Author Topic: What pets have you got? What are the costs?  (Read 24640 times)

SheepDog

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Re: What pets have you got? What are the costs?
« Reply #100 on: May 05, 2017, 09:50:02 AM »
I thought dogs were cheap until my first one got older! Medical expenses have been a challenge for me, mostly in terms of deciding when to keep testing. My dog had a mysterious illness that wasn't diagnosable with any of the standard tests for a couple of years, and eventually her bloodwork went back to normal. It is frustrating to spend on testing when you don't ultimately find anything treatable. We kept thinking one more test would figure it out, but it never did. And then she miraculously recovered so it was all a waste of money. Then this year she had a kidney infection that wasnt responding to antibiotics so it took a few tries of increasingly expensive medication to cure it, as well as biweekly visits to monitor progress. She is 13, a joy to have around and in great health, so I'm glad I've treated her issues so far, but I'm probably at 10k over three years just for those two conditions!

I have two dogs and really enjoy having them around. We don't have kids as pets are a much smarter decision for our lifestyles at this point in time. But with their shorter lifespans and how veterinary care is starting to rival human medical care, I really struggle with my philosophy on veterinary care. My second dog is younger and I will definitely be more cautious on testing with him, but it is still hard to know when to stop!

Mysterious illnesses suck.

My former co-worker had his beloved German Shepherd get really sick one day.  She was about 2 years old and in perfect health prior.  He spent almost $4000 in testing and emergency room bills only to have the doctor tell him they couldn't find anything wrong with her but that she was likely going to die.  As a last ditch effort they ran one more blood test specifically for toxins and found some weird chemicals in there.  Long story, but turns out his neighbor threw over a tainted piece of meat because he hated cops (co-worker worked for sheriff's office) and tried to kill the dog.  My friend couldn't prove it enough to file charges.   The neighbor guy ended up getting harassed by all the police in the village and county to the point his was getting tickets about once a week.  He eventually got the point and moved away.

Retire-Canada

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Re: What pets have you got? What are the costs?
« Reply #101 on: May 05, 2017, 09:54:29 AM »
Could have been worse cops know how to stage a "suicide". ;)

ketchup

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Re: What pets have you got? What are the costs?
« Reply #102 on: May 05, 2017, 09:57:42 AM »
I thought dogs were cheap until my first one got older! Medical expenses have been a challenge for me, mostly in terms of deciding when to keep testing. My dog had a mysterious illness that wasn't diagnosable with any of the standard tests for a couple of years, and eventually her bloodwork went back to normal. It is frustrating to spend on testing when you don't ultimately find anything treatable. We kept thinking one more test would figure it out, but it never did. And then she miraculously recovered so it was all a waste of money. Then this year she had a kidney infection that wasnt responding to antibiotics so it took a few tries of increasingly expensive medication to cure it, as well as biweekly visits to monitor progress. She is 13, a joy to have around and in great health, so I'm glad I've treated her issues so far, but I'm probably at 10k over three years just for those two conditions!

I have two dogs and really enjoy having them around. We don't have kids as pets are a much smarter decision for our lifestyles at this point in time. But with their shorter lifespans and how veterinary care is starting to rival human medical care, I really struggle with my philosophy on veterinary care. My second dog is younger and I will definitely be more cautious on testing with him, but it is still hard to know when to stop!

Mysterious illnesses suck.

My former co-worker had his beloved German Shepherd get really sick one day.  She was about 2 years old and in perfect health prior.  He spent almost $4000 in testing and emergency room bills only to have the doctor tell him they couldn't find anything wrong with her but that she was likely going to die.  As a last ditch effort they ran one more blood test specifically for toxins and found some weird chemicals in there.  Long story, but turns out his neighbor threw over a tainted piece of meat because he hated cops (co-worker worked for sheriff's office) and tried to kill the dog.  My friend couldn't prove it enough to file charges.   The neighbor guy ended up getting harassed by all the police in the village and county to the point his was getting tickets about once a week.  He eventually got the point and moved away.
Wow, that is fucked up.  Smash my car window and steal my laptop or something, fine I get that, punch me in the face, sure whatever, but poison my dog?  Fuck.  I don't know how I'd react to that (not politely).

Our dogs have yet to cause us any extreme expense.  Had a freak case of needing emergency surgery due to an infection one time, but even that was only about $400.
« Last Edit: May 05, 2017, 09:59:15 AM by ketchup »

SheepDog

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Re: What pets have you got? What are the costs?
« Reply #103 on: May 05, 2017, 10:11:59 AM »
Yea damaging or stealing property is one thing, but coming after family or pets definitely crosses the line.  Luckily the dog made it though or things might have been worse, for both the neighbor and likely my friend as well...

starjay

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Re: What pets have you got? What are the costs?
« Reply #104 on: May 05, 2017, 01:10:54 PM »
We have two cats. One is 7 the other is 5. I budget about $80/month for (special diet) food + (fancy low-dust) litter for the two of them. Both are indoor only.

