Originally posted by stacwase
Glacier,

How on earth do you pay all the vet bills? And the dog food? Holy cow! You must have to work two jobs just to keep them in the basics. Flea and tick medicine alone would be enough to break the bank, hehe.
Well, I do all my own shots, except rabies. There are no heartworms, fleas or ticks in the Yukon--it's too cold--so I don't have to use an preventative stuff for that. I take the cats in for their shots, but in general their bills are lower.

I have a savings account that is simply for vet expenses. There's not much in it right now as Pacer's & Hobo's bills were huge. My Visa gets a work out occasionally too!

Right now they are eating strictly kibble which is costing more than usual. The feed store in town gives me a discount on kibble. They are eating Acana Performance right now. It's a Canadian brand designed for sled dogs. They love it! I go through 3 forty pound bags a week. Once you add in treats, the food bill is about 500 a month. The cats have to eat prescription food and that's about 120 bucks a month.

I only have one working dog food freezer at the moment so not enough room to store fish or chicken. I'll get more of that when it's cold out again. That's cheaper than kibble and helps keep the bill down.

I only work one job! I sell some of my beadwork, but that just gives me money for more beads! LOL The dogs come first around here so there are some things we really need or want that aren't here--We only have one vehicle (which drives me nuts!), the floors are painted plywood because I can't afford to replace the carpets, I desperately want a sea kayak, but I just rent one occasionally for now. I have a magnet on my fridge that sums things up. It says "my life has gone to the dogs, but they are worth it!"