In the summer of 2005 I became the owner of black lab mix from a coworker. Or she took ownership of me. Either way the dog was free. Her name was Lucy and she was a great dog. A very good girl. The kind of dog that makes it hard to get another, since no other dog could possibly be as good as she was.
She lived until October of 2019. A few months ago I started going through her medical records, and figured that I would calculate how much this free dog cost me (financially). As with most mutts, she was very healthy; she never had any major diseases, broken bones, or any other health issues. The last year and a half of her life was probably the most expensive in terms of vet bills. She did die of cancer, but did not undergo treatments: just one surgery to remove a tumor and part of her tongue (a topic for another post).
As a start date, on May 11, 2018 she was struck with vestibular problems and lost the ability to stand. She recovered quickly, but I now think that was an early sign of her cancer. Her last day was October 1, 2019. Between those dates her vet bills were $2290.10. That works out to $4.51 a day. But she was priceless.