British Expats - Pets and responsibilities

We had two Burmese cats (Cadbury and Porsche) and they cost us nothing apart from annual jabs until they got to 16, then Porsche developed kidney disease but food and tablets sorted her out for a couple of years. Then after we lost her Cads got a liver infection which ended up costing us well over a grand (UK grand...) as he had to spend 3 nights in the hospital and then follow up. Then after that he was never really right again as I think the strong anti-biotics destroyed all his good intestine flora and we had a few problems!

Anyway, he was then on tablets and food for the kidney disease which had kicked in by then and constant trips trying to sort out his tummy. I was spending 64 pounds a month on him.

We were about to come out here for a holiday when he started leaping around the lounge like a young kitten again (he was 21) so I got a bit worried and the vet thought it was thyroid but 150 pounds later on a special blood test revealed there was nothing wrong with him!

In his last 3 and 3/4 years I hate to think how much we spent on him, we were well known down the vets and all the vet nurses loved him but I couldn't have just had him put down! He was my baby (I haven't got kids) so there was no question of not doing everything we could to help him but fortunately we could afford it. Everyone kept saying to me, isn't it about time you know...he is over 21 and getting thin but I kept saying as long as he purs and is okay we'll carry on, then one day he got really weak and it was time for him to go and his eyes told me (OMG I'm crying now!!).

Anyway, we also put off our move because I thought at 18 when the visa came through he wouldn't be able to do the journey so we waited as there was no way I could have had him rehomed or put to sleep. We had actually got the move date booked before he passed away but only on the advice of the vet who said he only had a few months to go because he was loosing so much weight.

It is sad when people genuinely cannot afford the vets fees but there are charities to help, probably not here but certainly in the UK. The problem is also that vets have been putting up their fees knowing that pet insurance normally pays for it, problem is you still pay for it as then your premiums go up - so it is a vicious circle! We never had them insured as insurance wasn't available until they were about 8 and then that was the cut off point!

I certainly wouldn't get a pet again without getting the insurance. We want to get another furry friend but giving it serious thought to it and not just rushing out which would be soooooo easy as I really, really miss having one but a pet isn't just for a few years these days having had Cads live to 21 3/4, it's a lot of years of looking after and caring!

I can never understand when people dump pets rather than just taking them to the pound? My friend has a little white poodlely thingy which she thinks is about 3 years old and apparently students get these little dogs and then just dump them when they go back overseas! What.....why can't they just take it to the pound instead of leaving the poor thing to fend for itself on the streets.