To feel that soon , dog ownership will just be for the well off? And thats not fair.

[Tunamelt]

We had a family dog and as a child I really benefited from it . As did my own dc when we had our beloved dog.
When the dc had a hard day she cheered them up so much and it was such a good experience for them.
We have just adopted a dog.
She needed the vets in the first week due to upset tummy.
Ist vet appt £75 and then x2 meds.
She now needs a stool sample and a further vet appt to
check her health.
stool sample test alone will be over £100.
We had appt with behaviourist at £90 ph .
Her food is £60 pm.
the vet thinks she may need fluxotine for anxiety and those meds are around £80 pm
So thats come to a good amount and she has only been here a few weeks.
Its made me realise that these sort of costs are just not do able for
many - and a concern to us -and it seems so unfair that the joy of a dog may be beyond reach for many these days .

We don't feed ours for 24 hours and then some thing really plain. Always works.

Vet bills have gone absolutely mental though. I think some big corporates took over most of the practises, and now their bills are astronomical.

People are a bit mental.about their dogs. We only take ours to the vet.If absolutely necessary and try and find alternate ways to treat them. We do the same with ourselves!

I have two foreign rescues, one from Romania and one from a middle Eastern country. I've had them both for four years and they were approx a year old on receipt. So far they have cost me nothing in vet bills apart from the annual vaccinations. Time will tell if they turn out to be expensive dogs for health issues, but perhaps their combined forty one different breeds in their genetics, and the fact that they survived inauspicious starts to their lives will help in that regard. The two charities they came via couldn't have been more thorough and helpful.

Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s only kaolin now, they took the morphine out years ago. Have no idea if it’s recommended or not but none of my childhood dogs ever dropped dead from it. You should probably google it.

even a dog with no issues being rehomed takes time to settle. think of the 3 3 3 rule. 3 days 3 weeks and 3 months before a fog is settled into your way of life. you don't say how long you have this dog ? or how old a dog needs time to decompress. upset stomach or not eating is normal sometimes. yes your right dog ownerships is expensive. and agree with people breeding etc has caused dogs to have issues. however medicine has advanced better which has helped dogs also people have got better understanding about caring and looking after a dog. instead before a dog was got and shoved outside on a chain etc insurance is a must or a pet plan with the vets. you will learn with the dog as time goes on when need to go to vet etc or just give time

Vet practices now service shareholders and all the additional admin that entails. Vets are also encouraged to upsell services. Lots of very expensive in-house equipment in almost all practices.
If my dog had an upset stomach I would be unlikely to be paying for tests in stool samples unless the problem was ongoing/severe. Some plain chicken and rice usually sorts it.

Personally I’d have expected an adopted dog to be unsettled and unless very ill wouldn’t have added to their stress with behaviourists and vets.
Our rescue took time to settle.

Last weeks Panorama on vet bills was good( sorry I think it was Panorama). Vets have by and large been bought out by private equity firms who want to make 20% on top for their shareholders. Our vet is now owned by Linnaeus, who is owned by Mars would you believe. It used to be that a vet would say their opinion and the best cheapest option which might be doing nothing. Not anymore. Every problem seems to need blood tests or a scan. As a result insurance is going up particularly for older dogs. We were told our young dog really needed an off-licence medication for life - £20 a month- that was fine. The drug got licensed and it is now £80 a month. I’m not happy because she can’t be taken off it. If you can get an independent vet, you are very lucky.

"... the vet thinks she may need fluxotine for anxiety and those meds are around £80 pm..."

WTF does a dog need meds for "anxiety"?

Why is it more?

Are dogs more likely to get sick now?

Hi OP, get the cheapest white rice possible and make sure you leave the starch in, dont rinse it. As well as chicken try some white fish, Sainsburys do a cheap bag for £2-£3 as do morrisons. Mix a tablespoon of Chappie original tinned in it of she is struggling.

Slippery elm is good to add for upset tummy's, mine dont like it but I have heard good things about it.

Also tinned pumpkin. What food is she on? She will be stressed with the new environment. Avoid the anti depressants and try Nutracalm tablets until she settles in. Xx

My cat is currently costing £400 a month in vet bills/medication. It’s a huge amount an we are making sacrifices. I also know a dog owner in a similar situation who simply cannot pay it and so the dog is not getting the pain relief and medication it needs. She adores the dog but can’t afford it. It’s such an awful situation.

We pay £20/month insurance but yes, still expensive as there's the first part of costs and not everything is covered and insurance may go up if you claim.

A charity like the cinnamon trust is another option - taking on dog walking or dog care for someone in hospital who can't look after their dog. Charity pays vet bills etc if you foster a dog.

I think this too. For example chemotherapy on a dog is just cruel in my opinion.

Food doesn’t have to be expensive - dogs have survived on scraps pretty much for a few thousand years.
Dogs need your time to walk them properly, not be shipped off to doggy day care everyday.

Of course it's fair

no different to anything else in life.....my neighbour has a much nicer car than me. Just is what it is

I've read of cats suffering severe stress being given medicine to calm them.

Shouldn't be the go to option, though.

I’ve heard this a few times! It’s crazy.

My kids would derive enormous joy from a pony. Is it unfair that we can’t afford one?

All kids deserve a warm home, good food, appropriate clothing, a good education and competent and loving parents. They do not need “the joy of a dog” and I don’t find anything at all unfair about a child not having one because it’s too expensive. There are more than enough dogs around already.

We feed ours leftovers and Wagg, they own no clothes, sleep.on our sofa, we do borrow my dog and do dog sitting swaps with friends. We have never using worming or flea tablets unless they have them. We keep them slim and walk them a lot.
We have had 5 dogs and 2 are still with us,the others died in at at 15, 16 and 18 all pretty healthy until their last few weeks
Obviously a lot of that is down to luck and the fact they are mongrels, but for medium large dogs that's a good old age.

Dogs and cats can both show signs of stress and upset, and sometimes that does warrant treatment. Should be severe to warrant medicines etc though.

@Tunamelt for the anxiety try a plug in pheromone thing and you can also get over the counter dog anxiety tablets from Amazon. My old dog was on them, zyklene I think?? Cost £12 a packet. They helped my dog.

Totally agree with this. My whippet had an energetic weekend last week and we think he pulled a muscle. He was lethargic and a bit reluctant to go on his walk, and reluctant to jump on furniture. I googled to see what we should do, and nearly every site advised to take him to the vet asap. Had it been me who ached a bit, I wouldn’t take myself to the doctors, but would wait to see if cleared up itself. I chose not to take him and he’s back to normal today.

Stress sure. Normally by being in the wrong environment.

Fix the environment fix the stress.

Meds is for when an owner wants their wants over what the animal needs when it comes to stress most of the time.

Yes.. I know a lot of dogs were originally bred for jobs, but imagine how many medical problems would have been lessened if there hadn't been such a vogue for breeding for looks etc at various points in history...

That makes no sense. The insurance should (if you have decent insurance) cover one diagnostic and treatment event. So you pay one excess for it and the rest is covered up to the limit.

Good point. Eg one case I read was a male cat spraying the walls constantly. Turned out he was being harassed by an aggressive new neighbour cat. In such a case it's tricky to resolve but medicine is not getting to the root of the problem.