$521.60, Kids wear you out

So I left work early on Friday to pick up Spook at this “special” vet that had a pet dental x-ray machine.  Ali had already called me and said that the x-ray found nothing abnormal which is a good thing I guess since the vet said that if they did an extraction our bill could surpass $1000 which is f’ing insanity.  So even though I already knew the bill I was going to receive was going to be outrageously high I still felt my blood pressure climb as the total was read to me, $521.60!

I knew Ali was told up front of the costs so there was no point in my making a stink about it.  It didn’t help me feel any better about it.  As I got out in the truck I was disgusted.  It was a real world example of what is wrong with our health care system, except they just applied the same rules to pet care. Let me break down some highlights.

The actual dental x-ray only costs $62 not so bad huh?  Well somehow that turned into 5 bills plus.

– Anesthesia – one hour costs $120, to hook the cat up to a monitor to make sure her heart doesn’t stop costs extra $40.  There is some second type of anesthesia that costs an additional $60.

– Hospital services – among the most ludicrous charges is the $40 to stick a catheter in the cat

– Consultation services – this one pissed me off the most, $72 for “Initial health exam & consult” WTF?  We were going there specifically for dental x-rays per recommendation of our vet , the cat was not getting evaluated. 

 I actually called and bitched about this but got some monotone talking dipshit that said this was “standard procedure”.  I said so it’s standard procedure to charge the fee even if no evaluation was done?  “Uh yes whenever the doctor has to do anything that is standard procedure” “Great…” I said sarcastically as I banged down the phone.

So in total we probably have dropped a grand on this tooth situation.  Spook has been eating rather voraciously since her return home so hopefully we are permanently out of the woods on this one.  If you would like to see the bill in it’s entirety go here. As I posted on Facebook, Gulfshore Animal Hospital SUCKS. They use people’s love of their pets as a tool to extract as much money as humanly possible from their bank accounts.

We had a very busy weekend with Ali’s brother and his family.  My nieces are at a very cute age, Lauren will be 7 in Januray and Laiken is 5.  They are constantly coming out with questions and statements that just make you smile.  On Friday they were over at our house all day playing in the pool.  When I came home we got pizza and then played some Wii.  My bowling ability has really gone downhill, I lost to both Alison and Lauryn.  It may be time to hang up the balls.

We decided to go to the Everglades air boat rides on Saturday.  We went to Wooten’s once again, the only air boat tour we ever used.  We took two vehicles for the lengthy drive out to the Everglades City area.  We had ideas about all piling into the van but back seat riders would have been uncomfortably warm with the brutally hot and humid conditions. 

The girls were thrilled that while we waited for our boat to load up they were able to see an alligator up close and personal.  They have a big lake by the waiting area that is filled with gators.  They sell what looks to be dog food to feed them.  We had a 10 or 11 footer no more than 6 feet away from us gobbling up whatever he could. You would think little chunks of dry dog food wouldn’t put much of a dent in an alligator’s appetite but he was happy to chow down on them.

Like I mentioned earlier it was hot as hell.  Waiting out in the direct sun made you feel like you were melting.  Once our air boat pulled up we were anxious for the captain to open it up to get the air moving.

Ali and I decided to not wear head phones.  It’s probably not great choice.  When the big block, unmuffled Chevy motor is throttled up it’s deafening.  I could be inches from Ali’s ear yelling and she wouldn’t be able to hear me.

The tour was great, the guide made an effort to make sure we saw as much as possible.  Both of my nieces seemed to really enjoy it as well.  After the ride we headed in to the animal exhibit.  Wootens has number of interesting animals in there including various alligators, crocodiles, panthers and even a tiger couple.  Ali and I both spoke of how we have a different view of the zoo nowadays.  Wooten’s is not a big time, high end zoo.  It’s a small family business in the middle of the Everglades, as a result some the animal accommodations are less than luxurious.  We felt bad for the animals in many cases.  I felt especially bad for an otter that was pacing back and forth frantically in his cage looking for any possible way out as well as a beautiful panther that looked bored out of his mind.  It’s basically like a life sentence in prison for these animals.

We got to see the alligator show where an old woman pulled out several small alligators that we could hold.  Ali was not interested in partaking in the fun but I was fine to hold a decent size gator youngster named “Fred”.  An alligator’s skin, at least a young alligator, doesn’t feel like you would imagine.  Instead of being rough and coarse Fred’s skin was very smooth to the touch.  Fred was obviously used to being handled, he didn’t struggle at all as I posed for the picture and he even allowed me to hand him to another guy with no fuss.  I liked Fred.

The girls got to touch the baby gators as well although Lauryn was scared to go near the head of them, even with it’s mouth securely closed.

Our trip to Wootens was a success, both of the girls had a lot of fun.  Afterwards we headed back to our house where re relaxed the rest of the day by the pool.  I later made some steaks for dinner which was a cool.

