andi9899
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Vet bills
Nov 30, 2016 23:38:00 GMT -5
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Post by andi9899 on Nov 30, 2016 23:38:00 GMT -5
I think I'd wait and see and go with the de-eyeballing if not. Why pay $3700 for a useless eye? Because the ulcer is not in the same place on this eye that it was the other eye. The eye vet said he actually sees pretty well out of his remaining eye. He sure was able to find the treat tray at the vets this morning..... Yeah. I realized that after I posted it. Never mind me. I can't read.
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Nov 30, 2016 23:50:43 GMT -5
I'm sorry.
We've spent $600 the last two weeks on Bill the Dog. It was clear he was not eating, but I thought it was because I purchased a different brand of food. However, after a week, he was completely lethargic. Then he started hiding. It took me ten minutes to find him when I got home two Sundays ago. That never happens. Paid for the urgent care/bumping rights at the vet; paid for the blood tests. He had a pretty serious infection. The antibiotics were strong enough that he's back to normal now.
I'd struggle with a $3700 bill--partly because that's the majority of my EF.
Good luck!
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Dec 1, 2016 0:05:15 GMT -5
I was pretty skeptical about the doggie eye vet. If you want an emergency appointment, it is $350. A regular appointment is half that. So when I called last Monday, the first emergency appt she had was Monday. The first regular appt she had was 12/29. TD and I talke, an decided to take the emergency appt on Monday afternoon. Monday morning, the vet staff called with a cancellation yesterday afternoon, if we wanted it. A day really wasn't going to make much of a difference, so we snagged it.
I do have to give her kudos. After examining the mutt, she talked to us for almost an hour laying out all our options. She gave us a sheet explaining everything, replaced his cone of shame to something more protective, gave us meds for pain if his eyeball ruptures and the goal is to keep the eyeball from rupturing. If it ruptures, saving the eyeball is out.
I can't remember the last time I have had a doctor that spent so much time laying out options.....either human or animal!
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Gardening Grandma
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Post by Gardening Grandma on Dec 1, 2016 0:37:33 GMT -5
Sounds like you have a great canine eye vet. They aren't cheap, but they are worth the $$. Dogs live longer than ever (thank goodness) with good care. Ours lived healthy active lives into their teens (one was 16 and tne other nearly 15 when we had to say "goodbye") As long as you don't bankrupt yourselves, please do follow your gut feelings and do what you feel is best for your furkid. My best to him. And to you.
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Shooby
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Post by Shooby on Dec 1, 2016 6:50:25 GMT -5
Speaking of vets, i just had my new puppy spayed. She's a minigolden doodle. She is 9 mos old. And, the cost for the spaying was $240. Then, i got her a supply of Nextguard so my total bill was like $325. Which is pretty reasonable considering she had surgery, anesthesia and was giving antibiotics and an NSAID.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Dec 1, 2016 9:43:54 GMT -5
Sounds like you have a great canine eye vet. They aren't cheap, but they are worth the $$. Dogs live longer than ever (thank goodness) with good care. Ours lived healthy active lives into their teens (one was 16 and tne other nearly 15 when we had to say "goodbye") As long as you don't bankrupt yourselves, please do follow your gut feelings and do what you feel is best for your furkid. My best to him. And to you. GG....this won't bankrupt us. I guess the concern is spending over $3000 on an animal that is in his golden years and has who knows how long left. Our neighbor just had cataract surgery done on his dog. Amber is about as old as our mutt, but the neighbor's attitude is that "you can't take it with you". He has no kids, so Amber is his companion.
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973beachbum
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Post by 973beachbum on Dec 2, 2016 8:42:39 GMT -5
If the dog has to have the eye removed that means he wouldn't have either eye? That is way more than bad. I had a cousin who was blind from when she was a little kid. She was one of the best people. She could actually give direction while we were driving somewhere in the car. She "read" almost every book on tape and was really smart and well informed on a wide variety of issues. Well at about 50 she had an infection or something and had to have both eyeballs removed. In my stupid head I thought it wouldn't be that different since she had been blind for so many years. It really was so much worse than just being blind for her! Even though she had been blind she could still see light and dark. Shadows and such are totally different than total black. This was a person who understood exactly what was happening and yet trying to adjust to her new life of total and complete blackness was incredibly hard on her. She never really recovered from it IMM. If it was that hard for a person to deal with I would think long and hard before doing it to a pet who can't understand.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Dec 2, 2016 10:19:27 GMT -5
Nickels had cataracts and my parents were quoted $3k to remove them. That's more than what my great uncle paid for a cornea transplant! Pugs are also at high risk of complications from anathesia so my dad was wrestling with the costs AND possibly end up causing Nickels to die. In the end they decided not to do it. You would have been amazed to see how well he got around despite not being able to see. As long as all the furniture in the house stayed in same location he was fine. That dog lived to be 18 years old and was in perfect health up till one day he had a stroke and my dad had to put him down.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Dec 2, 2016 10:57:11 GMT -5
Yes. If both eyes are moved he would be totally blind. The vet tech told us we could not move furniture.....ever (or until he dies), but they do learn, even old dogs.
His bloodwork came back yesterday, and I think it is ok. I guess we will be calling today to schedule his graft on Wed. We need to get him mostly healed before he gets kennelled on the 23rd.
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skeeter
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Post by skeeter on Dec 8, 2016 10:10:27 GMT -5
How is Mutt doing? Did he have surgery yesterday?
