Just paid vets bill for one chemo treatment - £1,171

[LimitIsUp]

So my dog needs chemo to shrink a lesion and has had his first treatment. There were some additional items on there - some cardiac pills because they think he has sub clinical DCM and also testing for taurine levels (again re the DCM)

I have to pay this bill in its entirely since our insurance covers us for £4,000 per annum but that has already been exceeded by CT scans and other diagnostics etc (and next 12 month period isn't until November)

We have at least 3 more similar bills in the pipeline (Chemo every 3 weeks for 4-6 treatments)

Given the cost, do most people not pay for Chemo and opt for pain relief then PTS? I ask because I was stunned by the amount. We do okay for money but the costs are scary. We will pay for the whole course of treatment but Christ on a bike.....

(I am also more than a little fucked off that 20% VAT is added to vet bills)

We were told 10k for best treatment we said PTS as our cover was 6K and we had already used 1K. Specialist vets said we could try another way and it would cost 5.5k so we only needed to find £500 (I say only, it was still a real struggle)

I'm now clear from the outset what I can afford.

I should add that our lab was 4 so we wanted to treat her.

Our boy lab (aged 12) had 3 days at the vets for pancreatitis last year and that cost £1500, he passed away also (pts on day 3).

Sometimes we do eeeutgint as we think that’s right but actually it’s kinder to think long term.

We currently have 2, 1 year old lab puppies (clearly exposing myself as a Labrador enthusiast, and don’t have 2 pups at once 🤣) and I would always heed my previous experiences. Xxx

I trust our vet so as long as they recommended it, I’d pay any amount for our animals. We’ve paid thousands in the past. Our last big bill was about £6k on top of insurance for one of our dogs, she was very young and without treatment she wouldn’t have lived more than a year or so. Now she is 2 and has a normal life expectancy, worth every penny, it never crossed our minds not to do it whatever the cost.

Very best wishes for your dog. ❤️

@TotallyTS

If my insurance didn't cover the cost of treatment I couldn't pay that amount.

We had a dog with cancer and we didn't pursue surgery or chemo. He was old and I didn't think it was fair on him really,

I guess putting the money aside, we all need to work out whether the treatment is improving quality of life enough to justify putting them through it.

I know this doesn't help you now, but 4K is a really low annual limit for treatment. I think ours is 10k per year per condition. Expensive but so worth it.

Yes, I hadn't realised how expensive diagnostics and chemo are - rest assured in future for my other dogs I will increase the annual cover

Someone asked re size of dog - he is a large breed, 34 kgs and he is 8 years old

We did it, it gave our beloved boy an extra year of happy, healthy life so worth every penny.

My boy currently has a good quality of life - the lesion causes a slight limp but he can still manage 3 mile walks off lead. The problem is that untreated it will get progressively worse and become excrutiating.

I think I have learnt from this that I need to arrange higher cover and pay a higher premium in future

You could wait and see how the first round affects him, and make a call on likely quality of life. Our last DDog had cancer but was very old so we went the palliative care route before pts. It sounds so cold but really it’s sometimes the kindest option.

My DDog had lymphoma and he had chemo. The chemo and steroids gave him an extra 6 months of really good quality life and he only started to become ill a couple of weeks before I had to have him PTS. Pet insurance covered it all but in all honesty I would have paid for the treatment if I had to. I would have remortgaged if I couldn’t have got my hands on the cash.

Not long after, my niece had to have her ddog PTS as he also had lymphoma and she couldn’t have afforded the treatment which my ddog had.

I think, OP, you need to do what is right for your situation. I would look into ways of accessing the drugs more cheaply if possible too.

It's incredibly tough. Our dog had chemo a few years ago. I can't remember how much it was for each session (think he had 4) but it certainly wasn't as high as yours, perhaps £500 ish each but then of course blood and urine tests before he went each time which adds up plus scans.

We can't increase his insurance because we've claimed on it so much, and it's currently £2k per condition per year. We'd pay anything for this bloody dog though, whatever credit cards were needed!

Thank you to everyone for sharing their experiences, particularly since many of them must bring back painful memories.

I will assess how ddog does after his first chemo. Apparently some dogs are barely bothered by it whilst others are very sick and white blood cell count plummets. However if we stop chemo the next dilemma would be whether to go for radiotherapy (which is more expensive as it requires a GA)

He's currently fine but I have been warned that side effects can take up to 5 days to arise

Having been a human on chemo there is no way I would put an animal through it. Sorry would always be PTS.

Ah, its much lower doses than human chemo itsbackagain - i hope you are doing okay btw

@MartinMartinMarti

I would (and have) PTS my much loved cat in similar circs.

It’s un affordable, it’s unlikely to extend life all that much, and it gives them a horrible quality of life. It’s not something I wanted her to go through, even before you get to the cost.

Absolutely this, I wouldn’t want to put my pet through all of that

My friend paid thousands for chemo for her Labrador who had toe cancer. I think he was maybe about six at the time. He’s gone on to have a lovely and happy life and is still going strong years later.

@Itsbackagain

Having been a human on chemo there is no way I would put an animal through it. Sorry would always be PTS.

It’s not the same - honestly, which is also why it’s not as successful.

Because of course pets wouldn’t have a clue why they were so ill and it would just be cruel.

My cats side effects were that her fur was a bit thinner - not in a way that you’d notice if you’d never seen her before starting treatment and she did feel the cold more.

But she went into partial remission and the original symptoms we’d taken her to the vet went away. So she had 5 extra years of normal life other than me having to give her medication and extra vet check ups and blood tests - which she had no issue with, she quite liked a wee vet visit.

My dog did not have any reaction to chemo and it gave him approx 12 more months of happy life . We knew when he was ready to go . Luckily our insurance covered most of the cost .

But it is a difficult decision to make .

🤗

@Itsbackagain

Having been a human on chemo there is no way I would put an animal through it. Sorry would always be PTS.

Dogs do not have the same side affects as humans .

Animals don't tend to suffer the side effects of chemo that people do. They tend to use a lower dose and any animals that I have helped with chemo (former vet nurse) have coped very well with it. That does seem expensive for one treatment though. Maybe you could ask around at other local practices?

@LimitIsUp

Ah, its much lower doses than human chemo itsbackagain - i hope you are doing okay btw

That does make a difference then, it's the not knowing how much pain they're in that always worries me when it comes to animals. I'm on my 2nd round in 5 years but I will get there - will have two lovely collies to take care of me. 😀

We have £10k a year cover but have run up £7k this year not even chemo just a leg operation but at a referral vet

Just to give an indication of costs OP I've had chemo personally via private health care and my bloods, day patient stay, nursing fees, chemo drugs and outpatient drugs are between £6-8,000 per 3 week cycle. This doesn't include scans. It's super expensive for people and makes your vet look pretty good value.
I hope your dog does well. Remember that the only person who can make the right decision for your dog is you. You know him best.

I’m so sorry to hear your dog is poorly. Chemo is unpleasant at best and diminishes quality of life at worst. I have been in this position before - we used pain relief and PTS. It’s really hard. Thinking of you.

“it's the not knowing how much pain they're in that always worries me when it comes to animals.”

My cat had been throwing up, more and more, losing weight and generally looking miserable. That all stopped and she was eating, playing, going outside to sunbathe when it was warm and was quite happy to go to the vets where she would explore and get a fuss made of her... so I’m very confident she was happy for those extra years.

Chemo for animals doesn’t affect them like it does for humans, much lower dose.