[fabsroman]

Decisions regarding the caring for dogs vary widely. My parents had a dog for 13 years and that dog never saw the vet. However, he seemed to fair rather well. That is until he had to be put down because he had a raw spot on his hip that was infested with maggots. Of course, it never should have gotten that far. At that time I was just in high school and had no idea what to do, now I know better.

Personally, I will take my dog to the vet as long as I can afford it. If it means not buying another gun, so be it. However, it it means not putting food on the table, the dog will have to suffer. In life, we all have decisions to make.

The previous girlfriend and I would always get into arguments about the amount of money spent on the dogs. Every time they had to go to the vet, it cost $400. With Nitro, it costs me half as much, but that is probably because I go to a different vet instead of the Gucci vet half way across town. She and I got into a pretty good argument because one of the dogs hit an electric fence with his tooth while my dad and I were out hunting with the dog. He was knocked out and went into convulsions, but he got up in 30 seconds, albeit pissed off as hell, and hunted the rest of the day with us. When I got home and told her the story, she wanted to take him to the emergency vet that cost $300 and when she called them they were urging her to bring the dog in. I told her no way, which lead to more argument, but I ended up getting my way. The next time we went to the Gucci vet, she mentioned the issue to the vet and the vet told her that if the dog didn't die then and there, that it would be fine. The emergency vet said that the dog might experience an irregular heart beat and the Gucci vet said that was nonsense. I will say that the Gucci vet was pretty honest.

When one of the dogs passed away from kidney failure, the cost of the treatment and the cost of the cremation and ash ern was well over $400.

Everybody cares for their dogs in a different way and has a different level of income than the other guy. The ex-girlfriend and I disagreed on how the dogs were to be taken care of, but I guarantee that I loved those dogs just as much, if not more, than she loved them. Then again, they might have been the reason why I stayed in that relationship as long as I did (i.e., they were her dogs). I spent more time with them by far between the hunting, training, and hanging out around the house.