Anybody have an expensive pet?

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Wayne02

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We have a 10 year old miniature schnauzer who has been a great dog for us, great personality, well behaved, small enough to travel well, robust enough to stand some roughhousing with the kids, knows all kinds of tricks including how to manipulate her humans etc. But this has been the most expensive dog by far that we have ever owned in our many years of canine/feline ownership.

She has been plagued with urinary tract infections, sky high triglycerides, and kidney stones. She has been on just about every antibiotic known to man, and every special diet ever conceived. $80 antibotics, $45 small bags of special food, perpetual $vet$ office visits, it goes on and on. This morning the $100 xrays revealed kidney stones, requiring the $1100 surgery for the third time in her life.

She is a 'family member' of course so I just grit my teeth and pay the bills, I don't even want to add up the grand total. We love having her in the family but damn this has been expensive.

We have always thought we would get another mini schnauzer when Missy passes away, but it seems they are very prone to these type of health problems, and I just don't know that we can afford another run like this.
 
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The smaller the Dog, the bigger the vet bills. Get yourself a "coon hound" - best damn dog I ever had. Tough as nails.
 
We recently acquired a purebred Siamese kitten some POS dumped alongside the road because it was born with no eyes. Absolutely free from the vet; no charge whatsoever for an animal it had cared for for over a month.

Of course, the opthalmologist's examination wasn't free, the work-up on acquisition by our vet wasn't free and neither were the meds for the intestinal parasites.

Did I mention the quote of $1,600 for the combined operation to remove the vestigial optic material/neutering? I think it can be done for half that, but that's still $800.

We also had a cat that needed an MRI and one with kidney issues, but I think the free kitten has them beat.

Then again, we knew the obligation when we assumed it. If you can't - or WON'T care for them properly, you have no business having kids, pets or other animals.
 
judge said:
The smaller the Dog, the bigger the vet bills. Get yourself a "coon hound" - best damn dog I ever had. Tough as nails.
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I don't know that I would agree with that. I've had mastiff's since 1990 and a couple of them, one in particular, have given me massive vet bills. However, they have all come near the end of their lives and while expensive, ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
 
I've got a cat, a Yorkie and a Mini Dachshund, but my wife is more expensive than all of them combined. Come to think of it she is more expensive than all my pets and my 4 kids combined. ;)
 
My pet just turned 34. She has blond hair and blue eyes. We celebrated her birthday last night by first stopping at Bebe ($356), then Guess ($300), then Bebe Sport ($97), and finally dinner ($116). Yes, pets sure are expensive, but when she looks at me with those blue eyes, it is hard to say no. Oh, did you mean the four-legged kind of pets?
 
Yes, labs. Between the vet bills, heart worm pills, flea and tick applications and alot of of dog food and treats/month......we need some tarp funds to come our way.
Seriously, we love our three labs and would not give them up for any amount of money. My oldest is going to be 13 in Feb, he's in the twilight of his life now. Still has the will to go bird hunting, but not the stamina.
 
We raised Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs as a kid, and the vet bills for them were never ending... Mostly stomach flipping.

The most expensive pet I have right now is a .41 magnum.
 
I have a pet goldfish...whenever it gets sick, I put his bowl in the bathroom facing the toilet... miraculously, he always seems to recovers.
 
As can be seen by my avatar I have two small dogs. I had the misfortune of losing two dogs to natural causes last year. One of those last year dogs needed two injections of insulin a day, and the other had allergies so bad I couldn't begin to tell you what he cost me over the last 10 years. The dogs I've had for the last year have cost me probably $80 a month average in vet bills including neutering (both females) The Smaller of my current dogs has a luxating patella. (knee cap pops out) If it gets to a point where the dog suffers discomfort she will have an operation to correct it. I would sell whatever necessary to maintain their health and well being. Pets are very expensive. So are guns.
 
My lab while on a poopy run got bit by a pygmy rattler on the lower hind leg, but $450 later she is fine now. She is still expensive with monthly heart worm, flea and tick medicine and daily dog food, but she repays us in love and protection.
 
One of our Yorkies we got at Yorkie Rescue hurt a leg. $1100. Then the other leg. $1100. She was about ten. Good as new since. Since we could afford it at the time we didn't think twice. That's not near the stuff you went through so far though.
 
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We have two Saints and a Rotti. The Rotti tore his ACl a few years ago. That was almost $2000.00. We do a lot of training with them. So as the out grew the Explorer we went out and bought a Tahoe.
 
Amici said:
Then again, we knew the obligation when we assumed it. If you can't - or WON'T care for them properly, you have no business having kids, pets or other animals.
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Exactly. We have an eleven year old Sheltie who required an operation recently to remove a growth plus she's on prescription food and meds because of dietary issues; our 17 yr old Maine Coon Cat had to be euthanized several months ago at age 17, and our young male cat, age 2+, developed a urinary blockage a couple of months ago, about $800 worth. But, as you said, we know the obligation and pay it. There is no such thing as an inexpensive pet. But they are one of the family. And there's no question about treatment. And I've heard all of the arguments and remarks about the cost of a cartridge. No thanks.
 
