 so it was the right decision but now it would all depend on what was best for him :)
 

freckles22uk

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Sorry.. forgive me for being blunt but.. if you knew all along that, if it came down to it and the horse needed an op, that you would have had to have the horse put down , why did you take it the horspital?

I went in to massive debt for my old horse.. Id do it again.

Lou x

When my local vet came out she said if he needed an op it would be about 2K, which I could just afford, and by being in the hospital he could could be stabled, have intensive care, be checked every 2 hours. And should he needed to go on a drip then he would need to be stabled...

I have my horses at home, and have no stables, limited light outside, not by choice I may add, I used to have a stable and a huge barn at my old house with plenty of light, but due to my divorce I had to move... :-/
 

freckles22uk

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Mine's insured. But I am wondering why you took him to the hospital in case he needed an op if you wouldn't have had it anyway? Didn't you just risk potential further complication by travelling?

Not having a go just being nosy!

When we got there, the vet said that the travelling had actually helped him, the movement had helped move the colon back to where it should be... plus I knew that he was better going there and having a chance, even without an op, than he would of done by staying at home... plus, should he of shuddenly of gone down hill, at least there would of been vets on hand to put him out of his pain.... my own vet can take 40 mins to get here...

Ive never had a horse colic before at home, (Ive had horses 20 odd years) so I took their advice, plus as I said if it had of been a 2K op, then it might of been an option, but at coming up to 5K, then its a different story, if I was in the UK and had a regualar income then things would of been different
 

smellsofhorse

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I would go into debt for my horse and give it the best chance possible.
But I wouldn't be silly if it was putting the horse through pain and being unrealistic about recovery.

You need to insure your horses or have at least a small contingency fund, vets bills soon mount up.
 

freckles22uk

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Nailed a lot of people will send their colicking horse to a hospital for full exam and iv fluids and set a price on how far to go. Nothing wrong with that. The difference between that and field veg care is a proper diagnosis of surgical or not and the best care available.

And boy did they give him a full exam, as soon I was walked in, he had 6 people working on him, supposed to have the top horse vet in Spain there... and very modern,

The spanish vets make me laugh, they are so used to spanish stallions, and in I walk with my very quite appy stallion, they thought he was quiet due to the colic, and had to tell them he is always like that... and they always seem suprised to see a horse load in the trailer straight away.. they say spanish horses are a pig to load... though if you saw the 'sardine cans' they travel them in and how they drive im not suprised...
 

La Fiaba

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I don't have mine insured either (we're in Italy so no dount they wouldn't pay out anyway :rolleyes:) and no I would not get myself into a huge abount of debt to pay vets bills. The amount I would spend depends on the horse, if it is one of my retirees I wouldn't spend the money I would PTS, if it was one of my 'schoolies' or my foal I would pay a few thousand as at the end of the day it would cost me the same to replace them. The amount I would be prepared to spend would also depend on whether the op/treatment was likely to be a success or not. I run a (horse) business though and so I have to make tough monetary decisions otherwise what's the point to have a business?

If you don't have an endless pot of money or a way to raise the money, you must be prepared to make the decision to PTS. The horse doesn't know either way. What I can't stand is people putting adverts up saying 'I can't afford my vets bill, please donate money' (and there are plenty of these ads over here!)
 

Littlelegs

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Mine are both insured so I don't ever have to make that choice, but if I had to I would. But both daughter & I treat them as pets really, so I wouldn't judge anyone who just said pts.
 

The_snoopster

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All mine are also insured, however my favorite is my old mare and as she is on a veteren plan she is insured for accidental injury only. I must be honest with you I have a bank account with a bit of money in it just for her, although no where near enough for a colic op. I would not put my mare through major surgery as she is in her mid 20,s now, although we hack everywhere and she is fit as a fiddle.
I would not ever go into debt for my horses, I prefer to keep a roof over my head and feed in the other horses bellies. That why I have insurance, because I could never put my families welfare before them as sad as that sounds.
 

sally87

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if i went into debt to pay for my horse's vet bill, how would i afford to keep him if/when he recovers?
 

Grumpy Jewel

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Everyone seems to e banking on the fact insurance companies will pay out. My mare colicked 2 night ago, nothing major I'n the end, the vet managed to flush the blockage out, but had it been serious doubt my insurance would have paid out as I had the vet out for a 'seasonal belly ache' which would have made this weeks events exempt and they wouldn't have paid. I love my mare to the ends of the earth and an already I'n financial difficulties due to her, and it was I'n the front of my mind I possibly couldn't afford a colic op.
 

Shutterbug

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All of my pets are insured - horse, dog and 2 cats - dont think anyone does insurance for goldfish :D

If I had to I would go into debt to ensure they were given every chance. If it was in their best interests to do so of course. Our dog just got surgery and after CT scans and xrays, the surgery all the painkillers and supplements and follow up appts our £3000 per claim has more than been used up - Im just waiting for the vet to tell me how much we need to pay but its likely to be around £500 on top of our insurance but I will gladly pay it.
 

Buds_mum

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For my 4 year old, as much as it would takes. He is fully insured... So yes I would do anything to bring him back and treat him whilst there was still hope of him recovering.

My 27 year old veteran, well he couldn't manage box rest, or prob stand an op so regardless of the money I would never put him through any instense vet treatment. If/when he gets seriously ill or lame then he will PTS. I guess that stops me having to a £ total on his life as I have already made this descion.
 

Casey76

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I have a "horse find" instead of insurance for mine, which is fairly healthy. However I have stipulated on my livery contract that I don't want Pinto put through surgery for colic if it can't be relieved with antispasmodics/drenching etc.

While it is all well and good people saying "insure your horse/all of mine are insured" etc. Horse insurance on the continent is quite different to that in the UK.

e.g. If I have the equivalent of "fully comp" insurance, I still only get 50% medical bills for surgery, and payment on death. I don't get anything for investigations/xrays/scoping, loss of use etc.
 

Theocat

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Difficult one. Mine is insured for 4K per incident, and I'd probably go up to about a further 3K on top, which is an amount I could manage to repay without it getting silly. I'm not prepared to spend unlimited amounts, partly because I'd struggle to afford/justify it financially, but mostly because I'm concerned that expensive treatments are sometimes putting the horse through rather too much - I don't think I'd consider colic surgery, for example, because the likelihood of long term success (from what I've read) is generally very poor and personally I'm not sure I'd put my horse through that. That's just personal preference; I absolutely don't want or mean to offend anyone who has or would.
 

Ibblebibble

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can't answer yes or no as there are so many different scenarios when i would beg steal and borrow to pay vet fees and then 100 other scenarios when i wouldn't. I don't have mine insured either but it doesn't mean i don't call the vet when it's needed, ;)
 

Jazzy B

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can't answer yes or no as there are so many different scenarios when i would beg steal and borrow to pay vet fees and then 100 other scenarios when i wouldn't. I don't have mine insured either but it doesn't mean i don't call the vet when it's needed, ;)

^^^ this
 

glenruby

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Sally 87 - you'd do what everyone else in that situation seems to do and not bother/ delay paying the vet for his hard work. :(
 

Shilasdair

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I would have paid anything to keep my old mare.
ETA I would also have paid anything to punch the fools who, when I paid £5k in vet treatmentfor her aged 23yrs said 'you could have bought a young horse for that'.
The world is full of amoral fools, I am just glad I am not one of them. :p :D
S :(
 
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