It seems like it used to cost a lot less to own a pet. You fed them dry food and got them a rabies shot yearly, that was it. Now, they want you to spend $200 a year getting your pet's teeth cleaned. There are a ton more shots to give them, if you choose to. There is the monthly flea treatment. And for dogs, at least in my state, there is the yearly heartworm test before you can buy the heartworm medicine - even if you have consistently been giving the medicine to your dog all year. So, rather than be a bad pet owner since we are on a tight budget we no longer have a dog (our last one died and we don't plan to replace her). We still have a cat that I love and a stray cat that has adopted us to some extent. But when these cats pass on, I don't plan to replace them either because it is just so costly. This cat has to be fed Fancy Feast canned food or she doesn't do well. I love her so it is worth it. Our large dog had to be on canned food too. She had cancer for the last 4 years and did well on canned food and prednisone. It seems like a lot of pets get cancer nowadays and have food allergies. Does the cost of owning a pet nowadays give any of you pause? It's sad because I know there are a lot of animals that need a home.
Vets are like docs, wanting you to do way more things than we used to do...it's all about the money.
Animals getting cancer like people, makes ya wonder... is it the water or the plastic bowl you feed them out of, or the can or bag the food came in.
But, yep, I only have a cat and I feel the crunch too.
I was just thinking these same thoughts as I left the vet after my third set of puppy shots and another $85 bill. They want me to come back every two weeks for booster shots. I looked online and found that I've fulfilled the standard sets - so I'm done until Rabies time and spading. But now she said I need to come in 6 months to see if puppy has lost her teeth because they pull baby teeth if not lost. What???? In need of a new vet in Brentwood please! I love my two dogs, but yes, it is expensive.
K., I think you are being responsible by not having a dog if you can not afford care. Not only for preventative medicine but also in the case of an emergency.
For some of the responders:
Vets are not the money suckers you people are making them out to be. We aren't living in the stone ages, medicine is progressive. The reason that more is recommended is because medicine is constantly evolving to improve the quality of care. Just because you never had a dental on your pet doesn't mean it wasn't necessary. And no you can not brush them yourself and get the same results. Dental disease kills pets and is an extremely painful disease.
If you don't want the best care for your pet go to Farm and Fleet and treat them yourself. Don't get a pet if you can't afford it. They are not necessities and deserve the best treatment.
I have a hard time justifying the expense . . . we don't have any pets currently.
When I grew up dogs were meant to serve a purpose (as were horses, cows, etc.). Of course we loved them too.
It seems like animals are now a very expensive and indulgent hobby, especially when we have many allergies already.
I've been thinking of trying again for a puppy but I just can't bring myself to commit.
I think it says more about the state of things for anything that is living. I have the same sentiments you do not only about our pets, but the lawn/landscaping, having a car, a house, caring for elderly parents, children and ourselves.
It is very expensive to be alive and live well. I think it's a wake-up call for all of us to simiplify.
As for the pets, we do alot of the care ourselves. While it can be a pain, we brush their teeth, and do as much preventative care we can from home, hoping to minimize expenses throughout the year, so we can hopefully cover the big expenses if there is ever a big emergency involving a pet.
However, when it comes right down to it, when the emergencies crop up, even if you choose to put them to sleep, it is very costly. We had a beloved Lab die of natural causes (heartfailure) two summers ago, though he had cancer as well. His medical expenses prior to death were on par with the costs of a tonsilectomy surgery our young son had. We did as much as we could before he died. Then his cremation costs were also pricey. It's pretty insane...is all I can say. Especially when insurance (human, pet, or otherwise) is no longer enough to cover necessary expenses.
I think it is really sad that so many people are facing the same fate as so many pets. Maybe society has its priorities wrong.
I would say yes!! We adopted 2 dogs in the last 2 years. Both have cost us a fortune and unfortunately passed on within months of us having them. The first one had a hernia so after paying to get him nutered & all of his shots it was another $250 to get the hernia taken care of. Then he had 2 be on special food & in the end it was 2 much 4 his body & he passed away. We only had him 4 three months and it cost almost 500 by the time he was gone.
About 2 months ago we decided 2 get my son (almost 5) a puppy again. So we adopted a terrier mix, she was about 7 months old. We paid 4 her to get spayed & all her shots. That cost us $145. Somehow she got an infection @ her incision so we had to have a emergency vet come 2 the house & treat her. That cost $160. She then got put on special food. We live in an apartment so all the dogs go 2 the bathroom on the grass (we pick up the poop) but from someones puppy she got kennel cough, that cost us another $65. The kennel cough ended up actually being Distemper, & within 24 hours started having seizures. She was in so much pain we had the emergency vet come 2 the house again & she had to be put down, which cost us $40. We only had her for 27 days.
my husband & I both had dogs growing up & we would like our kids 2 have the same but with how our last 2 dogs have worked out it makes me so cautious. We are going on vacation twice this summer (the last one being in August) & my son is going 2 spend his summer with his grandparents. So we might look into getting another dog @ the end of August but right now just thinking about it makes me nervous.
