Do "professional" pet keepers make you feel like crap?

no. its not what you can buy for the pet or how much time you spend with it. its how happy you make hte pet and how much the pet makes you happy. a superior pet owner cares for it and knows that the pet will always love them no matter what. that makes you superior. and how can you be a proffesional if you have to mak others feel bad about being responsible and wanting to know about how to properly care for the pet?! whos the proffesional now? the person who looked for help or the one who made the person feel bad about doing the right thing?

Well, as someone that for a long time believed I couldn't afford better food, I suggest you do more research... What people completely fail to understand is that the much better food DOES NOT cost more.. It absolutely doesn't cost more unless you are buying store brand at dollar general. I did a price comparison.. Innova Evo canned food for cats, for instance, costs the same amount per ounce as Friskies and less then half what Fancy Feast costs if you buy the large can... That is what people don't understand.. The good food doesn't cost any more, you just have to perhaps drive out of your way to get it and you have to spend the time to do research.. People just think that better must mean it costs more..

I was berated in the past for my choice of dog food.. I used to feed Iams and thought it was the best I could afford, only to find out a couple years later that the better food was CHEAPER then Iams.. I used to pay $28 a bag for Iams.. Now I buy California Natural for less.. I buy better food AND save money..

It's not just about what you can afford, it's important that someone actually understand and know what's a good choice for their pet.. Preferably, before they even get the pet.. I find that most choices people make are actually based on ignorance rather then what they can or can't afford.. For instance, feeding a cat a strictly canned food diet may cost a bit more then dry, BUT, it will cost a heck of a lot less then special food for kidney failure and less then a urinary blockage operation. I think a lot of people just don't see the whole picture.. Either that, or,they know they won't spend the money on the surgery in the future anyways so they don't care if they save a few cents and shorten their pets life..

Just an opinion from someone that's always trying to learn and improve..

You should buy the best food that you can afford. Honestly, some of the better stuff is cheaper in the long run than the crappy filler foods.. dogs eat LESS of the quality stuff.. I did a comparison on reccomended feeding amounts before.. the cheaper stuff is ussually 3-4 times the feeding amount of the better stuff. That $40 bag will go alot farther than the cheaper bag will.

Vet care is the biggest issue. If you cannot afford to provide at least BASIC, PREVENTATIVE vet care, sorry, you do not need a pet.

If you can't afford to take care of a pet, no matter how much you love them, you're a bad pet owner.

You don't have to feed you're dog gourmet dog food or having him professionally groomed every 3 weeks, but you do have to provide proper medical care.

I can't stand it when people come on here who say their pet is in horrible pain, bleeding, seems near death, but they can't afford to take it to the vet so they'd rather let it suffer!