I have watched and read with interest all the coverage this last few days on the topic of cats and kidney transplants. It has made me think of just how far would we go with our dogs. Like most people I have spent many hundreds of pounds on treatment with vets to my dogs in the days before insurance was widely available and to be honest there were times when I would have remortgaged the house to get them the necessary treatment. But how far do we go?
My insurance, I believe would cover any treatment as long as it benefited the animal. But that treatment cost will certainly be passed on to each and every policy holder, who have seen costs soar in the last few years. I had a bitch who had to have mammary strip late in her life, she had over one hundred stitches in her, a few months later she had to be put to sleep to save her further suffering. I was devastated, we had spent a lot of money, she was not insured, but the cost was secondary. In hindsight it would have been kinder not to have given her the operation.
So how far are you prepared to go, should we take the long term view or go for a short term solution?

Karen

I think that most insurances will exempt the kidney transplant as the cost is £8000 upwards and how many companies are going to cover that.

peanuts

Personaly, I think you should think of your pets, what ever they may be, in the same way you would look at another person. If they are ill, you will do everything you can for them, but only if I will mean that what ever life you manage to save, is a good one. If the remainded of their life will be spent in pain, then you owe it to them to let them go before it gets that bad, after all, I wouldn't want to be saved, just to last a couple more days in agony.

I always think quality of life is really important. Before our old lab died, we paid out a lot of money for investigations and an operation, but we talked about things and decided that if he had survived the op we would look at his quality of life and probably wouldn't have chosen radio or chemo therapy just to 'keep him going'. Sadly he died a few hours after the op to remove a large tumour. I always feel guilty that I took him for that op, as he was outwardly healthy, but was having a job to breathe and eat. It was either leave him to suffer, pay for the operation or have him put to sleep. An awful choice for us and I sometimes wonder if we'd left things maybe - just maybe, he'd have got better.
Lorna

Hi Karen, I have very strong views concerning the lengths we go to to treat our animals. I feel sometimes we go way too far and end up causing more suffering to an animal that should have been pts in the first instance. I have a deep mistrust of vets (by no means all), and feel the ethics and reasons for treating animals that are so ill they need a kidney transplants should be questioned. How can anyone justify putting an animal through such an operation, whatever the outcome good or bad it does not warrant the pain, suffering and uncertainty of the end result. In my opinion they are not little people with fur and should not be treated as such or made to suffer a major operation such as a kidney transplant (or any other major surgery) just because we can.

Clair
xx

Not to mention the poor little animals who are likely to be hoiked out of rescue centres as 'donors' - a step WAY too far in my opinion, I'm afraid - veterinary treatment for the owner's benefit rather than the animal's.

Marina

The whole thing just sickens me I'm afraid. I agree its for the owners benefit, not to mention the vet's ego.