Sick Pet. Tough Economy. What to do?
Some helpful tips for getting the veterinary care your pet needs.

This week's Veterinary Medicine Forum posts are good evidence of the trying financial times many of us face. Each day, people come to the forums (and send emails) asking "what is wrong with my pet?" and "what can I do at home to take care of my pet's bleeding, broken leg, vomiting/diarrhea, or fill-in-the-blank illness?"

Here are a couple examples:
German Shep very sick
"I have a 5 year old German Shepherd who started acting very sick this weekend. He has not eaten in two days, he has a lot of yellow secretions in both eyes, acts very tired and distant, and can barely walk. I made him drink some water, but he is just not himself. Any ideas on what it could be? I almost feel like he is near death and I'm afraid that he may be suffering."
CONNOR321

Shakes and sways
My 3-year old Bichon named Chippy loves to play ball 24/7. Yesterday as usual, that's what he did. Then my sister and I went for a drive. When we came back 2 hours later, he was shaking, panting, and would not lay down (only sit down). His belly felt hard, he would walk a few steps and his rear-end would sway, he would go down the 3 steps to go outside, but would not come up them. He had us up all night trying to calm him. One year ago he had surgery for kidney stones, but he doesn't show any of those signs that he had then. He eats, he is going to the bathroom. PLEASE CAN ANYONE HELP?"
-CINDYLEESHEE

In a perfect world, the answer is simple: "take your pet to the vet, run the recommended tests, and provide the needed treatment." However, this isn't a perfect world, and the above answer does involve money. Sometimes a lot of money.

Question: what to do about this situation?
From a pet owner's perspective, each pet deserves to be treated, whether the funds are there or not. Some people even question if a vet 'cares' about their pet when they won't see the pet and provide treatment for free or at an extremely reduced cost.

From a veterinarian's perspective, yes, all animals deserve to be cared for, suffering reduced or eliminated, and animals treated and cured of their illnesses or conditions whenever possible. Unfortunately, there are real costs involved in veterinary medicine -- medical supplies, the necessary medications, and diagnostic tests are not inexpensive, even to veterinarians. And things like hospital building rent/mortgage, employee costs - technicians, staff, and yes, even the veterinarian's salary and insurance all need to be paid.

It should be noted that delaying care can add to the expenses considerably. Trying to diagnose and treat a pet at home may indeed cause the situation to be worse -- your pet's illness becomes more serious, necessitating additional care, medications, tests, etc.

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