Given my vet bills and my attachment to my dog.

I rank having a dog right up there with African hunting as a expensive hobby.

When I sent my dog vet bills to my african hunting whatsapp group, Gary Duckworth (who is a
crazy dog lover himself) replied 22 ammo is cheap.

I told him my Mom would disown me for hunting Africa and not spending money on my dog.

Dog definitely comes before africa but he is damn expensive.

Mike

Nowadays, just about all pets are expensive to maintain.

Well, maybe not goldfish.

Some friends of ours just burned through $5000 trying to save a sick cat they had rescued off the street a few years ago. Cat died just after the last treatment.

About 10 years ago I spent a little over $1200 on surgery for a dog. He came home in a box.

Just last year, right before Christmas, my wife and I paid over $500 trying to keep a rescue dog we loved alive. He died anyway.

We get very attached to dogs and cats and it's difficult making their health decisions based on economics.

To their credit, I have known vets who candidly recommend euthanasia over treatment, due to potentially catastrophic costs.

However, most of the time, putting an animal down is done to alleviate suffering, not to save money.

I have special respect for a vet who is willing to mention the euthanisia option, especially when he or she knows the pet owner is not well off. Some of the chain pet hospitals will very happily drain your bank accounts with no thought to the effects on the humans. The VCA hospital in Salem, Oregon, was doing this to us when I requested my compromised little guy be put down.

You think vet expenses are rough.
I have three labs playing the retriever games.
Wouldn’t have it any other way though.

Tell me about it! I figure my dog caught pork runs about $900 a pound.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
I have special respect for a vet who is willing to mention the euthanisia option, especially when he or she knows the pet owner is not well off. Some of the chain pet hospitals will very happily drain your bank accounts with no thought to the effects on the humans. The VCA hospital in Salem, Oregon, was doing this to us when I requested my compromised little guy be put down.

You are so right!!

so if everything must have a dollar sign on it what value do we put on wives kids or ourselves

A bit more than we do in our dogs.

quote:

Originally posted by butchloc:
so if everything must have a dollar sign on it what value do we put on wives kids or ourselves

For me they are the same

My dog has cost 22K plus in vet costs over 5 years. Still less than an all in zim buff hunt.

He goes to University of Florida small animal hospital for the best healthcare. Driving him for medical care is a whole day event. I normally plan it so I can work when I drop him off. If I did not have that flexibility I don't know how it could be done.

But is makes little practical sense if you look at a dog as chattle. Even as a family member you have a animal that has a short life span. We have take a wolf with short brutal life (6-7 years) and turned it into a human companion and applied human attributes to it.

The biggest issue is a dog cannot communicate the degree of pain it is in. My dog has ear infections - its just tough to figure out the degree to which it is an issue. He has dysplasia but he is far more active than most other dog without dysplasia. Always tough balancing the pain he get in running around versus the enjoyment he gets running around.

Mike

For those here who care for their pups, rather than euthanize them, you may want to consider canine health insurance. I use Pet Plan for my versatile hunters/companions and it has saved me thousands over the years.

Beretta 682E, I have CSU Vet Medical Center available in Fort Collins, CO and do much the same as you.

I don’t want to think about what I’ve spent on vet bills over the years, but the enjoyment my dogs have given me has been well worth it.

Mike, I pray for the best.

Think dogs are expensive ? Get a horse.

Grizz

I am without a dog for the first time in decades and it is really tough. I just don't think I can afford the vet bills that inevitably come along with a best friend.

Keeping a dog is no different than keeping a woman.

Both are cheap dates but expensive pets.

Hey, we deserve it!

quote:

Originally posted by A.J. Hydell:
Keeping a dog is no different than keeping a woman.

Both are cheap dates but expensive pets.

quote:

Originally posted by Aspen Hill Adventures:
Hey, we deserve it!

quote:

Originally posted by A.J. Hydell:
Keeping a dog is no different than keeping a woman.

Both are cheap dates but expensive pets.

Yes you do!

By the way, if that's you in that picture - awesome leopard!

As a Vet friend of mine puts it " you want a dog or this dog"? This dog will cost you! That's why I am "a dog" kind of guy! There is always another dog. I have lost a couple of good ones to some weird stuff.

Yup, me and the leopard from '05.

quote:

Originally posted by A.J. Hydell:

quote:

Originally posted by Aspen Hill Adventures:
Hey, we deserve it!

quote:

Originally posted by A.J. Hydell:
Keeping a dog is no different than keeping a woman.

