The Cost

Yesterday there was an article about how having a dog was going to become only the provenance for the rich, since it becomes prohibitively expensive, and that the poors were going to be placated with robot-dogs.

I think that's a bunch of crap from people who've watched a bit too much Battlestar Galactica (the old one, not the frakking new one). Sure, it's expensive to have a dog. It's expensive to have kids, too, but that doesn't stop people from having them (heck, it doesn't stop people from having a LOT of them). Being a super-obsessive dog owner is certainly going to cost a lot more. Heck, Leo's collar costs more than my shoes (not kidding).



Top-notch medical care is expensive, and chemotherapy is pretty much the most expensive thing you can do for your dog. You're using human-grade drugs in slightly smaller doses. That it's even within the realm of affordability is somewhat amazing. That we've done it for the better part of 3 years is .... well, financially ruinous, almost. But that's a decision I'm happy to live with. Some people collect guitars or cars or fly to Vietnam and the Gambia or buy handbags.  I've financed the last 3+ years of experiences, 3+ years of waking up to him rolling on my head,  3+ years of the big brown eyes. The cost? It's not about that - it's about the reward.

The wisdom of the EO: Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter...

One poster from Fark summed it up:

I've never spent money on animal care that hadn't already been owed many times over.