how much does your dog cost you per year? - Page 3

eightsnake · #21 (**permalink**) 22-06-2008, 05:43 PM

I am well aware of the fairly recent work done on vaccinations, and that the recommendations are definitely not inline with the usual recommendations from most vets of yearly vaccs.

However all that taken into account, if you insure your dog or kennel them then you are in the situation of being unable to vaccinate less.
If your dog is not 'up-to date' on its vaccs and you make a claim, your insurance will be void.

If anyone on here has found any different then I would be very interested to know which insurance company allows for vaccs to not be done??

I have an 8 year old bull terrier who has just gone through £2500 in about 6 months for congestive heart failure which his insurance covered. I can not afford to be uninsured so please don't anyone suggest that as an option.

I have 3 dogs, a collie cross and 2 bull terriers they cost me
£54 per month in insurance- £648 per year
£60 per month in food - however I do feed raw meat and high quality complete so about £720 per year
£14 worming every 3 months
£9 per flea treatment, all 3 dogs, mainly during summer
£147 per year in vaccinations - I do live in Essex!

bedding, leads,collars etc one off purchases and you can pay as much or as little as you like depending on quality and taste
Kennelling is about £10 per night per dog

I also show my Bull terrier bitch so she costs even more in entry fees and grooming and petrol!
Crufts for the last 2 years and again next year is worth it though!

I think for most, your dogs cost more than you think but what they give back is priceless

Good luck in getting your dog

Lorraine

Marinam2 · #22 (**permalink**) 22-06-2008, 06:06 PM

I'm well aware of that but i have the money not to have to worry about insurance. Plus i'd never put my dogs in kennels!!

Marina

Emmaj · #23 (**permalink**) 22-06-2008, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fenwoman

Yet scientific data has shown that yearly boosters are not always necessary. My own vets for the last 10 years have advocated only the lepto gets done yearly (because of the environment my dogs live in) and the rest only once every 3 years with dogs over 9 years not being done at all.In over 30 years keeping dogs, I have never lost one to a transmissable disease.
I've always wondered why we can vaccinate our children so that their immune systems recognise and fight disease for the rest of their lives, but not do the same for dogs. I suspect money is involved somewhere, especially since the booster only costs around £3 to the vet but £35 to the dog owner.

I work that way too with boosters

eightsnake · #24 (**permalink**) 22-06-2008, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marinam2

I'm well aware of that but i have the money not to have to worry about insurance. Plus i'd never put my dogs in kennels!!

Marina

Lucky you!

Lorraine

Meko · #25 (**permalink**) 22-06-2008, 08:03 PM

Rio - had his bottom jaw amputated so i can't feed him on BARF again just yet...
jabs = about £25 a year, food = about £2 a week, insurance = £18 a month (he's old)

Wilo:
feeds on BARF so abot £10 a month on petrol to pick the bones up from Pimps
jabs about £25 a year
insurance is £13 a month

Marinam2 · #26 (**permalink**) 22-06-2008, 08:08 PM

Excuse my naiviety but how does the poor doggy eat at all with no lower teeth???

Marina

vetdebbie · #27 (**permalink**) 22-06-2008, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fenwoman

I often wonder where they get these figures from. Based on those sums, bearing in mind I have 14 dogs, it would mean that I pay on average around £4000 a month for my dogs upkeep. I know I spend nothing like that amount.I don't even get that amount per month.Mind you I don't happen to feed them on smoked salmon and caviar, they don't sleep on hand woven silk dog beds and don't wear 9 carat gold collars and spend 2 three week holidays a year at 'barkingham palace' 5* boarding kennels for the decerning canine, complete with room service, satelite TV, shag pile carpets and a personal maid.Poor deprived beasts that they are.

I believe it was based on buying lots of coats, bling collars, little dresses and tiaras etc.............

fenwoman · #28 (**permalink**) 22-06-2008, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vetdebbie

I believe it was based on buying lots of coats, bling collars, little dresses and tiaras etc.............

oh yes and of course if you have a chihuahua you need an Armani handbag to carry it about in <choke>.
I'd love to see someone trying to stuff my 'Aslan' into a handbag. He would be mortified as he is a mud playing, hole digging, Ursa ass kicking, whole rabbit eating country chihuahua.

vetdebbie · #29 (**permalink**) 22-06-2008, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fenwoman

Yet scientific data has shown that yearly boosters are not always necessary. My own vets for the last 10 years have advocated only the lepto gets done yearly (because of the environment my dogs live in) and the rest only once every 3 years with dogs over 9 years not being done at all.In over 30 years keeping dogs, I have never lost one to a transmissable disease.
I've always wondered why we can vaccinate our children so that their immune systems recognise and fight disease for the rest of their lives, but not do the same for dogs. I suspect money is involved somewhere, especially since the booster only costs around £3 to the vet but £35 to the dog owner.

Standard protocol for us (and really should be for most vets, they may just not tell youwhat the dog is getting) Is lepto and parainfluenza every year as those are the two components with proven poor lasting immunity, then distemper, adenovirus (or hepatitis!) and parvo every 3 years unless there isa specific risk (rotties, outbreaks etc) as the immunity is proven for longer.

The status on duration of immunity in dogs is that many dogs will respond for years and years (beyuond the length of the current studies) so may never need boosting. However some only respond for shorter periods, so the guidance on revaccination intervals is to provide GARAUNTEED immunity.
Basically we live in a litigous society and therefore I cannot say to people, yes you dog will be fine if you do not revaccinate according to these intervals. Murphy;s law is such that this dog would promptly 18 months down the line contract parvo or lepto or something and die, and the owner would blame me and no lawyer would be able to defend me as the data sheet suggests otherwise - end of career for me, no money, no house etc. So intelligent people such as the lovelies on this site can make their own decisions on revaccination with the facts at their disposal but against the official advice of their vet! And may well be perfectly right.

The plus to annual vaccination is the fact the animal gets a health check annually - a vital thing for some animals whose owners may miss the early signs of disease. We have the ability to consult a doctor if we feel a bit off - our pets can't. That's where some of the cost in vaccination goes - in fact it is specified on our invoices to highlight to owners that it has been done.

Oh, and I pay cost + vat for my cat vaccs - it's about a tenner, so slightly more than £3.

What we should do in an ideal world is check each individual's serology for antibody titres to all the vaccine components, then we could do a targeted vaccination doing only what is needed. Which may be nothing vaccinewise! Unfortunately it would probably be £70 or more a year in blood tests according to the experts in the field - something it will be hard to make the genereal populace take up sadly.

On the subject of human vaccination - yes certain vaccines only need to be givenin childhood, but others do require boostering - tetanus for example if you are in a high risk environment. As it happens most of the other diseases are rarely encountered here in the uk, but having recently been pincushioned for a trip to India that didn't appear, Diptheria is either a 3 or 5 year booster (can't remember which) typhoid is 5 yearly - but hep b has moved from 10 to 20 yearly. And so on and so forth.

vetdebbie · #30 (**permalink**) 22-06-2008, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fenwoman

oh yes and of course if you have a chihuahua you need an Armani handbag to carry it about in <choke>.
I'd love to see someone trying to stuff my 'Aslan' into a handbag. He would be mortified as he is a mud playing, hole digging, Ursa ass kicking, whole rabbit eating country chihuahua.

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