This thread is not for posting bad things. It's for posting good and bad things.
Because 2021 is meant to be so much better, right?
And why not make a new thread, featuring the random diary of our lives? New threads are fun!
This thread is not for posting bad things. It's for posting good and bad things.
Because 2021 is meant to be so much better, right?
And why not make a new thread, featuring the random diary of our lives? New threads are fun!
So I will kick things off, with a bad thing
I just spent $605.15 on extracting a 15cm long piece of nylon carpet underlay filament from one of my cat's arse holes. I thought it was a flea strike at first, judging by her behaviour, but I checked for fleas in her fur and spotted about 10mm of the material poking out.
Plus it's a public holiday here so my normal vet is closed. Off to the 24hr emergency vet. He lubed her bung hole and started pulling, and out it came with a lump of poo attached to the far end. Next was an untrasound to make sure there was nothing left. There was none, but they found a section of intestinal wall with some irritation which thankfully has not opened out to her abdominal cavity.
Consultation plus procedure plus ultrasound plus two sachets of gastro food. Open your wallet. Have a good day.
She is happy to be home again and eating straight away.
Last edited by Rare White Ape; January 25th, 2021 at 05:13 PM.
After Max had to have a sock surgically removed (idiot dog likes to eat socks) I looked into pet insurance but figured out we were probably much better off self-insuring by just chucking $2/day into an account to cover any other emergencies. I think he's rich enough now to be able to replace himself even! That's at pre-covid prices though ... not sure how much a doberman costs nowadays.
Yeah pet insurance seems disproportionately expensive. "Disproportionately" is disproportionately hard to type, by the way.
But the vet said they've had pets in a similar but more serious position than mine that end up costing $12k for gut surgery.
I just looked up a quote for insurance with Woolworths (of all places) and they quote $14.67 a fortnight for basic cover, or $22.03 for standard cover.
Standard cover would have paid for up to $300 for consultation, but at $572.78 for the year I'd still be out-of-pocket by a long way. And that's per year. She is 6 years old!
BUT, that seems reasonable value when you consider the cost of emergency surgery, and as with any insurance cover, all of that is a gamble. Basic cover appears to cover up to 80% for surgery costs.
I have two cats. Something for me to weigh up...
Not sure how pet insurance is over there, but people I know in the US that have had it say you pay into it, file one claim, and they drop you immediately afterwards.
Other than the attempted coup, my 2021 has been pretty good so far. Our cat's injury healed up well enough that at 1am on New Year's day she was playing with the new cat, it really set a good start to the year. I track down an RTX 3080 and have been enjoying that. Our bathroom remodel just finished, so that's pretty pleasant.
I completely misread that as though your cat had multiple arse holes.Originally Posted by Rare White Ape
We had pet insurance on our old dog, heidi and I think it worked out to our benefit in the end. But then our vet was some sort of premiere platinum associate thing which meant that we only paid like $25 for normal yearly check ups and dental cleanings and we never had any major medical issues with her.
We don't have it on either of our current dogs (or the cat) because the vet we now go to* really doesn't like pet insurance companies due to exactly the kind of thing described above.
*Greyhounds have some specific things going on that means they can't be treated like normal dogs or they'll die. Fortunately it's generally not anything expensive, just a little different - like if they need to be sedated, a completely separate chart needs to be consulted for dosage/body size.
-Formerly Stabulator
I’ve really lacked motivation to do much of anything lately. Am I depressed? I really miss hanging out with people. We would go out for a meal and a drink at least once a week. We would often host friends for dinners or go to their homes for meals. That has not happened in a year.
The one thing I have been doing and enjoying is sim racing. My bro and I have been teaming up for some endurance races. It has been really great. We play the occasional game of MudRunner too.
I'm fairly certain in the last 7 years, between the 5 cats we've had (3 currently, two others are not with us), we're somewhere around $8000. Every time one of them goes in for a check up, it's $200, and I usually buy food (special "UR" food) which tacks on another $80 (for a 12 pound bag, ffs). Our 3 week trip to Italy in 2018 cost us almost $1500 to get them boarded...
The solitude doesn't really bother me too much. I've always kind of been that way.
Although, when this shit is over, there will be some Cam-n-beers.