<p>last year, for the first time in more than 30 years, I got pets. After S volunteered us to take care of his boss’s rabbit while the boss was out of town, I fell in love with Bunny, and decided to get one of my own. After reading up on them, I learned that bunnies are social animals and need at least one other bunny for company, so I got two sisters who were about a year old.</p>
<p>I even threw a birthday part for them.</p>
<p>Then, one sister (the one who seemed not too friendly – used to bite me a lot) started piddling all over the place (bunnies are clean, and easy to litter train), so I thought she had a bladder infection and I took her to vet.</p>
<p>Ended up that she needed immediate surgery for a bladder stone that was as big as her bladder. The surgery cost me $500. No one before could have told me that I would spend that kind of money on a rabbit – one that likes to bite me at that!</p>
<p>Indeed, until I became vegetarian last year after doing some Buddhist retreats, I very much liked eating rabbits.</p>
<p>Then, when my bunny returned home 8 hours after her surgery, her sister didn’t recognize her and tried to attack her. Before, they got along so well that if one was eating hay and had some hanging out of her mouth, the other would start chewing on the same piece and they would not fight at all.</p>
<p>However, even months after surgery, they don’t get along at all and I have to keep them in separate cages. And the one who had the surgery stilll bites me.</p>
<p>But – I still love them. I guess this is what unconditional love means.</p>
<p>My min pin chews on the couch–a little more expensive than Nylabones, but seems to keep her teeth clean.</p>
<p>Our former min pin, Nigel, blew out a knee playing with D right after Christmas one year (BAD timing). It cost us $1000 for the surgery and we developed a new system of referring to money: $1000 = 1 Nigie; $1 = 1 milliNigie.</p>
<p>Before anyone gets a purebred dog, it makes a lot of sense to check into what kind of problems that specific breed of dog is prone to!</p>
<p>We are pet softies in this house. Our little kitty (about 8 years old) had a throwing up jag at the beginning of January. Between the day “in the hospital”, the first and second batch of shots, medicine, and special kitty food, the bill was about $350. But the good news is that she is now well. She had to have a tooth pulled about a year ago, something the vet could not explain. That was a bit of an expense also…including a “day in the hospital”. Still she’s our pet, and we really care a lot about her. The possibility of these expenses goes with owning a pet…</p>
<p>Passionate pet loving family too. We had two gerbils, I think they cost about five dollars each. They lived in a fancy gerbil estate home, and got all the best food. When they were about a year old our daredevil gerbil was barely able to crawl across the cage. I found a small pet vet specialist across town, and took him there for round the clock care. A day later he died (:(), and the bill was over $100. They offered an autopsy, but I did draw the line there. Gerbil number two went on to live a full gerbil life, which turns out to be only around three years. When he got sick, even though I swore I wouldn’t do it, I took him to the small pet vet. It turns out gerbils need around $100 worth of care, right before they pass on. </p>
<p>At that point I swore off any rodents, because I get too attached to the little fuzz balls. The estate was torn down and discarded. A year later, my son came home with an orphaned baby mouse. We nursed him to good health, and here he lives in a brand spanking new estate home. He’s three now though…:eek:</p>
<p>When I was a kid, I had mice…pet mice and one developed a tumour. My crazy mom paid about $40 for surgery, this was in the early 70s, so $40 was a more significant amount back then. The mouse survived surgery, but then dies a month later. The vet offered an autopsy, we elected not to pay for that, then the vet asked if he could do it at his own expense, to learn. She died of pneumonia. We buried her tail in one of those cool wooden English Leather cologne boxes. My mom still talks about how crazy that was, but I sure love her for doing it…it was only a mouse, but it was MY mousie.</p>
<p>awe, somemom, I’m so glad you said that. I hope my boys will remember when they grow up that we did everything we could to save their little pets. I bought little cardboard boxes and fake fur for the lining from the craft store, and let the boys write their goodbye messages on boxes, before we buried their gerbils.</p>
<p>True. Before anyone gets any animal they should of course look into the behaviors, personalities, and ailments associated with those animals. This is true even for mixed breeds. It is possible to pinpoint some things to specific breeds, and certainly some breeds of dogs and cats (especially those with the “smushed” - for lack of a more precise term - faces, like pugs, persian cats, bulldogs) are more prone to health problems, especially respiratory ones. </p>
<p>However, with injuries, this can also be a body type/size problem. Therefore really people need to be aware of the costs associated with treating any dog and decide if they have the financial means to cover it, as mixed breeds certainly can have a lot of problems too. Some breeds certainly have a higher injury quotient. Dachshunds are kow for back problems, for instance. Prevention is still key and this is where research comes in. The people I’ve heard from in Doxie rescue help stave off the problems by avoiding lifting the dogs in certain ways, not letting them go up the stairs, etc. This is just an example for one breed. </p>
<p>IME and the collective experience of the many dog people I’ve talked to, it’s not so much that mixed breeds have less problems. It’s that poor breeding creates more problems. Inbreeding for example. Or the breeding practices common to the trendy “designer” dogs. They don’t get ‘teacup’ dogs by breeding healthy dogs. They’re breeding runts. These dogs are known to later have heart problems. Many die much earlier than expected. A lot of people are shocked and saddened to find this out after the fact. It can be very expensive medical bill wise. Responsible breeders are breeding purebred show dogs who have completed championships and are health certified (like for hip problems common to some breeds). Therefore their offspring are unlikely to have these problems. Mixed breeds are also unlikely to have the problems associated with specific breeds of course but any dog is susceptible to quite a bit. So of course there are healthy mixed breeds, and healthy purebreds, it’s just fairly complicated. I think people should really be aware of the cost of a dog. People can come to resent spending the money and I think it’s the big factor in the people who basically just get tired of the animal and want out of the situation.</p>