how far is to far to spend at a vet for your pet?

We actually came up against this dilemma when we had our dog. She was only 3 months old when my husband tripped and fell on her. It broke her back hind leg. We took her to the vet and they told us we could either have it amputated or we could take her an hour away to a vet hospital and have it bolted together surgically. One cost $500, one cost $2500 or more. Well you can guess which one we picked. She was the fastest dog on 3 legs I'll tell you that. We had 2 kids and a morgage, I couldn't see getting a loan for over $2500 dollars for a dog that could just as easily get hit by a car a month later.