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You never know how far you'll go to save a pet until it happens.
Unfortunately, it's not always that black & white with an assured outcome. I just had to make the difficult decision to put my cat down, kidney failure.
As a result, everything in her was shutting down. It would have taken several days and thousands of dollars just to stabilize her at an inpatient animal hospital. The cost aside, it would have required much more stress, pain, and separation for her, with pretty much the same unfortunate result. So I declined, and it was the right thing to do. I miss her terribly...
Sometimes, letting go is the best you can do for them, and it isn't any easier than trying treatment. I'm sorry for your loss. I am glad she didn't have to keep suffering a losing battle.
After seeing what my grandfather went through on dialysis, I wouldn't choose it for a beloved pet. I agree you did the right thing.
Absolutely agreed. The situation is almost never black and white. The reason I put this as my answer to the question is that we had a scare this weekend with one of our dogs. She ate something that gave her a blockage in the outlet to her stomach. In the end we spent around $4000 on the surgery required to save her life. Even though we chose to go forward with it, it was still a hugely stressful situation and one of the hardest decisions I've had to make. We were lucky that a local vet had time to rush her into surgery. If they hadn't been able to, the cost would have been over $13,000 and we would not have been able to afford it at all. As it is, we had to borrow some money from family to do the surgery. When I wrote this, it was up in the air whether we would be able to do it or not.
before you get married to someone you might want to discuss this. some cultures/families/people would happily spend a hundred thousand plus on chemotherapy etc on an old pet, while others draw the line at $200. understand their values.