If you would have asked me four years ago, Boggs WAS our baby! Then Addison came along and we had a little less time for him, but he still had it pretty much made. We found out almost two years ago that Boggs had a thryroid problem and diabetes and was losing his sight and had slight arthritis and ... (Basically got a LOT more expensive). At the time the vet kind of asked if we were willing to take this on and I thought of course we are--why would we put him to sleep over a few extra bills, he is part of our family.
This is what our Boggs budget has looked like for SEVERAL months:
Food for 2 weeks: 54.00
Insulin + needles : 60+ per month
Thryoid pills for 1 month: 31.35
Cosequin for 1.5 months: 75.00
Plus an absurd amount of vet visits and bloodwork etc.
(I feel like I should put --having a dog priceless.)
Even with paying all of this, my mindset was he is older, we are keeping him comfortable, we won't be paying this forever, and I would never neglect myself, Chad, or Addi of medications that we needed.
Now that we continue to pay these bills month after month, I am realizing just how expensive it is all becoming, and also how he is just a dog now. I find myself thinking does he really need this brand of food, or he doesn't seem to need his arthritis meds--we have cut back to every other day instead of twice a day, I feel extreme guilt over these decisions. I feel like I am not even nice to him anymore. Most of my conversations with him are Hey Boggs do you need to eat AGAIN? Do you need to go outside? Move out of my way Dog! Stay out of the trash! It is so hard because I know that if anything happened to him I would be extremely upset he has been with us for almost ten years, but at the same time it would be a huge burden lifted off! I hate that I feel that way! So I have made a sincere effort to be nicer to the dog, I have looked into purchasing a similar dry food from Rural King instead of the vet (35.00 for 37 pounds vs. 54.00 for 27 pounds), and I am looking into pet meds for his other needs (Soloxine .6 is 31.35 at the vet for 60 tablets and is only 8.40 on pet meds for the same 60 tablets)
Hopefully with these changes, we can put diapers on our new baby and let Addi eat about once a week! =)
1 comment:
Erin, that post, in a nutshell, is why I don't have a dog (or kids)yet! :) They are so darned expensive! I totally understand how you are frustrated. Most people don't take into account how expensive pets are, not to mention time consuming. Will and I, to put i bluntly, are just too selfish to have an animal at this point in our lives. We like to travel spontaneously and don't want the hassle of "dealing" with a dog when we're ready to pick up and leave. I can only imagine how frustrating it can be for your life to revolve around keeping Boggs comfortable as he ages. I'm sure he appreciates everything you guys do for him, though!
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