Why do people buy animals that can’t afford to keep!

[Poppets14]

Exactly that!

My friend has just spent 2.5k on a french bulldog. She’s just been ranting at me about the cost of vet treatment (I work for a vet)

She’s moaning that the vaccinations flea and worm treatment has come to £100

So she’s happy to give a breeder 2.5k without blinking an eye but to spend £100 on health care is a problem!

Not sure what response I want really. I get so cross about people spending thousands on puppies and then moaning about the cost of vet treatment!

Omg I didn’t even know vets saw hamsters 😭* I thought they were too small

I feel awful now we’ve had 3 (2 when I was a teen at home and one that dc had) just thought when they got sick that was it there was nothing you could do , my dm never even suggested the vets so I’ve ended up doing the same with dc hamster*

Oh blimey, I spent the best part of £400 on vets bills for my hamster. I didn't even consider not taking him to the vet when his eye started bulging, he was a living creature and needed help

I have 3 dogs who are getting on a bit now, I am getting very concerned about the cost of pet insurance because every year they put it up by a large amount, current it's £164 per month and I need to pay an excess of over £100. The last time i used a vet it was bad luck on a Sunday and my vet no longer does out of hours treatments, they send you to a Rowe clinic in a different city. It cost £250 just to talk to a vet, then the treatment costs, then they expected me to pay £500 up front saying they won't use my insurance because we are not their client. After telling them I don't have £500 they decided to put the claim in then charged me a £50 admin fee. Next year I am expecting that the insurance will be around £200 per month, plus high excess fee I won't be able to afford it anymore and don't know what to do. I think I will have to weigh up not insuring them at all and putting what was the monthly costs into savings while hoping they don't get sick until it builds up, or taking the eldest one off insurance and having to pts if she gets sick. She keeps getting mast cell tumors and I wouldn't put her through chemo again at age roughly 10/11 (former stray, don't know actual age).I knew vet fees would be expensive, the pet insurance was reasonable at first, I didn't think it would go up so massively every year. One of the dogs has only ever had one claim in his lifetime but still it goes up. You get stuck between a rock and a hard place, if I switch from the life cover to the yearly or try to find a cheaper company they won't cover any illnesses the animal has previously had, my oldest dog would not be covered for cancer, my youngest would not be covered for eye conditions. They are all rescues, I never gave thousands to a breeder, they cost around £150 each to adopt. I'm sure we will work something out for next year but I don't know for how much longer we will be able to insure them.

It's more expensive than people expect for sure! I wish there was an nhs animal equivalent!
We have insurance and pay for flea and worming but you better believe I complain about cost of bet consult + prescription drugs! Maybe if they were more keen to offer a payment plan? I don't have an extra £100 a month spare in addition to these other costs. I didn't spend a fortune on my pets in the first place though they were rescues, I can see that this attitude is more annoying in people who spent a fortune on a pedigree dog!

@TheGoogleMum

It's more expensive than people expect for sure! I wish there was an nhs animal equivalent! We have insurance and pay for flea and worming but you better believe I complain about cost of bet consult + prescription drugs! Maybe if they were more keen to offer a payment plan? I don't have an extra £100 a month spare in addition to these other costs. I didn't spend a fortune on my pets in the first place though they were rescues, I can see that this attitude is more annoying in people who spent a fortune on a pedigree dog!

There will never be a NHS equivalent. Why would there be? The NHS costs money and lots of it, but we don't see the cost, or pay for it because it is free at the point of service. The government pays for it all. Your vet practice has no input from the government. It is all paid for from what you pay when you go there with your pet. Your vet bill goes towards the vet's wage, the vet nurse wage, the equipment they use, the rent on the building etc.

I know there won't be but I'm allowed to wish there was aren't I?

