CLEVELAND -- From MRI scans to radiation and chemotherapy treatments, keeping your pet alive is a lot more common these days and it's a lot more expensive.

As in humans, these tests can cost thousands of dollars, but what's different is these costs are almost always paid out of pocket, reported NewsChannel5's Kimberly Gill.

Bonnie Schuerger had to dig deep to care for her 7-year-old beagle, Maggie.

"She's like one of my children," Schuerger said.

Looking at Maggie you'd never guess she's fighting to live. One year ago, Schuerger noticed something was wrong with her beloved pet.

As Schuerger recalls, "she jumped up on the bed by me and was kissing and playing with me and I could feel a huge lump on the left side of her neck and I knew it wasn't good."

And it wasn't. Maggie was diagnosed with lymphoma. Schuerger knew it would costs thousands of dollars, but that didn't matter when it came to Maggie.

Sadly, one year later the cancer is back and Maggie needs to resume chemotherapy right away. The medical costs keep mounting.

"It's very expensive," Schuerger said. "When we're all finished it will be close to $10,000."

Maggie's doctor, Pedro Boria, is a staff oncologist at the Veterinary Referral Clinic and Emergency Center in Cleveland. He said that pets are getting very similar care as humans for their different diseases. Dr. Boria gives all of his pet owners options for treatments.

"We have alternatives and I always tell the owner whatever treatment you choose for your pet is the best treatment. Whether it's the standard of care we recommend or whether it's just coping with the disease and trying to maintain a quality of life," Boria said.

It's a quality of life that Bonnie Schuerger doesn't mind paying for, whatever the cost.

"We've given up vacations. We've given up a lot for her and we'll do it again," Schuerger said.