It’s unreasonable to expect a vet to cut his or her bills to accommodate you. Veterinarians have to put food on the table, too — and they have to pay their staff. A veterinary practice is a business, not a charity.

That said, I have a vet who does at least make an effort not to drain my checking account dry. Last year I spent $2,000 on my dogs, including food, supplies, and veterinary bills. Since the greyhound died of cancer about four months ago (a surprise from a very aggressive disease — the two grand did not go into cancer treatment), I hope the bills will go down a little…but the German shepherd has to be medicated 6 times a day to keep her from going totally blind. The other day I blogged about her most recent tumble into the ice-cold pool…fortunately, that didn’t cost me anything, though I’m sure it ran up the taxpayer’s bill to send the fire department over to help an elderly woman and an 80-pound mutt out of 40-degree water.

Cats, btw, are indeed at significant risk when left outdoors in an urban area. Though we had two outdoor cats live to a ripe old age, one lapped up some antifreeze and died rather horribly. And the neighbors loathe them — my ex-boyfriend, who truly hates cats in his yard, used to shoot at them out his back door, first with a pellet gun and then, when that didn’t chase them off, with a .22. And even urban areas in most parts of this country are frequented by coyotes, which regard the cat as a fine meal and generally leave only the ears and the tail behind.

I do have to agree with the article about outdoor cats having a shorter lifespan, though. I grew up on a farm and the barn cats never lived nearly as long as the house cats. They have a much higher likelyhood of getting run over, killed by a predator, getting sick, or getting layed on by a cow!