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Dec 8, 2016 10:33:56 GMT -5
He did. We have been keeping him drugged to the gills (at the vet's request) to keep him from hurting himself. We will keep him this way for about a week.
The vet said the surgery went well, but was challenging. He wound up getting 2 grafts over the ulcer, but she sees no reason why it won't be successful.
Right now, the bigger problem is getting drops in his eyes. It is a 2 person job and he fights us horribly. It is best to wait about 30 minutes after he gets his pain med.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2016 10:37:26 GMT -5
That poor dog. I hope it all works out for him and he retains the sight in his one eye.
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movingforward
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Post by movingforward on Dec 8, 2016 11:26:19 GMT -5
Poor thing . Wishing all of you the best.
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skeeter
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Post by skeeter on Dec 8, 2016 11:47:54 GMT -5
Really hope he heals quickly and completely.
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dannylion
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Post by dannylion on Dec 8, 2016 15:17:54 GMT -5
Aw, the poor sweetie! Sending good thoughts for speedy and uneventful healing.
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CCL
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Post by CCL on Dec 8, 2016 21:48:53 GMT -5
He did. We have been keeping him drugged to the gills (at the vet's request) to keep him from hurting himself. We will keep him this way for about a week. The vet said the surgery went well, but was challenging. He wound up getting 2 grafts over the ulcer, but she sees no reason why it won't be successful. Right now, the bigger problem is getting drops in his eyes. It is a 2 person job and he fights us horribly. It is best to wait about 30 minutes after he gets his pain med. Awe, good to hear the surgery went well. Hoping for the best for him.
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on Dec 11, 2016 20:42:04 GMT -5
My first cat had surgery and the vet had me keep him drugged out of his mind for about a week because he would not leave the stitches alone even with the dreaded cone of shame. I have some now funny photos of him when he was stoned out of his mind.
Thankfully, I was able to get his meds in him. I also had to hand feed him and carry him to the litter box every few hours.
What we do for our fur babies out of love.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Dec 11, 2016 22:23:08 GMT -5
Yeah, the mutt has been getting carried outside every couple of hours to pee. The tramadol we were giving him was giving him a horrible cough, so we are trying to cut it down and use the gabapentin instead. The other side effect is that we think he is constipated. He hasn't pooped since Thurs. but I told TD that while he is drinking, he isn't eating much. So having to withhold food prior to the surgery, having no food the day and a half after surgery, I don't think that there is much to process.
Then to complicate things, Thurs. the timing belt on TD's car broke. The car had 65k miles on it, so not close to needing to be changed. Since it is an interference engine, it is all f#%£ed up. Waiting to see the damage there, so my car is not mine anymore.
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dee27
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Post by dee27 on Dec 11, 2016 22:51:53 GMT -5
My first cat had surgery and the vet had me keep him drugged out of his mind for about a week because he would not leave the stitches alone even with the dreaded cone of shame. I have some now funny photos of him when he was stoned out of his mind. Thankfully, I was able to get his meds in him. I also had to hand feed him and carry him to the litter box every few hours. What we do for our fur babies out of love. Our Lab hated the cone and chewed through the side of it. How he managed to do it, who knows since he did when we were sleeping?
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Dec 12, 2016 0:37:29 GMT -5
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on Dec 12, 2016 22:14:18 GMT -5
My first cat had surgery and the vet had me keep him drugged out of his mind for about a week because he would not leave the stitches alone even with the dreaded cone of shame. I have some now funny photos of him when he was stoned out of his mind. Thankfully, I was able to get his meds in him. I also had to hand feed him and carry him to the litter box every few hours. What we do for our fur babies out of love. Our Lab hated the cone and chewed through the side of it. How he managed to do it, who knows since he did when we were sleeping? Ben managed to take two cones off. So the vet made him a special cone. He got that off also. So the next plan was the drugs and me taking vacation days for a week to care for him. Yes, my co-workers laughed, but he was my baby and it was my time to use as I saw fit.
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skeeter
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Post by skeeter on Dec 20, 2016 20:22:22 GMT -5
How is Mutt's recovery coming along?
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Dec 21, 2016 10:54:32 GMT -5
We had an appointment at the eye vet earlier this week and she is happy with how his eye is healing. The stupid dog found the corner flap of a cardboard box and managed to get it to his eye.....and I was afraid that he would have destroyed the delicate stitches. Luckily not. He also realized that my foot raised in the recliner is the perfect height to scratch!
Anyway, he is totally off the pain meds and is returning to his previous problem child status. He still has his cone on, and the vet prescribed benedryl to help alleviate some of the itching associated with healing. The cone remains on until his next appointment on the 29th.
He is getting kennelled Friday when we go to Calgary. He will love that.
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skeeter
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Post by skeeter on Dec 21, 2016 11:20:48 GMT -5
Thanks for the update. Sounds like Mutt is going to be ok thanks to you. Have a safe trip.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Dec 29, 2016 18:08:30 GMT -5
So the cone of shame stays for another 2 weeks, then we can take it off as long as he is monitored not to scratch at his eye. That means while we sleep, he sleeps in the cone.
However, the vet is very happy as to how he is healing. The graft is nicely vascularized, and will continue to merge into his eye. He is seeing better, not doing face plants into walls any more (whew!). He still misjudges how close walls are and runs the cone into it though.
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dannylion
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Post by dannylion on Dec 30, 2016 13:56:52 GMT -5
Glad to hear the news is good. Sending good thoughts for continued uneventful healing for the doggy.
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