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!

@InTropicalTrumpsLand “a shitty third world country”! Really?

We have a 13 year old rescue dog, he has yearly boosters and his worm meds but he's never even needed flea treatment.
The cat is semi wild, just turned up one day, not chipped, vet asked if we could keep her for a few weeks to see if her owner turned up and she's still here 25 years later. Again no vet fees other than yearly vax and wormers.
The vets haven't made much profit from our mongrels
Once the nurse did sell me a bottle of malaseb shampoo for £28 as she found a pink patch on him whilst giving him his booster, but the pink patch had vanished by the time I got him home. We donated the shampoo to a rescue centre.

15* not 25

Our local rescue centre was very good at discussing the estimated annual costs of caring for a dog, which I appreciated as I was a first-time dog owner. My daftest move was not researching how long small breeds typically live...he could make it to 15-20 so financially we're in it for the long haul! Not that we mind, but I definitely don't want to calculate the total cost!

A lot of new owners also dont realise that pet insurance doesnt cover everything. Dental treatment and tooth extraction/general anaesthetic/anti-biotics etc.. You can easily pay a few hundred a year for insurance plus thousands on top of that before you even get to food and boarding costs. Boarding is £10 a night here and food is around £15 - £20 a week.

My new-to-me cat gifted himself to me. He arrived, looking very much the worse for wear. Scrawny, bedraggled and very loud.
He's still loud, but looking good. Insured to the hilt. Ditto the horse. They're my best mates. They get the best of everything. I sometimes go without food, but they never will.

Because they are stupid

@InTropicalTrumpsLand

Flat nosed breeds give me the rage. You still can't 100% predict the health of a pet if you do everything right... so why start wrong?

Last month dcat, a rescue taken directly from the streets, started behaving oddly. So off to the vet we go. Naturally she doesn't let the vet touch her, so all examinations require sedation. Add in ultrasound, bloods... 1300 bucks and a very upsetting diagnosis of chronic kidney failure at age 4.

It's at an early enough stage there isn't any medication... yet. But that means new food, which doubles monthly costs because renal food is expensive and there aren't many options.

Her violent tendencies mean her blood pressure can never be measured, and she absolutely refuses to pee in the pricy sand so we can check wether she's losing protein in her urine.

Oh, and that 1300 will be repeated every year so we monitor how the kidney failure progresses, until she inevitably dies.

And because this is a shitty third world country, there's no such thing as pet insurance, so everything is out of pocket. Thank fuck we can afford it.

If you're in an actual 'third world country' there probably isn't enough medical treatment for humans let alone animals

It’s the upkeep, not the purchase price. Spent £600 on a colic, £200 on a suspicious lump. Drives me nuts, but it has to be done.

She needs to get used to it if she's got a Frenchie! Poor dogs should never have been bred in the first place it will always be a the vet it shouldn't be allowed

I know someone who bought a cat and then put a Facebook post up aa year later about how she was giving it away because she lived in a one-bed flat with no garden and it wasn't fair on the cat. All I could think was, why did you buy it then?!

@Poppets14

It’s crazy. I work for a vet so I’m lucky to have staff discount and even with that I cannot afford a dog!

I know people that spend over £400 a month on medication. I just think people see cute dogs and want one but have no idea the cost when things go wrong!

I’ve not owned a cat or dog as an adult so am probably horribly naive but I would be shocked to find £400 a month on medication was normal!

She's a fucking idiot who has not done any research on the breed.

@RAFHercules

We have a 13 year old rescue dog, he has yearly boosters and his worm meds but he's never even needed flea treatment. The cat is semi wild, just turned up one day, not chipped, vet asked if we could keep her for a few weeks to see if her owner turned up and she's still here 25 years later. Again no vet fees other than yearly vax and wormers. The vets haven't made much profit from our mongrels Once the nurse did sell me a bottle of malaseb shampoo for £28 as she found a pink patch on him whilst giving him his booster, but the pink patch had vanished by the time I got him home. We donated the shampoo to a rescue centre.

A dog has built up immunity to boosters by average age 6 Just a money making scheme by vets. Waste of money

I have a beautiful Dcat. My boy was pricey, I had originally set to get a kitten, then lockdown hit and prices doubled.
Managed to get him at a price and he's had 2nd vacs, castration and he's only on the 'good' food.
I never tally up the cost. Because he is a member of my family. Yes it costs but its worth it.
I saw a girl complaining at the vets about the cost of some antibiotics whilst wearing Canada Goose jacket, and those grotesque expensive trainers and lip fillers and my eyes rolled right outta my head. I'm not judging their appearance but they clearly have money for vanity, they should cough up for the health of their family pet.
Don't get a pet if you can't or won't pay for their upkeep. Simples

[quote Hippychicken1]@ColinTheKoala
My BMW X3 is cheaper to insure than my french bulldog 😂[/quote]
My car is too 😌

[quote Hippychicken1]@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[/quote]
Yay!
I'm glad.
Happy to hear this from a fellow Frenchie mum.

YANBU.
I have one cat. At one point I had three, all rescue, but sadly no longer here.
I'd love more cats and a dog, but can't justify the living costs. We both work full time.

Yet I have a friend who pleads poverty (yet has top phones, full Sky package, eats out several times a week, big holidays etc) but has various cats, rabbits, dogs, including designer breeds from puppy farms. The pets eat the finest food and the cost must be astronomical.

She previously gave away her dogs, yet bought more and writes sanctimonious FB posts.
I wish humans could be vetted for suitability.

Another friend lives on a main road. Previous cats run over. She now has several new kittens.

@Sloth66

Why buy these trendy designer dogs that have been bred to have numerous awful health issues?

Because some of us rescue them.

Was discussing this with my sibling today at how vets must earn a shit tonne of money because people have to pay for it

Average income for a vet is around £50k (range £40-70k)

Doctors are paid considerably more - once qualified and starting specialist training, it's £40-55k, consultants £85-115k. Salaried GPs £62-94k

@scaevola

Was discussing this with my sibling today at how vets must earn a shit tonne of money because people have to pay for it

Average income for a vet is around £50k (range £40-70k)

Doctors are paid considerably more - once qualified and starting specialist training, it's £40-55k, consultants £85-115k. Salaried GPs £62-94k

Not just that, the money that you pay at the vets does not go into their pocket. It pays for all the staff, equipment, rent, maintenance etc. I would think that about 50p of a consultation actually makes it into an individual vet's pay packet, probably less.

“A dog has built up immunity to boosters by average age 6
Just a money making scheme by vets.
Waste of money“

This is incorrect - immunity to parvovirus and distemper lasts much longer but immunity to leptospirosis only lasts around 12 months, is not reliably indicated by serology and is the most common disease out of those we vaccinate for, which we actually see…. Oh and is also communicable to humans, and can be fatal.

So dogs mixing with other dogs or having potential access to rats do need annual vaccinations

HTH

Not to mention rabies, they need that every three years. I’m not risking having a rabid dog in the house!

@Cameleongirl

Not to mention rabies, they need that every three years. I’m not risking having a rabid dog in the house!

That’s not a thing in the UK

@shouldistop

I wish they would ban the breeding of these poor flat faced dogs that struggle to breathe. Its awful to listen to them gasping for breath.

Watched in disbelief as two of these were wheeled passed me in a double buggy the other day. I heard them before I saw them because they were gasping for breath. My greyhound barely recognised them as being of the same species...