One is utterly average, and only sees the vet for annual exams, or on the odd occasion I suspect something is wrong.

The other 4-legged brat is a special snowflake. She has, it turns out, cat asthma that is causing her trachea to collapse and OMG that got expensive really quick. We had a succession of emg vet visits last year that were financially stressful. (I'm glad I had already discovered YNAB at that point, but I'm kinda glad I didn't know about MMM then.) But: she's maintaining well and we/vet finally figured out a treatment plan that works. Her meds work out to about $40/month. She requires boarding when we both travel, so we'll call that another $300/year.


Sarah Saverdink

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Re: What pets have you got? What are the costs?
« Reply #105 on: May 06, 2017, 10:09:02 AM »
We have two cats, about 10 years old. They are pretty inexpensive right now - maybe $25/month for food, litter, etc and $250/year for their yearly vet appointment and vaccinations. As they get older, we expect higher vet costs. Fatty, who never chews her food, had to have 4 teeth pulled last year due to major decay. That was $800 gone. Luckily, neither one has any chronic medical issues yet.

Prairie Gal

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Re: What pets have you got? What are the costs?
« Reply #106 on: May 06, 2017, 11:19:33 AM »
We had dogs and cats over the years, and when they were young the costs were reasonable, but in the last couple of years of their lives it got very expensive with vet visits, special food, medications, etc. Be prepared. If you can't afford this, don't get a pet. It pisses me off when I see Go Fund Me pages, and pleas on Facebook for help with pet costs. (And don't get me started on diapers and formula for babies.)

Zikoris

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Re: What pets have you got? What are the costs?
« Reply #107 on: May 07, 2017, 04:36:36 PM »
We live with this asshole:



According to Mint, we spent $336.51 on him last year. Food and litter. He doesn't go to the vet unless there's a definite problem, because they all hate him. He hates everyone except me, especially women and my boyfriend. But he loves me, so we're good.

zinnie

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Re: What pets have you got? What are the costs?
« Reply #108 on: May 07, 2017, 05:25:03 PM »
I thought dogs were cheap until my first one got older! Medical expenses have been a challenge for me, mostly in terms of deciding when to keep testing. My dog had a mysterious illness that wasn't diagnosable with any of the standard tests for a couple of years, and eventually her bloodwork went back to normal. It is frustrating to spend on testing when you don't ultimately find anything treatable. We kept thinking one more test would figure it out, but it never did. And then she miraculously recovered so it was all a waste of money. Then this year she had a kidney infection that wasnt responding to antibiotics so it took a few tries of increasingly expensive medication to cure it, as well as biweekly visits to monitor progress. She is 13, a joy to have around and in great health, so I'm glad I've treated her issues so far, but I'm probably at 10k over three years just for those two conditions!

I have two dogs and really enjoy having them around. We don't have kids as pets are a much smarter decision for our lifestyles at this point in time. But with their shorter lifespans and how veterinary care is starting to rival human medical care, I really struggle with my philosophy on veterinary care. My second dog is younger and I will definitely be more cautious on testing with him, but it is still hard to know when to stop!

Mysterious illnesses suck.

My former co-worker had his beloved German Shepherd get really sick one day.  She was about 2 years old and in perfect health prior.  He spent almost $4000 in testing and emergency room bills only to have the doctor tell him they couldn't find anything wrong with her but that she was likely going to die.  As a last ditch effort they ran one more blood test specifically for toxins and found some weird chemicals in there.  Long story, but turns out his neighbor threw over a tainted piece of meat because he hated cops (co-worker worked for sheriff's office) and tried to kill the dog.  My friend couldn't prove it enough to file charges.   The neighbor guy ended up getting harassed by all the police in the village and county to the point his was getting tickets about once a week.  He eventually got the point and moved away.

That's terrible! Wish they could have proven it...

Cassie

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Re: What pets have you got? What are the costs?
« Reply #109 on: May 16, 2017, 03:12:22 PM »
Zikoris: he even looks like a feisty one!  Glad you are giving him a good home. Ornery pets need love too. I know because I have one:))

VolcanicArts

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Re: What pets have you got? What are the costs?
« Reply #110 on: May 17, 2017, 12:46:56 AM »
Two super awesome dogs here. I live in a house, realistically I never tracked the cost but probably about $ 700 each per year ( the cost is split). One is a black lab, the other is a beagle mix ( not sure with what). Both were strays we kept and they have been the best dogs ever. If you think you know what the mix is for the female let me know.

prognastat

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Re: What pets have you got? What are the costs?
« Reply #111 on: May 17, 2017, 07:42:54 AM »
We have 2 dogs, 4 cats and a hedgehog.

