Ask any pet owner and they’ll tell you that having a sick pet is the worst! Pets can’t tell us where it hurts or what they ate that they shouldn’t have or how bad their pain is on a scale of 1 to 10. We pet parents are left guessing when our furry friends aren’t well.
That’s exactly where my husband, Matt, and I found ourselves one evening late last summer. Yeti was having tummy troubles that wouldn’t let up, and when he appeared to be too weak to walk, we made the decision to take him to the after-hours vet clinic.
There he was tested for a number of things, but after five hours and hundreds of dollars, we luckily found it was just a stomach issue likely caused by a vegan hotdog he’d gotten a hold of at a weekend cookout. (I feel the same way about vegan hotdogs, by the way.). In any case, it was a scary and expensive ordeal that led us to think about pet insurance, which lead to this month’s cover story on the topic.
Anyway, with Yeti fully recovered, (at least physically), our family made a huge decision this fall and added another furbaby! (I wonder if pet insurance covers a pet therapist for Yeti).
All joking aside, he is doing great as a big brother to his little brother, Buddy. We rescued Buddy, a 5-year-old Yorkie, in November. Within hours it was clear he was just what we needed to complete our family. While Yeti can be, let’s say, picky about who he befriends, Buddy is the opposite. He loves everyone! (Hence his name). Buddy has a ton of energy. He loves long walks, toys, his big brother and me! Yeti has always been a daddy’s boy, so it’s nice to have a dog of “my own.”
Life has been busy with two dogs, but watching them play and even cuddle, especially on long car rides, makes it all worth it.
Best of all, knock on wood, they have been healthy! Of course, even two healthy dogs can be expensive, which is why we are still exploring our pet insurance options, which you too, can learn more about in this issue. There is also important information in this edition on what to do if your pet eats something it shouldn’t, plus the Lapeer District Library shares tons of resources for keeping your pet healthy. You’ll also hear from Zeke in his Pet Perspective column and so much more.
If you have a great story to tell, we’d love to hear it and share it with readers in our Spring/ Summer 2020 issue. Please email me at ecaswell@mihomepaper.com.
If your house is anything like ours, you’ll enjoy these cozy winter months snuggled up with your pets. So, until springtime – Happy tails!
