OK, I love my feline overlord (or in this case, overlady), but unless you're Bill Gates, $11,000 is a bit much. I spent less than a tenth of that a few years ago, and it was more than I probably should have.

Discuss.

You almost certainly spent much more than the purchase price of your cat over her life, when you add up the cost of cat food, litter, periodic checkups, grooming(?), cat sitting/boarding, and the value of your time spent caring for the animal.

The benefits outweighed the cost, no doubt.

If you have the money, and don't need it to feed or otherwise take care of the human members of your family, I don't see why not.

It may not be available in the USA, but in the Netherlands you can take out medical insurance for your pet, which covers up to 3,500 euros or nearly $ 4,900 per annum in medical costs.

After my cat got whacked by a car a few years ago ( http://www.zachtei.nl/2004/05/13/000186.html ), he needed reconstructive knee surgery. I spent about the same amount as Rand, and I gladly parted with every cent of it.

Afterwards, I immediately signed up for coverage, but, yeah, I'd shell out the extra money to do what Mr. Lynch did, if needed.

The benefits outweighed the cost, no doubt.

No doubt.

The problem arises when the bill comes due all at once. And over her lifetime, I can't imagine that the total (gradual) bill approached eleven kilobucks.

Our cat came to us as a feral kitten. He's now lord and master and deigns to keep us around, along with allowing my leg to be his pillow while I'm sleeping. AT least he allows my wife to wash him frequently and rub anti-allergy solution on him, otherwise I'd be in Hell.

Call me heartless, but my limit for pet healthcare is $500. Anything over that, and its bye-bye kitty.

This guy should have put the poor cat to sleep and donated $10k to charity or something. What a waste.

- Scott

I'm with Scott. The image of a rural vet in a pickup driving out to the farm is being replaced by BMW driving vets of to do liposuction on pampered pets. I could see the transplant on a prize bull knocking out $1000 sticks but a housepet? Oh the humanity!

Slightly offtopic, or maybe not, but I realized yesterday watching the damn tube that some odd shift has occured in the last 30 years or so. You used to see advertisements for dog and cat stuff in which the animal was almost always owned by a youngster (boy if dog, girl if cat, for some obscure reason), and part of a family.

Nowadays, the owner in a dog/cat product advertisement is more often a young adult without children, and the animal is less intrepid sidekick or faithful servant and more baby in the cradle to be nurtured and adored.

Seems a stereotype has changed: a dog used to be seen as a companion in adventure for a kid, and now it's seen more often as a pseudo-child for an otherwise childless couple. I wonder why the shift? I suppose dogs are cheaper, both in money and emotional wear-n-tear, than actual children.

We had the same exact situation with one of our cats. We got a bargain - just over $9K - two surgeries, radiation, etc.

And over her lifetime, I can't imagine that the total (gradual) bill approached eleven kilobucks.

You'd be surprised, even if you ignore the value of your time (that alone would almost certainly be much more than $11K.) $11K would be about $14/week over 15 years.

Well, ignoring my time, I can't imagine how I spent that much per week. It was basically a quarter per day or so on food and litter, and the occasional incidental expense on cat stuff, but that could be amortized over multiple cats.

cat stuff

There's a header for your Excel spreadsheet to track expenses. Hey, maybe NASA uses the same things. Untold billions spent on "space stuff."

My wife is a Filipina. She laughs at how Americans spend so much money on their pets*. She had dogs as pets in the Philippines but when they got expensive, they ended up in the stew pot. I have it on good authority that short haired dog tasted better than long haired dog but I don't know why. Reportedly, dog adobo is very tasty. As for cats, they're a popular dish in parts of Asia.

*She also laughs at how Americans pay good money for dirt (topsoil) and landscaping rocks. "Americans will buy anything!"

What happened to "it's my money, I can spend it on anything I want"? How about if the money had been sent to send a cat into space?

"Spent." To "send..." Arghh...

WRT Phillipinos eating pets ... not sure what that says given that cannibalism was legal there until the 1970s...