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 .

Yes, definitely. Save all your paperwork for all your appts and it’s one claim per condition. If my dog had an ongoing problem and needed to see the vet every month for the same condition and needed blood tests and treatment I’d only pay one excess.

Its more a case of vets have always been pricey, but had a smaller repertoire of care as new innovations have come along, and also new styles of ownership where a pet is rightly treated as one of the family and given adequate medical care. It's pricey but it's the cost of caring for your animal to the level you want to. I'm sure back in the day pets just weren't taken to the vets for things and definitely not behaviourists.

Vet Costs in U.K. are insane.
Friends spaniel is a repeat offender for eating stones - happened when they were in Europe & surgery cost was £800, same procedure at local vets was £2,500

Future reference - you don’t need a prescription for ProMax paste. Can buy it at Pets at Home of the shelf. If he won’t eat Chicken & rice keep a bag of digestive support kibble for dodgy tum times

Catio or cat proofing fence toppers would help that, the bullied cat would be safe in their own garden.

But yes sometimes it’s genuine external factors but a lot of the time it’s something in the house.

There are many modern popular breeds which are walking health problems from birth, yes. Irresponsible breeding (and a lot of it from supposedly “reputable” breeders) supplies and feeds demand for breeds like Pugs and French Bulldogs which you may as well feed bank notes.

Customers also have increasingly higher expectations and demands for what they’re prepared to do to keep their dog alive, and different attitudes to wellbeing. As a previous poster said - if a vet had told my dad when I was a kid that the dog needed antidepressants, he’d have laughed in their face. And if the dog had lost the use of both its back legs it would have have been PTS, not fastened together with bolts and then purchased a specialist wheelchair and given hydrotherapy sessions.

Everything is more expensive than it used to be though isn't it? Massively so. My rent has increased 70% since 2020.
I mean bread used to be 50p a loaf and now it's £2. You see where I'm going?
I'm not sure why everyone thinks vet fees specifically would be the only thing not to increase over the years. Everythings gone up so everyone needs a higher salary to survive so up go the prices and so on.

That's true : I think it's good more women do work outside the home now but I think that should be factored in when choosing to get a dog.

It's sad for them to be left for hours alone - otoh uptick of WFH might shift the balance a bit.

We got our latest dog from a national rehoming centre . A greyhound. No real background but was neutered , vet checked and was described as even tempered . But you really have no idea how they are going to be once you get home . Was sick on journey home which was a great start. Didn't eat for two days probably unfamiliar food but she got used to it . Very needy likes to be close to you but we are able to accommodate that . Had a few issues with jumping up and mouthing but we didn't need a behaviourist to deal with that . Just patience and love .

Grew up with dogs . No special foods , no scans , etc , certainly no anti anxiety stuff or behaviourist . All lived a happy healthy life until they didn't . And then were PTS . Prolonging a dog's life when they can no longer do the things they were meant to enjoy doing is a bit selfish on owners part as we do not want to let them go . This is more about us than the dog . They have no fear of dying but we project our own feelings . Personally I felt our last dog who lived until 13 was more distressed as he was bewildered and uncomfortable as he aged .

NippyNinjaCrab
thank you- did try chicken and rice but she ate round the rice !
white fish sounds good idea !

Because fortunately the majority of pet owners actually care about the quality of life their animals receive. I don’t drive a Porsche, because I can’t afford it. Animals deserve to receive quality health care. If you can’t afford to provide that don’t have a pet. Pet insurance exists for a reason. People are paying £2000+ for a dog yet complain about the cost of vaccinations and neutering and keeping that dog healthy. Owning a dog is a luxury not a necessity.

That's horrible re breeders. People look at the cute squashed faces of pugs etc and some seem to ignore that this frequently causes breathing problems etc

XL Bullies are ofc the epitome of that...!

Sounds good to me. The fewer people who own dogs, the less poo on sidewalks, and fewer dogs in cafes and other indoor public places.

Anyone else here watched super vet. The surgeries he does on those animals are amazing with his basically meccano and such but for me personally it’s too far it is just a pet at the end of the day. In some cases tens of thousands of pounds.

Times change, our first dog nearly 40 years didn't get nearly so much input as our dog now. I spend a small mortgage every month on her.
I'm always amused to see comparisons between pet ownership and parenting. Both have evolved over the years.
When I was a kid (70s) ND wasn't a thing unless extreme in children, its very common now, dogs too are now assessed by dog trainer/ behavioural specialists, dogs were let out to roam, as were children. Childcare- doggy day care..
The welfare state ensures parents can just about afford kids, if parents had to pay for healthcare and education, how many would not do it.

