Quote:
Originally Posted by grumpylilmoose  Y
Yes, and no.
If my original dog had not broken his leg, I would have kept her, the problem I find with that statement, is it's too black, and white...
I wasn't set up financially to handle the care of three dogs when she had found us, well not in the sense of medical care should they all need to go to the vet, this was shown to be true when Connor had to have a titanium piece put into his leg, the cost of that alone was most of our savings.
So I had found a home for the foster, I had taken in and things were going better, but the financial aspect had me shaken up quite a bit, and realized that Betsy deserved a home that could afford all of the things we were unable to provide for her should she need medical attention, and you are right I didn't show enough responsibility to handle a Yorkie back then, I didn't even know that the vet took payment plans.
Another concern was the possibility that she could have hurt Connors leg more, but I think that was my way of coping with the fact that I was not good enough..
It has been a few months, and my ex and I have broken up, she took Connor and I have saved up enough money that I feel comfortable to really be able to take care of any vet bills that may arise, especially after the fact that the vet takes payments. |
If you have any financial concerns, I frankly wouldn't get a Yorkie. There are many, many healthy examples of this fine breed to be had but all too many Yorkies are irresponsibly bred, bringing along with them genetic time-bombs of medical conditions waiting to happen. I typically spend around $2,000.00+ a year for my Tibbe in vet costs alone once he aged a bit. I think last year his expenses were well over $3k, including his twice yearly comprehensive exams, full testing, medications. Last year he had focal pneumonia and tummy troubles - which at the time seemed related to his pneumonia treatment. The dentals for Yorkies are around $300 - $400 with pre-op blood, intraop monitoring & IV support plus the cleanings, any extractions. Testing for sick dogs with nuclear scans and such these days can be very expensive. I found out Tibbe has Grade I bilateral subluxed patellae when he was diagnosed with the probable MVD liver condition that he's being treated for - something he'd been cleared of as a young dog. Don't get me wrong - Yorkies are the ONLY breed for me and I'm willing to spend what it takes but saving up money to cover medical expenses probably won't cover a Yorkie with a liver condition, bad teeth and bad knees for life should you get one that has these conditions show up later in their life as my Tibbe did. He was very healthy until he got to be about 3 years old except for his dental problems and all his vets cleared him of any knee conditions until last year. But one he hit 4, all the bad genetics he'd inherited began to show up and any regular savings would have been gone that first year of pneumonia, testing for pancreatitis and liver conditions, a night in the ER hospital with pneumonia of about $1200 and another 6 weeks of illness costs from stomach-related problems secondary to his Prednisolone for the pneumonia, more testing, special dietary needs and medications. And that was just last year. This year came the liver troubles and nuclear testing, sonogram, blood work, dietary and medical treatments for it. You can burn through savings very fast.
I have always heard that Jack Russell Terriers are very hyper, upbeat and known to be full-time zooming and I've heard they tend to lesser genetic health concerns than the toy Yorkie. The JRT seem to be fairly hardy dogs, too, despite their small size, and usually not as easily injured, another potential vet expense with a very small, toy dog like a Yorkie. My little Yorkie, Jilly, anteriorly dislocated her shoulder just coming down her doggie steps due to her frail joints at age 13 and had to have surgical reduction.
If you have any money concerns, I would think twice about getting a toy dog with very many genetic issues that seem to be attached to so many backyard-bred Yorkies these days. It's just a word of caution to consider though if you do wind up with a Yorkie, I do hope and pray that he or she is just what you want - a real zoomer! They are the best of the breeds in my eyes, despite the medical problems some of them might have.