An expensive week

So Zach, our newest family member had his 'little operation' last Thursday.  While the surgery went well, it was an anything but run-of-the-mill vet experience.

In addition to the 'large dog neuter' cost ($325) and pre-op bloodwork ($65), we knew he had a hernia to be repaired ($75), and his testicles hadn't descended.  One could be felt 'right there', but while the vet thought the second was palapable also, he wasn't sure.  If the vet had to go 'fishing' for it, it would be a surgery more along the lines of a spay rather than neuter, along with an added cost.  This proved to be the case ($125 for one cryptorchid - the technical term for a hidden testicle).  So, Zach was left with a 1/2" incision, and two additional ones that were 2-3" in length.  Needless to say, this added to his discomfort, so we opted for pain meds ($6).

Because of a little slip some days before, his gait seemed to be 'off' a bit.  We opted for hip x-rays ($70 set-up and $86 each of two views) while he was already under for the surgery.  The clinic sends them off digitally for a consult with radiologists in the U.S. ($100)

Then there was the microchip ($50).  The bill came to within a sliver of $1000.  I was expecting about half that, maybe a bit more.  The vet tech kept saying 'poor you' as we went through the bill, and post-op care.  When I commented that I knew what an infected incision looked like and what treatment could entail because of a previous experience with our dog Duster, the light went on in her face.  The dog with the head abcess?  That was you guys?!  Which prompted another round of 'poor yous'  And I wasn't making a big deal of the bill, which made them even worse to my ears.  I knew I could pay this bill, but just barely.  (And yet, I was not freaking out, even in my head, which says a lot about how far I've come.)

Zach was a very quiet, clearly uncomfortable boy.  Until the next morning, when he seemed entirely back to normal.  And thus the fun begins.  Leash walking and no excessive running playing or jumping for the next 7 to 10 days.  And the cone.  We have cone pix of all our dogs, and Zach will be no exception, assuming we can get him to stay still for the length of the exposure.

He really wants to play with Duster, but Duster has been hit with the cone too many times to count and now scoots out of the way as fast as he possibly can when he sees Zach coming.  Turns out our Duster is quite the athlete, able to clear the corner of the couch, arm and all, from a sitting postion, one one quick hop.  Zach can't figure out why his big brother wants nothing to do with him and plops down with a heavy sigh, feeling sorry for himself I'm sure.  We spend some coneless time with him every day, where the two of us do nothing but pay him attention and scratch around his neck.  We took them for a long walk yesterday afternoon as it was a gorgeous day, again without his cone.

We ran into the first Bernese owner in the neighbourhood, who had not yet seen him, but had heard we got a Bernese pup.  Bernie, their dog, is a 140-lb male.  Her estimate was that Zach would not be as big.  At first I was a bit disappointed, but then when Bernie got out of the yard and was right next to Duster, it turned to relief.  If he ends up the same size as Duster, or a little bigger, that will be just fine and dandy.

This ended up being a very expensive week for us, though:  DS brought her truck in for what we thought was possibly a reverse gear issue.  It turned out to be the brakes.  Plus, one of those fancy tire valves that tell a light on your dash that tire pressure is low had gone missing, and an oil change.  $1600 later.  Ouch.

So, there go my hopes for an HD PVR dual-tuner receiver as the family gift for Christmas.