What's your pet SOB story?

[ablang]

I've heard personally from friends & co-workers for whom pets are just pets. And then there are those for whom pets are their babies or family members.

The real test is when the pet gets into an accident, or suffers from sickness or some other catastrophe and the owner is forced to evaluate how much their pet is worth to them.

Has this ever happened to you and how much did you spend to recover your friend/pet?

[pickel]

Whatever it takes. We had one of our foals born with a bad eye and , just guessing, we spent $ 2000.00-3000.00 for the vet bills.

[angelcat]

I would have to say, Pixel cost us clost to $500, and it was worth every cent.

[Brainchild]

Well my beagle got bitten by a spider on the tip of her tail and had to have it removed.That was nearly $100.But this is a dog that can open refridgerators,raise baby tom cats,and defend her territory

She is one of the family,I'm just glad that this is the only bad thing happen to any of my pets

[desmocat]

Our female akita had to have some major surgery to correct hip dysplasia in her right hip when she was about 6 months old.

Total cost was about 1600 bucks, and I wouldn't hesitate to spend it all again if I had to.

She runs and plays with her little brother like nothing was ever wrong with her now. (at 18 months old)

[OuTpaTienT]

A few years ago I was working for a number of months out in Denver. Since I was staying at an inn I couldn't bring my buddy Simon with me. I left him and most of my belongings with my aunt since he was familiar with her. I knew I'd have a couple trips home during the 8 or so month stay.

So, a few months along, I get a call one morning, Simon's been hit by a car. Or at least that the most likely explanation. He had come in with what looked like a broken front leg, and possibly a broken jaw. You can not even image the sheer frustration and helplessness at a time like that. It's horrible just remembering it.

I told her before you rush off to the vet and end up having to make some kind of decision about my buddy's life go get my bank card from my stuff there. Currently there is approx. $2,700 in the account, with another $600 in a couple days. If it takes every last penny of that to save Simon's life, then so be it.

Luckily the vet bill was only a couple hundred. But it wasn't like we found out anything quickly. The vet did do an x-ray to check the bones, the jaw bone was the major concern. Luckily no breaks anywhere. Just a small hairline fracture on his right jaw. So we at least knew that much the same day. But she needed to keep him overnight due to the possibility of internal injuries, so he wasn't out of the woods yet. And there I am a friggin' 1,000 miles away. What a horrible night that was!

Needless to say all turned out well. In fact, AFAIC it was all for the best. Because from that point forward Simon has had a very healthy fear & respect of moving cars which he didn't have before this incident. And knowing this makes me feel a little more at ease when he's running around outside. He's by far the smartest animal I've ever had as a pet., (I've had dogs, cats, birds, rats, a rabbit, and fish) so I know when he learns a valuable lesson like that, it won't be forgotten.

[Gouki]

I'll share this story that happened to my brother out in Colorado. He had two cats that he raised from kittens, Kodak & Fuji. He was big into cameras at the time...that's the reason for the names. Anyways...both the cats lived a long, healthy and full life. Towards the end Kodak started to drop weight and wouldn't eat. My bro took him to the vet and they did some tests and whatnot...and I don't recall what the vet said he had, but it wasn't good and it was only a matter of time. He told my brother that Kodak might hold on for a few more days...or it might be a couple weeks. But it wouldn't be very long. And that when he stopped eating again...then it would be time to put him down. So my brother took the next week off from work and just spent it with his cats...took tons of pictures and basically let Kodak do whatever he wanted. After about 3 days he stopped eating again...and he made an appointment with the vet for the next day. Not to go into detail...but no sooner had the vet given Kodak the injection then he slumped over and was gone. The vet told my brother that Kodak was definitely ready to go...and that he had never seen anything like that before.

About a year later Fuji started showing the same symptoms that Kodak had a year earlier. And sure enough...it was. Almost a year later to the day, my brother had to put down Kodak's sister Fuji as well. And again what's heartbreaking about this story is the way she went out. Same vet...gives Fuji the injection and as if she understands what's going on, she turns and looks at my brother one last time to say "goodbye" and then slumps over.

Every time I think about that...it gets to me. My bro did the right thing though, in both cases. I understand that ppl get attached to their pets (There's 3 cats living here with me that I just love more then anything) but when it comes down to it...you gotta think about what's best for the pet. You can't be selfish about it and try to keep them around just because you can't handle letting go. It's not fair to the pet. IMHO, it would be better to put them down while they can still go out with some dignity rather then let them fade away.

As final note...my brother had Kodak & Fuji cremated and he has both of their ashes and created a little memorial in their honor. He has pictures of them and some of their favorite toys...so anytime he misses them he can go spend time with them.