Hunting dog injuries & treatment cost

[slvrslngr]

Porcupine quill removal-$350 plus another $400 for a second surgery to remove a couple quills that showed up later
Barbed wire tear-$1100
Bone cancer, amputation, before and after care-$5000+
Bite wound-$800, attacking dogs owner paid

Not to mention the regular yearly visits. They’re expensive but we love them!

 

[johnnycake]

Our pet insurance has paid out over $12k in reimbursements over the last 7 years. Having a hard charging dog (now two) definitely gets you familiar with the vet.

 

[Oregon]

TPLO surgery, both knees. $8000. Twice a year ear infections $500. Salmon poisoning $400, etc etc etc. it don’t stop for dogs who work hard outside.Lab
I have a chihuahua that’s 14 that’s never been to a vet except initial vaccination

 

[loganwayne]

Our pet insurance has paid out over $12k in reimbursements over the last 7 years. Having a hard charging dog (now two) definitely gets you familiar with the vet.

Just curious what pet insurance do you have. Everyone I've looked at quote us but at the end of it when I go to set it up we get denied because I have hunting dogs and we field trial them.

 

[sndmn11]

Just curious what pet insurance do you have. Everyone I've looked at quote us but at the end of it when I go to set it up we get denied because I have hunting dogs and we field trial them.

I have Healthy Paws, they don't seem to care.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

The insurance I looked into had different price ranges, none of them had well pet care, no normal check ups, or "my dog doesn't feel good" test. But when there in an emergency I'm sure with enough visits the insurance pays off.

 

[406flyfish]

Tibial spiral fracture $8,000

occlusion of her canine teeth $1,250

Emergency after hours visit for a severe porcupine encounter. Invoked two additional visits to pull quills. $1,200

TPLO $5,000
Doctor informed us the other knee will most likely need the same within a year. That’s an additional $5,000

Misc (shots for arthritis, random vet visits) 5k

Purchased Embrace pet policy shortly before the porcupine visit. They covered 90% of the following surgeries. Covered most of the shots for arthritis. My monthly rate went from $38.00 to $90.00
After the first major surgery they covered.

 

[bigv]

I carry a first aid baggie for my dogs. These things have covered my butt several times. In bag i have hydrogen peroxide, athletic tape, Neosporin, flour (works great for clogging bleeds) super glue, bandages and baby aspirin.

 

[Ross]

@loganwayne can you comment on the last surgery for not getting your boy fixed? Symptoms of what the issue was? Currently trying to diagnose an issue with my 6.5 in tact lab. His prostrate was checked appears ok. Vet not able to diagnose anything yet

 

[jwatts]

I finally retired my female GSP. It seemed like every time she went to the woods she found a downed barb wire fence and got cut up. My vet told me to buy a suture and staple kit, and do it myself if I was comfortable. He'd get me the antibiotics she needed. After the last time was too much for me to handle I started leaving her at home. Oddly enough not long after that she tore her ACL, had it repaired, then tore it again.

 

[loganwayne]

@loganwayne can you comment on the last surgery for not getting your boy fixed? Symptoms of what the issue was? Currently trying to diagnose an issue with my 6.5 in tact lab. His prostrate was checked appears ok. Vet not able to diagnose anything yet

He had a mass on his butt hole. That started bleeding and wouldn't heal. They had to take out part of his hole and reconstruct the muscles

 

[johnnycake]

Just curious what pet insurance do you have. Everyone I've looked at quote us but at the end of it when I go to set it up we get denied because I have hunting dogs and we field trial them.

Nationwide Pet Major Medical. I pay a reasonable annual premium that gets more expensive as the dog ages. First year was $275, and the current year 8 is $550. It's for a $250 deductible and then after that it pays up to a certain dollar amount per line items on the invoice. No coverage for congenital issues or breeding. General wellness isn't covered either.

But stitches, bowel obstructions, random WTH is going on tests and imaging, and more have all been very worth it.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

My lab was real expensive over his lifetime. Thankful I had insurance for most of it.