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Well, the Chihuahua we inherited from my father in law when he passed, almost two years ago now, reputedly cost, retail -- ahem: Now hear this! -- $4,000 smackerooskies (US)!!!

My comment upon hearing this detail of my wife's inheritance: "Holy mackeral!! Um, Sweetie, do you s'pose there a market for used Chihuahuas...?"

But, he's grown on me. Nice and quiet. Doesn't yap or crap in the house. And no problems with home invasions since he's been on the job.

We've probably got a coupla hundred in him for vet bills, shots and whatnot, since.

(I got a kick outta watchin' him attack the vet once when she tried to sneak up on him and suddenly stick a thermometer up his butt to take his temp. Vicious l'il SOB when he's PO'd, but I can't say I blamed him at the time... ;))
 
well i had to put my best friend down about a month ago he was a freak of a cat all white with at least 6 toes on every paw and weighed in at 26lbs. cost me oh i would say 500 to find out there was no saving him from a failing liver he was 14 spoiled rotten and had a great life now all im left with is my kids chinchilla or how ever you spell that rat thing LOL
 
Hofstet said:
Yes, labs. Between the vet bills, heart worm pills, flea and tick applications and alot of of dog food and treats/month.
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I can sure tell ya how to save some money on heartworm meds, ask your vet for a bottle of Ivomec.

A couple of years ago I mentioned to my breeder the worst thing about mastiff's was the heartworm meds, they each got two squares of the 50-100 lbs heartguard per month, it really added up. She told me to ask my vet about Ivomec as it is the active ingredient in Heartguard and *MUCH* cheaper. When it was time for heartworm meds I asked my vet, he said it was a great alternative and all anyone with a kennel, breeders, etc ever use. According to him, by law, he can't recommend it, but can sell it for that purpose if asked about it. It is an injectible for swine and cattle, but given orally for dogs.

A 50 CC bottle cost me $58 and each dog gets 1 CC per month, so for $58 I can treat two dogs for two years.
 
I usually feed the neighbor's cat a can of cat food a day (half in the morning, half at night), as well as assorted scraps, because I think it's older and hungry and needs the extra energy. So it's an expense and it isn't even my animal! Nice cat, though.
 
My free labx cost me over 3k in the course of his life, torn ACL, seizures, cancer. Worth every penny, he was the best dog ever.

Now the three dogs I currently have have numbers assigned to them, e.g how much I'm willing to pay for testing and treatment. The dumb lab is the lowest and the American bulldog the highest. Of course, since I am a vet it makes it a little easier to diagnose and treat.
 
We also have a miniature schnauzer named Suzy who is three years old . She gets a special diet or she gets pancreatitis which is about 400 dollars a episode! Shes part of the family and we would spend whatever it takes. So my wife tells me! Mark
 
If you never had a horse, I don't even think you'll come close.

Custom trailer, because one horse was tall and one was short.

Special horse shoes because one had soft feet - every 6 weeks, too.

Wormers, hay, fly treatments both in their feed and environmental, grain, equine dentist, lessons, tack, riding habit, show fees, spring and fall shots, leg wraps, stall bedding. They were kept on our property so there wasn't boarding fees of an additional $500/month and upwards.

And all this doesn't take into account somebody gets sick or injured.

Horses have green poop because they eat money.
 
And then there's Siberians...

One of them (who died last November) had cruciate ligament repairs to both of his hind legs and one of the others had one cruciate ligament repair surgery. So you see, its not just football players who have issues with their ACL's! (Dogs only have one set of cruciate ligaments, not anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments like humans)

Every month the oldest one gets a pain management pill called Deramaxx. This stuff is a real god-send, but it is $3 a pill! They all eat the same dry food called LifeSpan by a company called Pet Guard. a 38lb bag cost $65, but it is all organic and is made from human grade ingredients. Even the so-called "premium" brands like Iams and Ukanuba use ingredients that are literally not fit for human consumption.

And the list goes on and on and on.... and we wouldn't have it any other way! All of our dogs have been rescued from shelters where they would have been euthanized or from one of Missouri's infamous puppy mills.

We do what we can.

Scott
 
I figure about $100.00 per month for my two together. One a 13 year old Shelty, and the other a 9 year old rescue PomChi.

If I were real honest, I would admit that my gun safe eats more:(
 
BarbC said:
If you never had a horse, I don't even think you'll come close.

Horses have green poop because they eat money.
Click to expand...

Got that right - my wife had one before we were married. Sort of like a boat or a plane, except they only require fuel when actually in use.
 
Minature Golden Doodle $ 1,000.00

Yorkish Terrier $ 900.00

Countless dollars spent on pet toys and clothes.

My exwife is not interested in any free/cheap dogs!
 
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