What a wonderful experience it is for a child to have a pet. It certainly was for me. A six-week-old puppy came into my life when I was about 12. I’d like to think he taught responsibility although I’m not sure that was the case.
What I do recall is carrying my pal, named Pal, with me wherever I went, walking him around the neighborhood, throwing him a ball, and crying myself sick when he got distemper and I thought I’d lose him.
My mother took him and me to the vet. The ride was unbearably long and so was the wait in the office. You didn’t need appointments then, so it was first come first served,
Finally he was seen. The vet was not hopeful, but did prescribe medicine. My mother paid the bill as we left. I don’t remember or perhaps never knew how much it was. But we weren’t an affluent family and mother didn’t seem concerned, so I guess it wasn’t too bad. I do know Pal could get all his yearly shots, such as they were then, for $5. Even in the 1980s a visit to our vet was only $10.
Fortunately, Pal recovered and lived many more years, but think what it would cost today for the same service. Of course, it isn’t the same service. Knowledge and drugs have improved. And costs have skyrocketed.
A recent visit to the wonderful vet we now frequent dealt with an incessant licking of a paw that hid the almost invisible tear that needed time to heal. It was $48 for the diagnosis plus another $15 for a flu shot booster.
An annual checkup with shots runs in the neighborhood of $200.
A daily half pill costs about $500 a year.
Heartworm and flea medicine consume hundreds of dollars annually.
Cancer treatments and knee replacements for pets come with a price tag approaching $5,000 or more.
I’ve read that one should plan for dog ownership expenses to be $1500 per year per dog. An estimate I found to be uncannily accurate during the time we owned three greyhounds. Except when we were forced to an emergency clinic for bloat and the cost was over $1000.
Visiting a vet now loosely approximates dropping in on your own primary care physician, or in extreme cases your emergency room specialist. Except for most of us there is no insurance.
Having said all that, who could object to spending what it takes to improve the comfort of a beloved pet or extend its life? A sweet, dear furry creature giving unqualified love, companionship, gentleness, faithfulness, forgiveness.
But what about the millions of kids whose families don’t have the means for proper pet care? Are they to miss out on the therapeutic value of pet companionship, or to have it but subject the animal to less than adequate health treatment—much like we do to humans come to think of it?
I don’t have an answer. I know there are special times when shots are given free or at a reduced rate. That’s great, but it’s not enough. It just seems like yet another area where, if you have the money, you can have the joy. Otherwise, tough luck, for you and the pet.
What I do recall is carrying my pal, named Pal, with me wherever I went, walking him around the neighborhood, throwing him a ball, and crying myself sick when he got distemper and I thought I’d lose him.
My mother took him and me to the vet. The ride was unbearably long and so was the wait in the office. You didn’t need appointments then, so it was first come first served,
Finally he was seen. The vet was not hopeful, but did prescribe medicine. My mother paid the bill as we left. I don’t remember or perhaps never knew how much it was. But we weren’t an affluent family and mother didn’t seem concerned, so I guess it wasn’t too bad. I do know Pal could get all his yearly shots, such as they were then, for $5. Even in the 1980s a visit to our vet was only $10.
Fortunately, Pal recovered and lived many more years, but think what it would cost today for the same service. Of course, it isn’t the same service. Knowledge and drugs have improved. And costs have skyrocketed.
A recent visit to the wonderful vet we now frequent dealt with an incessant licking of a paw that hid the almost invisible tear that needed time to heal. It was $48 for the diagnosis plus another $15 for a flu shot booster.
An annual checkup with shots runs in the neighborhood of $200.
A daily half pill costs about $500 a year.
Heartworm and flea medicine consume hundreds of dollars annually.
Cancer treatments and knee replacements for pets come with a price tag approaching $5,000 or more.
I’ve read that one should plan for dog ownership expenses to be $1500 per year per dog. An estimate I found to be uncannily accurate during the time we owned three greyhounds. Except when we were forced to an emergency clinic for bloat and the cost was over $1000.
Visiting a vet now loosely approximates dropping in on your own primary care physician, or in extreme cases your emergency room specialist. Except for most of us there is no insurance.
Having said all that, who could object to spending what it takes to improve the comfort of a beloved pet or extend its life? A sweet, dear furry creature giving unqualified love, companionship, gentleness, faithfulness, forgiveness.
But what about the millions of kids whose families don’t have the means for proper pet care? Are they to miss out on the therapeutic value of pet companionship, or to have it but subject the animal to less than adequate health treatment—much like we do to humans come to think of it?
I don’t have an answer. I know there are special times when shots are given free or at a reduced rate. That’s great, but it’s not enough. It just seems like yet another area where, if you have the money, you can have the joy. Otherwise, tough luck, for you and the pet.
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