Letters to the Editor
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My 2 cents...
I had a dog. His name was Bodhi. He was a very good boy. I had him for 10 years, then he was done. I helped him on his way.
In that 10 years I spent about $15,000 on vet bills for him; we played hard together. I had about $75,000 repair bills on my own body in that time span. I don't regret a dime of it. At least not the money spent on the dog :-). If I could have kept Bodhi-O around (as himself, not as some shadow of himself), I'd have spent twice that, three times that and more, happily. But I couldn't; in the long run we're all dead. You don't need to pay a vet for the last favor you do your friend, although I admit it's probably a lot easier and not a bad choice.
Anybody who feels differently about that decision is welcome to their opinion and their own actions in relationship with their own companions; just don't suggest that my dog and I should have done it any differently. Just don't...
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Animals
They great thing about wild animals is that they do not exist to massage human egos. The whole rationale of pet ownership is worth examining.
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Jared2
Dogs and cats are not "wild animals." They've been domesticated for centuries.
What's your problem with my owning a cat?
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$950 Dental Surgey
Our cat is old and had impacted teeth. He was my boyfriend's cat before we met and that cat and I never got along. He was always very grumpy and mean - he even bit the guy installing our new carpet! So when we were told he needed dental surgery, extensive dental surgery, and that he may not make it through surgery I jumped at the chance. "At last," I thought, "we're finally going to be rid of this damned cat and I can get the dog I've always wanted!"
But alas. He came through surgery just fine and it turns out the pain in his mouth was what was making him so grumpy and mean. He's like a whole new cat now! Friendly, loving and he's even lost weight.
So yes, I feel guilty about hoping the dental surgery would kill our cat. But I'm glad we shelled out the bucks because I can't stand to see any animal (or person) suffering and I can see he's a much, much happier and healthier animal now.
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Fortune Smiled on Us
My wife, three kids and I have a 9 month-old dapple Dachshund named Fizzgig. One morning he was very lethargic and wouldn't eat. Then he was vomiting throughout the day. He also wasn't pooping.
We took him to an animal hospital and paid $300 for an X-ray, which revealed some kind of blockage in his stomach that none of us could identify. The attending vet wanted to do exploratory surgery that very day and remove whatever was in him for $3,300. This was a financially devastating expense for us because our finances are where about 90% of America's are right now.
We told the vet that we wanted to take Fizzgig home and do some serious financial planning to figure out how we'd do this. We also wanted to see if we could get (for lack of a better term) a better deal from our regular vet. Needless to say, we both got a little bit of judgmentalism from the attending. She said, "Well if you want to do that that's fine but he is suffering and the longer you wait, the more danger he'll be in." I could tell from the way she was looking at us that she didn’t approve.
The receptionist was a little more direct. "You're taking him home?!" she asked with a thinly-veiled mix of disbelief and disgust. We said yes. She replied, "Okay," in that tone of voice that is almost universally interpreted as, "You make me sick!"
We got home and started crunching numbers and pinching pennies. We hated to put money over our dog's life but money also puts a roof over our heads -and it's a modest roof, believe me.
Long story short, the next day we got approved for a credit card to pay for the operation and got everyone ready to go. About a half an hour before we were going to leave for the vet, Fizzgig pooped out a plastic marker cap and was back to his old self within minutes.
See the Subject line.
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$500.00
Excellent article, and it brings up an issue that I believe is one that reasonable people can disagree on.
It's certainly true that for those without children, animals often become de facto kids, and the expenses are considered a part of parenting.
With two daughters of my own, who I'd sell our house to protect, pets just don't have that kind of value.
For those who would claim I'm a terrible owner, I can understand your feelings, but I don't agree.
I also question the dog vs cat value question, I don't think it goes far enough.
If dogs and cats are worthy of so much debt, what about hamsters, or birds, or fish? Aren't they just as valuable?
So rather than complain about those who will max out there credit cards on fluffy, I guess I'll just say that in my opinion it's ok to have different values on some of these things.
And by the way in our house, if a vet bill is going to be more than $500, the pet gets put down, humanely of course, we'll bury it in the forest adjacent to the house, mourn..in a pet sort of way.. for a month.
then get another one.
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jared2
My cat doesn't exist to "massage" my ego. I have my cat because she's great company. And you could easily say "Children shouldn't be had just to massage one's ego". Not everyone does things for the same reason.
The whole rationale of pet ownership is worth examining
Everything in life is worth examining. With good owners, pets get a good, happy life and the owner's lives are improved as well.
If pet ownership isn't for you, don't have a pet. If other people want to care for an animal, how does it hurt you?