Both are cheap dates but expensive pets.

Yes you do!

By the way, if that's you in that picture - awesome leopard!

quote:

Originally posted by Grizzly Adams:
Think dogs are expensive ? Get a horse.

Grizz

Wife has a horse, I have a job....writing checks for said horse. If I ever got divorced no way in hell would I ever marry another woman that own's or want's a horse.

Ann, good to see you posting.

Vet cost's are high but I don't go unless I'm sure it's really needed I never go to the vet to pass the time of day!. I don't begrudge them a decent living but I wish they'ed share it with other customer's. A dog being an expensive hobby? A dog is not a hobby for me. It's family and I'd damn sure get another dog before i'd get another wife! Now, a wife. That's is expensive!

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Ann, good to see you posting.

Hi Bill.

Don, thanks for being such a great friend of dogs.
Ann, tell us about your dear friend Bita Farahbod.

I cannot live without my dogs ,i related my life intinmally with the dogs i shared it ,rigth now in a cold winter nigth in Argentina Pampas i have several dogs in front of my fireplace ,my dogo Rumel goes with me everywhere .....so it isnt expensive for me ....they are part of my life.

As an outfitter I always owned several hunting dogs.
They have been well trained, feed, clean and 2 times per year a general vet visit along with vaccinations.
Nothing expensive and the dogs were very healthy and happy.
The problems starts when my daughter went to the dogs shelter(while I was away hunting) and decide to take one of my dogs to our house. My best pointing dog, a female of GSP. Now this dog cost me twice than the other 4 dogs together. I can not use it for hunting anymore as the kids don't let me, have to go every month to the best(expensive) veterinary in the town, cut her nails, wash her ears, use a special (extra expensive) food, etc, etc.
But that being said have been 2 years since the dog is in our house and I can imagine our life without our beloved dog:-)

I hunt hogs with my dogs and they wear the best protective gear I can find. Occasionally they are injured in spite of this. I take care of most wounds myself, including penicillin shots, antibiotics, and stitching. Rarely they require a trip to the vet for serious injuries. This can be expensive. In my ten years of hunting I've only lost one dog to a boar. Too bad he was the best at his trade I ever saw and the prospects of finding one as capable are bleak. RIP Beau you are sorely missed!

RH, you've captured the essence for me -- "beloved dog." It's no hobby; it is life itself.

I would suggest that dogs are not an expensive hobby to me. If I am thinking something is expensive, I am saying I feel guilty to some degree as to how much I have spent.

I have just never felt guilty about how much I have spent on my boys over the years.

quote:

When I sent my dog vet bills to my african hunting whatsapp group, Gary Duckworth (who is a crazy dog lover himself) replied 22 ammo is cheap.

My feelings exactly.

There are lots of dogs out there.

A very good hound running friend of mine said never spend more money on a dog then you can afford to shoot.

Story about my vet he was trying hard et me to buy heart worm prevention.

I told him no, he said it very expensive to treat I said naw about a penny and half.

He Looked at me with a puzzled look then the light came on.

He said do mean you could look at this dogs in eyes and shoot it

I said no you turn the head away from you and shoot them in the brain stem they die faster.

I said for 75.00 dollars you give her a needle and put her down and laugh all the way to the bank.

last time I went to that vet.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:

quote:

When I sent my dog vet bills to my african hunting whatsapp group, Gary Duckworth (who is a crazy dog lover himself) replied 22 ammo is cheap.

My feelings exactly.

There are lots of dogs out there.

A very good hound running friend of mine said never spend more money on a dog then you can afford to shoot.

Story about my vet he was trying hard et me to buy heart worm prevention.

I told him no, he said it very expensive to treat I said naw about a penny and half.

He Looked at me with a puzzled look then the light came on.

He said do mean you could look at this dogs in eyes and shoot it

I said no you turn the head away from you and shoot them in the brain stem they die faster.

I said for 75.00 dollars you give her a needle and put her down and laugh all the way to the bank.

last time I went to that vet.

I have no problem spending money on my dog but the reason is I have discretionary $$$. They go to the dog before hunting or fishing.

I don’t go to commercial vets - only the best university vet schools. Even if I have to drive 200 miles and wade a day.

I think the main issue is people without discretionary dollars that get naturally attached to their pets. That can get expensive fast.

In the us one should know that before getting a dog.

Mike