Oh my heavens! I have a male neutered cat and he has to have this pricey vet food to keep him from having crystals in his urine.....it has kept him out of the vet office and he has wonderful soft fur! He has better omega 3's than I do! Maybe I should eat it! LOL! The vet bills are expensive but I think we look at our pets differently today than we did a long time ago. At least cats were considered to be farm animals and kept the vermin down. If one died, there was always another. They didn't really consider them "family members". Animals are expensive so if you can't afford them don't get one that requires a lot of expense.....It hurts everyone if you get one and then dump it.....so many are irresponsible.....I live near a park and have seen many dropped off there.....that was another vet bill that resulted in mega dollars!
We have one dog (hubby had before we met) and when he's gone we are not getting another pet! they are too much work and cost and really, although our kids play with him, I'm sure they wouldn't really "miss" him if he were not here. So although I was raised with tons of pets, I have decided I'm not a pet person anymore!
I save money in other ways... When I had 6 100% indoor cats - I'd feed them organic dry food (which kept them very healthy), got vaccines every other year and only those I felt were necessary, and their monthly flea control. My cat population raised by 7 due to a good deed on my part (I offered to foster a friend of a friend's cats until he was able to move himself and kids out from a shelter - he left town within a week)... so now I've reverted to commercial dry food because it's cheaper, got the basic set of shots for the new ones as well as neutered all the males, and will still do flea control and vaccine updates every other year.
My animals are worth it to me... I don't feel life without a pet is a good life - animals do so much for us. They lower our blood pressure, give unconditional love, teach us responsibility and respect for other creatures and help us human de-stress and live longer.
None of my animals have allergies (except 2 have flea allergies) or refuse to eat certain foods. They trust me to provide for them, and like for my family - I will.
Yes, we have many pets and they are very expensive. Three dogs, three cats and three horses really manage to eat into the budget. They also make travel difficult. Of the nine, 6 are elderly and 3 require some special management. We have no plans to replace any of them but we do enjoy them very much. They make us laugh, keep us active, comfort us and give us something to talk about. As far as I'm concerned they are a bargin and better (and cheaper) for us than cable TV.
I agree with your comments. Vets nowadays are trained to aggressively recommend all kinds of medical interventions...
I personally searched for a vet who does not practice heroic medicine and had them place those words in my pets chart. No Heroics....I'm not shelling out thousands of dollars to learn my pet is going to die of cancer.
I would recommend you search out the free shot clinics or local vets who are sane and use common sense. I also thought you could purchase your heart worm meds on-line and pass the test. And as long as your dog has chewy things, you don't need to clean teeth.
i guess it depends on the pets, ya know? i have 2 small dogs and i buy a bag of Pedigree dog food (20lbs) and it lasts for a month or so. that's $14? and the shots you can get at the clinics for $5/rabies for 3yrs, $18/heartworm, i don't need the others because mine are inside dogs. i also have 2 birds. one bag of birdfood $4/mo for them both and that's it. i think the bigger you go, the more health problems animals are prone to, and the more you have to spend on food. you can research to see what illnesses dogs/cats are prone to per specific breed. but, i do agree with you, after mine are gone, no more!
You said that it seemed that it used to cost a lot less to own a pet and you are right. I have 3 cats at home and for the most part they are low maintenance and low cost pets. Not all pets are this way but just like the rest of the economy veterinary clinics feel the crunch too. Take into account that most of the clinics are privately owned small businesses that have to pay Doctors, staff and their own bills and then you add that their distributors are raising their prices for products they sell to the vets (vaccines, medications, etc) and the fact that more and more people can't afford to taken their pets to the vet because of the rising prices everywhere else you can only imagine what these vets are going through on a whole. I have worked in the vet industry for about 8 years now and I have seem prices of the medications we buy double in just the last year and I'm sorry to say we have not been able to keep our costs as low as we would like to. We do run specials every month to help clients out - free vaccines, % off wellness visits, etc but for the most part as a clinic our profits this year are lower than the previous 2 years combined. It is expensive to take care of a pet and do everything that is recommended I won't deny that. I know our vets recommend everything because, just like doctors follow the American Medical Association for their recommendations, vets follow the American Veterinary Medical Association for their recommendations.
You can buy online for less expensive medications but since most manufacturers of medications do not sell directly to online pharmacies sometimes you have no clue where the product is coming from or in what condition and if you purchase from an online pharmacy you do not get to take advantage of the gaurantees of the product. Heartworm and Flea prevention are the top sellers but just like birth control no medications is 100%. Most companies stand behind their product and if you can show you purchased through a vet and are buying in increments to show you are giving every month they will pay for treatment. If you start on medication prior to heartworm testing the products can have some serious side effects if the pet is heartworm positive and most companies won't pay for al of the treatment.
Like I said before I had three cats and in all honesty if I didn't work at a vet clinic that has taught me about the importance of preventative care (they don't push just educate) then I couldn't afford to take care of my pets either.
