by Beks
On Sundays, my husband and I drive up to hang out with my brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, and grandparents at my parents’ house. We take our dogs since my parents have a large fenced backyard. We’ve never had a problem and our dogs love running around for hours.
Tonight was different.
As we sat relaxing, a loud yelp broke the calm night air and my dog came running to the house making pained noises I have never heard him make.
We thought he had scraped his face on a wood pile but as I sped down the freeway, his face swelling more with each passing minute, my hopes of a simple puncture wound faded. The 30 minute car ride seemed to take hours. His pained whimpering broke my heart.
The vet said my dog had been bit not once, but twice by a rattlesnake and they weren’t sure if he would make it.
I have always said I would never pay more in vet bills than I paid for the animal and have routinely been confused when people spend thousands on dogs.
I am no longer confused.
When they brought me the bill, I was already crying, but when I saw the $2,500 decision, I started sobbing. I had my head in my hands for ten minutes, my mascara streaking down my cheeks. “I can’t do it” I said to my husband, “I can’t make this decision. I’m sorry.”
I appreciate that my husband knows some things are simply too big for me. I get too emotional and fail to think clearly.
He rubbed my back, stood up, and walked to the front desk. Thinking he would ask them to put Hutch down, I couldn’t breathe through my tears.
He came back and calmly started filling out admittance papers and the veterinary financing paperwork.
We took a big debt step back tonight and we won’t even know how big of a step for three days.
By the way – if you are thinking about making comments about how stupid it is (I already know) to take out a $2,500 loan on a dog, could you please wait a few days until I find out whether or not my dog is going to live?
