Dear Annie: I wanted to make a comment on your recent response to the article, “My husband wants to limit how much we spend on sick pets.” Although I wholeheartedly agree with your response to consult with the writer’s partner prior to getting an animal, what goes into this consideration is so. much. more.

I am a veterinarian, and I frequently am involved in these decision-making conversations. It can be extremely frustrating, to downright heartbreaking, to see when pet parents have not put any forethought into the costs of owning a pet.