AIBU to be annoyed with people who can't afford to look after their pets

[Allelbowsandtoes]

Just saw a post on Facebook, someone trying to fundraise for surgery for her 7 month old puppy that has hip dysplasia. Lots of people were commenting about how vets charge way too much and it's all a "money making racket". I pointed out that veterinary surgeons are highly skilled and train for years, and we only think its expensive because we have the NHS and mostly don't pay our own healthcare costs.

Maybe I ABU because its a shame if people can't afford pets, because they bring joy to our lives.

This. I think something has got to be done about people who refuse to see that their pet is suffering or can't face up to what they need to do.
It's one of the hardest decisions many of us have to make but make it we must.

It depends on how much time you're prepared to spend exercising your pet. We have a high energy breed and a small garden. We use a daycare a few times a week to let him socialise and run off steam, then the other days we take him out for a few hours to local forest trails/ parks/ hiking etc and do lots of scent work and let him run provided it's safe to do so. He only uses our garden for his toilet because he wants to be with us inside. If you're relying on your garden for stimulation and space to play then yes you'd need a big one but few homes have that now especially around city areas.

YANBU. I don't think enough people talk about how expensive it is owning a pet, and people get them without thinking about just how expensive it can get, especially when things go wrong. At the very least, if you don't have access to relatively large amounts of money, the pet should be insured. I hope the woman you mentioned finds a way of treating her puppy though :(

I have a mutt, so that in itself means she's unlikely to develop any pre-existing conditions in any one breed. I didn't insure her for this reason as well as being skeptical about pet insurance. I reconsidered this one-my parent's house is on a hill and backs onto another house, over a small fence but via a huge drop. One day I was playing ball with her in the garden and it went into the neighbour's garden and my heart stopped. Luckily she didn't jump over the fence but she could have done, perhaps really hurting herself-and I rang around insurance companies to make enquiries. None of them would insure for accidents. Their attitude was that if an accident like that happens and she needed treatment, It's my fault so they wouldn't pay out. Fair enough you may think, but accidents happen to the best of us.

So my dog still isn't insured, unlikely to need treatment for illness and insurers won't pay out for accidents HOWEVER I have savings and credit cards with huge limits -if something did go wrong I could afford it to sort it and I would. I've thought it through, many don't.

My skepticism about insurance is borne from other people's experiences, I know a fair few people whose pets have needed treatment and insurers have 'smallprint' which means they've refused to pay out. My friend fought tooth and nail about hip dysplasia when it happened to her dog, insurers stating they'd not pay at first (I can't remember the ins and outs of why). A family member's dog developed a gum condition and the insurance didn't cover it.

Some people seem to factor in costs of food and upkeep and care but not think about illness and accidents. Vets deserve to be paid fairly. I hear of too many stories like this when people just don't have the money and haven't considered that they might need plans for circumstantial change when it comes to pets.

That's tragic, I'm sorry

I’m very late to this thread and haven’t read a single post apart from the thread header…

…but just wanted to say when I was working I kept horses, dogs and cats and never worried for a minute that I couldn’t afford to keep them in food and vet bills. Since retiring I have at times had to ignore their sudden limps and other injuries in the hope they’d get better on their own - they always have, so far.

Only ever had one horse insured, and that was to cover a friend who competed on her. Never made a claim in 20 years and at at its peak it cost me £60 a month, so I’ve never bothered again, it’s no bargain unless you have a chronically sick animal, and nobody buys those intentionally. Also animal insurers (and maybe people health insurers too?) will “write off” any treated/claimed for illness or injury, so recurrent e.g. tendon problems may not be claimed for.

Circumstances change, pets were never considered a “luxury” (by me anyway), and I’m actually looking forward to being pet-free in about 10 years time.