Be realistic with yourself about whether you can afford your pets.

I'd rather give up food than give up my pets. I've had them each for more than half of their expected lifespans. They're my reasons for getting out of bed in the first place. But thank you for this suggestion.

Yeah, I totally get that attitude. But it's an emotional state and you need to make objective evaluations here. So what else are you willing to give up to continue to pay for your pets? Is there anything else you can give up? If you want to keep them you will need to cut back in other places.

I wouldn't recommend giving up food, because if you do not take carte of yourself, you will be unable to care for your pets (put on your oxygen mask first).

As always, the problem comes down to either cutting expenses or increasing income.

It's not just an emotional state, it's my quality of life. I'm all alone out here and they're my only companionship. I have bad depression and PTSD (already in therapy) and I would get worse if I "failed" in my life and had to lose them. I lost them once and was blessed enough to get them back after a year.

I'm already cutting back where I can. I'm trying to see if anyone else has any ideas I haven't thought of. Ways to make my money go farther, etc. Ways to get support for medical bills or something. I'm looking to move somewhere cheaper, or somewhere that my profession pays more in relation to the cost of living, but I don't know what my other options are, if anything.

Increase income or cut costs. There isn’t more to it.

Many people will place a cap on medical expenses for animals. At some point their own quality of life is diminished by recurring medical treatment.

What actions have you taken to increase income? Sounds like you’ve cut costs enough

Took on some overtime hours at my main job and picked up a couple side jobs, and I started selling some stuff that I've had in storage

If you're having that many big expenses that often, it sounds like in some sense they aren't really "unexpected". You're going to have to plan for expenses at that level in your budget, somehow.

This is typically what insurance is for. Perhaps it is time to improve whatever medical insurance you have to cover more (probably at higher premiums), and look into insurance for your pets (which is a thing that exists I hear, although I don't know much about it). Sufficient insurance would at least take the "surprise" out. Earning more to cover the increased insurance premiums isn't really something anyone here can help with -- it sounds like you need to somehow increase your income or reduce your expenses further or both.

Thank you for this. I can keep working with my budget somehow, I just couldn't think of any other ways to do that. If I can find ways to decrease my medical bills that would be great.

They are "unexpected" because I plan for some procedures, and then I assume I'm done with office visits for a while, and then something comes up out of nowhere. It's been happening more often lately so my budget for medical expenses hasn't been enough to cover the "surprises".