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As most people that know me are well aware - my family is my animals.
I have a close human family as well; not physically close, but we are a close family.
But the ‘people’ that I live with every day and interact with every day are my 2 wonderful dogs, and my super special cat.
As I’ve written about before, I have some amount of trouble making important social connections. Part of this difficulty has always been that I am a “homebody”. I enjoy spending time relaxing at home, without the drama and social pressure. So having 2 dogs and a very affectionate cat are natural for me. To add to this, I work from home. So why not have two dogs? They’re alone a few hours a day (CrossFit, shopping, some socializing) but they aren’t left alone the 8+ hours/day that many pets are. It would seem to be an ideal situation.
I talk to my animals almost constantly. They know every EllisLab secret that I know and are sometimes active participants in our meetings. Many of my team have pets that we get to hear throughout the meetings.
Having pets isn’t always easy especially since I seem to not always have the healthiest ones. Mali has feline triaditis and one, small lumpy kidney. Milton is allergic to many things and we only just discovered that was the primary cause of many GI issues. Elka, my traditionally healthy dog, may have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), but has only had one occurrence so we’re not sure (it’s a chronic condition).
The financial aspects of owning pets already surprise many first-time pet owners (see Craigslist and the multitude of reasons for rehoming pets). That is just their daily care: food, vetting, vaccinations, toys. In a difficult economy, pets are often the first ones out - and as much as I hate to say so - understandably. People need to keep roofs over their family’s heads. I get that. I hope that is never a decision that I am faced with.
Then add to that a special needs animal - one with symptoms as yet undiagnosed as Mali was for many years. The cost for stability and tests are extremely high. The first weekend she got really sick (approximately 4 years ago) was a $4k straight shot at the emergency vet, and it really only got more expensive from there. I won’t wow you with the monthly cost to of her medications; I don’t want the focus on this to be entirely financial.
Elka has been fairly healthy, and e-vets in this area are far less expensive than Massachusetts.
Milton I adopted as a “foster failure” knowing that he had GI issues, which I was sure were part of a major dietary problem (re: kibble). I adopted him, knowing that I already had a special needs cat, and hoped putting him on a raw diet would help. It did indeed, but not 100%. Many of Milton’s issues are in fact dietary - he has some major allergies making him reject/not absorb vital nutrients in his food. We now know what those are, and hopefully his vet bills will decrease with the appropriate, safe foods.
Far more than the financial impact of having 3 animals, including 2 special needs animals, is the emotional stress and pain of their various illnesses. Losing Odin, then Kayne (several years apart) undid me for some time after their respective deaths. I still cry over each of them on a very regular basis, and they both died at incredibly young ages. Each death left me wondering why I had pets, and if I could deal with that pain over and over.
Mali is a different type of pain. 4 years ago I was told she would live possibly 6 months, at the most 2 more years. She’s still here, but I’ve dealt with that looming deadline for the whole time, obstinately medicating, vetting, and testing her. With Mali, I’ve gone to extremes of care that most others would never dream of.
Today Mali is a stable, “healthy”, active bengal and I am considering getting a companion for her. But that “health” comes at a high cost and constant worry over her next crash, and how much she can take. You see, if that one small, lumpy kidney gives up - there’s really not much else that we can do. I’ve opted not to go the route of a kidney transplant for her, for a variety of reasons. It’s the right decision, but if that kidney kicks it, I will doubt myself for years to come.
To add to all of the stress and difficulty, I foster dogs. I temporarily take them into my home, fall in love with them, feed, train, and play with them all to find them a loving “forever” home. I know that I am doing a good thing fostering, but it’s not an easy task to “give up” an animal that has come into your home and become part of your family. Heck, that’s why Milton is still here, I couldn’t part with him.
With all of this - animals are still the joy in my life, and the central thing that I look forward to every, single day. No matter what their cost is - financial and emotional - I can’t imagine a time that I will be without my wonderful furry companions.
It is incredibly hard to allow myself to be that vulnerable, knowing that I’ll likely outlive them (I certainly hope so), and that I’ll have more animals and outlive them, too. But what a dull life it would be to not wake up to Elka’s “rrrrr’ing”, Milton’s silly prancing, and Mali yowling in my ear? That’s my caffeine. These animals are why I enjoy waking up in the morning (most of the time), and why I can smile and be happy throughout the day. When I’m out, I look forward to coming back home to my triple greetings.
To have these wonderful, loving, happy, smiling, loud animals be part of my life - that is truly a blessing. The cost?
Easily outweighed by the joy.
-Lisa, on March 29, 2011 at 9:30 pm