Do we spend too much on our pets?

Living in our wealthy society, we can indulge ourselves in ways less affluent societies can't. One of those indulgences is our fondness for our furry dogs and cats, and it shows in the money we spend on them.

A little over six years ago, after our family dog died, we adopted a six-year-old dog, Angel, from an animal rescue. She was a mess; most of her fur was missing, and she had sores and scabs all over her body. After months of vet visits and three medicated baths a week, we found out she had food allergies to beef and chicken. We changed her diet and had her on Apoquel for about a year, and eventually her coat returned to normal; no one could believe it was the same dog. The expense at that point was more time invested than money spent. Angel became my dog. Since then, she follows me everywhere, greets me with kisses whenever I come home, and takes her appointed place next to me on the recliner in the evenings. My wife has since rescued three cats: Coco, Rocky, and Sarang. Angel tolerates them.

We recently found a lump on Angel's lip, about the size of a small grape. Our vet did a biopsy, and it came back as malignant melanoma. The margins were what she called "dirty," and she wasn't very optimistic about the prognosis. I didn't even know animal cancer specialists existed, but we found one and took Angel in for an exam and consultation. The waiting room was packed with dogs and cats of every shape and size, which was strangely both encouraging and a little depressing, knowing why we were all there.

After an X-ray and a check of her lymph nodes, the specialist told us the cancer hasn't spread yet and that Angel is a good candidate for surgery. That's scheduled for July 1st — one week from tomorrow, the earliest appointment we could get. The lump has grown a bit since we first found it, closer to the size of a larger grape now. We're hoping they're able to get clean margins this time and that the cancer hasn't spread any further by the time she goes in.

The surgery is going to be expensive, in the thousands, and follow-up treatment will be even more expensive if we go that route. I'm semi-retired now and have emergency savings, but at my current income level, they'll be slow to replace. If I were wealthy, I'd spend whatever it took. Angel is 12 years old now, not young anymore, but she still acts like a puppy sometimes. I owe her at least the surgery.

I'll admit, I feel a little guilty spending this kind of money and being this worried about a dog when I know people out there are losing children, siblings, and parents. All our pets are family to me, especially Angel. Losing her will be like losing a child.

What say you? Am I crazy to spend this kind of money on a pet?