Putting a high price on keeping pets alive

How much would you pay to keep a sick dog alive?

How about a rat with cancer? Or a goldfish with a tumour? I thought rats were for scientific testing, and therefore no cost involved? doh!

Veterinary science is becoming increasingly complex with pet treatments branching into advanced surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, mood-altering drugs, and even alternative treatments such as homeopathy and osteopathy.

Bills are climbing into the thousands with one industry expert saying accounts in the $10,000 to $15,000 range are not uncommon for pet treatments. Gee, how many of us can afford that in New Zealand with New Zealand wages... or am I one of the under paid ones(chuckle).

Advances in human medicine were being mirrored in vet practices, said Christchurch vet Geoff Mehrtens. "The sky's the limit now." I guess they're happy now:)

Mehrtens had just finished repairing a torn cruciate ligament in a cat's knee.

"Pacemakers are fitted fairly regularly to dogs," he said. "I removed a tumour from a goldfish once." I can't beleive it.. in a GOLDFISH !! all he had to do was switch the fish (chuckle)

Mehrtens said the procedure was not uncommon: you just put anaesthetic in the water and operated in a shallow dish. It's NOT uncommon... heh? Do Kiwis have that much money to spare after spending all their money on their mortgages? I mean, where does this vet work?

Last year it was reported that a goldfish at the Royal Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh had a tumour removed after visitors complained of its ugliness although New Zealand cases tended to be medical rather than cosmetic, he said. Society gone mad!

Mehrtens' partner at the practice, John Ingles, said rats were frequent patients.

"I think this year I've operated on five rats." Ingles said some rat bills were about $400. Gee, that would have paid for the dog fine I got for Holmes pissing on a neighbour's fence!!

The tumour-prone rodents were "quite enjoyable" to operate on as their little bodies required great skill. "It's just what presses your buttons." Different strokes....

Massey University veterinary science senior lecturer Kate Hill said with about 1.2 million cats and 800,000 dogs, felines and canines were still the mainstay of the New Zealand industry. Man, how about cows, and sheep??

"Bills between $2000 and $4000 are common. In Auckland you see bills between $10,000 and $15,000 for advanced procedures – multiple fractures, spinal fractures, the nursing that goes along with it."

Hill said human medicine procedures such as MRIs were increasingly being used for pets.

There are also pet homeopaths, osteopaths, chiropractors, and acupuncturists. Hill said the alternative therapies were "not scientific". Doh... that's why they are alternatives!!

Though the placebo effect did not work on animals, it worked on owners who thought their pets were being cured, she said. Ah, ha... that's the key to the whole article... the guilt of pet owners. Sounds rather catholic, doesn't it?

My dog got mauled by one pitbull, and another mean dog... he can't even jump on our bed. However, I wouldn't spend 10 grand on miracle cures because

1) he's eleven years old

2) I have the greatest faith in self-healing

3) even if I had the money, I believe that you should spread your skills and love with other dogs.