I invested over $3500 in the last year of my cat's life keeping her systems doing what they needed to do. This included flushing her body twice a week with IV fluids and giving her daily Chinese herbs. There were a couple of emergency visits, but nothing that on its own cost more than a couple of $100, but the little things add up. And looking back, I wouldn't take back 1 penny of it. The joy of having her for the last year, sunbathing next to my computer as I worked, snuggling in bed with me, watching her nuzzle my dog...all worth every cent!

:)

On New Years eve I lost my foster dog. He got sick from one day to the next and I finally ran him into the emergency vet. The tests to find out what was going on cost several hundred dollars and I had to call my folks for a loan. They immediately said yes, they know how much my dogs mean to me and I've always repaid them quickly, but my dad asked one of my sisters why I was spending so much money on the dog who ultimately died. What he didn't know was that I'd already spent almost five thousand on that dog, though they do know I've spent over five thousand on one of my other dogs.

Several weeks ago, I went over to visit my parents and one of their chihuahuas was sick. My sisters told me she had been sick for a few days. I saw her barf twice and told them she had to get to the vet, now. Dad was squeamish, he lost the last two dogs who went to the emergency vet, so I said I'd take her. Her overnight at the first vet ran $600 and the emergency operation at the second vet cost a couple of thousand more. Dad paid it without hesitation or complaint. He then told my mom he was going to have to have her order a credit card for him to keep, in case of emergency.

I was fourteen before I'd ever seen my dad cry, when he learned his little brother had been murdered by his son. The second time was when my little brother died in a auto accident eight years later. He cried again at my niece's funeral five years after that. Meanwhile I've seen him cry over four dogs and when mom said she wasn't going to let the chihuahuas sleep in her bed anymore because they kept waking her up, dad started to sleep with them in the spare bedroom. These are the same people who raised us saying, "Dogs are dogs" and refusing to allow them in the house. My sisters and I sit around watching them now and just shake our heads.