About a month ago Tony, a dog, ruptured a disc and started fighting to breathe. His owner, Jane Phipps, rushed him to a veterinary hospital. He underwent surgery and spent 30 days on a ventilator.
Tony pulled through, although he still needs physical therapy.
Meanwhile, Phipps needs $25,000 to cover her vet bill. So far, her only plan to pay it down is a yard sale. She?s put more than $16,000 on a credit card.
“Some people think I?m a lunatic for spending that kind of money,” said Phipps, 53, a nurse who reviews medical charts for an insurance company. “My priorities are my family, and he?s a part of my family.
“The way the world works now … the only person who really doesn?t judge you and loves you unconditionally is a pet.”
The bill shows how far Phipps was willing to go to maintain that relationship. As veterinary care has become more advanced, people have become willing to go to extraordinary lengths to care for their pets. The days are gone when there were basically two types of pet: the healthy and the dead.
Even animal shelters and rescue organizations, which rely on donations to care for dozens of unwanted pets, try to raise thousands for just one. SAFE Haven for Cats, a no-kill shelter in Raleigh, N.C., sets aside about 10 percent of its annual $300,000 budget for the extraordinary medical bills needed to get some strays to a point where they can be adopted.
In Phipps? case, even a fellow dog owner wonders about the wisdom of spending such a sum.
“I love dogs, but I think that is a little much,” said Aaron Robben, 35, an energy trader who was walking his dog, Atlas. “It?d be hard for me to justify that expense. They?re still animals even though they start to feel like part of the family.”
In 2005, consumers, veterinarians and farmers spent $5 billion on animal medications alone, said Ron Phillips, vice president for legislative and public affairs for the Animal Health Institute, which represents the makers of animal health products. That number has steadily increased, but the biggest change, Phillips said, concerns who?s spending the most money. About 10 years ago, 60 percent of the medication money was spent on livestock and 40 percent on pets or companion animals. Now, it?s 60 percent for pets and 40 percent for livestock.
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