Both of my nieces really were loving the dogs, especially Sadie since Sadie was open to any and all attempts of affection.  Laiken was especially fond of Sadie, many times she would juts pet her lovingly while saying “You are SOOOO cute…”  Sadie also loved that everybody was in the pool.  She ran around the outside excitedly begging for someone to splash her.  She even fell in a couple times when she misstepped.  She simply swam to the steps, shook off and the fun resumed.

On Sunday we originally thought about going to the water park.  However the plan changed and we wound up driving up to the beach in Sanibel that is dog friendly.  Ali and I took the van this time because of the dogs.  The Ac system in the van was barely sufficient to keep us somewhat cool.  I may try to charge the system with some coolant to see if it gets a kick in the rear.  The beach up in Sanibel is nice but it takes forever to get there.  From our house it can easily take 75 minutes or more.  Finally we arrived and we lugged our stuff down to the beach.  Lugging the various equipment necessary for a beach excursion is usually a pain in the ass.  It’s really a pain in the ass if you are trying to keep two dogs in tow as well during the process.

We set up the umbrella and the rarely used Coolaroo shelter as well as a couple chairs.  The girls instantly went down in the water and we followed with the dogs.  Sadie of course was happy to get wet, she was belly deep in water in no time, happily getting smacked by the small waves.  Nicki was more cautious of course but she waded in far enough to get her belly wet as well. 

Before we left I was happy that both dogs took a dump at the house so we shouldn’t have crap issues at the beach.  Well I should have known better when it comes to Nicki.  I identified her typical pre-dump pacing routine in time for Ali to have a bag in hand when Nicki let loose a nice pile of wet mush right above the water line.  Ali scrambled to contain it the best she could with the bag, grabbing more sand than crap.  I saw a few feces remnants wash out in the tide but what can you do, it’s the ocean, much worse is dumped into it.

When we got back to the umbrella I took my now normal position under the umbrella.  Going to the beach for me has definitely lost some of it’s lustre.  Since I have had 5 spots of skin cancer cut off my body in the last few years I have to try to protect myself at the beach.  Not only did I hit myself with 30 SPF sunblock, I kept my t-shirt and hat on at all times. 

Regardless of skin problems, hitting a south Florida beach in August is pretty rough.  It was so damn hot, even under the umbrella.  The gulf water was ridiculously warm, 90 degrees plus.  It wasn’t the least bit refreshing when you waded into it.  The dogs of course were an instant mess as well.  The salty warm water and sand stuck to them everywhere.  Nicki was very anxious to stay in the shade with me because of the heat.  Sadie was more carefree about it, choosing to broil out in the sun much of the time.

My in-laws were really into the abundance of shells at Sanibel.  Where they normally vacation in Bethany Beach shells are hard to come by.  At Sanibel there are millions of shells everywhere.  They accumulated a huge collection of neat specimens.  We went on a couple walks up the beach with my nieces and the dogs.  The girls wanted to help walk the dogs so they held the leashes along with us.  It was very cute.

After a couple hours of baking and sweating we packed the gear up and headed back to the vehicles.  The sweat was pouring off all of us as we loaded up.  The marginal AC in the van was not welcomed in these conditions.  On the positive side, wet sandy bodies are not a concern when driving the van.

Once again we decided to stay at our place Sunday evening.  One of the first things I did was carry both dogs into the pool to rinse the beach off of them.  Nicki of course was not thrilled by the process but once she realized I was holding her up in the water she didn’t struggle too much.  The pool did a nice job of cleaning up both the dogs and ourselves.

This time I made burgers on the grill for everyone.  After we ate the girls and I went out to look for more “alligator tracks” in the back yard, something we did several times during their visits. On Friday they did a hunt with Ali and actually found something really cool, a very old Pepsi glass bottle.  From the markings on it I am guessing it is at least 40 years old if not older.  I want to post of a picture of it, perhaps someone could timestamp it for me.

During our latest hunt we didn’t turn up any alligators but we did work on a “garden” that Laiken had started.  The garden had a few flowers the girls had picked, some transplanted grass and other plants.  We created a border of wood and river rock.  The girls had fun making it and we called everyone else out when it was complete to admire.  While we were working on the garden Laiken uttered the funniest line of the weekend.  She saw a big log that either Sadie or Nicki deposited earlier.  She  observed it and said to me “Maybe the dogs are trying to plant a poop tree!” I told her that maybe she was right as I laughed.

Everyone was wiped out from the busy weekend.  They headed out a bit before 9 for the hotel.  Ali is heading over to spend the day with them at the hotel pool today.  I plan to join them for dinner after work before they head back to PA tomorrow.   It seemed like everyone really has had a good time.  Ali and I are hoping that her brother will bring the kids down more often after seeing how much fun they had with us.  Laiken said yesterday “this is the best vacation EVER” Prior to this visit, the last time the entire gang was down was probably three to four years ago.

Needless to say I slept soundly all weekend long.