Never Send A Pregnant Woman To. . .

...Take your dog to the vet to be put under anesthesia.

I was a sucker. That vet could have sold me anything for the "well-being" of our pooch. Voodoo, hoodoo, good medicine, whatever you want to call it, I was buying. Sign me up for two, please.

I am normally no fool. I know from various sources (including my mother-in-law, who has worked at a vet for twenty years) that vets make most of their money on the "extras." For example, the bloood work that is recommended before your be put under is usually unnecessary. Unless your pet is geriatric (over 8 years old) or has a documented underlying health problem, there should be no issues with general anesthesia. Even humans don't have this blood work done! If your dog has been put under before with no complications, that should remain the case. Yet for another $100, they will charge you for this bloodwork. And if you don't want the bloodwork, they paint all sorts of scary scenarios in which your pet can die of unexpected complications.

Now, if you have followed my blog for any length of time, you know that our pets are our "furbabies." When people have asked in the past if we have children, they usually get the response of "Three, would you like to see pictures?" and are shown the dogs and cat. So, please don't think me heartless that I usually refuse the extra bloodwork. My dogs and cat have always been fine.

Then, there is the matter of the EKG lead. Now, when your pet is normally put under, they have a their pulse measured through their tongue. For the bargain price of $48, they can add the EKG lead, which will add another three minute lead time if a heart murmur should happen while they are out. While I am sure this is of benefit if your animal has a heart murmur, my big dog is as healthy as a horse. But there's always that small chance. . .

My big dog has been my baby since his mother's milk was not enough to sustain him at 3 weeks old. I bottle fed that baby pup from his status as the runt of the litter to one of the faster growing puppies. At his full grown weight of 65 pounds, he still thinks he is my "little one" and isn't shy about clamouring into my lap for some lovin'. Cheesy as this sounds, I made up a lullabye for him when he was a wee thing and when he is sick or even just cuddling, I can still sing the song for him and you can feel his whole body relax and his hearbeat slow. Yeah, I know. But what can I say, my animals light up my life. They are here for me, thick and thin. Rocky's fur has caught more of my tears than I can even count, and in the days following my D&C last year, he wouldn't leave my side as I grieved.

All of this to say that I was dead meat when I walked into that vet's office today. With pregnancy hormones in full gear, every time they would come to an option that I usually turn down flat, I was a blubbering mess thinking about my sweet dog losing his life over $48 here and $100 there. But of course, all that adds up. Our original estimate for today's procedure was $325. By the time all the extras added up, we were at $498.

My husband laughed at me, but said that from now on, he was answering the phone for all telemarketers (another post for another day) and taking the furbabies in for their checkups and procedures. I think for the sake of our pocketbook, that's a good idea.