Depends on what you use for your pets. My family has adopted a bunch of stray cats in the area and go through about 30pounds of food and 60 pounds of litter.. Get the food for 7 a 15pound bag and the litter for just over 5 for a 30 pound bag..On the shots I can get at Farm & tractor and I know how to do the yearly the pets need at home,along with grooming & flea prevention. Wet food is more expensive yes but we supplement the dry food with chicken & rice or beef gravy or some sort of real meat. Also we have taken advantage of programs to help fix an animal for cheaper. We spent about 30/mnth for our pets food and litter but my kids love them & I do also
Yes! But I just attributed it to living in a bigger city vs. where I'm from. Every vet bill here is a lot. Well visits are over $150. Teeth cleaning is $300-350. I just had to have stones removed from one of my cats' bladders and it was $2000! Worth it though since she stopped peeing outside the litter box and feels better, thank GOD. Now of course she's also on special food that costs $36 for 24 cans (1 can a day). Yeah it's spendy. When our cats pass on I think we'll be pet-free for awhile. Of course that's probably right when my kids will start begging us for a puppy. ;) If that happens we'll likely give in.
No. We have two cats because that's what we can afford to have. They're well cared for and well loved, and they're house cats. I buy them healthy food where the main ingredients are meat rather than rice and corn. I groom them and do all of the main care myself. The only thing they need is their annual medical check-up and shots. Our vet is fantastic with them and is an animal activist so he's very much into natural animal care and his costs are not outrageous.
The cats are young and healthy, and we rescued them as kittens rather than getting them from a pet store. I believe that avoiding the pet stores is a major reason why they're so healthy. Friends who have purchased their animals from pet stores have nothing but problems with illnesses and separation anxiety and short life spans with their pets. A friend worked in a supposedly reputable one for a couple of years and she only stuck it out to try to maintain proper treatment for the poor critters... but it sucked her soul. She ended up working in a rescue shelter instead.
/off soapbox
There is health insurance for pets. I have never bought it, although some people tell me they're very glad they have. I do have a monthly envelope for veterinary fees, just as I have for grocery money, gas money, and other household expenses. Most of the time, that money just piles up, and then something happens with one of the four-footies and I'm glad the funds are there. It's the only way I've been able to pay for some of the things I've had to pay for.
You might ask your vet about brushing your dog's teeth at home. It won't entirely replace vet cleaning but it sure helps. My dogs have informed me that doggy toothpaste is yummy, but they let me stick the long toothbrush in their mouths even though they'd prefer to lick the stuff right off the brush.
The heartworm treatment is essential, of course. We do the medicine but don't have to have the test. We also haven't had to worry about fleas and ticks where we live (unless we go to the mountains), but suddenly there's more concern about lice (yikes!) so our dog is now getting Frontline for that. Sometimes you can get these things less expensively online, but that's something else to talk to your vet about.
It's not easy, though. We've had the same vet for years and years, and when the children were young I sometimes had to call the vet office to say I knew I still owed them money but couldn't pay them until next month because this month all the kids needed shoes. The advantage of finding a good local vet and staying with that person is that when people really know you they will trust you!
But then, I'm not a practical person. With the exception of the CCI puppies we raise, most of our pets have come to us (rather than being purchased), and I take them in and do the best I can for them. I do as much as I can at home, and am extremely glad my vet doesn't charge for phone consultations! Happily, the vet has helped me say no to some costly things that all the advertisements say pets can't live without.
By the way, I hear you about the Fancy Feast! One of our kitties developed a major thyroid problem. He had medicine (with a monthly cost of, probably, a college textbook) twice a day, and in addition to the regular dry food I gave him Fancy Feast just to put calories in him. The the other cats said, "How come HE gets the special stuff?" so they got a teaspoonful when he got half a can. He died (of old age) last year, but the other cats still want their teaspoonful!
Yes. we adopted a dog in the summer and there is another one in the shelter that was brought to my attention, but with the $120 adoption fee, neutering, shots, food, yard repair, I can't afford to do it, even though my dog would benefit from having a pal.
With the heartworm thing, it is because if can be fatal if you give the medication when the dog has heartworms. We live near a vet office and when my 17 year old gets bored during the summer (She can only work 40 legal hours, and gets that filled up quickly often) she'll walk down and help the office. I wondered the same thing and she told me thats why.
I don't find it to bad, personally. But I also jsut have my oldest granddaughter and her little sister, the oldest is working and buys most things for her cat. I would guess she spends maybe 50$ a month of food/treats. Jimmy (her cat) has 1 can of wet food a day, and a consistant bowl of dry food. Sometimes she spoils him (She recently bought him a 120$ cat tree, since he was trying to climb up her curtains) other times she jsut gets food.
I wouldn't take in pets, I don't like animals all that much, but I kow if I let my granddaughters they'd have every stray and shelter animal that our home could fit. I am glad though that Alex has her Jimmy, her boyfriend got him for her about 4 years ago out of an abusive situation near his home.
*Edit* What confuses me is people who pay thousands to have their pet undergo surgery. Alex's best friend had their weenie dog in surgery atleast twice, for his back. PLus the time after surgery Alex and her friends family had to rehabilitate him, move his back legs for him and help him walk, for about 4 months.
If i didnt have my husband to tell me no I would have a housefull ofpets lol we have 3 dogs and a rat right now we will get more when the time is right
No, we just do not have more dogs than we can afford.
