BellaOnline Forums Relationships Married No Kids Pets

I just got back from the vet. Poor Randall (dog) had to have a toenail yanked off because he broke it the other day. Between that and an ear infection, it cost me $98. It made me realize how much KIDS cost when they get sick. Kids don't go to the doctor once a year. They go all the time. Because they also go to the dentist, and the eye doctor, and the allergist, and the blah blah blah.

And then they fall off the monkey bars looking for flying saucers and knock out teeth (hubby) or slip while playing cowgirl and go to the ER for six stitches in the nose (me.)

So I don't mind spending a couple hundred dollars on each dog each year for shots, meds, emergencies, etc.

I want your vet. Every time I visit mine, it costs $65 just to walk in the door.

For shots the year before last for 2 cats and a dog, it was $502. When they came due last year, I simply had to blow them off, because I had $1800 of school to pay for first.

My older border collie died of pancreatic failure in Sept. She had a bad episode of pancreatitis in March, and was hospitalised for 3 days at a cost of $1200. Then the bill for another 2 days last time, and the euthanasia once we determined that there was no more we could do, was another $1080.

The pet insurance costs for two cats, two dogs (one dog a senior, so WAY more expensive) would run to nearly $180 a month. I'd rather gamble, as the surviving animals are all still young.

I sometimes think that kids might be cheaper!! At least the company covers their health insurance!

Oh, that got me laughing out loud.


Couple hundred dollars? That's what parents pay for formula and diapers alone! Then there's daycare, which I've heard is anywhere from $300-600 a month!!

I love buying toys for my cat...$1.95 at Wal-Mart. Catnip is $2.50. Her annuals are $60. A bag of food every two weeks is maybe $8. Litter is $12/month. My apartments actually have "pet rent," which is $10/month.

Let's total this...I spend about $550 on my cat every year. *CACKLE* Do I need to say anything else?

Wow Pikasam,your vet costs are triple what I pay. I wonder why the costs are so high where you live? I am sorry for your loss.

It's $55 to walk in the door at our vet. But they are really good. It's much more expensive when it's shots time. And my gliders have an expensive vet that takes me over an hour to drive to. I think he charges $50 for the visit but then to find out what's wrong they have to take blood and x-rays and stuff. And then that comes out to $200 a visit.

People say "why do you spend so much on your animals?" Well, why do you spend so much on your children? Does your 8-year-old REALLY need an iPod?

I've been talked out of getting a horse because upkeep is so expensive. I'm going to start talking people out of having kids for the same reason.

Har! You forget another great bonus to having pets vs. kids, you can get the pets FIXED! >;D

I wouldn't be so easily deterred from having a horse, expenses depend a lot on the breed and what you're using it for. If it's a trail horse, you'll be spending a lot less on food/etc than if it were a competing horse.

Horses eat hay no matter what they're used for. My friend has three backyard "pet" horses that don't get ridden and she has to buy a big round bale of hay every few months, which can cost $150 or more in this area. Then one of her horses is too old to eat coastal hay, so she buys him square bales of alfalfa, which costs $8 each, not sure how fast he goes through them, but probably at least one a week. Then they also eat feed, the old horse is on senior food, and I'm sure that costs more. Then there's the farrier, and even though they don't wear shoes, a trim for all three horses is around $120 every 8 weeks or so. THEN if anyone gets sick, or finds something sharp in the pasture and gashes themselves, pokes themselves in the eye with a piece of hay, it's easily $300 or up for a vet visit. Horses are famous for getting themselves hurt in creative ways. My friend is able to keep her horses on her own property, so she doesn't pay board. I love horses, but I don't have any land, so I would have to board if I had a horse. Around here, if I want my horse in a stall, it's easily $500/month and up. So, those expenses and the difficulty in predicting them (can't predict when a horse will decide to injure itself or get sick), are the main reasons I don't have a horse. I guess if I wanted it more, I would figure out a way to do it, or get a "horse fix" some other way. Hmmm....kind of like deciding to have kids, you should have a strong desire to do it. At least acquiring a horse is harder (for most people) than getting pregnant! LOL!

Cindy

We have 6 cats, and while that does add up as far as yearly vet check-ups and food/litter is concerned, it's a small price to pay for all the love and fun they bring to us! It's also way small in comparison to kids. In every way, I do believe that pets are superior to children, and I know my kitties certainly make us happier (even when they're being kind of bad) than a child ever would.

You know it's funny reading about all these vet bills etc. I have a german shepherd who to me is just as much of a pain as a child could ever be. My kids behave better than she does. She whines, barks, throws baby fits, tears things up so technically pets are no better than kids. The only thing they don't do is speak.

You've probably trained your kids better than your dog. I've found the best way to avoid having things torn up is to make sure the things she likes to tear up are not within her reach. (I learned this after my red heeler developed a liking of chewing up my clean underwear after it came out of the dryer!) The other things can be handled with training or ignoring the undesirable behavior.

We're basically saying that pets are the better choice for those of us who don't want kids. There are some childfree people who don't want pets either, and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm not going to bingo them saying "You need to have a dog! Your life would be SO much better with a dog, you don't know what you're missing!"

One great thing about my dogs, as much as I love them, if I decide to go out of town and grandma/grandpa can't take care of them I can always board them. Can't do that with kids!