Not sure on size as know that can have impact, but I had a beagle spayed two weeks ago and was £290 so that sounds a very inflated price there @Zeus
And that included a vest, and two follow ups in the week after and med's - all in charge basically For age vs insurance - my neighbours said once there dogs get to about 5-6 it starts to cost more than saving hte money yourself - but its a but of a gamble/risk depending on the dog and how injury prone they are. Plus, any previous claims are usually excluded if you move insurers so if I change from petplan to anyone else, anything on Moos right leg after that isnt insured regardless. So I will keep her insured for another few years but think I said once it hits the 1k a year mark then ill save the money instead and yeah CC's are the saviour if needed at that point (I have put in claims for 2k for the past 2 years so quids in at moment!!)
Attitudes to pets as 'fur babies' or members of the family have really changed over the years. When my parents and grandparents had dogs as they aged and became infirm they were put down and a new puppy appeared. Some of the therapies available for animals now were simply unheard of, which of course carry a large price tag/insurance cost.
It’s true. When I was a kid I would often encounter quite scary packs of dogs because in those days, in our neighbourhood at least, people would just chuck the family dog outside when they went to work and they’d all meet up and go on adventures together. In fact, we ended up with a kind of time share in a black lab called Ben who lived next door but one and much to the displeasure of our cat, used to spend most holidays, weekday afternoons and part of the weekends hanging around with me and my brother. Nobody would dream of doing anything like that these days. I get nervous just leaving Iggy tied up outside the CooP for a few minutes while I scoot in to buy a pint of milk, never mind leaving him to his own devices outdoors for 10 hours a day.
Our Vets are £510 for a 'keyhole' spay. Worth it if Coalville isn't too far for you? Here's their linky ....www.vetscoalville.co.uk
Looks like we just got dog number 5! One of the pup's has come back to us, the owners cant look after him anymore (I do think its a genuine case this time) so once he settles will post some updates
How do you find having so many dogs with regards noise and neighbours? Theres a lady who comes to the fields by ours every morning with 5 collies and her mum comes and meets her with another two and the noise is next level (and thats just the owners). I know she lives in a new housing estate nearby too which i would be having kittens if she lived anywhere near me and i had to listen to that circus every day.
One side (The one who took one of her littler) has dogs and we get on well/no issues. The other side are a pair of bell-ends anyway. The chicken's would go up a tree near the fence to doodle-do every morning so they cut it down not that it made any difference as they just stand in the same spot on the fence anyway!!! But they are pretty good, they dont really bark that much at home unless the door goes then its a mare for 30seconds then all goes quiet again so they arent too bad generally. The only time the GSD will bark is when the postmans outside, for some reason the hi viz orange he goes nuts but hi viz yellow no noise hardly! This is him now hes finally relaxing, poor fella had a tough day or so it seems
Our rescue also goes mad at Orange High Viz. I was assured by a trainer I trust that Dogs see High Viz differently to us, but especially the reflective strips that usually come with it. If the wearer is also moving about the ultra bright reflective bits are simply seen as a big threat.
Tbf, many dogs have a warped sense of what’s a threat and what’s benign. Iggy goes bananas if he as much as senses the slightest movement within the invisible perimeter of what he perceives as his territory, yet with him being ultra-gregarious (my dog walker, who is also a mental health counsellor, jokes that he has “hyper-social personality disorder”), I’m pretty sure he’d happily go off with an intruder if he ever encountered one.
The likes of Medivet taking over is what's hiking up prices. That and some practices cutting corners by using unsupervised students, that in a recent visit didn't know how to find a vein in our GSD despite several attempts. Another Vet gave one of our GSD's too little and then too much anaesthetic causing a stroke, during a simple procedure. It can be hard to get into a good independent practice these days. If on the other hand they've got plenty of places and kids greet you, ask yourself why.
Sadly, were down to 4 again. I hated doing it, but too many territory issues for the new guy with our current pack. Sad for him, he was such a gentle giant and didnt deserve to be messed around. I managed to find him a family home where he is an only dog with someone I work with so they work from home, and so far has settled well and getting updates on him. But very sad to lose him, didnt want a 5th dog but as he was one of ours anyway had accepted the idea so only a few days and miss the little (Or not so little) guy, as does Moo (Mum) But, we tried and did our best and hopefully gone to a home forever more and be treated like royalty
Iggy needs his teeth cleaning but I’m really wary of getting it done because it involves a general anaesthetic and I don’t trust the vet not to f*ck it up. Hence, as recommended by our very own @Jonnybiscuit I'm giving Plaque Off powder a go and will take a view in a couple of months time.
You did the right thing, I’ve seen similar issues like that before and it’s miserable for the dogs involved.
