Beloved Pets. How much does it really 'cost' to be a pet owner?

Article written by Nancy Keates:

For Mary Cotter, the first sign of concern came when her 7-year-old, Logan, appeared dizzy. His regular doctor said everything was fine, but Cotter insisted Logan be seen by a neurologist, who after an MRI found a tumor in his inner ear. An operation followed, and for the next month Cotter took Logan on a four-hour round-trip trek every day from her home in Ledyard, Conn., to a specialty hospital in Boston for radiation therapy. The total bill for the tests, blood work, surgery and radiation came to $14,000 -- not surprising in this age of sky-high medical costs. Except for one thing. Logan is a golden retriever. After another surgery for an unrelated illness, the total cost of Logan's care is approaching $20,000. Today Logan is healthy, but he has a new nickname: "20K."


It's no secret that Americans love their pets. But these days, all that love is leading to an unprecedented level of expense for millions of owners, who are only beginning to understand the pet-world concept of sticker shock. Caught up in a wave of new medical options and lured by an increasingly sophisticated cadre of veterinarians, pet owners across the country are forking over thousands -- and even tens of thousands -- of dollars to treat illnesses that would have gone undiagnosed or untreated just a few years ago. And then doing it again if they have to. Of course, pet owners and most vets have the animals' best interest in mind. But that doesn't make it any easier: With health insurance covering the humans in many families, it's not unusual for pet owners to spend far more money on health care for their cats and dogs than for their sons and daughters. Even the Great Recession failed to take a bite out of Fido's health care tab. According to a report by market-research company Packaged Facts, Americans spent $20 billion on veterinary bills in 2010 -- an 8.5% increase from a year earlier and more than double the amount spent just a decade ago. Much of that money is being spent on new medical technology. With some of the advances in human health care spreading to the animal kingdom, pet owners have many more options for treatment -- and many more chances to fork over money to cure their pets or at least prolong their pets' lives. Dogs and cats can have pacemakers implanted at a cost of $1,000 to $1,500, while pets with kidney failure can get a kidney-clearing procedure that runs $20,000 to $25,000 for just the first few weeks. Not long ago a vet would most likely have recommended euthanasia for a cat or dog diagnosed with cancer or another serious illness. Today high-tech procedures and equipment, such as chemotherapy and MRIs -- and yes, CAT scans -- allow for better diagnosis and more-advanced treatment.

They also require highly trained specialists. In the past three years, the percentage of veterinarians who are board certified for small-animal surgery has more than doubled, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. Until the late 1980s, there were no board-certified veterinary oncologists, for a simple reason: There was no program for certification. Now vet schools offer oncology-specialization programs and have full-fledged cancer centers, while dozens of private centers have opened across the country with board-certified staff. At the Animal Cancer Center at Colorado State University, 14 veterinarians specialize in medical, surgical and radiation oncology. They're supported by a full nursing staff, residents and even a clinical-trials team focusing on diseases from canine lymphoma to feline sarcoma. Add it all up and "it's a revolution," says Stephen Withrow, the center's associate director.


Of course, expensive technology wouldn't be of much use if no one wanted to take advantage of it. That's where an equally powerful trend comes in: the increasing tendency of Americans to humanize their pets. All those people paying for pet massages and buying designer doggie clothes find it all but impossible to say no when the health -- or life -- of their pet is at stake. And like anxious parents with a sick child, these pet owners aren't about to argue when a vet recommends treatment for a beloved pet. Indeed, in a recent survey by the Associated Press and Petside.com , 35% of pet owners said they were very likely to pick up $2,000 in vet costs to treat a sick dog or cat, while 22% said they'd pick up $5,000 in vet costs.

Empty nesters, who make up a growing percentage of dog owners, are particularly vulnerable. As a former "helicopter parent," Vicki Parker, 55, of Scotch Plains, N.J., admits that she's turned her hovering tendencies toward her dog. "It gives me something to worry about," she says of her chocolate lab, Bear, who has become her constant companion since her son moved out three years ago. More than a year ago, when Bear received a diagnosis of hemangiopericytoma, a type of soft-tissue tumor, Parker paid $1,800 for the surgery. Since then, Bear has had chemotherapy, blood work and oncology visits, for a total cost of about $4,000. "It was really scary," says Parker. "But I felt like I couldn't say no." That's small change compared with what some pet owners end up shelling out.

Gary Nice, president of the National Canine Cancer Foundation, says he spent progressively more to care for three golden retrievers, each of whom developed cancer. First, Nice spent about $3,000 on tests for Bailey before finding out that cancer had spread to his lungs and there was nothing more to do. After that, Ashby developed a brain tumor. At the time, there was no treatment (there is now), and shortly after MRIs and tests that totaled about $3,500, Ashby died. Fast-forward to 2008, when an X-ray revealed Duncan also had a tumor. "By this time we were watching our dogs like a hawk," says Nice, of Longview, Texas. Duncan had his spleen removed and underwent a host of other procedures, for a total cost of $5,000. Although Duncan died 45 days later, Nice, 57, would do it again. "What would a parent of a child say if someone asked them how much they'd be willing to spend on a cancer cure?" he asks. "They'd probably hit you."

(This is just a small portion of the article. To read the article in full length, please visit the link below:
http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/111673/the-$20,000-pet)