Medical bills for furry friends these days can run into thousands

PETALING JAYA: Pet owners are spending thousands of ringgit to care for their “furry” family members.

Writer Sarah Voon spent RM5,000 within five weeks to treat Fluffy, her nine-year-old shih tzu which had gastrointestinal issues in 2016.

“He did not want to eat. The vet gave him gastrointestinal medication. But a few days after he finished the medication, he fell sick again,” she said.

Fluffy stayed at the vet for 10 days but unfortunately, his health deteriorated.

“He couldn’t stand, he couldn’t eat, he wasn’t absorbing anything, the diarrhoea was really bad, and his organs were failing. He couldn’t even lift his head,” she said.

“There was no more quality of life, so the doctors recommended euthanasia,” said Voon.

Voon now has another shih tzu named Yoda. He is taken to the vet every other month.

“He has an ongoing yeast infection on his paw. It costs RM150 to RM200 to treat the infection. The infection has come back five times now. The doctors agreed that the yeast infection is due to a food allergy, so we will be starting a hypoallergenic diet soon,” said Voon.

Yoda also fell seriously ill in December. The veterinarian suspected that he was poisoned.

He was hospitalised for seven days and was on an intravenous drip to flush out the toxins. The bill came up to RM1,200.

Voon also had to bring Yoda to the vet every day for three weeks to give him an intravenous drip.

“Each IV bag cost us RM15 and we had to do a new blood test every four days that cost RM60 each time; plus there was the 6% GST then. But you don’t think about money when your dog is sick,” said Voon.

Divya M. shared the same sentiment about her three cats, which she said are part of the family.

“I have spent thousands on my three cats over the years. They have asthma and a gum infection, and one is a senior cat with allergies that requires special food,” said Divya, who works in a publishing company.

She said she would fork out RM2,700 every year for an ultrasound to check her cats for kidney stones.

Another RM3,000 is needed for teeth extraction and scaling for all three cats, and RM5,000 on a scope for one of her cats.

“It is expensive to maintain my cats, but they are part of the family so I need to make sacrifices,” she said.

Divya said there are also ongoing expenses like her 12-year-old cat’s special cat food that costs around RM250 a month, and RM95 a month for eye drops for glaucoma.

“I have no savings. I don’t buy things for myself because I have to support them (the cats),” she said.

Malaysian Small Animal Veterinary Association president Dr G. Gopinathan said that people’s changing attitude towards their pets had driven the veterinary care industry.

“People are a lot more caring towards their animals. So when the animal is sick, the owner wants the best possible care for the pet,” he said.

He said pet owners want magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT scans), X-ray, and ultrasound to diagnose their pets. The high veterinary cost has resulted in insurance companies introducing pet insurance policies.

Gavin Gwee, for example, decided to insure his corgi Freya.

Gwee, who is an auditor, said he was one of the first to sign up for the pet insurance, thus he enjoyed a promotional price of RM300 a year for the insurance package.

The insurance will also cover legal costs or expenses incurred due to an accidental injury or when the animal causes damage to property belonging to a third party.

If your pet goes missing, the policy will reimburse the cost of advertising and the reward for the recovery of your pet.