Meet Elli! The newest addition to our family. You see my kids have been begging us for another dog every since their last dog  was hit and killed by the school bus nearly 5 years ago. It was quite a traumatic event for our family.

On a beautiful spring Sunday afternoon, I had packed up and left my husband in charge of my 2 children (at the time) and the dog. I was leaving my family behind for the very first time ever, for a much needed business trip. I was only away for approximately 12 hours when all hell broke loose back home.

On Monday morning, my husband woke to both kids coming down with strep throat for the first time. In the midst of scheduling doctors appointments and arranging for grandparents to come help, daddy let the dog out unattended in the front yard. At that very same moment, a new school bus driver came barreling down the street hitting our sweet little shitzapoo, not even bothering to slow down for a second, while leaving our doggy behind in the street.

After this traumatic event, daddy swore we were done with dogs and refused to even consider the subject of getting a new one. Almost 5 years, dozens of hours of pleading, and three hamsters later, he finally gave in to the constant pressure. After we laid eyes on this darling little "Yorkie-Pom" we couldn’t resist. The kids finally got their new puppy, again!

The ground rules were that the dog was the kids responsibility (yeah right), they were to take her out, pick up puppy droppings, and keep her fed and watered. And so they did….for about the first two weeks. Then guess who ended up taking on the puppy patrol. You were thinking me weren’t you? But actually it was DADDY! Funny how the one who was most against adding to our family bonded the fastest and filled in where the kids failed. But here’s where the story takes another turn.

Last week, when "Elli" woke up in the morning, she started vomiting several times, then vomited a few more times throughout the day. We rushed her to the vet as they suspected something amiss. They recommended a $100.00 x-ray as they suspected that she had swallowed something foreign.

The X-ray "appeared" to show something and the veterinarian suggested immediate exploratory surgery of her stomach and intestines to the tune of $1,000!!!  Without it, they feared she could die. So, I called daddy and asked "so how much do you love Elli?" "Not THAT much, he replied". The surgery was twice what the dog herself cost. She had been a part of our family for only 9 short weeks, but how do you say no?  Well, daddy didn’t seem to have a problem saying NO, until he heard his 9 year old daughter burst into tears as she overheard him on the phone.

After more promises by the kids to take their dog duty more seriously, the decision was made and the puppy was whisked off. How could I really walk out that door with puppy in hand knowing she could die from our lack of action? All I knew was- that dog better have something in her stomach! I also knew, I wish I had pet insurance!

2 hours later, the vet called and said they found the object. It appeared to be a plastic piece of some sort but they couldn’t identify it exactly. It was taking up over half of her stomach and definitely would not have passed on its own. When I arrived three days later to retrieve our puppy, I instantly recognized the culprit. It was the full bulb of my 2 year olds binky! Ugghh! Another good reason to get her off of those darn things!

I am happy to say, although a thousand dollars poorer, the dog did recover, the kids have stepped up (for the time being) and are being more responsible with Elli AND the binky’s are banned to the crib! (I sure think I
could have found a cheaper way of curbing the binky!)

Being put in this predicament, made me wonder…how far would you go to save your pets life?  And, what would you do if your spouse was not in agreement with you?  It also made me want to check into  the possibility of pet insurance. Blogger Nicole Feliciano encourages pet owners in her post, Embrace A New Kind Of Insurance, to consider this option. She says;

"as more and more animal lovers face skyrocketing veterinary bills, pet insurance is a topic that shouldn’t be ignored."

Tell us what you think…

By: Kathy Helbig