IVDD French Bulldog- ep. 4 Cost of Surgery

Cost of Surgery vs Medical At Home Recovery
Cost of surgery can range from 10k-15 depending. Some dogs need more than one surgery. This includes MRI.
 
Cost can be a huge factor in the decision you make.
You need to think about things like:
·      Do we have insurance?
·      What is the up-front cost? – does your insurance immediately work with your specialist or do they reimburse you
·      Do you have care credit? Other ways of paying
·      Do they give a cash discount?
·      Do you have TIME for rehabilitating your dog?
·      Would a rescue be an option?
·      Do you have someone in the ivdd community that may be able to guide you and help you with the initial recovery?
·      How many times has your pet been affected by ivdd?
·      Has your pet ever struggled with anesthesia?
·      Does your pet have underlying conditions that may not make them a good candidate for surgery? Such as heart murmur and blood disorders
·      Age
 
 
Osiris journey was awful just absolutely traumatizing. If I knew then what I know now, I would have made a much different decision.
Our surgeon, although incredible at her craft, was not kind.
We worked with a few doctors that were nice  but the surgeon put the fear of god in me, made me believe my dog was going to die, and wanted to euthanize him before they even opened him up.
Jokes on her, he lived for 2 more years and passed from a completely unrelated mishap.
I cried for weeks while I worked my ass off to fix him and get him back to nearly perfect.
Also when they opened him up he had a busted blood vessel that was basically a hematoma along his spinal cord that they were able to fix.
 
 
Dahlia, she was exactly 2 weeks post spay when she lost mobility in her back legs. Deep pain was gone but still able to wiggle her tail nub.
She had almost died during her spay. Her heart rate tanked and they almost couldn’t bring her back.
 
She is not on insurance, did not tolerate anesthesia, my ptsd from all of Osiris life (although I loved him more than anything), and raising a litter while caring for the rest of the animals we have were among some of the reasons I chose not to move forward with surgery.
 
I would have spent so much time at the er it would have been a risk to the young puppies. We could have brought home infection and illness, and with a strict feeding schedule we could have put their lives in danger by not feeding at the proper times.
 
Despite not having surgery, being paralyzed in her legs, she did not become incontinent and started walking within 10 days of paralysis.
 
Dahlia was only prescribed prednisone and gabapentin.
 
We were quick to address the problem, skipped neurology, and called our vet immediately to get the proper medications to relieve pain and inflammation.
 
They offered x-ray which I declined, knowing it doesn’t really show anything. Having been in the situation before I did not go in for an MRI. MRI cost is around $3000-6000
Often times because dogs are under anesthesia for MRI, they go directly into surgery to avoid needing to go through the process of going under and waking up for a second time.
 
Because we declined imaging there was no official diagnosis. We made a highly educated guess based on symptoms.
 
Osiris went through the whole process. He started to walk or show signs of walking about 14 days post surgery. He had a whole Cocktail of crap he had to be on. It was around 7 medications all given at different times of the day and different increments. We also took him to neurology immediately.
Total cost of his surgery was $11,000. We paid $2,000 out of pocket which included deductible.
 
If you have the financial ability, we highly recommend pet insurance. Osiris premium with Trupanion was $175 per month. Originally when we first signed up it was $125, so your premiums do go up. There are other great companies that will work with vets as well before the total bill is added up. I don’t know much about it so google will be your best friend with that or talking to other people in groups on facebook.
 
However, with a large pack, insurance for 8 dogs does not make sense at this point in time.
 
Dahlias treatment - $50 for exam
$13 gabapentin for 2 weeks
$18  for 21 prednisone pills at  ½ pill 2x day until further notice.
Obviously much more affordable. Same amount of time in recovery, maybe longer depending on the dogs needs.
Keep in mind every dog is different. You may not be so lucky with your recovery regardless of what method you choose.
Who knows what she’ll need in the future. I will be expecting recurrence.
 
 
Do not let people bully you for your decision. Your decision is what’s best for you and your family. What you can handle financially and mentally.
There are many options but you have to pick what’s best for you.
It takes A LOT OF WORK to recover either way.
 
Coming from a place where I have experience with both, I’m not sure that I would go through with surgery again. But I guess every dog and situation is unique.