We've officially joined Gwenda in the "leave your pet behind with the pet sitter guilt club." Our fabulous pet sitter, Lynn, left us a note saying that hyper puppy Gambit had caught his dew claw on the couch cover that day and it had bled a bit. She recommended checking it and seeing if it warranted a vet visit to have the nail clipped or removed. I checked it that night and the next day and it seemed to be getting better and wasn't causing him any discomfort. Then we went to the dog park yesterday. A pained yelp and a little blood later I decided it was time to head home and make that vet appointment. Another pet owner warned that the toe could be broken, which was quite painful, and recommended that I keep some pain stuff like Demerol on hand for pet emergencies. Luckily, the pain wasn't bad once he settled in and they got us in this morning - thank goodness for Saturday morning office hours. I was hoping for just a nail trim and bandage. It was that but also a sedative, local anesthesia, antibiotics and three days of E. collar. $200 worth of stuff. Ouch, especially so close on the heels of Wiscon. Of course, I hadn't gotten around to completing the pet insurance policy, yet.
So, we've instituted the BIG PLAN - 1 Tough Puppy - a blog dedicated to pet issues of all kinds. I'm hoping to provide a forum for advice and discussion and a place for recommendations and reviews of pet products. I'm hoping it will generate a little bit of Adsense revenue to help us pay down the surgery debt. It will definitely keep me from posting my long pet rants on this blog. If you are interested in joining in, let me know. Some of you have been so helpful here with support and advice and I know others would benefit from your wisdom, too.
3 comments:
Oh no! I feel your pain (both emotionally and in the wallet -- ouch, indeed and our bill was pretty much the same). Christopher and I keep joking about how the adoption form for Emma has this section about how a dog can cost up to $500 a year -- we say, "Or in a day!"
And I love the new blog idea. Off to check it out now.
aw, no, not the satellite dish collar! Poor doggie.
Hi Kristen! It was nice to meet you at Wiscon and talk about "Ancestor Money" and all that...
I have a dog, too, and even though he's mostly healthy, we ended up spending quite a lot of money on him the first few years. Mostly to offset the hyperactivity/destruction of property thing, but he also has nasty seasonal allergies. I think the pet blog is good idea.
Gwenda - I'm so glad Emma is doing better. We had a very peaceful day yesterday because it took a long time for the sedative to wear off. Not so peaceful today.
Jackie - It was great meeting you. Send me your e-mail address when you get a chance.
I don't know who hates the E. collar more, the poor dog or us humans who have to deal with the aftermath of knocked over things and bruised body parts.
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