Would you?

Clodagh

Clodagh

Playing chess with pigeons
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Went to visit a friend last night who, four weeks ago, had her lab x operated on for a ruptured disc. He has some damage to the spinal cord but there is an 80%chance of him coming completely right.
He is a gorgeous dog, I love him. He still cannot stand but wears a harness that allows her to lift him. We went to the kitchen to make a cup of tea and she bought him through with us. He can, and does, wag his tail and looks quite chilled. I found it really sad, this amazingly fit and active dog being carried from room to room. I say again that he should be able to walk again eventually.
It also cost over £8000, and insurance only covers £500.
I love my dogs but I couldn’t spend that much. I’m also not sure about the risks. What do you think?
 
Probably not to be honest. It depends on the recovery time among other things but apart from anything, I have 2 dogs who don't cope well with not being together and one gets a bit weird if the other hurts herself (spaniel so weird is standard but weirder than normal). I also work full time and they have a dog door for toilet breaks which would be totally unmanageable
 
No. I wouldn't spend half that TBH, even if the prognosis was excellent. He might be run over by a car the next day and then you're £8000 worse off and don't even have a dog to show for it.

Probably a very dramatic worse-case scenario, but I'm too pragmatic to get myself into financial mess for animals.
 
Both of my dogs are older, one definitely wouldn't cope with/understand why he couldn't race everywhere at a million miles an hour/gets stressy if he has to stand still on a lead for longer than 30 seconds and I couldn't afford it, so, no.

One of my friends recently lost a large elderly dog which was being physically taken outside to toilet, she did seem happy/waggy in her bed, but I found it very sad and I don't think I could do it with one of my own.
 
SpringArising said:
No. I wouldn't spend half that TBH, even if the prognosis was excellent. He might be run over by a car the next day and then you're £8000 worse off and don't even have a dog to show for it.

Probably a very dramatic worse-case scenario, but I'm too pragmatic to get myself into financial mess for animals.
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Not all that unrealistic, spend a few £k's operating on the spine of and rehabbing my cat who came home having been shot at point blank range - the day after she was let out to roam again she jumped straight over the front garden wall and was killed by a car - any outcome should always be considered with an animal as they are so unpredictable.

I would not spend this on my pet as I simply don't have it, and cannot put myself that much in a financial hole for a pet, however awful that sounds. Money aside, that also doesn't sound like a recovery that I would put any animal through regardless of the initial outlay.
 
I watch Supervet and am always torn between admiring what can be done and wondering if it should be done. Most of the dogs shown go on to make very good recoveries but I wish more was shown as to how long it takes to get there and how much aftercare is needed, also what the final cost is. My husband and I are both agreed that we would not subject our girls to loads of surgical intervention just as I would not put a horse through colic surgery.
Hard to know just where to draw the line though.
 
I had a dream last night that one of my dogs broke her back. In my dream it would have cost 10k US dollars.
either way, I wouldn't do that sort of surgery on one of my dogs. I can't afford it and have back problems of my own so helping a large dog like that is not realistic.
Doing what I do for a living I've seen lots of animals have spinal surgery and it a rough recovery. It is hard for owners to learn how to express a bladder for example. And it gets expensive keeping a dog in the ICU for the length of time it takes for them to urinate on their own.
 
Nope. Even if I could afford it I would struggle to manage the rehab which would make it pointless (Daisy is currently on 3 X 10 minutes a day on lead walks and that's only doable because I'm off work, her usual walks with the dog walker wouldn't be suitable which would mean more money for them to the do 1:1 sessions plus I wouldn't want a recovering dog that couldn't move independently left at home alone for large chunks of time)
 
I think your replies are really interesting. She is not rich, they have had to use their emergency fund and a credit card and their house is on the market so will pay it off when it sells.
The rehab is draining, 3 x 5 minute walks a day, which ideally takes two people, although she does mainly have to do it on her own as her OH is working away. He also has physio 4 x day and the physio actually comes out once a week. I'm not sure I could even manage all that. I helped her take him out last night and its really hard.
I wouldn't do it, although I adore Tawny.
He is seven.
 
GSD Woman said:
I had a dream last night that one of my dogs broke her back. In my dream it would have cost 10k US dollars.
either way, I wouldn't do that sort of surgery on one of my dogs. I can't afford it and have back problems of my own so helping a large dog like that is not realistic.
Doing what I do for a living I've seen lots of animals have spinal surgery and it a rough recovery. It is hard for owners to learn how to express a bladder for example. And it gets expensive keeping a dog in the ICU for the length of time it takes for them to urinate on their own.
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He was in ICU for a week I think, he can pee now. I didn't see him poo so no idea how that works.
 
I had a Lurcher who, on a Friday, seriously damaged her spine whilst chasing. No movement in her back end. Straight to the vets, prognosis poor. Vet wanted x-rays etc, we refused and took her home for the weekend expecting to pts on the Monday. She recovered but she was 12 and I would not put a dog of that age through surgery & rehab. A young dog, I probably would, though.
 
Amymay said:
The honest answer is I just don’t know. It wouldn’t be a question of money, just whether I could put her through the surgery.

OH wants a sausage dog. I’ve said absolutely no.
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Apparently this injury is most common in Dachshunds and secondly in labs that leap up for balls and frizbees, so remember all ball throwers!

Let your OH have a continental teckel, gorgeous dogs!
 
My answer would depend on the recovery time and regime, the age of the dog and the likely chance of success. I wouldn't like to think it would come down to the money but I am not rich so that would have to be taken into account as well. What a horrible position to be in though. I hope your friend's dog makes a full recovery.
 
Clodagh said:
I think your replies are really interesting. She is not rich, they have had to use their emergency fund and a credit card and their house is on the market so will pay it off when it sells.
The rehab is draining, 3 x 5 minute walks a day, which ideally takes two people, although she does mainly have to do it on her own as her OH is working away. He also has physio 4 x day and the physio actually comes out once a week. I'm not sure I could even manage all that. I helped her take him out last night and its really hard.
I wouldn't do it, although I adore Tawny.
He is seven.
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Sounds as though the dog is in the best hands, that sort of rehab, for a heavy dog, takes physical as well as emotional strength. I really hope he comes good for them. ?
 
For me the price wouldn't come into it, age of dog (8 would definitely be my cut off), other health factors, speed of recovery etc would be the key factors. My boy ashkii had a disc injury which he needed conservative care and anti inflammatories for (he had big issues taking those with a very sensitive tummy), he was recovering well within the 12 weeks that vet said but during investigations we also found he had a lumber stenosis which hadnt been bothering him, then a month or so later it really kicked in. We could have looked into having it operated on (arthroscopy I think), but the rehab would have been very lengthy, he had already gone through months of rehab and lost alot of muscle tone so we felt it would not be right for him and had him pts, he was 8 ish. If these things had happened when he was 4 or 5 maybe we would have given the op a go.
 
I really don’t know to be honest, but I’m leaning more towards no. I’m very much a quality of life person and although I realise there is a high chance of them regaining that quality of life, I’m not sure I could put them through it to get there.
 
probably not, i tend not to think of the cost if mine need anything done, i have credit cards so could pay ok but i always look at age of dog,quality of life and length of recovery, 80% wouldnt be good enough for me to consider it. a friend of mine has just lost her lab after months of chemo and multiple vet visits, he was 9 ....i wouldnt have put mine through that either as the length of life promised by the vets doesnt happen after the finish of chemo...
 
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