The fine line.

GM is in the hospital. He has an abscess in a, shall we say, delicate area that popped and was bleeding all over the place. When the vet took his temperature (and he was roaring like a lion the whole time), there was blood on the thermometer, so his colon may be perforated. He's sedated at the vet as we speak, waiting for procedure to ascertain the nature of his injury, with the possibility of surgery on top of that.
 
Chris and I are faced with a conundrum: how much is too much to spend on a pet? We're kinda in for a penny, in for a pound right now, but the "pound" aspect could reach into the thousands. And as much as I love my cantankerous little monster, I cannot see my past spending X dollars on his medical care.

Problem is: what's X? And if you set a limit, say $1000, what if the vets says it'll cost $1100? Or $1400? Are you going to put the cat down over $400? It makes you sounds like a cheap, heartless bastard. But we don't have limited resources here.

I suppose my real problem is that I am a mixture of mother (unsentimental about animals when it comes to exorbitant costs) and my father (a bleeding heart animal lover). What's a pet owner to do.