<< Back to all Blogs
Login or Create your own free blog
Layout:
Home > The Road That Was Cheaper

The Road That Was Cheaper

February 13th, 2008 at 05:33 pm

A close relative has a special day tomorrow (in addition to Valentine's Day), so I was going to drive to Town A to buy a balloon bouquet and then drive said bouquet to Town B to deliver them to close relative. There are no balloon sellers in Town B save for a florist.
I added the cost of gas to drive to A and B and home again, and figured it was much cheaper to call Town B's florist and have their bouquet delivered.

Emergency expense two days ago -- $96 at vet.

I had this in my emergency fund so no sweat and kitty is better.

*****************************************

I had a pet who was once very ill; he was old; rather than treat him to eke out another year, I babied him at home and he died two months later without any medical intervention. As I said, he was old. I have mixed feelings about this.

Another time, I threw a bunch of money at the ER Vet for a 17 year old cat. He died two days later. The vet told me that all of the intervention would have maybe bought another year, maybe. Sigh.

*****************************************

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments »

6 Responses to “The Road That Was Cheaper”

  1. nance Says:
    February 13th, 2008 at 07:11 pm 1202929895
    1202929895

    Sometimes, with old pets, I think you get a "gut feeling" and know when to take them to a vet, and know when it is kinder to spare them the trauma of the vet, all the tests, and the poking and prodding.

  2. Nancy Says:
    February 13th, 2008 at 07:39 pm 1202931552
    1202931552

    Thank you for these words; I did not want to spend 5000 dollars on the vet bill for an older dog. My sense was that her time had come. Had she been younger, different story. She had a very nice last few weeks, no apparent pain, and died at home as opposed to being taken to the vet's, etc. Still feel bad, of course.

    As for the older cat, I was surprised at the extensive last ditch effort to save him; at the time, it was a comfort to know everything possible had been done.

    So -- two extremes -- . Not much to do.

  3. baselle Says:
    February 14th, 2008 at 06:08 am 1202969295
    1202969295

    I felt guilty too. My cat had issues for his last year but he hated the vet. We took him to the emergency vet when he stopped eating and drinking altogether and we got the poor prognosis then. We were debating about what to do but our cat's actions really told us "let me go". He was ordinarily a fighter and a bright spirit, but the light was out.

  4. Nancy Says:
    February 14th, 2008 at 02:52 pm 1203000776
    1203000776

    I guess my first experience at the emergency vet's taught me something; although there was a benefit knowing that EVERYTHING had been done, my older cat still died; his last days were spent in a kennel at a vet's. They of course let me hold him.

    My other pet had a more "hospice-oriented" process; I let him eat all the food he loved and hoped for a soft landing. It happened. I let him "wind down" without any medical intervention and rescue. And, honestly, some of this was a financial decision.

    Both of these pets were older.

    As they told me at the emergency vet's -- "He enjoyed his time with you." I thought that was a really perfect thing to say and it gave me much comfort.

    Thanks all for the feedback

  5. nance Says:
    February 14th, 2008 at 07:01 pm 1203015712
    1203015712

    I had a 17 year old cat that was in declining health. She was loosing weight, and didn't look good, but she was a very shy cat, and hated going to the vet. I knew her days were numbered. I made her comfortable, gave her lots of love, put her on towels on a heating pad and petted her a lot. She died peacefully, purring. I know I did the right thing.
    I have had an old dog, and an old horse who were suffering, and I had the vet put them down. I also knew that was the right thing. If they had been young animals, I would have spent the money to get them well, but these animals were very old, and were not going to get well.
    You have to follow your heart, and not make them suffer the anxiety of separation, and fear. Dying at home, surrounded by the people they love, in a familiar place is much kinder, as long as they are NOT in pain.

  6. nance Says:
    February 14th, 2008 at 07:03 pm 1203015812
    1203015812

    I had a 17 year old cat that was in declining health. She was loosing weight, and didn't look good, but she was a very shy cat, and hated going to the vet. I knew her days were numbered. I made her comfortable, gave her lots of love, put her on towels on a heating pad and petted her a lot. She died peacefully, purring. I know I did the right thing.
    I have had an old dog, and an old horse who were suffering, and I had the vet put them down. I also knew that was the right thing. If they had been young animals, I would have spent the money to get them well, but these animals were very old, and were not going to get well.
    You have to follow your heart, and not make them suffer the anxiety of separation, and fear. Dying at home, surrounded by the people they love, in a familiar place is much kinder, as long as they are not in pain.

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]