You’re Not Entitled to a Pet

Little controversial topic here, just in time for Christmas, and I’m sure I’ll piss off half the readers, but as a vet who has serviced lower to middle classed clients, I have some strong feelings about how much you should be able to afford for your pets. Do I think you should do every possible thing for your pet? Absolutely not. I had a friend who told me you shouldn’t get a dog unless you are willing to spend $1M on chemotherapy and I’m very certainly not there. It almost feels stupid having to say what I’m going to say, but I’ll still piss some people off. (granted I’ve found being on the internet, you could say you love puppies and get reamed by at least 17 people for that)

Let’s start at the VERY VERY VERY bare minimum. Husbandry. Basically, knowing what kind of environment, feeding, watering, etc your pet will need for basic survival. Not to mention the longevity, sexual maturity, behavior, or even the sex of the animal. Cats: food, water, litterbox/outside access. Dogs: food, water, outside access. (These are also good husbandry for the people living in the house so there’s not an accumulation of ammonia and fecal material every where). Farm mammals: food, CLEAN water, dry bedding, good air flow. Chickens: food, CLEAN water, dry bedding, shelter. Aquatics, reptiles, exotic mammals, birds, etc: I HAVE NO CLUE and likely most people who get these as pets also have no clue and that’s just irresponsible at best and abuse at worst.

Working as large animal vet in a rural small town area, I got to see a lot of situations that would have worked out so much better if the farmer had basic husbandry knowledge before imprisoning these poor animals. “Well, I think your calves are all dying because they’re exposed to cold and rain in a 4×4 hutch with no bedding, just laying in mud and feces.” “Umm, cows aren’t supposed to survive on corn alone, that’s why they’re so sick. I don’t care what the 4H person told you to get him to gain as much weight as possible.” On the other end: “Ummm, cows can’t live on straw (they weren’t feeding hay, they were feeding straw – it would be like feeding a human peanut shells instead of peanuts) while standing in 4 feet of mud.”

I feel like MOST people have the basics for dogs and cats, but it baffles me how many people will go out and purchase an exotic pet without any research. When my daughter begged and begged for an axolotl, I spent almost a year researching. I got in touch with a vet who treats exotics and breeds axolotls, spent about three months getting the water parameters just right, fought (and still fight) my stupid urge to add more creatures to her tank (they can pick at/hurt the axolotl and cause infections), and whenever she is acting off, I get in touch with a vet group to get advice. It absolutely terrified me to think about putting an animal in captivity with no options to escape a bad situation and be forced to suffer in my care. Many people don’t know that there aren’t very many exotics vets. Most small animal clinics are just dogs and cats and when their lizard is bloated and laying on the floor, they can’t find a vet right away because they haven’t researched where to find an exotics vet. They are also surprised by the cost of a vet visit. “The hamster was only $30, why is the bill $200?!”

Next, let’s move on to basic medical care. Like it or not, the basics your vet talks about are pretty necessary. It’s fun to say you don’t believe in vaccines when you haven’t had to care for/euthanize puppies, kittens, horses, cows, etc who are suffering from a very easily preventable diseases just because their owner decided they were more of an expert than the doctor. Or having to sever the head off a perfectly happy healthy animal who is purring and bumping you because it wasn’t vaccinated for rabies and bit someone (no, I’m not bitter). Basic parasite treatment cause lord knows where that puppy/kitten came from, vaccinations against common and very deadly diseases, and then prevention from those parasites that also bring disease and suffering – and YES, your pet can get almost all the parasites and their diseases from them just staying in your house. Your pet that you have taken in is 100% relying on your care to make them safe and comfortable.

Next, is their reproductive life. I know in some other countries, most people do not spay/neuter regularly, but I also feel like they don’t have the stray/shelter situation we do. So, in the US, I tell people that if you have a female dog that you’re not going to breed (and you really shouldn’t breed until your dog passes all the health checks common for that breed AND have an amazing personality – even at the vet’s office) that you spay her before or around 1 year of age. If not, they are more prone to mammary cancer later in life or a very dangerous emergency called a pyometra where the uterus becomes a giant sack of pus and they can quickly become septic and die – and it will be about 4-6x the cost of a routine spay. I also recommend spaying before their first heat if you don’t have a physical structure (fence, leash walked only keeping them from running away or attracting a stray male to come into your underground fenced yard and breeding her.

If you have a male dog, there aren’t nearly as many health hazards as a female, but, still, if you can’t physically keep your dog in your yard (underground fences don’t count cause a dog will break through if a female is in heat) I recommend neutering to prevent impregnating the neighborhood – and they’re more likely to get hit by a car, shot by a hunter/farmer/neighbor, injured, or picked up by someone who thinks they’re a stray because they’ll be more likely to wander where they’re not supposed to be.

If you have a cat – male or female, you’ll want to get them spayed and neutered without much provocation from me. Or you will if you don’t yet. The males will spray and STINK, the females will be pole dancing every few months, or sometimes constantly and driving you crazy.

So, then once you’ve established your pet with the best start of life you can, they will STILL need medical care the rest of their lives. They will need to booster their vaccines every 1-3 years, they will need to stay on parasite prevention ALL YEAR in most places. It’s so heartbreaking to see an animal bald, red, covered in scabs and fleas and just miserable scratching itself raw and the owner can’t afford flea prevention or allergy medication. This animal that you’ve taken into your home who can’t get away to find better care is then forced to suffer with miserable itching, bleeding, infection, disease, parasites because you didn’t consider money before getting a pet. (Yes, some people fall into hard times, I’m talking about people who don’t have funds to begin with). Am I a heartless person who only cares about money – absolutely not. I’m just being real with you and telling you you’ll need to consider ALL this before you just go out and pick up an animal and trap it in your care.

Remember, if you’re not giving the animal a better life, you’re not rescuing it, you’re just relocating it.

I went through the charges here at the clinic I work which is mostly middle of the road pricing. We’re not in an incredibly affluent area, but also not in the middle of nowhere, so, obviously prices will vary based on your location and cost of living. For our clinic, if you’re getting a puppy, go ahead and plan for $1200 for the first year – this includes office visits, vaccinations, deworming, fecal, heartworm, flea, tick prevention for the year, and spay/neuter. Then, after that, plan on around a minimum of $550-650 per year – annual office visit, basic vaccines, heartworm test, heartworm/flea/tick prevention for the year. And if you’re getting an English bulldog, pug, other smushed faced dogs, go ahead and double those numbers.

I did the same for a cat and the first year for a kitten including office visits, basic vaccines, flea/tick prevention for the year, spay/neuter would be around $400 for a female and $250 for a male. After that, plan on a minimum of $250-400 per year depending on the prevention you choose.

If you really love animals – I mean REALLY love animals, think and plan before bringing one home. Pets are not a necessity, they are a commitment and, frankly, a privilege. If you can’t afford basic care, and you just want something soft to cuddle at night, just get a stuffed animal – Squishmallows are nice.