To Have Or Not To Have, THAT Is The Question

I wish I had more readers on my blog so I could gather even more advice on this issue. But since my two most devoted readers, my very good friends Olga and Nic, both have pets that they love I hope to gather some information on the subject.

So my cat, Ms. MaryJane, had been acting pretty bizarre lately. She wasn't cleaning herself, she was being more lax than usual and, in general, she just looked downright uncomfortable.

Then I came home yesterday to find that she had leaked some sort of goo all over my bed and I was instantly hit with a wave of panic; not only for my sheets, but for the girl that I have loved for almost 6 years. Sorry Boyfriend, but she came first.

So of course I called the vet and made an appointment; but it wouldn't be until the following day (that's today in case you were wondering) Then I took her down to the basement and set her up with her bed (as seen HERE) and her litter box and I would have given her a tv, a magazine and a chocolate bar if she would have been into it; because for real you guys! my cat was not feeling well!

In all seriousness though, any animal parent knows that it breaks your heart to see your baby in pain. For me, I hate knowng that she shut off in the basement. So I went down to pet her and love her and give her some cuddling and then BOOM! I started balling my eyes. I mean really! she is the one thing that I have left from my days of independence. She is MY pet. She is MY baby. And I was NOT prepared for anything to be wrong with her.

And my wonderful, wonderful Boyfriend agreed to go with me to the emergency ER at 11:30 at night so that we could make sure that she was ok.

After a 10 minute assessment of her situation by the vet, we came to find that she was massively constipated. And instantly all my thoughts of cancer and tumors and kidney failure and all the bad things melted out of my mind and I started to breath again.

But then we got our estimate and I almost had a heart attack...

$1,300

Followed by a "well we can't be sure, it will probably cost even more depending on the length of her stay".

Whaaaaaat? That is almost as much as my mortgage payment! And believe me, I LOVE my cat. But, eh eh. NO go.

So the salesmen, I mean the vet, at the ER goes on and on about IV fluids and enemas and her 2 day stay (as if it was a spa or something) and yada, yada, DOLLAR SIGNS. That was all I heard.

Then they tell me that we can pay about $500 and they'll give her under the skin fluids and she'll get one enema and then I could pick her up the following morning. Followed by a, "you can take her to vet whenever they open, but if you come back here you'll have to pay another examination fee". Really?!

After talking it over with Andrew we paid our $250 for the visit and the X-rays, thanked the vet and took Ms. Fat Cat home. Because we knew, we just knew, that our vet would never cost that much money.

So today I took her to OUR vet and it turns out that she has a blockage of the colon. Sidnote: I know this is all really gross; please bare with me. Well, my vet tells me that they're going to set her up with IV fluids, sedate her so he can remove the blockage and that she'll be there until Saturday.

Get this; $700.

Am I missing something?

I will never recommend that anyone go to Gywnedd Animal Hospital. I will, however, recommend my vet at Montgomery Animal Hospital.

But thank you Gwynedd for your recommendation that I sign up for a line of credit to pay your exuberant hospital bill. AWESOME.

Well then my vet tells me that he's not happy, actually he's really quite annoyed, because he doesn't feel like they performed Ms. Fat Cat a service at all. The first thing they should have done was shave her bottom to assess the situation. He also tells me that there was absolutely no way the $500 enema would have worked.

Worse yet; he says "the vet would have known that".

For real? I'm getting ripped off by an ER vet?! Are you kidding?

Now I'm wondering if I should sign the pets up for health care coverage because for starters, I don't think Obama's plan well cover my animals (damn). It will cost us about $80 a month for both pets, but it will cover all accidents and regular routine work.

What are your thoughts?

Do you have health care coverage on your pets?

What would you recommend?

I Knew I Said I Wouldn't Go There, But I Lied

In the early eighties, my father was in the middle of amping up his construction company. At the time, cash flow was good but some things, like insurance, just kind of fell to the wayside. When money is tight and you're self-employed, the last thing you can afford to do is pay for consistent healthcare coverage.

Circa 26 years ago, before we all started eating whole grain everything, before we all started popping vitamins as if our species is just not capable of surviving without them, and before people started preoccupying themselves with becoming centenarians, health insurance was considered a "just in case" plan.

Food, shelter, those kinds of things, WELL, they just seemed more important.

So of course, as dictated by Murphy's Law, my Mama got pregnant with me during a time when they didn't have healthcare coverage. Luckily for my Dad, he was making money and he knew that paying out of pocket for the duration of the pregnancy was his only option.

To this day my Dad calls me the "most expensive baby".

How much was the total of all the checkups, the ultrasounds, the birth, etc? about $10,000.

That was in 1983.

And my Mom didn't even get anesthesia.

How much would that cost today?

Somewhere between $9,000, with no complications and no anesthesia, to $17,000. A birth WITH complications, whoa boy, we're talking a possible total cost of $25,000 (if not more). And if you even think about having twins, you are f*cked. Just walk your tired, prego feet straight from the hospital down to bankruptcy court.

And bless anyone who has a child with health issues. I can not even begin to fathom.

Does childbirth come with a low interest payment plan?

So where is this all coming from? Well, I've told you before I read a lot, and I do, I read A LOT:

Read this.

I'm not going to weigh in on my views regarding the Obama plan, BUT, from a rational point of view... I think it would be ideal if we could readjust people to have realisitic views on healthcare coverage. We don't all need to live to be 120, people. But! we ALL deserve to live a healthy life while we're here and without fear that living that life will drain us of our finances.

That's all I have to say.

OK, now that I've gone on my tirade, let's talk about something else. Like for example, how cute our puppy is:

Or how funny it is that Harry's only real goal in life at the moment is to make MJ his friend.

And the fact that she wants absolutely nothing to do with him.

Remember this MJ?

And you thought me dressing you up was as bad as it could get...

...then we brought HIM home.