Brutus gonna cost me some coin!

[hickslawns]

Had to vent a bit although in all honesty there was no hesitation in my approval. Our boxer, Brutus, has a hematoma on his floppy ol' ear. Looks like a bean bag right now. Going to cut it out and fix it along with pulling a couple teeth I have been holding off on them yanking. $300-500 estimate from the vet for all procedures combined. My wife was surprised I wasn't more upset. I kinda expected a decent sized bill, this was on the lower end for the two procedures combined vs. what I was expecting. I was thinking they might tell me $5-800. $3-500 for a couple surgical procedures at the vet sucks, but c'mon, he is like another kid to me. Like a pain in the ass to my wife. Maybe that is why I love him so much. Reminds me of myself! If he was 10yr old I would hold off, but at 7-8 with another 3-5 years left in him, I told them to fix the ol' boy up! Going to miss that husky bark for the night if someone pulls in the driveway. Just had to vent. Thanks for listening.

 

[Jackalope]

Had to vent a bit although in all honesty there was no hesitation in my approval. Our boxer, Brutus, has a hematoma on his floppy ol' ear. Looks like a bean bag right now. Going to cut it out and fix it along with pulling a couple teeth I have been holding off on them yanking. $300-500 estimate from the vet for all procedures combined. My wife was surprised I wasn't more upset. I kinda expected a decent sized bill, this was on the lower end for the two procedures combined vs. what I was expecting. I was thinking they might tell me $5-800. $3-500 for a couple surgical procedures at the vet sucks, but c'mon, he is like another kid to me. Like a pain in the ass to my wife. Maybe that is why I love him so much. Reminds me of myself! If he was 10yr old I would hold off, but at 7-8 with another 3-5 years left in him, I told them to fix the ol' boy up! Going to miss that husky bark for the night if someone pulls in the driveway. Just had to vent. Thanks for listening.

How big is that hematoma thing on his ear? . Anything a pocket knife can't fix? Pull a dogs teef? Are they hurting him? That is a cheap price though.. I might even let the vet do it for that little...

 

[formerbowhunter1023]

I just dropped $1K on a new floor thanks to Remi, so I feel your pain dude. And I have to drop another $100+ to get his nuts cut off next week. Little fugger has cost me big $ since we brought him home three years ago. But what can you do?

 

[RRJJ]

Or you could visit the Gun Porn thread for inspiration...

 

[Jackalope]

Couple weeks ago JR the walker Coondog got cut in a fence. When we showed up at the tree it looked like him and ben had been in a fight. Both of them covered in blood. But both were on the tree just hammering. We got back to the truck and i looked them both over well. JR had about a 3 inch cut on his shoulder. I taped that dudes mouth with electrical tape. taped his back feet and laid him up on the tailgate. George held him down while i washed it out with peroxide. Dried it and put some superglue on it. Then gave him 8 stitches. When we got home he got a nice shot of cow penicillin before he went back in the kennel.. A vet wouldn't have done anything different. Well, beside use actual penicillin labeled for dogs.. LOL But fugg man, penicillin is penicillin. I hate to think what a vet would have cost at 1:30 in the morning to sew up a dog..

 

[hickslawns]

Original estimate for the teeth was $331. Old vet retired and sold to two couples. All four of them are vets. They are very reasonable in my opinion and in their late twenties to mid/late thirties. I really enjoy seeing them. The wives are both petite blondes and the one husband I have met (today) is big time into bow hunting. Will be cluing him in on the site when I pick up Brutus. He said $3-400 for the hematoma and teeth. Possibly up to $500 if it takes a bit longer and they have to put him out longer. I thought it was fair. The teeth are pretty impacted at this point. Not an easy pull. The hematoma is about 1.5" x 1.5" x 5" sac of fluid. Pretty good size. He said dogs basically have one artery going into their ears that branch into veins running parallel to each other out to the tips. One gets infected, and the fluid sac fills up. They either ligate the vein or cauderize it and cut it's flow off from the point the hematoma starts on. Last thing I am doing is "do-it-yourself-veterinary" on procedures of this scale. This is the family pet. Now with Hank, I just don't know. Probably depend on what it is. Then again, the amount of money and time invested training Hank will most likely warrant a stop at the vet too. Thanks for the suggestion Jack.

 

[Jackalope]

As much as it sounds like needs to be done that's not a bad price at all. Much more than can be done at home. But sewing dogs up is easy. Growing up between the hog, deer and coon dogs i got quite good at it. If my dog got cut at night i never bothered the vet even though he lived right behind the clinic. I or dad or my uncle just sewed them up.. I did have the vet put 9 stitches in my leg on night after i hit a barbed wife fence at an angle and it cut the front of my leg bad. And once when my black and tan jumped on a panther and needed 83 stitches and staples. I think those were the only two times i got him out of bed..

 

[swantucky]

I am glad we don't have dogs anymore. I put off fixing my own teeth to put braces on the kids. Damn if I'll do it for a dog.

 

[rrr]

Hicks

Do you ever trade your services? I'd imagine that the vet clinic probably has some landscaping and has a parking lot. Just a thought Might be a good way to avoid the bill and get a another paying client next year. I saw the other day that you do parking lot stuff, maybe hitting their parking lot once or twice would be a good trade if they already have a contract?

This is the recession man, it's time to barter and trade!

 

[hickslawns]

Not a bad idea Steve. We do most of the neighboring properties anyway. Should have 2 trucks at a minimum in the area. Dollar General and plaza across the street we already do. Duh? Shoulda thought of that before I dropped $200 on the table on my way out. They didn't ask for a deposit, but figured I was there. If Erin picks him up, she might not have $4-500 in the checking. I never know. She handles some bills, I handle others. Three different checking accounts and probably 10 different savings accounts. We keep each rental property, and business funds separate. One way to keep an eye on the cash flow of each business before you meet with the accountant. She handles the main personal checking account though. This would be the funds Brutus' bill comes out of. Hank on the other hand is a tax write off this year through Hicks Hunting Services dba.

 

[rrr]

Sounds like a mess to me. But it also sounds like a few pushes through might be a good trade if you've got a truck over there. It'd be worth asking.

 

[hickslawns]

It is a mess. My mess. I know where everything is and when asked my reply is always "We don't have the money for that right now." haha We might have it, but I am not robbing Peter to pay Paul. You have to know the cash flow of everything individually to know if one aspect of your business is failing. Works for me. Financial discipline, in my opinion, is a major contributing factor to the failure in many businesses. All I need to know is if the wife has enough to cover her share of bills. If she doesn't she asks. I bitch and moan, go to the "Bank of Phil", tell her she is killing me and we are not going to have the money to get through the winter if she keeps this up, and hand her a couple hundred. After 10 years of marriage, she pretty much does not believe me, tells me we are fine, leaves me alone, and repeats the process the next month. haha

 

[hickslawns]

Well, he doesn't seem to be slowed down at all! Ended up pulling 3 teeth that were dead and one of them was the top right canine. Vet said it would not bother him. Should be able to eat tonight no issues. Check out the recovery pictures. I told the kids they had to cut his whole ear off. Is that wrong?

 

[swantucky]

I told the kids they had to cut his whole ear off. Is that wrong?

NO! That is funny! My wife would probably differ but its still funny.