No way the average pet owner is spending this kind of money.
intercst
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For a single dog, the cost of health, accident and wellness insurance is over $1000. ($1000 deductible, too)
Annual check up is reduced price, but then the standard prevention medicines are another $500.
Every time fluffy sneezes, perhaps the vet needs to take a look. If it’s after hours, the costs are more.
$4000 is not that far out of sight, especially when fluffy is 12 years into a 10 year plan. (costs rise with every year the pet gets older, as expected)
But I have Bobo, Fluffy, Kitkat and Orangatan at the house… so…
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I have veterinarians in the family. While their services are much less, they also live in a VERY rural area and primarily serve large animal operations (ranchers, etc.)
In the city? fuggedaboutit.
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I had a dachshund for 11.5 years. After he left this world I added up everything he had cost me including what I paid for him and what it cost to put him to sleep at the end.
$720.00 per year. And he had some back problems that needed tending along the way and a few other transient medical problems.
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I’ve calculated about $600/yr on my dogs over the past 30+ years, but since I’m walking them 5 to 10 miles per day, they’re very healthy. About the only time they see a vet is for a rabies vaccine.
intercst
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Four cats and a dog here. I’d guesstimate about $1000/yr for each, and we baby our animals muchly. To get to 4 grand we’d have to be outfitting them with gold collars and painting their toenails every two weeks.
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One major surgery with a week of ICU can wrack up way more than $4000.
She was worth every cent…
I understand that. But people typically aren’t sending their pets to the ICU as a routine.
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Cliff, my rescued Border Collie X German Shepherd was also very healthy … until he was about 14 years old and developed arthritis in his lower spine and shoulder with severe pain. But we were still walking every day. Cliff was still doing his job of picking up the dog food bowls and handing them to me as well as guarding me faithfully. What were we supposed to do? Enter doggie Celebrex at $200 per bottle and also gabapentin.
Cliff lived to age 15.5 years old. He really declined and started refusing kibble. So I fed him canned dog food until he refused that. Then I fed him stewed chicken and rice. He started to lose his hearing and bowel control. Then he collapsed and couldn’t rise. DH had to lift him into the car wrapped in a towel.
You may boast that your dog is healthy now in much the same way that you boasted about your fitness until your leg failed. It’s not easy to abandon a beloved pet who is still loyal to you despite their pain and infirmity. Whatever the cost. If the vet bills started to mount would you pay them or put the dog down? Euthanasia for Cliff cost $350. Then our spaniel, Jazzy, lost her will to live and had to be put down 3 months later at age 14.5. That cost $250.
I used to tell Cliff that he was just a rough old mutt. Then he would swipe his paw over his face which was his signal that he wanted me to scratch and rub his snout under his eyes.
Would I get another dog? I got a dog crate from the Serenity Shop and it’s in my living room. But finding a dog with the right specifications (20-35 pounds, 3-10 years old, from an intelligent breed) isn’t easy.
Wendy
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I work too hard to tend an animal. Wish I was, but it is not realistic.
Depending on funds, I want to travel in the EU. Can’t bring Bowser with me.
I will never live without a dog. Soulmates
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But it needs to be the right dog to be a soulmate.
A woman once told me that my dog was very cute and she wished she had one like it. (Actually, it was the best dog I ever had, a border collie who was a true gentleman and extremely intelligent, but she didn’t know that.)
I said, “You live with a dog the way you would live with a husband. You don’t choose a husband just because he’s cute.”
She said, “Well, I did.”
I won’t make that mistake. 
But if I could find another Tyree I would adopt him in a heartbeat. He was the best dog I ever had. DH is nice looking, too, but that’s not why I took up with him almost 40 years ago. 
Wendy
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So true.
Keep searching!
Not sure what message you got, too short…
Nevertheless, you are so right about choosing the right dog, but I have found that "special dog " after it spent some time with me.
Keep looking, you are losing precious time.
And Tyree looks wonderful!
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Tyree lived to be 15 years old and was wonderful to the end.
A story about Tyree…
DH’s mother was in a nursing home in ID. DH took Tyree along to take care of Mom in the early stages of her placement. (I stayed home with our other border collie.)
Tyree was hanging out with Mom who told him, “Go get DH.” Tyree walked down the hall on his own, found DH, and “told” him that Mom needed him. Yes, these border collies can communicate both ways.
Cliff was a fine dog and I miss him keenly. But he had a potentially aggressive streak. Tyree was a certified therapy dog. Cliff would never have passed that test of being handled by strangers.
Wendy
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I always have trouble deciding when it’s time to put a pet down. Once your dog starts staring at you vacantly, it’s probably time.
The German Shepard/Collie mixed breed I got in 1992 lived to be about 15. Lupo was diagnosed with some kind of degenerative spine problem at age 12. The vet said there wasn’t a treatment, but that it wasn’t painful. The dog would just slowly lose the function of his hind legs over time. By 15, he was dragging his rear end along the ground and vacantly staring at the wall for long periods of time. I decided that was probably enough.
Also remember that dogs live for the moment. Lupo wasn’t working on any grand projects where he’d be disappointed if they go incomplete. As long as I was there, and holding him at the end, he seemed to be fine with it.
intercst
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How do you go about searching?
Any tips you might share?
Most of the dog shelters these days seem to have all their dogs listed on their website with pictures and bios.
Oregon Humane Society
https://www.oregonhumane.org/adopt/?type=dog
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Not that I would spoil a dog, but I did take my Dachshund to the chiropractor once. It worked.
She lived to be 17 before we had to put her down. She couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, couldn’t smell, and hurt all the time.
Cheers
Qazulight (Have a cat, 9 pound eating machine)
Your vet is price gouging you. Safeway sells 30 capsules of Generic Celebrex for $6.22. gabapentin is also generic.
I actually had a vet try to tell me that “human prednisone” was different than the pet version which he was selling for 6 times the cost. {{ LOL }}
The “skim, scam & fraud” baked into medical care, vet care, and dentistry is off the charts.
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