Rhonda lies trembling on the operating table as her cardiologist presses a small sensing device against her tiny chest. An ultrasound image of Rhonda’s wildly thumping heart flashes onto a video monitor, and a computer quickly outlines the direction of blood flow in bright reds and blues. At the top of the video screen a turbulent splotch of colors spreads toward the heart’s aortic valve. “It’s a lesion,” the doctor sighs, as the computer begins analyzing the heart defect.
Six-month-old Rhonda may not be in the best of health, but the Boston terrier has one thing going for her: she was born into what is fast becoming the golden age of veterinary medicine. Barely a decade ago euthanasia was the standard prescription for pets with such serious ailments as heart disease or diabetes. Today there is an analog in the veterinary world for almost every procedure in human health care. Veterinary surgeons now implant pacemakers, donated organs and artificial joints in dogs and cats. Oncologists are diagnosing their cancers with CAT scans, then treating them with radiation and chemotherapy. Veterinary dentists perform root canals and fit crowns on animals, ophthalmologists strip away cataracts with ultrasound techniques, and doggie dermatologists finally are addressing the heartbreak of Fido’s psoriasis. All in all, many of America’s 117 million dogs and cats receive better care than many of its citizens. As a result, pets are living longer-and veterinary costs are spiraling into the stratosphere.
Americans spent $6 billion on veterinary care last year, and experts estimate that the figure is rising by as much as 10 percent annually. A pet’s prolonged cancer treatment can run an astonishing $5,000, though most high-tech procedures cost less than half that amount. Fortunately, some form of pet health insurance is available in almost every state (box). As in human medicine, much of the inflation is due to sophisticated equipment, which many veterinarians buy secondhand from hospitals. It’s not as strange as it sounds. “All this technology actually was developed on animals,” says veterinarian D. J. Krahwinkel of the University of Tennessee. “Now it’s spilling back into veterinary care.”
The advent of high-tech pet medicine underscores a deep change in the way people regard their animals. Over the last decade many young couples have postponed child rearing, and the elderly have adopted pets in increasing numbers for companionship. “A pet today has more importance for a person than it did 20 or 30 years ago,” says Dr. Stephen M. Kritsick, staff veterinarian of the Humane Society of the U.S. “Today they really are members of the family.” They are treated as such. Robert and Angela Maddix of Atlanta have nursed Tanya, their toothless 19-year-old tabby, through three years of severe diabetes. She gets an insulin shot daily, and once a week her skin is rehydrated with a water IV. After lapsing into a diabetic coma recently, she was rushed into intensive care. The bill: $400. “She’s our only child,” explains Angela, 31. “I’ve had her since I was 12, and she’s been a big part of my life. I have family members who are appalled by it all, but these don’t seem to me extraordinary things to do for her.”
How much is too much? Fay McCoy, 50, of Hardin, Mont., spent $3200 last year on care for her two dogs. After an attack by a neighborhood stray, 3-year-old Sadie underwent hours of surgery during which her external wounds were stitched and her chest cavity reconstructed. McCoy’s 8-year-old cocker spaniel, Ebony, died after being treated for bladder stones and cancer. “I had more invested in those two dogs and a horse than in all my three kids, as far as medical bills go,” says McCoy. “But you don’t even think about it. You just want to keep them alive.”
The possibilities afforded by high-tech pet care and its costs create difficult ethical questions. Some physicians wonder if there isn’t something amiss with a society that spends thousands of dollars on animals when many people in desperate need of medical care can’t afford it. Dr. Kritsick disagrees: “There will always be people who don’t have what they should have,” he says. “Whether a dog or cat is saved won’t help those people.” And while veterinarians are relieved that they no longer have to euthanize sick pets, many are discovering that clients often don’t have the time, money or patience to see animals through a long illness.
When that happens, there are no simple solutions. “In human medicine, the physician clearly serves the patient no matter who’s paying,” says Jerrold Tannenbaum, a lawyer who teaches veterinary ethics at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine in Boston. “But in the high-tech era, the veterinarian still serves both the patient and the owner, and sometimes their interests conflict. That’s become a very, very tricky issue for vets.” Some vets resolve it by offering extended payment plans; others do what the owner wishes or ask him to take the animal elsewhere.
For Rhonda, at least, those issues are settled. The ultrasound test revealed that her heart pumps enough blood to keep her healthy, with rest and the right diet. Recently the terrier returned home and resumed her favorite activity: chasing the cats around the living room. “I’m just thrilled,” says her relieved owner, Miriam Wilson, 29. No small thing, this dog’s life.
As the costs of veterinary care continue to rise, owners are pondering a once bizarre proposition: health insurance for pets. Although it’s been popular in Northern Europe for decades, just two U.S. firms currently sell policies for dogs and cats. Together, both companies cover 100,000 animals nationwide, only a tiny fraction of the total. Now, veterinarians want that to change.
“Insurance is absolutely essential to the progress of high-tech care,” says Dr. Jim Wilson, an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s veterinary teaching hospital. “The biggest problem is that the technology we use has outstripped the ability of many owners to pay.”
Pet insurance is already available in every state but Tennessee, where insurance regulators are opposed to the idea. Coverage is limited, however. Three policies offered by Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI) of Anaheim, Calif., the largest such company, cover 80 percent of treatment for accident or illness up to $180, minus a small deductible,and 100 percent of the costs thereafter. Though the premiums are modest-$30 to $130 annually-these plans don’t cover routine care. VPI’s policies also limit payment per “incident” to $750 or $1,000 and they may pay less for certain procedures than the veterinarian charges, leaving the pet owner to make up the difference. Animal Health Insurance Agency (AHIA) of Danbury, Conn., offers two plans. For an annual premium of $42, the first covers 70 percent of vet bills to a limit of $2,500, after a $250 deductible. The second policy, which has a $99 annual premium, covers 70 percent of vet bills to a limit of $1,000, after a $50 deductible. AHIA flatly refuses to insure animals 10 years or older against illness; VPI considers them on a case-by-case basis.
