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Sweetums · 03-03-2007, 08:13 PM

I luuuuuv my furbaby, but truthfully, I had no idea how expensive they get after you buy them. I would definitely get pet health insurance, which I have, so that's about $15-$20 a month. But even with that, having our furbaby spayed will be around $350. Then we had shots, which cost money even with the reimbursement from the health insurance. Then she had to have some toys, a bed, a playpen (otherwise you can plan on pee and poo everywhere in the house), peepads which have to be changed daily, to the tune of about $20 a pack, special shampoos and conditioner (these babies often have sensative skin problems and without conditioner they will get flakey and their hair will look like crap), special food because they have sensative stomachs and they are picky picky picky eaters (but if they don't eat often enough - and believe me when ours doesn't want to eat her food she'd just rather starve - then they get hypoglycemic which is a life threatening condition and will cost you an ER visit, quite expensive), eye-wipes, ear-wipes (you can figure about $10 a whack for all the grooming items) without which you'll have a dog with infections which will cost more vet bills. You'll need special floor cleaner so the puppy won't use accidently soiled areas as his toilet area. You'll also need a sweater or two if you live in a colder climate since Yorkies have only hair not fur and tend to get cold which can send them into hypoglycemia; you'll need a leash but probably more because they chew them; you'll need a harness, not the cheap ones but the padded kind since they will pull on the leash and practically strangle themselves which predisposes them to tracheal collapse; you'll need some sort of carrier so you can take it with you because when they are little they will cry if you leave them, you'll need special wire brushes for grooming - approx $30 ea. for the good ones (I found out today that my baby had a humongous hairmat which took me two hours to loosen up and trim with thinning scissors so I could get it out without cutting out a bald patch) and detangling spray for brushing. And of course there is monthly grooming from about 5 mos on which can cost from $35-$100 each.

You getting the idea now? It is expensive just to maintain them, so think carefully before you borrow money to buy one. Oh, and incidently, since they are so little to start off, they are prone to getting some ailment that can take them down within hours. So after all that investment, you can lose your puppy suddenly.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but it's the reality of owning a Yorkie.

03-03-2007, 08:13 PM	#22
Sweetums Donating Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Kirkland WA Posts: 431	I luuuuuv my furbaby, but truthfully, I had no idea how expensive they get after you buy them. I would definitely get pet health insurance, which I have, so that's about $15-$20 a month. But even with that, having our furbaby spayed will be around $350. Then we had shots, which cost money even with the reimbursement from the health insurance. Then she had to have some toys, a bed, a playpen (otherwise you can plan on pee and poo everywhere in the house), peepads which have to be changed daily, to the tune of about $20 a pack, special shampoos and conditioner (these babies often have sensative skin problems and without conditioner they will get flakey and their hair will look like crap), special food because they have sensative stomachs and they are picky picky picky eaters (but if they don't eat often enough - and believe me when ours doesn't want to eat her food she'd just rather starve - then they get hypoglycemic which is a life threatening condition and will cost you an ER visit, quite expensive), eye-wipes, ear-wipes (you can figure about $10 a whack for all the grooming items) without which you'll have a dog with infections which will cost more vet bills. You'll need special floor cleaner so the puppy won't use accidently soiled areas as his toilet area. You'll also need a sweater or two if you live in a colder climate since Yorkies have only hair not fur and tend to get cold which can send them into hypoglycemia; you'll need a leash but probably more because they chew them; you'll need a harness, not the cheap ones but the padded kind since they will pull on the leash and practically strangle themselves which predisposes them to tracheal collapse; you'll need some sort of carrier so you can take it with you because when they are little they will cry if you leave them, you'll need special wire brushes for grooming - approx $30 ea. for the good ones (I found out today that my baby had a humongous hairmat which took me two hours to loosen up and trim with thinning scissors so I could get it out without cutting out a bald patch) and detangling spray for brushing. And of course there is monthly grooming from about 5 mos on which can cost from $35-$100 each. You getting the idea now? It is expensive just to maintain them, so think carefully before you borrow money to buy one. Oh, and incidently, since they are so little to start off, they are prone to getting some ailment that can take them down within hours. So after all that investment, you can lose your puppy suddenly. Sorry if this sounds harsh, but it's the reality of owning a Yorkie.