Well, you could adopt seniors.....
Mizzy makes #20 for me, 15 at the bridge.
Ivey had osteo (11 1/2). Austin had soft tissue osteo (he was 13 went he went). I am pretty sure SieSie had lymphoma (lumps appearing hourly) 13 1/2, Shadow had a lung tumor (14 1/2). I think Solo and Rob Roy had spinal tumors (Solo was I think 13 and Rob Roy just shy of 13), Solomon probably liver cancer (14), Jodie was a diabetic and developed endocarditis (12), Magic was 16 1/2, Trevor LP (12), Eliza rimadyl (9 3/4), Jesse kidney disease (12), Heart old age (14 3/4), Scooby mast cell tumor (11), Slick kidney tumor (14)
So, you can see that there is a variety and all except Eliza were older.
I have seen some people seem to end up with mulitple greys with the same medical problems. It is their specialty. Hurts sometimes. Not all osteo dogs are candidates for amputation.
So, Bodie's mom, in answer to your questions and concerns: nothing is guaranteed. Even age isn't a factor--young doesn't mean they won't have cancer or some other dibilitating disease.
I agree that the cost of osteo with amp and chemo is very expensive but so are some other diseases.
I think all dogs have an increase in cancer and it is due to over vacinnating and use of pesticides. I think one of the things we can do, is talk about what will make our dogs healthier and preventative medicine.
You do what you can do regarding treatment of any disease. Sometimes the choices are hard.
I would not stop adopting greys because of the possibility of medical bills. Able to support should be a factor, but not everyone can have $20K in the bank to cover catastrophic bills!