Scottsmum

*not my photo.... but brrr..... Its not even winter yet :'(

YAY!

Ta

(Disclaimer: Didn't search forum) So Scotties new meds (vivitonin) are supposed to be given 30 mins before food on an empty stomach. This afternoon (about 5pm) I watched him finish off what was left of his breakfast before registering what he'd just done & that he hadn't had his meds....I've been good at cleaning up after breaky but I have had two deadlines within 24 hours of each other and I was on another planet today. So I fed him his dinner - which he scoffed - it's also freezing here today. What should I do about the meds? Just give as late as possible? if so - how long? He had a boiled egg and some pork mince. Give later - (how long still stands) and offer smallish meal 30 mins later. Skip entirely? Not worry and medicate him now (approx 1 hour later)

My dogs are left outside all day if i am not home. they just sleep, and enjoy the sun, Bark at the postman and resume sleeping. But report me to the rspca for their terrible lives ;) They are a companion breed, but they are also dogs. Yeh but Denali - you're in Q where your days (generally) aren't as cool as the OPs. And you have three for company and you're an experienced owner.

Ok - Sorry for snapping. I must admit I read it as if you meant knowing your expenses meant you thought someone was an un-suitable owner. My dog really does come first and we're a one pet family for the same reasons (I really want a kitten and a rabbit at the moment and neither are happening because I know we don't have the money and I dont want to draw from Scotties reserves). We try our hardest to provide the very best for him. As a rule, he eats better than us, he sees the doctor far more often than we do, we gets new toys, bedding and clothing than we do too in general. Sometimes that means getting creative, or doing things on the cheap (most bedding and clothes are second hand), but it also always means knowing what we're in for. I'm not going to buy a new toy then be all "whoops - no wormer for you this month". Bearing in mind that the OP did actually say "day to day" (or something to that tune) - so day to day - that's our lot. For an out of the blue *can't be forseen expense* I have a completely in credit - credit card sitting there to be used at the drop of a hat - if he was going to max that out the injury or illness would probably be big enough to have a "quality of life" kind of conversation.

Nothing quite like nursing a pet through parvo....

Oh horses - wow - they take the cake! One reason I like dog agility rather than show jumping :laugh: Step-dads retired old man gouged a huge hole in his neck the other day (mothers day) - cost a bomb to have the vet come out and tidy it up. Little shitter. Same paddock he's lived in for years - they're still not sure what he did it on. Luckily, my brother is a farrier and he was home for mothers day and was also doing a general tidy up on everyone so they caught it fresh.

That's a bit extreme. I'll happily pay for whatever treatment Justice needs but that doesn't mean I can't be concerned about the potential costs going forward, especially since he's roughly 11 this year, without being considered unsuitable to have pets. I get concerned about my own medical costs and unexpected expenses too. Life isn't cheap and most of us don't have unlimited incomes or financial resources. I agree with Snook. It was also commented further up that this is the kind of thing new pet owners should know. I hate when people think a kitten is "free" because they paid nothing to become it's owner...It's important to realistically know and plan for the financial cost of owning a pet. I know the running costs for my car and plan accordingly, I know the average daily cost of electricity for my home and also put an appropriate amount aside each week so we're not stung at the end of the quarter. How is it that taking the time to know that my dog will cost AT LEAST $1600 per year in vet fees alone makes me an unsuitable pet owner? He costs $20 a week in medication at the moment and I ensure I have that set aside so I can cover it. Must be nice to have a money tree growing in the back yard.

I know "there there, chin up love" wont help - but the positive there is you don't have to worry about missing work to be with her. That would be true if I had worked in an office or had set hours :laugh: LOL. OK. :D

I know "there there, chin up love" wont help - but the positive there is you don't have to worry about missing work to be with her.

Scottie was like clock work when we got him but he's mellowed now. Even if he'd had a walk during the day or we'd been out all day 5pm - walk time. He's still pretty reliable for AM and PM walks. Very routine driven. Night times - he sends him self out for a wee then gets into (people) bed about 8.30pm ... old man. Gets quite huffy if Hubs has gone to bed earlier and shut the bedroom door.

Judt try using it without first?

No. I agree. I'm not saying you can predict life - I had no idea an international move was on the cards when we adopted Scottie BUT if I had I might have postponed adopting a dog and gotten one when I got here. What I am trying to say is that in my own experience - I was given a responsibility (a gift, a dog) which was not entirely well thought through and really changed my young adulthood. I was responsible for her through until I was 30 and it made a huge impact on my life. Where I lived, when I traveled, disposable income, who went on holidays when (either I or my parents had to be at home - and this was the case up til recently) so we could pet sit for each other & so on. In some respects it was a blessing as she was 4ish by the time I was done with school and OK to stay with family for extended periods of time - I wasn't dumping a puppy on them - but it's something to keep in mind. I do tend to get stuck over thinking things, I would not swap a second with her for anything, My life is not what it was, or what I was expecting it to be 6 years ago now (when I was just married and thought I had it all figured out) but it's worth taking some time to think and consider if now is the right time (or the right enough time). If it is - more power to you - if you want to do your HSC and move to an inner city flat or graduate uni and do a 12 month gap year in Europe you either need full family support or to wait a bit.