Sprained tail joint: 350
Scratched cornea: 250
Kennel cough: 400
Fancy food from the holistic vet: 180 per month for 7 months
Near death malnutrition incident because the fancy food was crap: 1500
Stick up through paw: 650 with xrays
Infection in paw because the xray didn't see the left over wood debris, surgery and medicine: 1800
Torn acl diagnosis: 850
Acl repair (tplo): 6000
Spleen tumor diagnosis and removal: 6500
4 months of palliative care: 1200
Euthanasia and cremation: 750

I am probably forgetting a few things.

 

[Ross]

@loganwayne that sounds bad, thankfully not what we are dealing with

 

[grossklw]

Thought he had a GI obstruction cuz the moron used to eat socks. 1700$ for an ultrasound at the emergency vet clinic and meds and he was fine, just being a pussy.

This summer he had a tumor rupture on his spleen so he had emergency surgery at our own local vet, another couple hours he would’ve bled out and been dead; a good local vet is worth their weight in gold. Price was 2500 bucks which didn’t seem all that bad to me, 2 weeks later he was running around fine and we’ve killed 31 roosters so far and my kids aren’t devastated yet. Price included pathology which came back negative for cancer so the surgery was curative.

Every soft tissue injury (at least ones that stick) usually result in about 4-500 with X-rays and standard visit.

You guys got me thinking on the pet insurance though.

 

[TimberRunner]

It's been 20 years or so, but a buds 6 or 7 year old gsp got skunk sprayed in sodak while we were pheasant hunting. Went into status epilictisus. It was a Sunday, vet 70 miles away, said bring him in. We drove 100+ miles an hour as that dog wouldn't stop seizing. I thought it was a gonner. Vet started IV, dog was on IV seizure meds for 2 days. Buddy stayed in sodak for extra few days. Dog survived, but never hunted again. Too bad, it was a hell of a hunting dog.

Don't know what it cost, but I'm sure it was close to 5K.

 

[TimberRunner]

Surgeon buddy gave me some surgical staple guns. Have used them several times after barb wire on dogs. Wash them out with sterile saline and staple them up. No huge gashes, but have used up to 12 staples. Watch for infection. Dogs always seem to tolerate well.

 

[TSAMP]

I hunted out west for sharptail a couple weeks back. One dog developed a limp after couple days after we got back. I chalked it up as sore from the 5 day trip. After a few days it went away. We ran in the field 5 days later and it came right back. A normal vet visit trip confirmed no broken bones. Upon closer inspection I noticed a slight swollen digit. After 3 days of soaking it in Epsom salt it pretty well declared itself. I suspected a cactus needle and you can see the potential entrance with the small red dot at the side of the pad. I Estimate it was in there festering nearly two weeks so the pad was nearly hollow beneath.

The moment the pad opened up the limp went away and hes been back to normal. Keeping it booted and clean for now. Have another trip next week.

Don't forget those tailgate checks. I must of missed this , or maybe it was deep enough I didnt see it but I know im guilty of switching dogs quick at the truck and not giving them the full once over.

 

[roosterdown]

Missed this thread when it was going...good topic.

(Tick) Anaplasmosis: $450
Barbed Wire sutures/antibiotics: $400
Second Barbed wire incident: $1 as we sewed her up out while still out on the hunt with a disposable suture kit.
Third Barbed wire incident: same as second.
Sprain diagnosis and painkillers: $300
Tooth removal (Slab Fracture): $900

 

[TSAMP]

Porcupine quill removal-$350 plus another $400 for a second surgery to remove a couple quills that showed up later
Barbed wire tear-$1100
Bone cancer, amputation, before and after care-$5000+
Bite wound-$800, attacking dogs owner paid

Not to mention the regular yearly visits. They’re expensive but we love them!

How did they find quills? I just removed some from my dog and one broke off. Vets couldn't find it and sure enough a few days later I see it sticking out the top of his nose like a flagpole, it probably traveled 4 or 5 inches from entry to exit. Lip to top of nose.