Dealing with a hard decision

[onimity]

Hi Sandra,

That is so wonderful! I think it is a good decision for you and Bull. It is clear that you love one another. It is sometimes necessary to go through these things to realize how important the things we love are.

If the insurance doesn't work out maybe what I did would help you? I read a financial planning article that listed the average cost of a cat at $10,000 over 10 years (it was higher for a dog, but I don't recall the exact figure, maybe 15K) I just figured that the best option was to put that money aside, vet bills or no, so that I'd be ready for the unexpected. Minus food, litter, etc. it seems to work out to roughly what the insurance plans would cost.

It makes me really happy to think that your little dog is doing well and will be home again with you soon.

Anne

[Ninabike]

Sandra, so happy you can have your little "Bull" back with you. All the best.

[Triskeliongirl]

I am so happy that Bull is doing well, and that you are at peace with your final decision. In life we have to prioritize how we spend our money. Clearly this taught you that Bull is important enough to you to make him a priority financially. I hope the insurance works out, but if not, consider simply buying LESS STUFF. You may be doing this already, but right now our priority is sending both our children simultaneously to elite New Enlgand Colleges. This is a huge finanaical burden, but we believe it is important for our family. So we cut our budget in other ways. We eat out less. We cook nice dinners at home (from fresh unprocessed ingredients) in double servings so we have nice lunchs to pack for work the next day. We ride our bikes to work (no gas and its good for us too!), or car pool if the weather is too bad. We take less expensive vacations. Like, we visited our kids at school last week, but stayed in our daughter's dorm room instead of a hotel. I lost a lot of weight recently so I have had to replace my wardrobe, but I am limiting the amount of clothes I buy to a small number of pieces that I love and are on sale/coupon, and I do laundry more frequently. Just last night the temptation to buy another cycling jacket hit, and I said, no, I can layer under the one I have for colder weather riding and still be fine.

There is a tremendous pressure in our society culture to consume, so we just have to choose carefully what services and goods are most important to us, and we can have what is MOST important to us.

Warm wishes headed your way for Bull's continued recovery.

[sandra]

Triskeliongirl, everything you wrote is so correct. That's also part of the problem. We were already trying to do this but probably not as furiously as we should have been.

We don't eat out, we don't take vacations, etc. At our age we are staring at retirement and we have tried to plan. But, just last week I wanted the new mixte and GOT it, but did I really need it? No, I already had one bike. It didn't seem like a bad idea at the time because it was not expensive. It is a good reminder that several small things all added together can cover a large thing.

Thanks for the reminder.

[rij73]

Hi Sandra... Yes I have actually used Hudson's health plan! They commonly cover 80% of the average cost of procedures (not necessary exactly what your vet charges you). In some cases, your vet may charge less than what they budget for a procedure, though. Your dog's pre-existing conditions probably wouldn't be covered, but any future conditions that develop would be. There are also other plans. VPI is one, and PetCare is another. Do some research... it's probably worth it!