The 10 Most Expensive Pet Health Problems

Healthcare costs aren’t just skyrocketing for humans. The cost of treating your pets can easily top $1,000 – and there’s no Obama health care plan in the works for Fido.

So be prepared to shell out big bucks to fix a torn knee ligament and/or cartilage. That’s the No. 1 health problem for pets, and it can cost nearly $1,600 to treat, according to a new study.

VPI, provider of pet health insurance, tallied its claims from 2010 and made a list of those requiring more than $1,000 for treatment.

“While surgical treatment for a torn knee ligament/cartilage occurred with the greatest frequency,” the report said, “the condition with the highest average cost per claim was intervertebral disc disease, for which pet owners paid an average of $3,282 in 2010.”

Here’s the entire list…

Condition	Number of claims	Average cost per claim
1. Torn knee ligament/cartilage	6,831	$1,578
2. Intestinal – foreign object	1,005	$1,967
3. Stomach – foreign object	954	$1,502
4. Intervertebral disc disease	879	$3,282
5. Stomach torsion/bloat	372	$2,509
6. Broken leg (plate)	350	$1,586
7. Laryngeal paralysis	126	$2,042
8. Tumor of the throat	124	$1,677
9. Ear canal surgery	104	$1,285
10. Ruptured bile duct	102	$2,245

“Pet owners should be aware that these $1,000 accidents and illnesses can happen to just about any pet – indoor, outdoor, young or old,” says Dr. Carol McConnell, VPI’s vice president and chief veterinary medical officer. “Though the cost of care for these conditions may be high, the prognosis is usually positive, and many of the pets that are treated will recover.”

So what can you do to keep your costs down? Obviously, VPI wants you to buy pet insurance from them. But before you do that, check out Money Talks News’ Insurance for Pets?