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Comment by CGamesPlay | Hacker News Reader

What's the maximum cost of a treatment for a dog versus a human? I don't know the pet/human insurance actuarial values, but I'd guess that a person under regular insurance could reasonably build up a savings to cover pet expenses, not so for US healthcare.

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You'd be amazed what treatments they'll do on pets. Hip replacements. Chemotherapy. So it could be wildly expensive. But honestly, if we got past a few thousand dollars we'd probably just let our cat go. Heartless, but a budget is critical to the security of the whole family.

People don’t like to talk about it, but this is what almost every family does - people on $30,000 don’t spend a month’s wages on veterinary treatment.

Social media gives us a biased impression, as selling your truck and maxing out your credit cards to pay for your dog’s chemotherapy gets upvoted as a heartwarming feel good story, regardless of the wisdom of doing so.

Pets can get treatments that aren't yet approved for humans - if you've got the budget, there are vets who can do.. whatever.

On the other hand, I had a vet tech friend who said that most people would opt out of treatments that cost more than $200-$300. That's how much they value their pet.

Remember that most of America doesn't have $400 in savings. It's not that they don't value their pets, it quickly becomes "help the dog, or feed my kids"

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