As far as costs go probably around $200 a month so definitely not frugal, but wouldn't get rid of any of them. I would prefer to get back down to 2 dogs and 2 cats which was the original plan then 2 extra cats and a hedgehog are animals we ended up with due to either just walking in to our lives and friends/acquaintance as my wife has trouble saying no.

Probably about half that monthly cost is food for all of them and the other half is vet/medical costs. A large portion is due to one of the dogs being prone to ear infections and then one of our cats is getting older too.

jscott2135

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Re: What pets have you got? What are the costs?
« Reply #112 on: May 17, 2017, 09:41:33 AM »
We have a 6 yr old Pitbull, who by all measures was really healthy until last year (ran us around $1000/year for annual vet visits/food/boarding), then she needed both of her back knees/Cruciate ligament issues fixed. 2 new hinges and 14 screws and $7,000 later she is now a money pit. Never thought i would spend that kind of money on a pet, but she is an amazing dog, who had so much more life to give and is now back to being healthy as a horse.  I am torn though on if we will get another pet for a while once she is gone.  When she was young she destroyed 2 car interiors in a matter of minutes, ate some wood blinds, destroyed a door....I mean all in we are probably 18k into this dog in her 6th year. I could do without that expense moving forward. But until its her time to go shes an irreplaceable part of the family and I'm sure we'll reach 25k by the time she is ready to make her final exit.

« Last Edit: May 17, 2017, 09:45:39 AM by jscott2135 »

10dollarsatatime

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Re: What pets have you got? What are the costs?
« Reply #113 on: May 17, 2017, 01:30:10 PM »
I have two standard poodles (big ones!).  Adopted from a family who said they didn't have time for the dogs.  I paid them $80.  Spent $300 or so getting their shots up to date and licensing them.  And a bit more on leashes, bowls, toys, etc.

I buy a $30 bag of dog food every three weeks or so for them. 
I bought a good pair of clippers and give them haircuts myself, so no ongoing cost there. 
And they get a new rope toy and/or balls every few months.

So far, pretty cheap, although one of them has a sensitive stomach that I have to keep an eye on.  We tried three different foods when I first adopted them before we found one that didn't result in me cleaning up vomit every other day.  He has occasional issues now, but I think they're related more to eating out of the trash than the food I buy them.

I also have a cat.  She eats $15 worth of food every couple of months.  And she refuses to come inside (I've tried!) so I have no litter costs.  She did just have kittens and I'm planning to have everyone fixed in a few weeks.  However, a local non-profit has a 'family' deal so it will cost me $25 to get all four of them taken care of.

frugalmom

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Re: What pets have you got? What are the costs?
« Reply #114 on: May 17, 2017, 10:46:46 PM »
We have 2 fish, gold.  We got them from a friend who was moving to TX.  They came with their 20 gallon tank and all their accessories.  Occasionally my daughter gets something "new" for their tank.  We have had them 4 years, the previous owners had them a few years too.

I spend approximately $10 a year on filters and a jar of food is $1.79.  Food can last anywhere from 3-6 months depending if my daughter remembers to feed them.

They are named Broke & Frugal.  Let me know if anyone would like to take on this economic burden.  Total cost of ownership including electricity usage and water is under $30 per year. 

nara

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Re: What pets have you got? What are the costs?
« Reply #115 on: May 25, 2017, 12:13:53 PM »
We have 2 dogs, 2 goats, and a sheep.

We might be one of the few cases where having pet insurance has paid off. We've carried insurance on our dogs since we adopted them. One had costly heartworm treatment in the $2k range that was fully covered, and the other developed Lymphoma at age 4 ($5k for chemo plus follow-up tests) that was also covered at 90%. If he needs chemo again the future (he's been in remission for 2 years now) then that will be a total of over $10k.

We spend about $100 on meat and veggies for the dogs home-cooked meals and a bag of kibble. Our ruminants cost about $50 a month (depending on the season) for hay.

Vet bills can get quite expensive for all our animals. Farm animal vets are less than for pets! We've had some things covered for our farm animals under grants as a backyard sanctuary as well.

Lmoot

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Re: What pets have you got? What are the costs?
« Reply #116 on: May 25, 2017, 07:59:58 PM »
I have parrots, and a leopard gecko. The most expensive thing for the parrots were their cages. And I will be upgrading one of them to a stainless steel cage  which will probably cost upwards of $1000. They are mostly on a fresh food diet, so they just eat whatever's in the fridge. Beans, greens, eggs, chicken/fish, nuts and legumes, fruits and veggies, cheese.

 They get clips and trimmings several times per year and a check up. Birds are pretty hardy and don't typically get long drawn out illnesses; you wake up one day and they've fallen off the perch, very little drama involved.