Vet Bills can really add up

As I stated in my last post, dogs can cost a lot of money.  While the day-to-day expenses can be enough to put you over the edge, major unforeseen expenses can really break the bank!  This is something you should plan for in preparation for owning a dog.  I have two dogs and fortunately, my male Rambo has never needed more than his routine yearly vaccinations.  What Rambo lacks in health issues, Roxie makes up for. 

Over the past year and a half, she has cost me more money than I thought possible to spend on a dog.  In one of my previous posts, I mentioned that she suffers from allergies.  This started last year, much to my chagrin.  I noticed a few bumps on her tummy when spring had sprung and though it was just a little reaction that would go away.  Fast forward a few weeks and it was worse than ever.  I took her to the vet and it turned out that she was suffering from allergies, but because I had let it go untreated for several weeks, she also had a skin infection.  The vet prescribed an antibiotic to clear up the infection ($30), a special shampoo to bath her in twice a week ($20), and allergy medicine to be administered twice a day ($30 for 30-day supply).  Then there was the cost of examination ($50).  So this first visit ended up costing me $130.  I had to take her in two weeks later for a follow-up and threw out another $50.  Not long after the allergy episode, both dogs were due for their annual visit/vaccination updates.  At this time, we purchased a year's supply of flea and tick medication as well as a year's supply of heartworm prevention medication.  The annual vet visit cost us just over $500 for everything. 

The first half of last year had me spending way more money on my dogs than I thought possible.  Well, towards the end of the year, Roxie didn't fail to disappoint.  She started having accidents in the house which was uncharacteristic of her (she's been potty-trained for years).  At first I thought it was a simple accident until I came home to her sitting in her urine soaked crate.  I immediately bathed her and took her to the vet.  They had to take a urinalysis and determined that she had a presence of bacteria at which time antibiotics were prescribed.  $75 out of my pocket for that!  Several weeks later, Roxie started having the same bladder issues.  Back to the vet for another check-up.  Infection was not cleared up, so she went on another type of antibiotic = $75 again!  The vet said if that one didn't clear it up, they would have to do an x-ray.  After two weeks on the antibiotic, I took her to the vet for a re-check and the results were clear, though it cost me $50 for the third urinalysis. 

Not only have I experienced costly vet issues, my friend Jane just incurred some unexpected vet costs.  Her dog had blood in his urine, so her vet put the dog on two rounds of antibiotics to try to clear it up.  After no results, they had to perform an x-ray and determined the dog has a rather large stone blocking his kidney.  He will have to have surgery to remove the stone at a cost of $900.  That doesn't include the prior vet visits, antibiotics, and urinalysis that this dog has already received. 

My point of this blog is to show that many of the larger expenses related to dogs pop up unexpectedly.  It is important to ensure you have a little money tucked away for emergencies.  While you may never experience a problem, you wouldn't want to be left without the means to take care of you beloved pet when they need it the most.