@PrincessPaws

Omg I didn’t even know vets saw hamsters 😭* I thought they were too small

I feel awful now we’ve had 3 (2 when I was a teen at home and one that dc had) just thought when they got sick that was it there was nothing you could do , my dm never even suggested the vets so I’ve ended up doing the same with dc hamster*

Oh blimey, I spent the best part of £400 on vets bills for my hamster. I didn't even consider not taking him to the vet when his eye started bulging, he was a living creature and needed help

I had no idea i grew up being told vets only saw animal ms rabbit sized or bigger or ones that had lifespans of 5+ years and never questioned it

@FindingMeno

I think some people with elderly animals have seen a massive rise in vets costs during their lifetime and never dreamt it would become so expensive.

This is part of it. I have three dogs. They get good quality food, all their annual shots, heartworm preventative and monthly visits to groomer. At ages 4, 8 and 12 they get teeth cleaning. My oldest dog, Lucy, cost $250 for her 4-year cleaning. $450 for her 8-year cleaning and they now want $1300 for her 12-year cleaning. Food that was $25 for 13-pound bag is now $65. I do have insurance but it doesn't cover this!!

My 12 year old best boy just had 11 teeth out. Expensive but worth it for him to get his sparkle back. If people begrudge making their pets healthier/happier they are dicks.

Many people just get carried away with the cuteness thing & don't think about possible vet treatment or the regular flea stuff, worming & vaccinations. I buy flea & worm stuff online , it's £4 a month & they post it out monthly so you don't forget. Pet insurance with Tesco (cheapest I found) is £7 a month.

My four cats cost me the best part of £400 monthly, with their insurance, vet health club membership (flea, wormer, vaccines, claw trimming, health checks), Katkin food and litter.

I’d never commit to an animal if I wasn’t prepared for the cost of their care.

We didn't pay for any of our animals - they were surrendered to us by owners who didn't realise how much they took to keep properly

Snakes - serious burns to the underside due to heatmats and used without a thermostat, fire hazard on top of being incredibly dangerous for the animal - owner hadn't taken to the vets, took us a lot to sort and had to have a while new set up with guarded bulb and UV which they had gone without

Bearded dragon - shed stuck on toes, UVB light hadn't been replaced for 3 years (they last 12 months max before the output is seriously depleted, cost £40 every six months for us for each reptile to keep them up to standard) hadn't used appropriate calcium supplements, lots of vet bills

Skinks- one of them was well loved but enclosure wasn't right for his needs, diet also needed an overhaul
Pet Cat - well he is fine, now vaccinated, neutered and wormed and flead regularly

Various inverts - people couldn't be bothered with heat and food, live feeder insects get expensive when you are buying whole tubs for an animal that eats one a week

Dogs - both big breeds, got them from seperate owners, they were being fed breeder pack, not exercised, one seriously overweight and terrified of his own shadow

Good food and healthcare with lots of input from us to train and both are happy, well behaved boys now, left where they were the behaviour problems would have got even more severe, with us they are great family dogs

Feral cats - enough said, we feed them, trap them for once a year health care, they deal ok but don't want to be pets and might never

People just decide they like the way an animal looks and don't give a thought about what it actually takes to meet their needs. Exotics especially from my experience.

Following on from my earlier post, I do think prices have shot up beyond what most people would have expected. Some years ago I had 5 dogs, we are far more financially secure now and the thought of what they would cost now makes me feel quite unwell.

And with thanks to the posters who have listed what their pets cost each month. I've just had a rough tally of ours and it's rather shocking

Not all pets cost lots of money. Worming can be done very cheaply if you shop around. I know many people whose pets have not cost them a fortune.

On silly breeds which suffer inherent illnesses:
Dumb people make dumb choices, so those buying those type of breeds, you would wonder....

I also don't agree with cancer treatments and expensive treatments for old pets or seriously ill pets with not much chance of survival, why do people pay out thousands? They had a choice for a ethical death.

I also think this way for humans let alone pets. I don't understand why those who are 80 or 90 would bother go through cancer treatment or other painful treatment. I would personally opt to be made and kept comfortable till death. I see this as more ethical.

I would not subject myself to this, let alone my aging much loved pet.

