On January 28 the balance in our pet fund was $255.70. I know the exact number because I took a screenshot, the way you'd photograph the flood line on a basement wall. It was the lowest it had been since we opened the account.
The pet fund is a separate high-yield savings account that pays for anything unplanned for Hank and Mabel: sick visits, emergencies, Mabel's dental last June. Routine things like checkups, vaccines, preventives and screening bloodwork come out of our regular monthly pet budget instead. Our goal for the fund is $3,000. On March 1 last year it had $2,450 in it, and I was feeling pretty good about that.
How it got that low
Mabel's dental in June took it down to $1,355. With the $100 automatic transfer every month and one $286 visit for Hank's hot spot and ear in August, it had worked its way back up to $1,669.00 by December 1. Then Hank chased a squirrel onto the ice. Here's the path from there to $255.70, copied from the pet tab of our budget spreadsheet:
- December 1 balance: $1,669.00
- December 29 exam and X-rays at my clinic: minus $288.00
- January 1 transfer: plus $100.00
- January 2 surgical consult: minus $145.00
- Our share of the surgery bill (the last of the deductible, our 10 percent and the non-covered sling and cone): minus $816.30
- Recovery supplies, meaning three runner rugs, lick mats, a snuffle mat and a second baby gate: minus $264.00
- January 28 balance: $255.70
The surgery itself, $6,840, went on a credit card. When insurance paid $6,023.70 on January 27, that went straight onto the card, and the fund covered the rest. We never carried a balance or paid a cent of interest, which was the whole point of setting it up that way.
The fund did its job. That's what I keep telling myself when I look at the screenshot. In 2022, with no fund and no insurance, the turkey twine surgery went on a 0% card and took us until August 2023 to pay off. This time the money was already sitting there.
How it's coming back
The balance this morning is $985.70. Here's what happened between January 28 and today:
- February 1 and March 1 transfers: plus $200.00
- Our 10 percent of the six rehab sessions ($39.00) and the March 2 recheck X-rays ($31.00): minus $70.00
- Our tax refund, deposited March 6: plus $600.00
The rehab and the recheck work the same way the surgery did. The full bill goes on the card, the reimbursement pays the card down, and I move only our share out of the fund, right away, so the balance always shows what's really ours.
The tax refund was the easy call. We talked for about five minutes about spending some of it on the garden or a weekend away, and then we looked at the screenshot again.
Why the transfer is now $150
Starting with the April 1 transfer, the automatic monthly amount goes from $100 to $150. Three reasons.
First, the math. At $100 a month, getting from $985.70 to $3,000 would take about 20 months, and that assumes nothing else goes wrong, which is not how pets work. At $150 it's about 13 and a half months. Still not fast, but it gets us there sometime next spring instead of the end of 2027.
Second, Mabel turned nine on March 1, and we're seriously thinking about insuring her this spring. I'm still going back and forth on it. If we do, her premium would come out of the monthly budget, but her deductible would come out of this fund if she ever needs it, and that's another $500 that could land in a single year, on top of Hank's.
Third, the knee. At the recheck last week, Hank's surgeon reminded us again that dogs who tear one cruciate ligament often tear the other. We hope it never happens. If it does, I'd like the fund to be a lot closer to full than $985.70.
The extra $50 a month has to come from somewhere, of course. For us it's mostly the eating-out line, which shrank all winter anyway. It's hard to go out to dinner with a dog in a pen.
A fund like this only works if the number fits your own pets, your insurance, your income and what a bad night at your nearest emergency hospital costs. Ours isn't a template. It's just the number that lets me sleep.
