There’s no question you are a responsible pet owner. You’ve taken all the steps to create a safe environment and are vigilant about keeping your pet healthy. However, no matter how much you prepare, there is always the possibility that your pet will develop an unexpected illness or become accidentally injured, prompting an unplanned trip to the vet. And it’s important to have a financial plan in place if this happens.
Many pet owners still don’t understand how expensive it can be to treat an unexpected illness or injury. Here below are some actual pet emergencies and the costs associated with their treatment. After the actual costs of some of these cases I've put the typical range of costs for the conditions, as there can be a lot of variability based on how severely affected a particular pet is, your geographic location, the type of practice/hospital treatment is obtained at, and a wide host of other factors.
- Cat bite abscess (cat): $1,250 [common range: ~$300-2,000]
- Hit-by-car (dog): $5,600 [common range: ~$750-10,000+]
- Urethral obstruction (cat): $2,700 [common range: ~$500-3,500]
- Toxin ingestion (ate mushrooms, dog): $6,500 [common range: ~$2,500-10,000+]
- Heatstroke (dog): $4,200 [common range: ~$2,000-8,000]
- Gastrointestinal foreign body surgery (ate a diaper, dog): $3,275 [common range: ~$1,000-5,000]
- Vomiting and diarrhea (pancreatitis, dog): $3,000 [common range: ~$300-6,000+]
- Diabetic Ketoacidosis (cat): $4,600 [common range: ~$3,000-6,000]
- Back surgery for ruptured disc (dog): $5,600 [common range: ~$3,500-7,000]
Please do not ask emergency or other specific medical questions about your pets in the blog comments. As an online informational resource, Preventive Vet is unable to and does not provide specific medical advice or counseling. A thorough physical exam, patient history, and an established veterinary-patient-client relationship is required to provide specific medical advice. If you are worried that your pet is having an emergency or if you have specific medical questions related to your pet’s current or chronic medical conditions, please contact or visit your veterinarian, an animal-specific poison control hotline, or your local emergency veterinary care center.
Please share your experiences and stories, your opinions and feedback about this blog, or what you've learned that you'd like to share with others.