Karen-in-Ohio made an excellent point, asking how families manage the kind of expenses that pets can incur. There are hundreds of small charities out there helping owners with overwhelming medical bills. If you search for "charities to help pay vet bills in -my state-" you'll quickly see what's out there. If you're an animal lover, looking for a way to help folks in straightened times, this is an excellent way to do so.
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Those of you who are regular visitors to JRW will remember the saga of Walker, the $15,000 cat. I was discussing the epic while a guest at Hallie’s house, and she pointed out it was more like $17,000, with the USDA certification fee, the in-cabin airline pet fees, and having to buy Youngest a brand new ticket when we discovered Jet Blue didn’t allow pets to travel IN the plane. So for now, Walker will be known as the $17,000 cat. That’s $26,265 CAD, for our northern friends.
I say for now, because I recently discovered Walkers stubborn refusal to put on weight is due to a hyperactive thyroid. Easily cured by giving him two pills a day (at the current cost of $200 a year) for the rest of his life, which should be another 13 to 17 years, if he doesn’t escape the house again and fling himself under a passing vehicle. OR I can solve the problem at one go with a radioactive iodine treatment for $1,700 - $2,000.
Dear readers, I invite you to picture my face upon hearing this.
Reds, have any of you gone to absurd lengths to keep a pet healthy? Does anyone have a veterinary tale as unbelievable as mine?
RHYS BOWEN: My daughter’s dog just tore an ACL. This involves surgery at UC Davis veterinary hospital, plus constant monitoring for two weeks, plus being confined to a small area so that she doesn’t overuse the leg. A month before surgery she tore the second ACL. That surgery will be two months after the first one. And believe me, neither is cheap. I gather the ACL tear is a common problem of the breed. My other daughter who has a delightful mutt sniffed and said, “Pure breeds!”
DEBORAH CROMBIE: Our German shepherd Jasmine hasn’t quite caught up with Walker, but it’s close–like maybe a new sofa and a trip to England amount on the good old Citibank card. What happened to her was so bizarre that I don’t think you can blame it on the breed. We will probably never know what caused the infection in her neck, and it wasn’t a sudden decision to commit to surgery or a course of treatment, it was one trip to the vet, another to the pet ER, then another to the vet, etc., etc. The good news is that after three months, even though she still has a couple of staples and still has a wrap around her neck and a soft e-collar, she’s almost completely healed. I sure wish we’d had pet insurance!
HALLIE EPHRON: I’ve never had a dog, and cats only briefly before being hospitalized with asthma and having to give those sweetie-pies up. But I get it. A pet is a commitment, a chore and a delight. Heck, we took our hamster to the vet when he came down with testicular cancer. Of course we did.
JULIA: Hallie, I'm trying SO hard not to laugh at the idea of hamster testicles...
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Oh, my darling cat Lola lived to be 20, and in her most senior years, she was often at the vet. She would NOT get into the cat carrier to go there, though. She would stick her legs straight out wide, stiff, like a cartoon cat, and refuse. The only way to get her to the vet was to put her on my shoulder where she;d ride like a parrot. Of course, I would have done anything for her, even at the end, where she was still fine, but frail, and would eat only fresh ground turkey or chopped up fresh shrimp. Fine with me, whatever she wanted.
As for giving Walker pills, Julia, good luck with that. Lola would gobble up whatever I gave her to try to hide her pills–lamb, tuna, chicken–then swallow dramatically, then daintily spit out the pill.
JULIA: I've bought some fancy pill pockets, Hank - we'll see how well they work.
JENN McKINLAY: Oof, I’ve had some pricey vet bills when the schnauzer had his cancerous toe removed and when one of our dogs went into kidney failure while we were traveling and we kept her on dialysis until we could get back (only because she wasn’t suffering and we returned within days). I’ve always had pets and I believe as their person our deal is that I take care of them to the best of my abilities and as long as their quality of life is at the forefront of every decision. Since I like my critters more than most people, paying for their care is a no-brainer. LOL.
LUCY BURDETTE: Agree with the others–paying exorbitant sums for medical care as needed is part of the deal when acquiring a pet. After we adopted Tonka the Aussie, who was “free” because his teeth were not show-dog quality, he tore his rotator cuff three weeks into our tenure. The breeder told us to bring him back, she’d exchange him for another dog. Can you imagine? After three weeks we were hopelessly in love. So we paid for the $3000 surgery and many other procedures over the year. Money well spent for the joy he brought!
JULIA: This reminds me of the Mastercard ads: Pet Food - $30, Pet Cataract Surgery - $3000, Having a best friend for life: Priceless. How do you feel about it, dear readers?
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: It's so cold. That's it, that's the blog. It's just so. Damn. Cold. In much of the East Coast, it's felt like the mythical Fimbulwinter heralding the start of Ragnarok since the beginning of December. And it's not just here in New England; almost everyone in the states has been hit with at least a period of miserable cold, ice and snow. 
The thing is, I know how to deal with cold. I've taken all the steps I can to keep the heat in and the frigid breezes out of This Old House. I've put a portiere over the front door, closed off the unused center hall, hung curtains where I usually don't have them and have draft stoppers at the cellar, family room and back doors. I even got baby-proofing outlet plugs to seal up the exterior outlets.
I've taken to watching videos of Palm Beach, FL and Palm Springs, CA. I haven't quite managed to close my eyes and convince myself I'm there, but I'm going to keep on trying. I'm working on a proposal/outline for the next Clare and Russ mystery, which will take place in January, and I'm seriously considering having them vacation in (Julia googles 'hottest places in the US in February) Miami or the Kohalo Coast on the Big Island. I can always change it back to the freezing Adirondacks in editing, right? 
