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Authors: Clark Howard
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example, live for eighty years or more. Can you commit to keeping a pet for such a long time?
The Humane Society says people should not keep wild animals, such as exotic birds and reptiles, as pets. Some are illegal to own, or simply don’t make good pets. According to the organization’s Web site, www.hsus.org, “They often grow to be larger, stronger and more dangerous than owners expect or can manage.” And they can carry diseases or parasites that can be dangerous to people. My veterinarian, Dr. Nicholas W. Petty, said that decades ago, a couple brought him an ocelot they were keeping as a pet. An ocelot is a twenty-five- to thirty-pound wildcat that bites and urinates straight backward. The guy had wounds on his arms, and as Dr. Petty said, “These people had no friends.”
Pet Food
Lane and I have two dogs: Costco Wholesale and Q.T. (named after the regional discount gas retailer QuikTrip). The deal was that Lane got to have dogs if I got to name them. If we get a third, I’ll probably call it Charles Schwab, or Chuck for short.
Costco has eaten inexpensive store-brand dog food her whole life (she’s six) and has always been very healthy. Q.T., on the other hand, has always had health problems, and goes from one vet-ordered special diet to another. She costs as much to feed as a human being. It’s a riot, because one dog must cost 10 cents a day to feed, and the other $10.
If you have a healthy dog, I think it’s just fine for you to feed it store-brand food, until a problem presents itself, because the savings through the years are so gigantic. Any pet food that has AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) on its label will meet the complete nutritional needs of your pet. Pet food is regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, by each state, and by AAFCO and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Mark Meltzer used to feed his dogs a brand of dog food that’s sold in supermarkets, until both developed kidney stones. The dogs went on an expensive vet-ordered low-magnesium diet, and the kidney stones went away. Mark didn’t want to put them back on the food he believes contributed to the kidney stones, but he didn’t want to keep them on the vet’s expensive food forever. So he switched to one of the pet-store brands, and never had another problem.
Dr. Petty says some inexpensive foods can bring on skin problems in some dogs, and he says cheap foods can contain more fillers, meaning the dog would have to eat more to get the same nutrition. That could mean the dog would have larger stools.
Whatever brand you choose, dry dog food is much cheaper than canned food. My dog Costco, appropriately, eats Costco’s private-label brand of dry dog food.
Pet Health Insurance
Pets, like people, get sick, and caring for them can be expensive. I just paid the vet $472 to treat my dog Q.T. for pancreatitis, an intestinal disorder.
One of the ways to deal with the rising cost of pet health care is to buy health insurance for your pet. Veterinarians encourage you to buy pet insurance because they realize that a lot of people are in a money crunch. The procedures the vet can perform on animals—surgery, X-rays, and other treatments—can be very expensive but potentially life-saving for your pet. A lot of people have to make an economic choice. They may not be able to afford a treatment that could save their pet’s life. That’s where pet insurance enters the picture. It may not necessarily save you money, but it gives you the option to do more heroic medical procedures for your animal. For example, the vet wants a radiologist to do an ultrasound of Q.T.’s pancreas. That’s going to cost an unbelievable amount of money. If such a procedure would have been impossible otherwise, it is possible with pet insurance. So like other kinds of insurance, it gives you peace of mind.
The pet insurance industry has been improving in quality and in its offerings. Insurers vary in the quality of coverage
The Humane Society says people should not keep wild animals, such as exotic birds and reptiles, as pets. Some are illegal to own, or simply don’t make good pets. According to the organization’s Web site, www.hsus.org, “They often grow to be larger, stronger and more dangerous than owners expect or can manage.” And they can carry diseases or parasites that can be dangerous to people. My veterinarian, Dr. Nicholas W. Petty, said that decades ago, a couple brought him an ocelot they were keeping as a pet. An ocelot is a twenty-five- to thirty-pound wildcat that bites and urinates straight backward. The guy had wounds on his arms, and as Dr. Petty said, “These people had no friends.”
Pet Food
Lane and I have two dogs: Costco Wholesale and Q.T. (named after the regional discount gas retailer QuikTrip). The deal was that Lane got to have dogs if I got to name them. If we get a third, I’ll probably call it Charles Schwab, or Chuck for short.
Costco has eaten inexpensive store-brand dog food her whole life (she’s six) and has always been very healthy. Q.T., on the other hand, has always had health problems, and goes from one vet-ordered special diet to another. She costs as much to feed as a human being. It’s a riot, because one dog must cost 10 cents a day to feed, and the other $10.
If you have a healthy dog, I think it’s just fine for you to feed it store-brand food, until a problem presents itself, because the savings through the years are so gigantic. Any pet food that has AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) on its label will meet the complete nutritional needs of your pet. Pet food is regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, by each state, and by AAFCO and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Mark Meltzer used to feed his dogs a brand of dog food that’s sold in supermarkets, until both developed kidney stones. The dogs went on an expensive vet-ordered low-magnesium diet, and the kidney stones went away. Mark didn’t want to put them back on the food he believes contributed to the kidney stones, but he didn’t want to keep them on the vet’s expensive food forever. So he switched to one of the pet-store brands, and never had another problem.
Dr. Petty says some inexpensive foods can bring on skin problems in some dogs, and he says cheap foods can contain more fillers, meaning the dog would have to eat more to get the same nutrition. That could mean the dog would have larger stools.
Whatever brand you choose, dry dog food is much cheaper than canned food. My dog Costco, appropriately, eats Costco’s private-label brand of dry dog food.
Pet Health Insurance
Pets, like people, get sick, and caring for them can be expensive. I just paid the vet $472 to treat my dog Q.T. for pancreatitis, an intestinal disorder.
One of the ways to deal with the rising cost of pet health care is to buy health insurance for your pet. Veterinarians encourage you to buy pet insurance because they realize that a lot of people are in a money crunch. The procedures the vet can perform on animals—surgery, X-rays, and other treatments—can be very expensive but potentially life-saving for your pet. A lot of people have to make an economic choice. They may not be able to afford a treatment that could save their pet’s life. That’s where pet insurance enters the picture. It may not necessarily save you money, but it gives you the option to do more heroic medical procedures for your animal. For example, the vet wants a radiologist to do an ultrasound of Q.T.’s pancreas. That’s going to cost an unbelievable amount of money. If such a procedure would have been impossible otherwise, it is possible with pet insurance. So like other kinds of insurance, it gives you peace of mind.
The pet insurance industry has been improving in quality and in its offerings. Insurers vary in the quality of coverage
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