Hannah Went to the Vet! Honest Talk about Money! And Mental Health!

Hannah went to see her regular vet last month, as well as her neurologist. At her general checkup, she got a big thumbs up. At her neurology appointment, she had x-rays done and received a "little to no change/maybe slight improvement" and both the neurologist and I took it as a moral victory that there are no new locations of infection.  

But because she's been having such a hard time eating, her current medicine regimen is not sustainable.  Dr. BB and I have been getting testy with one another about who has to feed the dog, Hannah's started to tuck tail when she hears her kibble coming out, and it's so very unpleasant for everyone.  So we're doing a few "break weeks" for her where she won't have one of the medications at a time and we'll see if we can pinpoint the cause of her appetite suppression. And after that, we're going to add another antibiotic to the mix, which gives me great anxiety, but there you have it.  Part of the anxiety is just that she's going to have yet another thing to mess with her GI tract, but another part is that this new medication is expensive. 

If you're wondering, yes, I think I'm going to have to take on a part-time job because I honestly am at the limits of what my monthly income can do. We've tried to have Hannah insured so pet insurance will cover some of these costs, but every company I've contacted has basically laughed at me. I had to put her last appointment on my credit card and even though I will be able to pay it next month, I do not like that this has become a thing that I can't stop thinking about.

Here's the breakdown.

Daily costs:

Baytril: $3.62/day - An antibiotic she takes every day for her discospondylitis. 

Fluconasole: $1.09/day - An antifungal she takes every day for a her discospondylitis. 

Clavomox: $5.87/day - An antibiotic she takes every day for her discospondylitis. (This is the new one. I am paying a bit extra to get the vet form instead of the human form, but the difference is pretty small.)

Zyrtec:  $0.15/day - An OTC allergy pill she takes year round.

Probiotic: $0.50/day - She's always been on this because of her sensitive stomach, but now it's even more important because of the huge doses of antibiotics she's getting.

Apoquel: $1.43/day - An allergy pill we use when the temperatures are above freezing.

Interceptor Plus: $0.27/day - Worm prevention, including heartworm, hookworm, and tapeworm. Since Hannah has had both hookworms and tapeworms, we're pretty vigilant about this medication every month.

Seresto collar: $0.23/day - Flea and tick prevention. Essential since I regularly take her into the woods.

Waste bags: $.10/day - Honestly, this is an estimate, assuming 1.5/bags a day.

Kibble: $2.46/day - She's on a prescription diet and every time we've tried to switch her to a cheaper kibble, she's gotten sick, so we're stuck here.

Treats: $1.00/day - She requires lots of treats every day to get those medications in her, so this is a combination of chicken, egg, and sweet potato. 

Total: $16.72/day (this is over $500 a month if you really want to make yourself feel sick to your stomach)

Irregular costs:

Pet license: $20/year - I have Hannah out on our town sidewalks for at least an hour every day, so she has to be licensed.

Grooming: $10/bath (during cold months - during the summer we can hose her off in the backyard)

Shampoo: $30/bottle (I have no idea how long a bottle lasts, so I can't estimate more than maybe 2-3 bottles a year)

Vet trips/vaccinations: Ha ha ha. Who knows?  I would estimate this to be about $1000 a year if nothing goes seriously wrong. For Hannah this year, I'm estimating $4000 (because of multiple trips for x-rays and trips to the neurologist - it might be a smidge high, but probably not by much).

Edited to add: Her pain medication is about $70 for twenty doses and we'll probably refill it a couple of times this year.

So I'm estimating Hannah's cost for existence to be just over $10,000 this year. If you are on the fence about getting a dog, let this be a warning. (Sorry to all of you who are trying to convince your partner that getting a dog would be a good idea.)

Honestly, getting a dog was a bad idea.  I have regrets*.  

It's not just the financial side of things. Keeping track of all of her medications is A LOT. Guess who has to remember to order the antibiotics and antifungal and make sure there's enough kibble and oh, crap we're out of waste bags and did I order the refill in time to drive to Costco to pick it up during their limited pharmacy hours and who's making sure the dates to give Hannah her monthly medication and change her Seresto collar are on the calendar?  It's me. The emotional labor of caring for this dog is TOO MUCH.  I'm not really a detail-oriented person and having to keep track of all this takes up a lot of my mental energy.

And that's not even the worst of it because I think to myself every day: Is this good for Hannah? Should we just take her off all these medications and let whatever happens happen? Does she think she's in trouble? Why are we doing this to her? Does she hate me for making her eat all this? Is she in pain? Does she know we're doing this because we love her? Will I ever be able to leave my house again? Will my marriage survive this dog?

Contrast with Zelda. Every day I brush her, clean her face. I buy food for her once every 40 days or so, litter a few times a year, and she has a yearly vet appointment. Three times a week she gets a joint supplement. That's it. Easy peasy.

I love my dog.  But cats are so much less work.  

*Not getting Hannah, of course. I adore her and she brings so much to my life. But I wish I'd just gotten pet insurance ASAP and I wish the rescue had given us more information about her. I wish we'd gotten her MRI earlier than we did so we could have been treating this earlier. I wish, I wish, I wish, I wish, but hindsight is no good and so here we are.