But not everyone thinks like me.

@LittleDandelionClock

WTF is this obsession with French Bulldogs FFS?

Is it just so they can say they spent £2.5K on a fucking DOG? Why not just get a mongrel? Why is it always expensive dogs? And then, (as you say @Poppets14 they moan about the upkeep.)

Vet bills are extortionate, and we have been stung this year with our cats. Put me off having pets for good. Vet fees for dogs are fierce.

I know a local French Bulldog breeder. We live in the tropics. For more than half the year, the temp doesn’t dip below 20 degrees c, even at night. He breeds a brachycephalic breed in the tropics and sells them for an unbelievable sum to people who usually also live in the tropics. It is madness and extremely cruel to have a brachycephalic breed in the tropics.

Sometimes he sells them to people 1000s of kilometres away. In Australia, airlines ban the transport of brachycephalic breeds so it is a horrific multi day road trip for these barely weaned pups. 😡

I don’t have insurance for my animals because, my calculations over many years have confirmed to me that it’s more cost effective not too. I’ve had dogs and cats for 40 years and more recently hens (who also get taken to the vet if they are ill). Because I have two Siamese Cats and two Poodles (over the last 20 years, before that a Rottweiler, a Weimaraner and two Siamese), I’d have to insure 4 of them and they are all mainly healthy (bought from tested lines). So it’s impossible to judge which one will needs veterinary treatment. One of my Standard Poodles (sadly, no longer with me) was termed the bionic dog, as she had metalwork for a leg injury, ligament surgery, she had Gastric torsion (at midnight, so the emergency vet). She had emergency major surgery, had her stomach stapled to to her ribs to prevent it happening again. She wasn’t expected to survive and was in intensive care for two days. There were expensive bills for all these procedures, but taking account of the excesses and climbing monthly premiums as she got older, it still cost me less than insurance would have done over those years! I could afford to pay for large bills out of the blue though, for anyone who can’t, insurance is a must surely.

It is disgusting, not to mention stupid, for people on modest incomes to pay thousands for a trendy puppy, without the ongoing means to take care of it properly. That said, some that can afford a vet’s bill seem to take issue with having to pay one though. I know someone who has 5 cats and bought an expensive puppy in lockdown. Then one of her cats became ill, needing treatment and she set up a Go Fund me page to get others to pay for it! She and her partner work full time and lead a nice, if relatively modest lifestyle (two cars, meals out, holidays), but don’t see vet’s fees as their own responsibility! 🤷‍♀️

I don’t have insurance for my animals because, my calculations over many years have confirmed to me that it’s more cost effective not too.

This is probably true for most pets, and it is my choice too.

Sadly, many Brits have little awareness of the true cost of healthcare. Vets are self-employed and need to make a living. The cost of running a medical practice, whether it's for humans or animals, is enormous.

Any sensible person who buys a car will plan ahead for when it needs replacing. Similarly, anyone who gets a pet should think ahead and plan for the final years of its life as these will be the most expensive.

My lovely cat cost me very little for the first 17 years of her life. Yearly check-up and vaccinations, plus the odd course of antibiotics if she got into a fight with the local tom. Her 18th year probably cost as much as the previous 17 years combined. But she was worth every penny.

@tillytoodles1

Some vets are money grabbers though. My cat had fleas so I rang the vet for Advocate and she said I'd need an appointment to see the vet first. I replied that the cat was fine, I just needed the stuff. She said that the cat had to he weighed so I asked her couldn't she do that. She could. I got the stuff, treated the cat and she's fine.

The British Veterinary Association requires registered vets to have seen an animal within 6 months if they are to prescribe anything for it. So telling you the pet had to see the vet before they supply Advocate wasn’t money grabbing. They were constrained by the rules of their professional body!

