Sunday, November 04, 2007

Church Would Have Been Much Less Expensive


$509.28. That is five hundred nine dollars and 28/100 if you are writing a check. That doesn’t count the prescription for special dog food I had to buy.

In case you are wondering what I’m talking about, we woke up this Sunday morning to a mess. Our little Lucy was sick as a dog (no pun intended) and had thrown up blood several times in several places throughout the house during the night. She was about as listless as a doggy can be and could hardly hold her head up. We called our regular Veterinarian but he was gone for the weekend. After a couple of calls to some friends, we discovered that Pet Smart in nearby Macon, GA actually has Veterinarians working on site 7 days a week. Since I was fairly confident that the local EMS doesn’t send their ambulances for sick miniature Schnauzers, we struck out to Pet Smart in our civilian vehicle.

To say I got an education would be an understatement. The good doctor began by telling me they needed to run a few tests. By the time he got done explaining the situation, I realized he would be running a lot of tests. Hearing the dollar signs in his voice, I asked him if he could run one test at a time. If the first test didn’t reveal her problem, I would then authorize the next test. He kindly said that he recommended doing all the tests to be thorough.

I didn’t want my wife to think I didn’t love our little doggie, so I quickly gave in and told him to go ahead and do whatever he recommended.

Since Lucy would be getting IV fluids along with all the tests, he asked us to come back in four hours. So we spent the afternoon visiting Wal Mart, Best Buy and Dick’s Sporting Goods (spending more money) as we waited on the results of the tests and the final tally of the doggie bill.

Lucy is now home and resting comfortably (as you can see in the picture above). The results of the tests showed she had eaten something she shouldn’t have eaten. I’m not sure what she ate but she should definitely be leaving that dish alone going forward.

And I need to be looking for some health insurance for my dog. A lady in line watching me pay the bill told me it is available.

$509.28 is a lot of money to spend on a Sunday afternoon at Pet Smart. And that doesn’t count the prescription dog food and the other items we bought while shopping at the other stores.

It would have been much less expensive to go to church.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

$509...you got off easy....

Anonymous said...

Did you ask the vet if they had any kind of package plans with values, benefits and financial savings.

T.O.

Anonymous said...

Our last emergency trip to the vet was over $1000.00. A broken leg, caused by growing too fast. Can you believe that.

Anonymous said...

Our beloved Munson was hit by a car. We took him to the vet & found out he broke his back. The vet didn't have the heart to put him down, so he kept him for 1 week. Our total vet bill was $100.00...now that's a vet that cares about the animals, not the money! Glad to hear Lucy was o.k. We had to put Munson down today. It's been a sad day.