New Pets, Sick Pets, and Hemorrhaging Money
| 5 min read
Wooh! The last few weeks have been absolutely mental here in Casa del Quirk.
Around 2 months ago we started renovating the stables to make things better for the goats and chickens. We've had an extraction system put in so fresh air is always circulating, as chickens are very dusty and goats don't like it too hot and stuffy.
While we were at it, we also had some new fencing and gates put in, as well as better hard standing around the stables. Finally we had the old, rotten windows and doors replaced with lovely new ones that have shutters so we can control the air flow depending on the weather.
Our stables with the new windows and doors
As you can imagine, this has been a significant expense, but we planned for it. So it's all good, but then...
Sick pet
Around a month ago we noticed that our older (and favourite) dog, Tia, had rather smelly breath and her mouth was bleeding when she was playing with her ball. We figured it's just old age and bad teeth, so we took her to the vet to have her mouth checked and properly cleaned.
Unfortunately it was bad news. Tia has a benign but aggressive tumour growing in her gum. Apparently they're relatively common in older dogs (she's nearly 14) but if left untreated it would get very painful and we ultimately end up having to have her euthanised as it would significantly effect her quality of life.
So we paid the unexpected £1,000 (~$1,350) bill to have the initial tumour removed, her teeth cleaned, and a biopsy. In the meantime we were also referred to a specialist to hopefully get the issue sorted properly.
Last week Tia went to the specialist to have a full body CT scan. This would give them more info about the tumour in her mouth and what our options are, but also (because she's so old) let us know if there's anything more malicious going on in her body.
We have to be pragmatic about this - the treatment was going to be expensive, and we had to make a call on whether we wanted it doing if they found something like cancer lingering somewhere in her body. Luckily for us the old girl came back with a clean bill of health and the tumour was treatable. That was another £1,500 (~$2,020) down the drain, but well spent.
The procedure to treat the tumour involved taking around 40mm (~1.5") of her lower jaw away. It's a significant operation and the recovery, especially for an older dog, will be difficult. On Monday she had the procedure, it went really well, and yesterday she came home a day earlier than we expected. She's a tough old girl.
She's much better today, but still struggling as she's been through a lot. Having a pet that's in pain is the worst - you can't really reassure them like you can a human, so you find yourself hopelessly watching them suffer.
It's heartbreaking, but it's for the best. We're still to get the bill for this procedure, but the vet has estimated an eye-watering £4,400 (~$6,000).
If anyone is playing along, that's £6,900 (~$9,200) in unexpected vet bills over the last few weeks. She also isn't insured as it's prohibitively expensive for a dog of her age. So we need to foot the entire bill.
Anyway, on to more positive news...
New pet
Last Saturday we welcomed the newest addition to our family, Nelly the 8 week old Labrador/cocker spaniel cross. The breed is known as a Cockador apparently - very unfortunate name if you ask me.
Nelly on her first visit to the vet, being very good.
Like any puppy, Nelly is a lot of work. Especially if you add into the mix a very sick dog, and the kids being off school for the summer holidays. I've also been working long hours recently, so my poor wife has been juggling most of this on her own. She's at her whits end.
Nelly, Tia, and our other dog Sidney are all getting on well though. Nelly is even helping distract Tia from the pain she's in.
It's fair to say that all our savings are gone, and the last of Tia's treatment will need to be thrown on a credit card so we can pay it off over the next few months.
Things are extremely busy and stressful at the moment. But hopefully we will have Tia for a couple more years so her, Nelly, and Sid will become a proper little pack that gives us lots of lovely memories.
Pets are a gift and we wouldn't have it any other way. I just wish vets bills were a little cheaper!
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