So, everything was looking great in October. Up until about the 20th, Silas was well under his usual budget. Then things went a little crazy.
Our final breakdown looks like this:
Food: 194.10
Supplements: 43.65
Treats: 50
Training: 95
Assorted: 37.70
Total: (gulp) 420.45
The food costs are high for two reasons. I bought duck at the beginning of October, which it turned out that Silas couldn’t eat. This meant I had to go back and buy more food mid-month. There was also the tripe debacle, so I bought $100 or so of canned tripe. We have about a year’s supply now, so I’m feeling slightly less anxious about it. The sad fact is that the food cost is actually not right–I bought a box of Honest Kitchen dehydrated food as emergency rations when we left town, and the charges haven’t shown up yet.
I also finally found a greens supplement that didn’t have a meat product in it, so YAY!
Treats are expensive because they are. I’ve talked about this before. I had to stock back up when we went to training class. Turns out that I (way) overbought, so maybe I’ll get through next month with fewer. I’m seriously looking into a dehydrator to make these myself. A pound of turkey hearts costs me about $2. 3 oz of dehydrated turkey hearts (a pound before dehydrating) is $10.
Training: $95 may or may not seem high to you, but its a going rate for where we are.
Assorted: This is a collar and a magazine subscription. I’m hoping that the collar will stop some of Silas’s over-the-top neck scratching. It’s been really bad this week, which coincides perfectly with him having to wear his collar around the clock. Now, if it will just come in. I’m a day or two away from having to e-mail the company.
Happy news, though, is that there are No! Vet! Bills! One whole month!
My Imperfect Dog 