get a second opinion, or third! Most vets will offer payment plans for such a large bill, so if you could initially go halves with your parents and then arrange to pay it off every week would that be more affordable?
I don't agree with amputation..very drastic action and in this case not necessary. If it happens to another knee then what will you do, can't amputate another one!
I agree with the others on getting a second opinion. Lort Smith in Melbourne usually have much lower costs than private vets.
I will also go against the majority and say that personally i could not justify paying a thousand dollars for surgery on one of my animals. I also would not want my parents to pay that much. I love them hugely, and would be devastated if i lost one of them but i could not spend that much on them. If they could live comfortably with the ailment i would do things to make it easier for them (non weightbearing exercise like swimming) but if they were in a lot of pain i would have to let them go.
My Cairn Terrorist has the same problem. Called a subluxing patella. I thought he would need an operation. Luckily for us my best mate is an (equine) vet and she suggested that we keep him REALLY quiet for a couple of weeks. NO jumping, walking only on a short leash. In his crate if he wasn't being supervised etc. It was a horrible 2 weeks. We had to lift him onto lounge and up stairs etc and it was very hard to confine a dog just because he'd had a slight intermittent limp.
It worked! My little Terrorist didn't talk to me for a while but he didn't need an operation. The joint is no longer 100% but the vet checks it each time we take him in or if we take our other dog for something else we get him checked at the same time. Sometimes he puts it down badly and limps so we just confine him to rest it.
My dog is 4 years old and the vet tells me he might need an operation when he's older but we've certainly made him comfortable for now.
Perhaps you could find out from a vet if your dog's leg is not too far gone if you could try this. There is a good dog athritis medication called Cartrophen which can help as the dog gets older with arthritis symptoms.
If you decide to go ahead with the surgery make sure you are fully informed and the vet who is doing it is very experienced. Our vet (obviously not the equine one) sends clients to another local vet who is highly experienced with the operation.
Hope this helps.
Kate
I'd also be getting another opinion and enquiring about a payment plan if it's going to be costing that much. Also, to me pets are a valued member of the family and treating medical conditions is just part and parcel of having a pet (or child for that matter!). I would definitely do anything I could to decrease suffering to them. Anyway, are you in Melb? If you are, the Lort Smith Hospital in North Melb is a good place to call and get some more advice. Good luck and hope pooch is better in no time
you have been given some suggestions already and I just wanted to comment about paying for the operation. We are in a similar situation in that my MIL took on one of our own dogs and has had her for about 2 and 1/2 years. She seems to be pretty sick at the moment and we are expecting a huge vet bill that neither my MIL or we can afford. I also feel responsible for the bill cause she was our dog. I am going to offer to pay for 1/2 the bill, just a suggestion that maybe you could pay 1/2, 3/4 or whatever to help out your parents?
Unfortunately costs of vet bills are rising. I work in emergency at a specialist centre, and if you were to have that surgery with a specialist orthopaedic surgeon it would be over $4000. So to me, $1800 is a reasonable price. The cost of veterinary fees are going up because the costs of drugs, treatments and expectations of clients are going up. Procedures have changed drastically, 13 years ago when I first started vet nursing, we didn't have to be as skilled nurses, they didn't even offer a uni course, it was just 2 years part-time at tafe and TBH the course was ridiculous. Now its a 4 year course either through Uni or through specialist education centres. Yet, the wages still are quite low. For a nurse with 10 years experience and fully qualified the award rate is around $17.50 an hour.
So the costs of veterinary bills are going up because the skills are going up and it less of a backyard job anymore and more of a specialised career. HTH
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