Tough choices

So we are back to the sick dog thing. Monday I had to take 2 out of 3 of our dogs to the vet. Bear, who was there 3 weeks ago, still has a bladder infection. Kegger has some kind of neurological issue with his right eye. $180 later, meds for one dog, meds for another one ordered but not paid for, and a 50/50 shot with each of them.


The vet prescribed ear drops for Kegger who is 11, th vet is hoping he has a middle ear infection. If it isn't an ear infection putting pressure on everything causing the muscle to spasm then he most likely has a brain tumor. So if the ear drops don't work then our option is to wait it out to see how fast he declines and pick the right time to put him to sleep.



Bear who is almost 11, can't shake the bladder infection. The vet is prescribing another antibiotic which he had to order. If this antiobiotic doesn't work then really the only sensible thing to do is put him to sleep. We could do a biopsy and such, but the vet said that was a lot to put an old dog through and he wouldn't recommend it. I called the vets office today and got more info on the drug- they can't tell me the price since the person in charge of that is out of the office today. Nice huh. So I get online and look up the drug and the doseage- the very cheapest I found it online was $140 per bottle and he will need at least two. The retail price is like $200. Who knows what the vets price will be. So what to do? If it appears to be working after the first bottle I have to order a second. Which will be at least $300 up to $400. If it doesn't seem to be working after the first bottle then we would have to put him down. Where do you draw the line? He is almost 11, I love him, but I will either have spent $500- 600 total to fix him up or $340 and then have him put to sleep. I guess what bugs me the most is that money is an issue. Yeah we can pay for it, but there are so many things we are trying to save for (propane this winter for instance) And how do you look at an old pet like that and say, "sorry buddy" "you're not worth $500 bucks." or even "sorry we need to spend our money on more important things". How do you even look at him and not feel like hell? I guess in all those times I have said I hate those damn dogs, I really didn't mean it because this is breaking my heart. What bugs me the most is not having a better hope, the vet doesn't know if the meds will even work. He says at his age he may not be able to shake this thing since it is so bad. Either way I may have to look at that goofy old dog and say goodbye, which makes me mad, because I hate being sad. My rational husband tells me that if the meds are more than $100 per bottle (which I can almost gaurentee they will be) then we should just have him put down. So that is what I get to think about until tommorow afternoon. Happy Freaking Wednesday.