ACCORDING TO DOGSTRUST.IE, 49% of families own at least one dog. That’s roughly about half of all Irish households. Including ours. We own a three year old miniature Jack Russell and our senior lady of almost fourteen years is a collie cross.

A year ago she was diagnosed with a disease that will ultimately claim her but there’s life in the old gal yet. Recently l booked her into the vets for her lumps and bumps checkup. These visits hurt us both for different reasons. Juno greatly dislikes the attention and I am not fond of the financial debit at the end of each visit. But needs must and them’s the things you take on the chin when you are a dog owner.

On this particular day it was “just” her yearly examination. But in the waiting room, talking softly to keep her calm, I realised I was feeling anxious too. Always cognisant of her age, I poked at an intrusive thought – what if a routine blood test flags an issue and our day is thrown on its head?

Forty minutes and a favourable blood result later, Juno was thoroughly ready to leave. New meds, a sneaky nail trim and free chats with all the other pet owners in the surgery, saw her human separated from the guts of two hundred euros.

Feeling a tiny bit financially stung but very relieved with my dog’s clean-ish bill of health, I spent the duration of our homeward journey thinking about value for money. Having come up against a worrisome appointment with her own dog a few weeks ago, I remembered my friend commenting, “You’d pay €800 to hear good news.”  

So why does what we value determine how much........

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