How Much Is Your Pet's Life Worth?

How much is your pet's life worth? I've pondered this question and its hypothetical answers on a multitude of occasions. I never thought I would actually be put to the test.

So far, my pet's life is $3,000 and rising.

For the back story - I came home on Wednesday evening to find my seven-year-old calico crying inconsolably, shivering, and swiveling her head back and forth. Within a few minutes, I realized she was non-responsive and blind. My husband had seen her at 10:00 a.m., when he noted she was walking slow, but otherwise seemed fine . . . so her complete collapse took less than 8 hours. Needless to say, I called the vet immediately, but as it was after hours, their voicemail instructed me to contact the emergency vet. My conversation went something like this:

"Hi, my name is Andrea, and I have a cat that is disoriented, blind, crying inconsolably, and trembling which is why . . . "

"Yeah. You'll need to bring her in." [Insert a pause where I decide not to strangle the person on the other end of the phone because I do actually need their help.]

"I need directions," I finished.

Thirty minutes later, I was at the emergency vets, and to make a long story short - a $90 exam fee and $250 worth of blood tests later, they decide she needs to be kept overnight and rehydrated at $680 - $800. Translation - to take my cat to the vet, have them look at her, poke her with a needle to draw blood, and run an IV . . . $1,000 down the drain.


The next morning - they recommend that she sees a neurologist. In the meantime, I have a flight to Vegas (already paid for months in advance) that I can't cancel last minute - so I head out of town and get to hear the rest of this information third hand and figure out interesting ways of paying specialists . . . because apparently everyone requires FULL PAYMENT up front and they cannot accept voice authorization or credit card numbers over the phone. GGGRRRRRRRRRR. We have to move Callie from the emergency vet to our home practice (another $250 in hospitalization fees) . . . and then, from the home practice to the neurologist. At first, they inform us the neurologies is $2,000 for the exam. FOR THE EXAM. That means we will have spent $3,000 in diagnostics before they even tell us what we need to fix the problem . . . IF it is even fixable.

Choices. it all comes down to choices.

T. asks me what to do, and I tell him to call the neurologist and explain that since the economy is not exactly stable and dollars are at a premium, we're a touch reluctant to pay $5,000 to be told our cat has a brain tumor and is terminal. The neurologist is apparently a decent fellow who agrees . . . and so they tell us they can do an initial exam for $350. Much much better. Too bad it was followed by a request to do more blood work and a spinal tap . . . for an additional $1,000.

And so $3,000 into the DIAGNOSTICS, we have discovered that Callie is in perfect health. Perfect lungs. Perfect heart. Perfect bladder and kidneys. Even her eyes have no damage, and the spinal tap revealed no strange swelling or pressures on the brain . . . but she's still blind. Scary, but I can deal with blindness as long as she's not in distress. Animals are MUCH better than people at adjusting to these things.

So the latest theory put forth by the neurologist is that Callie has taxoplasmosis - which a brochure from the Cornell University College of Vetrinary Medicine (thank you Google) informs me is a parasite that infects cats, dogs, and humans (let's do an inventory of my household - cats, dogs, and human. Great.). In a nutshell, the parasite infects the animal, and when the animal's immune system begins to fight back, the parasite responds by going dormant and creating "cysts" in the animal's brain and central nervous system . . . causing disorientation, non-coordination, and blindness (among many other symptoms). Amongst the good news . . . the chances that the humans have been infected is extremely small . . . especially since I tend to wash my hands after handling cat feces. The bad news . . . while treatable, I don't know if they can undo the damage caused by the cysts . . . so Callie may be permanently blind.

And they are still not certain this is the answer. They are starting her on the treatment (antibiotics and steroids) . . . so we should know in a day or two if they are having any effect - but needless to say, I've spent a lot of time pondering how much my pet's life is worth . . . and when . . . and if I should stop treatment. And I'm furious that her care cost $3,000 - not because she is not worth every penny - but because I can't figure out why two sets of blood work, an IV, and a spinal tap cost so much. If they did an MRI - it would have added $2,000 to the bill. WHY? When did pet health care become so astronomically expensive?!

But I guess I finally have my answer. My cat is worth anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 to me (and I know there are a multitude of people shaking their heads - but what can I say? To each their own). I keep sending her warm thoughts, and I hold my breath everytime the phone rings . . . because there is no guarantee even now that Callie is going to make it. Despite modern techonology I'm reduced to the old methods of thinking positive thoughts and sending her my best wishes . . . hoping that on some level my thoughts are helping her.

And all I want is to snuggle her and make everything all right (my only regret is I didn't snuggle her before handing her over. . . it all happened so fast - and I didn't realize I wouldn't see her again after I handed her to the emergency vet) - but I'm also certain that if she is in pain, and we can't stop it, I won't hesitate to have her put down.

It's a weird thing when you realize you love your pet enough to let someone kill her.

Not my most cheerful post . . . but then again, I'm not my most cheerful. I'll post the conclusion of the story, whatever it may be, as soon as I know . . . but I hope that when I go home in a few days, my fuzzy gets to come home too. And blind or not, as long as she's happy, I'll be happy. Funny how that works.