Vet bills with 4 dogs

I wanted to comment in regards to owning mulitple dogs and the cost associated with this. I have been reading alot of threads where people are considering getting another dog but are worried about the additional cost. Well I'm here to tell you it can get quite expensive. For instance: 1) Cocoa had to go to the vet last week (slip disk) they think, cost overall $300.00, 2) 4 weeks ago Houdini got sick cost $300.00 3)New puppy getting fixed next week, cost $150.00... As you can see 750.00 gone within a month. Please, please think of this when you are thinking about adding more dogs to your household. I ended up getting a Pet Care Credit Card and it has been a lifesaver...

If you're going to get another dog / cat / pet, it's probably VERY worth considering pet insurance. Less than $20 a month for our one dog, but covers 70% of costs incurred by any accident and by most illnesses. When you think one incident can cost you $300 OR MUCH MORE commonly for one dog, if the insurance pays only even $200, there's ten months of your insurance right there. Worth it. And your furbabies will thank you when you can afford to pay to care for them.

Caring for my dogs can be very expensive. Since all of my dogs are giant/large breeds, care can be very costly. I had to neuter 2 of my dogs (300 dollars gone---BAM)! And, shots, bla bla bla... can get really expensive. Pet insurance is definatly worth it, since I get a discount because I have more then 2 animals.

Hmm.. what exactly is this about? and where can you get one? is there an annual cost for it?

yeah I need to get insurance for my dogs. I wanted to get insurance before when we had 3 dogs and they wouldn't insure my husky because she was already diagnosed with cancer. I should look into it agian though and see what kind of rate I could get for my two.

Julie, all I know is that the company sends me the bill and I pay for it LOL, You can get more protection (accidents, visits to the vet, unexpected illnesses) for more money, and less for less money (accidents) It can range anywhere from 10-50 dollars a month, really.
I pay 25 dollars a month for my dogs and darwin. Thats covering unexpected illness, accidents, and 5% of their vet bill.

Edited:
25 dollars each, not for the whole lot!

Pet insurance is good for accidents and some even include shots but many don't. Check them out b4 you sign up. Plus check w/ how it will work. Some you have to pay out of pocket then get reimbursed. Also check w/ you vet. I had people tell me that they had some major greif b/c the vet didn't supply enough info and had to fight w/ the company to get $ back. I did know one family that had a choc lab who was very accident prone and the insurance was a god send! Main the bills they would have paid.
All things have pros and cons, I guess.
Another option (sorry I'm partial, we have this) is a wellness program. Banfield (located in PetSmart- not in every PetSmart) has wellness plans. They have a monthly cost and include all office visits and shots, then you can pick which plan fits your family best.
The have 2 types, puppy and adult. The puppy-has 2 types- one includes all the boosters, ther other is the same plus it includes a spay or nueter.
The adult has 4 levels (I think).
The free office visits alone makes upe for it. Plus anything not on the plan (except Hearworm and flea & tick meds) is discounted (the amount depends on which level).

I'm getting my dog insured. I think every one should do the same for sure.

i have researched pet insurance and decided against it. instead of paying a certain amount each month for insurance, i put it into a savings account. that way the money will actually be there if i need it and won't just be gone if i don't need it.

the wellness plans etc. that many services offer are also nice in theory, but i don't like that you don't have much control about the type of products that are included. for example i woudn't want my dog to get a 5-way vaccine to begin with, and especially not every year. most of all, i don't want a vet using any fort dodge vaccines on any of my animals.

another thing about insurances is that you really have to read the small print about what they cover and what they don't cover, and how old your dog can be to qualify for coverage. i've seen policies that would only cover dogs of up to 6 years...

I've only seen people get screwed by the insurence. they put a ton in and get nothing back.

Last time I took all four in it was around 1200. It sucked but they are my babies so what are you going to do. thank god none of them have any chronic illnesses or have had any huge accidents.

I checked into it when we first got Brutus. It seemed like a good idea, but I read an article somewhere that many dog owners were having a hardtime getting their money back from the insurance companies. The ones I did check into had to be paid up front. The premium for Roxie was rather high. The older the dog the more the premium, and I believe they only went to 9 or 10. I'm not totally against the idea for Brutus as he is a puppy, just haven't found the right company yet. And vet bills can be outrageous, especially with large breed dogs. Surgeries are almost as much as humans. So far for Brutus it has run about $600.00 and that is just shots, xrays-1 time, standard puppy stuff.

This Morning Cinder "did Her Buisness" On The Living Room Carpet. I Cleaned It Up The Best That I Could But You Could Really Smell It Still. Right When My Parents Walked In The Door Then Smelled It And They Asked Me It I Could Smell It. "no," I Answered. So They Forgot About The Whole Thing. I'm Glad Too Because If They Found Out, We Would Have Probably Gotten Rid Of Cinder!!!