Vet’s do vary though of course. When my lovely aforementioned Standard Poodle had cancer at the age of 11-years-old (I forgot to mention that in my previous list of illness and injuries). She had surgery and did well. It pretty much always comes back in dogs though and I was fairly sure (based on Vet’s advice and previous experience) that she would have a year of decent health before it did. I told my vet that as she would be old by then, this was the one and only surgery. After that it would be palliative care only until she was too uncomfortable/distressed/in pain. She actually had 18 months, which was great. When she developed another tumour, my vet agreed with my decision and said she’d do the same if it was her dog. Then I moved house and vet practice to my current one. The Vet I always try to have my animals see, is fabulous and agreed with me. One time though, I had to take my lovely girl to see the senior partner and he tried (and failed) to persuade me to put her through more surgery. The occasional money grabbers invariably own the practice concerned.

Please don't tar all bulldog owners with the same brush... we had our beautiful
bully for just 2 years, we knew she had dwarfism and we are long standing bulldog owners albeit staffies that lived to a ripe old age of 16 years each so well experienced in that field. Although our baby came from a top breeder once her disabilities were apparent breeder put pups into this rescue, because of her dwarfism etc we could not insure her (!The rescue said), we knew her condition was life limiting but following a routine vets visit she collapsed and died at home from a massive heart attack ( aged 3) just an hour after returning from the vets. We're no wealthy but we're prepared too spend our last £1 on her vets fees if needed and our other rescues too. Yes bulldogs are a specialist breed and with any breed thorough research is needed before buying.

Even with pet insurance it can still be costly to have a pet. Our dog has a problem with his eyes meaning his face absolutely stinks unless he has 4 weekly injections costing £62 a go, he's only 2 so it's likely on injections alone it'll cost us £10,000 over his life time. Then he's groomed every 4 weeks costing £20-30 each time. And that's before you factor in the typical costs of a dog and standard vets bills, even we didn't think it would be so costly to be dog owners but he's family so what can you do 🤷‍♀️. But it's ridiculous for your friend to pay out crazy money for a dog prone to health problems and then complain about a pretty minor vets bill. It's absolutely cruel to get a pet an not provide adequate health care for them. They ought to be more strict about who can own animals, its a lifetime commitment.

My dog was adopted so we paid basic fees to acquire him, but we’ve just paid US$1,300 for a dental cleaning, a minor ailment that needed antibiotics and a year’s supply of tick/flea/heart worm medication.😟. He had his annual checkup and some vaccination earlier this year, I can’t remember what they cost.

So no, pets ain’t cheap and you need to think carefully before committing to one!

I shudder at people with French bulldogs - they have so many health problems. Also boggles my mind when people get really huge dogs - they must be so expensive to feed well!

We chose our dog because they are a generally low health problem breed, and a medium size that only costs around £8-12 a week to feed on really high quality raw food. People don’t seem to think of additional factors beyond trendiness or looks.

But I also have much empathy because it’s extremely easy to get caught up in the emotion of it all when choosing a puppy (and also I think I might have just lucked out that the breed I was most attracted to was a healthy standard faced breed).

More education is key I think - maybe a campaign comparing lifetime health outcomes of well bred dogs vs brachycephalic (flat faced) dogs.

@Allsorts1
Not all french bulldogs are unhealthy
Mines almost 2 and apart from being castrated recently he only goes to the vet every six months to be weighed for his ongoing flea & worming treatment
He’s not overweight, no allergies, no breathing problems a good example of what the breed should be like

@CSIblonde do you mind sharing where you get your flea stuff online? Ours is £50 a month from the vet!

@Hippychicken1 that’s good :) I know there are some better bred ones out there and I have hope that breeders will start trending away from the extreme flat face to get more balance in the breed.

My boy was a rescue, so didn't cost me much up front, but as he's so big all his ongoing vet bills are super expensive. He's also very accident prone, and eats anything, so has had over $26k in surgeries, and has allergies that cost $300 per month (never mind his foodbill). Luckily we do have good insurance, which is also not cheap, but does lessen the blow when he's eaten some poisonous nuts and needs his liver saving. I don't know how most could cough up those sums if no insurance.