$376.17 Poorer

Well thats a lot of money Sandra, but I paid $87 just for the thyroid test at my vet, I paid $50 something dollars for Interceptor over the internet because my vet doestn't carry it,,,but you got a lot for your money.
Buck will be taken care of at least!

I spent $344 for one visit to the ER Vet, $147 at the ER Vet, and $200+ at my regular vet, not counting the bags of Ringer's solution, set up and needles.  All to keep my 17 year old dog going for what may only be weeks...My well dog visits alone are $1000/year for five dogs.
Vet services are climbing exponentially - my advice to everyone is to do what I did, and have a special savings account set up.  If you can't, then buy insurance. 

Great idea Anne.    I'm not debating vet charges or saying anything to get veterinarian workers mad,,,but it come to that many people can not afford to take care of their dog properly.   Many PEOPLE don't go to the doctor because they feel it will hurt them to spend that extra money...so for sure they don't take their dog to the vet like they should or else they decline certain treatments.   At least most people have medical insurance options,,but most can not afford insurance for their pets,,,along with other necessities!  

I have really been considering insurance because its a lot like people in that you never know when something is going to pop up.  When Kayla got pancreatitis she spent three days at the vets on an IV and it ended up being about $600 for everything.  Dont get me wrong I would have sold my house if I had needed to to pay for whatever she needed... but it made me realize that insurance may not be such a bad idea... and just for an unexpected e-vet visit may be worth it sometimes!  I have not priced it yet tho so not sure.

Oh, how I can sympathize!  I just went through all that with Winnie, only to find out she was resistant to the antibiotics, and is now on $250 worth of human stuff...plus she needs a $200 unltrasound...arggh!

$300 something would include a regular vet visit with a few yearly shots from where I'm at.  Though it's always good to put aside some money off your paycheck monthly for the vet visits.  Especially when the dog get older, means more vet visits and etc.  [&:]  Never too early to plan for this, or just buy insurance.  []

I usually have a credit there, but I used all it yesterday, paid some, and still owe.  I had just written a check and took it with me instead of purse with checkbook, etc.  I had not expected to have a urinalysis run, buy the antibiotics and the dog food.
 
We pay right at $375 a month for our health insurnace.  Hubby had to have an MRI done on lower back (2 herniated disc pressing on siatic (?) nerve) and we just were notified by our insrance they wre paying $1025 of the pill and the other $900 is our responsibility.  We have paid $35 every time he walked into the doctor office, plus bought the meds. 
 
I guess when I think on it, that bill isn't to high for all the diffeent tests, meds, exam, etc.  Once hubby went to get his blood pressure meds prescription renewed, never left the waiting room, nurse went back and the doc wrote the prescription, she came back and gave it to him-it was a $72 "office call" of which he had to pay $35 and never saw the doctor, and the nurse just handed the prescritpion thru the window into the reception room.  Now that is rip off.

my advice to everyone is to do what I did, and have a special savings account set up. If you can't, then buy insurance.

 
...and if all else fails, have and use a credit card that pays bonus points for every dollar spent.  I should be able to travel someplace very exotic one of these days soon []

Aww, Poor Buck! I hope he's feeling better, soon.

Insurance isn't an option for those of us with older or already sickly dogs. They'd laugh in our faces if we tried to insure our pets. I, too, just spent over $300 on a vet visit, and it didn't even include any of the routine stuff (we don't vaccinate for anything but the triennial rabies)... I've gotta have blood run on both dogs, soon, including hw snaps and thyroid numbers, for at least Emma. Dogs are expensive, but SO worth it[]

I had heard more than once, that the only time pet insurance is beneficial is if you get it when your dog is a puppy,,,  I do believe you can use it for a regular spay or neuter,,,,but if you already PAY for that and then purchase insurance your already wasting money.    Maybe things have changed since I heard that. BUT for sure, the older or sickly dogs will NOT be covered.....as Jeanie said!

  It's a good thing you found out about the kidney infection before he showed symptoms; sounds like you caught it early. I hope it clears up soon and his thyroid test comes back okay.

I would love to be able to lower his dosage of thyroid.  He gets a .8 mg soloxine twice a day since diagjnosed a year ago Feb. I think it was.  He was checked 30 days after going onto it, and then 3 months after thatand the way they said me, if it was rated one as low and 5 as high, he was a perfect 3 for each test.  I doubt we will be able to lower the dosage.

I love this topic because it really hits home.

I am a public school teacher, single, mortgaged up to my ears and then some. But after paying all my bills every month, supposedly I have $350 left over for leeway. I say "supposedly" because that $350 always gets spent at the vet.

I have two twin silky terriers, 13 years old, who have mostly been healthy up until the last three years or so. I have spent untold thousands on them the last several years, what with eye surgery and so on. This year alone I have spent $3,400 at the veterinary opthalmologist for glaucoma and cataract issues, eye injuries and inflammation and finally eye removal. Then there are the regular vet bills for annual check up, vaccinations, dental cleanings and extractions, colitis, and what else I don't know. And let's not forget all the maintenance meds and special canned diet food.

Katie is recuperating from eye removal surgery this afternoon; and now Elizabeth is passing blood clots in her urine. The vet looked at her urine sample and said there are strong indications of bladder cancer cells; so now we are doing a $300 abdominal ultrasound next week to get a better look at what's going on. If it is indeed bladder cancer, the survival statistics are grim from what I've researched on the web (3 to 7 months on average). I've already decided that if that happens, there will be no chemo, radiation or heroic measures. I feel she is too old for that, and -- having watched my mother go through chemo three weeks before dying of cancer -- I'm against it. Plus I literally cannot afford to spend another couple of thousand dollars.

I've already had a good cry this afternoon and now I'm trying to wrap my mind around the possibility of saying good bye to my baby some time before Christmas. That would absolutely rip my heart out.

I live very frugally. I get all of my clothes and shoes at Target! I put off hair cuts as long as I can. I haven't taken a vacation since 2001. I'm always looking for free deals and entertainment to cut corners. The sad truth is that one day when my babies are gone, I will be finally able to start saving into a 401k. And maybe take that long awaited vacation. Until then, I'm going to keep saving every penny for the next vet visit.

Yep, it's depressing sometimes.  I paid off my car last month and thought "woo hoo, I'll have an extra $300 next month".  Well in one week, I spent $500 on vet bills and antibiotics and we're not done yet.  So instead of going to my favorite mall at lunch today, I went to Big Lots []