What do you spend on pet meds?

I just couldn't afford the vet's flea and tick stuff, she recommended over the counter brands, my dogs are inside most of the time. She also said as long as I got testing regularly, they didn't have to have heart worm meds. That makes me nervous so I may put them back on that. Neither needs meds for anything else. Vaccines and physicals are pretty high. I've read articles that older dogs do not need or benefit from all the same vaccines as younger dogs. Bernice is 13 but the vet felt she needed everything

Wow, that's pretty high. Let's see I spend $65 for a 6-month supply of Frontline Plus from Costco. I get the larger size, which is the same price as the smaller sizes, and I use one vial for my 2 cats and 2 dogs. I figured out the appropriate dosage and have a soft-tip syringe that I use to measure out and apply it. We're in a mild climate and the pets are all indoor/outdoor so I use it year-round. This is what I've done with all my pets and they have been healthy and long-lived. I never even knew we were supposed to be doing heartworm and all that stuff.

My vet, who is wonderful and really affordable, does not push extras. He does sell the Advantage Multi but when I priced it out it seems so high for stuff that they might not need.

A few months ago my kittie got sick and I paid $110 for two vet visits, anti-diarrhea med with syringe, two shots of penicillin and a dose of antibiotics.

A year ago my poodle mix had a skin tumor and I think I paid $150; the tumor was removed, he got shot of penicillin and antibiotics, and he had a follow-up appointment to remove the stitches. He healed great and we've had no problems since.

This vet is nearing retirement age and I'm dreading the day he retires. I don't think he makes any money in his practice, he just loves animals. It's a tiny shop with just him and his wife. Such wonderful people.

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Originally Posted by freshstart

Bernice is 13 but the vet felt she needed everything

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Sure. So she could charge you for it.
Our vet was holistic and thought 2-3 years for vaccines was more than plenty and even less for households who don't board their pets, have single pets, who don't mingle with other pets. My dog hasn't been on heartworm since he was 8. He's 14 now and we get about 45 minutes of active Tomdog a day now. Mostly he sleeps, walks to his food and water and goes back to sleep. He does have tracheal collapse cough but we treat that and his allergies with Robitussin DM, children's benadryl, and cinnamon,coconut oil, honey, lemon. At this age, there isn't much I want to spend big money on. We're kind of looking at him day by day as far as how long he'll have good quality of life.
There are a few holistic vets I like to watch on youtube.
The cat had a cancer tumor removed 10 years ago for under $200 (removal, meds, a few other things). We've noticed she has cancer on her nose now (she is white and outdoors feral). We'll just watch her too, when it gets too bad we'll have to say our goodbyes. I spayed her (feral cat/cat carrier was interesting), treated the first cancer (it was on her flank), flea meds give her seizures so we don't mess with that or vet visits.

We've had too many heartworm positive dogs in our rescue program here in Missouri oe me to ever skip that monthly treatment. We had a heartbreaking case recently: a young bulldog went through hearworm treatments, lots of money and time, lots of love from many supporters went into her treatment and recovery.

She recovered. She came to a bulldog rescue outing, she got over excited, and she died. It was devestating for everyone there. Soon after another one of our rescue bulldogs died during heartworm treatment.

We are not now taking heartworm positive dogs if their measure is on the high end.

As for innoculations on a 13 year old dog, I would likely pass on that.

We don't have fleas in our state but do the heartworm treatment. Our dogs are between 10-18 but the vet still wants all the shots. Between the preventives and the regular meds we are spending a small fortune.

It's making me crazy to see how many vets are still insisting on annual shots. The research is very clear that most dogs have complete lifetime immunity after their 2-yr old boosters. In fact, my vet suggested that we run titer tests on my 1.5 yr old, before we give her even 2-yr boosters. This is huge, because 4 years ago when I asked for titers for my then 6 year old dog, vet kind of balked. I insisted, hers came back with crazy high immunity, and vet updated his education. Now he's totally into titers, and injections ONLY if they come back with low immunity. Last time we talked about it, he'd only had 2 come back low out of hundreds of dogs now in 3 years.

"Annual shots" have been a big money maker for vets and the drug companies, but not good for the dogs, as evidenced by the numbers of autoimmune disorders and cancers rising so dramatically. Vets also have to market their services differently- Wellness Exams, not shots now.

My horse (31 yrs. old on Wed.!) has Cushings disease, which is controlled on an rx drug that runs from $64-$85 mo., depending on what kind of discount I can get. Plus annual vaccines, fecal tests, and supplements.

Big animals have bigger expenses.

Are some dogs more prone to heartworm?

When I adopted 2 of my kittens I was told they had heartworm and had been treated for it. I assumed that was done, but it is the same kitten that was sick a short while ago. I guess I'll need to read up on the long-term effects of it. And maybe consider having him on the preventative meds. I didn't realize it was so serious.

Ok, I just looked up the symptoms for it and they don't match what my kitty had. Phew! I'm relieved.

so do you feel safe buying flea meds like Frontline online? What about Revolution? Is that available? There is no way to buy any of this except at the vets here.