Good advice. It's also not for me to say don't get a dog - but is it really the right time for a dog? I've seen mention of the word parents in the thread & just wondered. My Mum bought me a dog as a 15th birthday present (many many years ago now LOL) and while I wouldn't change the time I had with her it did shape my life. I moved into a house with a yard, didn't share until many years later, had to consider what to do with her when I traveled (have never been on a holiday longer than a month - but still a consideration). I you're at uni you need to think about the life a young graduate leads. So, regardless of if you're at high school or university think about the commitment and how your life will change over the next 15 years and if putting dog ownership off for a few years might be a good idea. Edit: Teebs makes a good point below- you never know what the next 15 will hold - but have a good hard think about what the next 3-5 might hold.

Had that conversation the other day - I was having coffee with a group of people. We were talking about kittens and I said I desperately wanted one but couldn't afford it. One of the women looked at me and said "oh they're free on facebook all the time - all mine cost is a box of biscuits and some jelly meat every few weeks". My mum always used to say - the cheapest part of buying a horse is buying the horse!

Could be - leg straps make more sense - and yes - I avoid them too

We once had a free cat dental because the Wednesday locum thought our girl was a sweet heart.... Gawd I miss those days. Cost price carprofen, cost price flea and wormer... actually cost price anything you could order and super cheap vet care :)

Gorgeous T. It is a pretty little place - isnt it :)

This (above). Also this: Sorry - some people just down right believe some really stupid stuff. I'm all education and for a bit of nanny-state style enforcement. All dogs should be chipped before sale in NSW - anyone caught selling or owning an unchipped pet should be stung, NSW should go back to providing tags for registered dogs (or yearly rego - so you can alter the price in a few years if you do desex(??) so it's easier to visually ID a registered/non-registered dog. Vets should not be able to treat an animal which is not chipped - (ok maybe OTT) but so be it. I come from a waste & recycling education background - telling people what you can and cant put in your bins / recycling bins & why. I have seen some really amazing stuff over the years the good and the bad. You can educate people until you're blue in the face - you're still going to have people put the wrong things in the wrong bins and not give a shit. Then you're going to find the super amazing, well educated people who use re-usable items, compost, recycle & create almost zero waste - kind of similar to a lot of the DOLers. Actually - the innovation curve comes to mind: We're all on the curve - it's just a shame that we're talking real lives - not the latest iphone. You can enforce until the cows come home - you'll still find people who dump rubbish or continue to do the wrong thing - with "oh I didnt know it was illegal" "Oh I didn't know where the tip was" "oh I can't afford the tip fee to get rid of it" "oh I ran out of time" - same story - "oh I thought she knew not to have sex with her brother -cause its gross" (can't believe I just typed that LOL) - "I was going to get her desexed but ran out of time/hand no money this week" "she really wanted to be a mummy" "I couldn't cut his balls off - it was too mean" And you really will find people who genuinely dont know that what they're doing isn't the best thing for their pet. Some will be early adopters (as I have said - like a lot of DOLers) some will be laggards (like the people in the screen shot I added above). Anyhow - that's my procrastinating ramble for the day. Off to see what else I can do instead of my uni assignment and job application.

First one looks like its got a tail band / crupper/crouper (how ever you want to spell it) maybe she doesn't like having it up her bum :)

Oh. I like the second one - what kind is it?

Ha.... um... Guin was always cheap - no idea what any more but nothing more than a vax until the last few years of her life when she cost a bomb (week in hospital and a visit to SASH). Like Denali I also worked for a vet for a long time and got stupid discounts - but she was also a cheap vet - just a good egg. Best comparison I have was that I was spending close to $50 on Scottie's endep with my inner west vet and then when I moved back out that way and went to her it was costing $15 a pack (of 50( - so half price. Its now costing 16 per 100 - go figure. Scottie has on the whole - cost A LOT MORE. recently: (this week) Bloods, consult, follow up, endep, scrip for vivitonin = $137 (NZD) + vivitonin $60 Feb - consult, lepto vax, Kennel cough top up, endep - $106 December - Consult, Anal glands (they charged 17 for that), microchip rego on the NZ register $89 All that is standard run of the mill stuff which I would class as day to day. So that's $392 - since 15th December 2015 doesn't include worming, flea treatment, food etc. New set of tags, rego with the local council ($40) Plus we had a huge amount of endep which we bought over with us. I suppose, hope, it's reasonable for that to continue aiming at about $1600 per annum (ouch) My personal "favourite" was a routine dental and lump removal 12 months after I got Mr. Man. I would call it run of the mill. Lump rx, day in hospital, biopsy, histo, antibiotics, full dental. I didn't think to ask for a quote - being used to a much lower charging vet - we walked out of there $1700 poorer.

Oh my god - he's too cute in his little tie. Ha ha ha ... That should have had a warning on it. Reminds me of Peanutbutter and Jeremy

Thanks Scottsmum, I did have a wonderful week. Didn't manage to do as much walking as I would have liked, the weather was not particularly kind but we clocked up 2000km in the hire car and camper van so certainly got around and saw lots of spectacular places. So many photos to edit and share and I've only managed to get one up on fb at the moment. :laugh: I'm hoping to get another one up tonight. One of 'That tree' in Wanaka. If ever you've been to Queenstown area, you'll know the tree I mean. Good to hear. Not well enough traveled to know "that tree" will have to wait to see the photo Can you have it all / some of it compounded. I swear - saved our lives when Guin went onto "medication for the rest of her life" - wouldnt have been without our compounded goop.