Sioux City Journal, IA
04-10-07
People spend more to keep pets healthy
'
When you buy a pet, you make a commitment'
By Jenny Welp Journal staff writer
When Pat and Lowell Nygren learned that their cat, Midnight, had diabetes, their
first concern wasn't the cost of prescription food, insulin shots and, especially at
first, regular trips to the vet.
The Sioux Cityans said their biggest worry was whether they physically would be
able to give their cat insulin injections. But they decided right away that they
weren't going to give up on Midnight without trying.
"We've had him for six-and-a-half years, and you don't just throw a good buddy
away," said Pat, 70.
Across the country, people are spending more to try to keep their pets healthy.
Veterinary expenditures in the United States more than doubled from $7.6 billion
in 1991 to $20.2 billion in 2001, according to a survey by the American Veterinary
Medical Association.
The growth reflects a change in the role of pets in our lives, said Dr. Chad
Anema of Dunes Animal Hospital in Dakota Dunes.
"Just in the past 15 years, the place of pets in the family has changed," he said.
"They live in the house more. They're considered family members."
It isn't always expensive to treat a pet's illness. Treating arthritis could be as
simple as giving a dog aspirin, while it's not unusual for a total hip replacement to
cost at least $3,000, said Dr. Dennis Sorensen, veterinarian at Morningside
Veterinary Hospital.
Last fall, around the time Jon Nylen and Leesa McNeil had their family photo
taken with the dogs, as always, for their Christmas card, their golden retriever
Cooper started throwing up. When their 9.5-year-old dog didn't get better right
away, they took him to their Sioux City veterinarian, who felt a mass. They
immediately took Cooper to Iowa State University in Ames, where they learned
Cooper had cancer.
Nylen said they'd done some research on the Internet, and understood that
animals did fairly well on chemotherapy -- that they didn't have the same side
effects that people do. So they decided to try to extend their dog's life as much as
they could, and started giving him chemotherapy pills.
"We knew we were probably buying months," said Nylen, 51. "Some people
advised us to just put him down and move on. But we said no, as long as the dog
was happy."
Cooper ended up living about two months. He went on walks right up until the
last week. But then he stopped eating, and because he was suffering, the family
decided to put him down. Nylen said they weren't about to give up on him earlier
just because of the expense.
"You don't bail on the dog just because of money if you can afford it," he said.
"When you buy a pet, you make a commitment."
Mark Condon, 50, has a chocolate lab named Mick who was diagnosed last
summer with congestive heart failure. As a result, the 13-year-old dog is on
diuretics and heart medications, and Condon takes him to the vet every three
weeks to have fluid drained off his abdomen.
"The dog is used to it; he knows what to expect when we go there," Condon said.
"Up to this point, it's kind of been like he's going to get his hair cut. He knows
what the program is."
Condon said it probably costs about $150 a month to keep Mick going, but the
dog would probably be dead in a week without his treatment. He said he's trying
to help Mick make it until the weather warms up because he hopes his friend
might do a little better over the summer.
"He can't hunt anymore, but he's enjoying a normal life," Condon said. "He just
can't run. It's kind of like he's got pneumonia because he's got fluid in his chest."
Condon said Mick always loved to go hunting with him, so last fall he took him
hunting but drove him down to the end of the field so he wouldn't have to run the
whole way.
"He still got to pick up a couple of birds, and he liked that," he said.
Condon said as long as Mick's quality of life is good, he will spend the money to
care for him.
"I think he's deserving of it," he said.
Karen Chesterman, 59, said she thought she was going to lose her golden
retriever, Lewis, a year-and-a-half ago when he started losing muscle mass to
the point that he needed help even to stand up.
The dog's veterinarian in Sioux City didn't know what was wrong, so Chesterman
decided to take Lewis to Iowa State University in Ames to get an MRI. She'd had
another dog with similar symptoms who'd had a brain tumor, so she was thinking
maybe that could be it.
Chesterman said Iowa State's veterinarians told her Lewis was too close to
death for an MRI, so instead they took several biopsies. She said after all those
tests, no one ever did figure out exactly what was wrong with her dog.
"When they told me they didn't now what it was, I just thought, 'This is it,'" she
said. "He's just like a kid -- just like a child -- so it was pretty sad. Like losing a
member of your family."
Chesterman said the veterinarians thought Lewis must have an infection of some
sort, so they put him on massive doses steroids and antibiotics to try to help him
get better. She said it took him a year, but now her 12-year-old dog is basically
back to normal.
"I thought I'd never see him like that again," she said. "He is just wonderful."
Dr. David Ray, a veterinarian at Perry Creek Animal Hospital in Sioux City, said
one of the best things people can do to keep their animals healthy is to be
observant. He said animals can't tell you if they aren't feeling well, so owners
need to be aware of things like the color of their gums, how bright their eyes are,
how healthy their coat looks and if they have bloody stool or urine.
Ray said owners who notice concerns early and get to the veterinarian right away
can help limit the damage to their pet's health.
Sorensen said it's also important to get pets to the veterinarian regularly since
they age faster than humans. He said taking a cat or dog to the vet every six
months would be like a person going to the doctor every 3.5 years.
As for the Nygrens, they have been giving Midnight shots for about six months.
They said he seems to be in the routine of getting a shot every 12 hours, even
though it's not his favorite thing in the world. They said his coat doesn't have the
horrible dandruff like before he was diagnosed, and now the 7-year-old is acting
more playful like a younger cat.
"He'll feel silly and take off and gallop," Pat said. "He loves to play."
Pat said they didn't think twice about spending the money to take care of
Midnight. She said their kids and grandkids live out of town, and he is like a part
of their family.
"He's my buddy," she said. "He puts up with me when I'm grouchy. It's that
unconditional love you get from them."