With Expensive Dog Tumors on your Hands, would you Hesitate to Spend?

People often treat their pets like they were family. In fact, you would be hard-pressed to find someone who didn't at least claim they loved their pets like that. So here's a tough one - how much would you spend on medical care when your pet has a problem? What if it is an expensive disease to treat, like dog tumors? As much as pet owners on average genuinely feel that their pets are central to their lives, when there is only a limited amount of money as there tends to be these days, people go right out and make a choice. They know they can't take money away from their families to care for their pets. Almost all pet owners these days will admit that if it's an expensive course of treatment, they would probably put their pets to sleep.

But how much is too much? Typically, for tough diseases like cancerous dog tumors, costs could go as high as $5000. How many pet owners are actually okay with this? A survey done recently finds that two out of three pet owners would spend as much as $500 on their pets' health if there were to be a disease a disease. And of course, one out of three would not spend even that. After all, it's just a replaceable animal, they feel. Of all those that said that their pets were worth at least $500, less than a third said they would spend $2000. And only one in five did say they would be willing to go up to $5000. And of course they also found that dog owners seemed a lot more willing to pay than cat owners.

So let's go into the specifics of how exactly treating a dog tumor can run you up a bill that high. The first visit and the diagnosis can cost you $200. Surgery and cosmetic reconstruction can cost $2000. If it's chemotherapy, add on about $500 each month for six months. Radiation therapy costs even more. It depends on the kind of cancer and where it is; if it is a lymphoma, the most common kind of dog tumor, it can be as inexpensive as $500. Cancer surgery hurts for dogs just as it does for humans. Pain medication and antibiotics can cost about $100 a month over what surgery costs. Unless of course, you choose alternative medicine. There is such a thing as veterinary pet insurance though. To the cost of all this, it would be good idea to add on for unforeseen expenses and other overheads, for things like car service from where the hospital to back home, and the cost of staying by the side of your pet from time to time at the hospital.

Before you go and commit to something as expensive as this though, be sure you get a second opinion. You need to learn about the kind of quality of life your dog will be able to enjoy afterwards. There are several kinds of dog tumors that can be really complicated to overcome. Not that it is  a pleasant thought to total up every last cent when you are caring for a treasured companion.