How much would you pay to save your pet?

[Catherine]

I have been thinking about this all day. I had time to read it this morning, but not enough time to reply.

I have never had to make an economic choice about one of my pets.
When Blueboy my cat was dying, all the money in the world wouldn't have saved him. We might have bought him a few more days, but they wouldn't have been worth it. Sometimes it is time to let go.

When Pigbert was dying, it was his age more than anything. You can't turn back the clock. I just stayed with him and kept him comfortable.

I wouldn't want to do anything medically to a pet that I would not be willing to go through myself. I wouldn't put a pet through a horrific treatment just to keep it alive without a reasonable quality of life.
Money isn't the issue is it. We would come up with the money somehow. There are just times when treatment is not a kindness.

When Earl, the old corn snake, prolapsed one of his Hemipenes all the vet web sites said it should be amputated immediately(at great cost).
The reptile forums disagreed. They said to keep him very clean and quiet and the problem would resolve itself naturally. What tipped the balance was the guy who said he had rushed his snake in for surgery and it died, of course.
Earl recovered naturally, with good home nursing care.
I don't know if I would have spent the money. At his age he would not have been a good surgical candidate anyhow and the surgery would have been very painful. I don't think they give painkillers to snakes.
It seemed like a horrible thing to do to him. I was scared that I had made the wrong choice until he was fully recovered. He is fully recovered.