On 3/28/2010 12:46 PM, sighthounds & siberians wrote:


The biggest expense is vet bills

Only if you feed a commercial crap in a bag.

- not so much the yearly well dog
visits, vaccinations, heartworm check and preventative, but unforeseen
illnesses.

Which happen much less frequently when feeding a species appropriate diet.

The only thing you can do for that is to have a little
savings account or purchase insurance. I have no idea what vet bills
run in California, but you might want to contact a local vet or two
and ask what the cost would be for the annual exam, vaccinations,

Which cause illnesses too.
http://www.dogsadversereactions.com/...ineDamage.html

heartworm test and preventative,

A preventative is not needed for a raw fed dog.

and perhaps flea/tick treatment.

You mean pesticides? Not needed. There are healthier and cheaper ways of
dealing with fleas. And raw fed dogs tend to have less or no fleas anyway.

Ask
about spay/neuter cost too, as you'll want to have that done.

It has it's risks like any surgery and some choose not to have it done
at all.
http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongT...uterInDogs.pdf
http://veterinarynews.dvm360.com/dvm.../detail/646838