Vet costs are something to factor in when having a pet yes, and I guess can make it unaffordable. For me I don’t begrudge paying of the best quality food because I want my animals to live long and healthy lives. Try to find an independent vet if you can, and many have monthly plans which cover vaccinations and a certain number of consultations etc.

If you’ve only just adopted your dog I’d be wary of putting them on anxiety meds so soon. It can take at least three months for them to adapt to a new home. A decent behaviourist should give you techniques to try first and you should give the dog at least 12 weeks to adapt to those.

Because animal welfare has become much higher profile and people are more sentimental about their pets. Especially as medical care for people has improved, people have higher expectations for their pets. I think in the past people had a higher tolerance for animal suffering and much lower expectations of treatment - my grandparent’s cat certainly wouldn’t have been given antidepressants, insulin or chemotherapy and when it got hit by a car it was euthanised rather than given expensive surgery to put it back together.

Is it so expensive now due to stuff like cancer treatment? That must be part of it, but it sounds like 'hard sell' pressure to go to the vet for minor stuff seems to be another part of the issue

Judging by how many people own dogs, yabu.

My cat was a bit out of sorts and looked like he had some sort of eye infection the other week. All advice was ‘vet now!!.
Anyway I didn’t take him but decided to give him a bit of time to see if it improved. I bathed his eye 4 times a day for a week with warmed boiled water and some pet eye drops. It cleared up pretty fast.
Drs are reluctant to give out antibiotics for children with eye infections due to overuse, the same should apply to pets.

Please do not change insurance without carefully looking at the policy, most will not cover pre existing conditions, and an upset tummy will now be on her notes which means anything digestion/tummy related will not be covered.
I find our dogs pretty affordable, my back ground in animal care means that thankfully (touching wood) my dogs only tend to go for booster vaccinations (or titre testing) for our older ones and little else.
A few things that I do are

1. buy advantage flea tx and drontal/panacur wormers from a reputable online pharmacy for the winter and Seresto collars and oral wormers in the spring/summer.
2. Keep a tube of probiotic/anti diarrhoea medication in the cupboard incase of upset tummies, also available without a prescription
3. Feed a high quality grain free food
4. In the event of upset tummy’s, starve 24 hours then reintroduce food white fish/potato is usually accepted better then fish/rice. We do keep a basic animal first aid kit in the cupboard alongside over the counter medicines, hibiscrub, a medicated shampoo, tick removers, claw clippers etc Vets do like to up sell items and offer monthly schemes for flea and worm treatment, people think they are getting a great deal but when you look at alternatives it’s not. Our animals are insured until they get to an age where major medical interventions would not be ethical in my opinion, too many people keep their pets alive for far longer then they should because they cannot bear to let them go. I’m a big believer in just because there is an option of doing something it doesn’t necessarily mean we should.

I know thats crazy. I dont think they are good for me neermind a dog. and honestly I dont get why a dog could be anxious aobut in the way a human being is

I love dogs but I can't have one as both DH and I both work full time out of the house, so I can't provide a suitable home for a dog. That isn't any more or less unfair than not being able to afford one. No one is owed a dog.

I have 4 dogs - I absolutely adore them.
They are insured, innoculated annually and well looked after - my splurge is their food but that's a personal choice and I could do it much cheaper if I had the time.
However, with the rest of it, I'm quite pragmatic and take the same approach I have with my daughter - if it's not falling off, or I don't need to cut it off, you can walk it off.
Upset tummy - rice and chicken, scrambled eggs or (as a last resort) I have a couple of cans of gastro food in my pet cupboard.
Cuts/grazes/claws etc - clean it and keep an eye on it.

Obviously, anything major and they're off to the vet but it must be 18 months since we were last there for anything except a jab.

I have had dogs of my own for over 25 years, never seen a behaviourist or had anxiety medication and have taken the time to train them so puppy classes have never been needed.

I think some of it is society driven, some of it convenience driven. As long as you look after them well, I don't care how you do it

I agree entirely, OP.

When I was growing up I had a wonderful Alsation/Collie cross who never needed a vet once in her entire life- she was bought from a pet shop.The same with the next family dog- Labrador/Collie cross, bought from a pet shop.Nobody took out insurance in 1979 or 1995. Both lived to be 15.

You cannot get a mongrel or cross- breed puppy anywhere now, so options are either go to a good breeder who can advise on potential, future health issues- and I'd say most pedigree dogs have breed-specific issues -or go to a rescue centre like a friend did and potentially bring home a dog with health issues which cost a fortune to rectify. I know there are a lot of successful adoptions,though- but even the adoption fees I think are not manageable for some.

That depends. My cat had heart failure and he was treated with human medication which we put in his food. Why would you not treat that? Thanks to our excellent vet we had an extra 6 months with him.