Okay, I must admit I'm a fair bit behind on the FML, but scanning through
today's issue I noticed a subject that I had being meaning to comment on.
Awhile back, and maybe again more recently, someone suggested that if you
can't afford to spend hundreds of dollars on a sick ferret, well then you
shouldn't have one.  I think the recent comment was over buying one in the
first place.
 
Anyway, our house is a zoo.  We really couldn't afford another pet, but it
was either that or the owner would put it to sleep, so we took it.  We
charged up close to $1600 because of two of our pets illnesses, then
recently another $190 for another pet.  We had something else non-pet
related that we were forced to pay about $1000 for, and then car troubles
have brought us down another $1100 give or take.  So now what?  On top of
THOSE bills, we had the expensive tuition and book bills, and then the
normal "I've got a credit card so I have money" amount charged up and never
paid off.  We had to file for bankruptcy because we cannot afford to pay all
those bills, pay our car, pay our rent, feed our pets and buy food for
ourselves.  If something happens to one of our many pets, we will have to
beg a family member to help us out.  If that doesn't work, and our vet won't
take payments, well...  we'll just have to say a few prayers because that's
all we've got left.  To the person who suggested you shouldn't own a pet if
you can't afford it, are you suggesting we get RID of our pets?  The pets we
have rescued from abuse and neglect, from starvation, from the elements...
If something happens to any of our pets, and we can't afford to save
him/her, I will weep bitterly, but I will not feel guilty because I know I
am giving my pets the best life that I can give them, sacrificing myself for
them.  They are fed, they are watered, they are housed comfortably, they are
vaccinated, they are played with, they are LOVED.  Please do not be so quick
to judge people who have less than you.  We are doing the best we can, and
our best is pretty damn good.
[Posted in FML issue 1465]