And my dog just ate up a big chunk of my budget yesterday. My dog has been chewing on her feet for about a year now and one of her little toes had gotten red and a little swollen, so I decided to bring her in to see the vet. Admittedly she was overdue on getting all her shots and her heartworm medication. Essentially, aside from the foot chewing, she wasn’t going to pass inspection. So she got all her shots and her medication before Dr. Do Little addressed the foot chewing. He said it was probably a skin allergy. I asked about the treatment options and the consequences of not treating it. He outlined all the options, all the way up to “skin and blood tests that could run $700-$800.” Needless to say, I was not going to spend four times the original cost of the dog just because she her feet itched. If my car needs $800 worth of repairs I’d get a new car. I was tempted to do the same here, but I didn’t want to train a new dog not to pee in my house. The house I’m still trying to sell.
The first option was to try an allergy medication similar to Benadryl. When I asked the consequences of not treating the allergy at all, Dr. Do Little said “She will continue to itch.” That didn’t seem so bad to me, but not wanting him to call the SPCA on me, I agreed to take two weeks of allergy medication for her and call him and tell him if it worked. Dr. Do Little is likely to grow old waiting for that call. As I was checking out I braced myself for what was likely to be an astronomical sum for what I consider an optional member of my family. The bill was $243.15. I think I may have to win the lottery if I want to afford to keep my dog. Actually, if I win the lottery I’ll just hire someone to chew her feet for her. That has got to be cheaper than the treatment. At the checkout desk as I was signing a mortgage to pay for my dog’s bill I noticed that they had stickers you could put in your window to remind the fire dept. to rescue your pets in the event of a fire. I thought to myself, “If I ever have to pay this much for my dog again, I may just set her on fire myself.”
Don’t call the SPCA. I’m kidding of course. The dog in that picture above is the one I’m talking about and because I continued to give all my disposable income to the vet, she’s turning 12 years old this month. As always if you enjoy #ThePhilFactor please hit the Facebook share button and buy my books that you see in the right sidebar. If you don’t that cute black lab in the picture just might not make it : )
