Financial Horror Stories from Pet Owners

Wow!  Nothing gets people up in arms more than writing about how expensive their pets are.  I've received several "they're not that expensive" and "they're worth it" emails/comments since I posted about it yesterday.  But it's all ok with me because controversy drives traffic. :-)

While I'm not going to make this into the "Financial Pet Blog", I can't resist posting one more time on the topic.  This time, I want to share some of the comments that related to pets and finances that I found especially horrific. Here are a couple:

"My wife and I bought a pet rabbit in 1988. He died in 1998. We spent over $5,000.00 on vet bills and supplies. A rabbit. I can not imagine a dog."

Turns out, a dog is a couple thousand less than a rabbit:

"Not only are they expensive on a monthly basis but I spent over $3,000 on acupuncture for my Doberman, Bruno, before I had to put him down. Six months later I bought another Doberman, Boomer. :)"

I didn't know dogs got acupuncture, but what do I know?

Finally, here's a post from a friend of mine who would 1) give up eating to have a pet, 2) keeps a tight dog treat budget, and 3) holds his kids to a spending level below the monthly cost of a pet:

"With my dog it comes far less than $400 per month. Heck, I don't spend that much on my two kids!

My golden retriever was from the human society for $100 and that including the "fix". You don’t need to spend big bucks on pure breed champion dogs to get a good one. We bought two dog dishes and got an old quit from the Salvation Army for $5. Her fetch toy costs less than $5 and I got a free doghouse from a friend. The most expense is the once a year vet visit with heartworm pills and shots. That's about $200. Then add in dog food and treats and it's that’s about $25 per month. The amount of pleasure my children get from the dog far exceeds the $500 per year we pay. If you decide do not take the family out for dinner once per month you have covered the cost of the pet with ease. Seeing the kids playing and loving the dog is a greater overall benefit than one meal at a restaurant. Your kids will always remember the dog but they will never remember that missed restaurant meal. This is fiscal responsibility."

I'll refrain from commenting and let you all take it from here. ;-)

Update: Time to link to the Beltway Traffic Jam.

Comments

[Joshua Kersey]

I have a dalmation and two cats. For my wife and I, the most expensive part is the food. I do buy good food, and on that I spend about 30$/mo. Once a year they all get shots at the discount mobile vet ( www.pet-vax.com ). I buy hairball remedy-treats in bulk, but I've heard a little bit of petroleum jelly on their nose will do just as well. The dog wont behave without a little bit of treats, so we buy those in bulk too. Boarding is really expensive, so we have a neighbor who has a pet-sitting business take care of them. She's not cheap either. No doubt, pets are definitely an extra expense and the cost should be thoroughly considered before purchase. I agree that I do enjoy them and I feel that they're worth every penny. My wife and I have made agreements that if anyone became ill, the most we would spend on attempting to return them to health would be a set amount before deciding to have them put to rest. She had the dalmatian and I had the cats before we were wed.