Emergency Payments

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

Back in December, my mother's dog Precious needed to be taken to a 24 veterinary hospital for emergency surgery. (Precious is fine now, so don't worry about that. She came through the surgery like a champ and has completely recovered.)

Miss Precious, Christmas 2023

Like most emergencies, this came late at night and without warning, so neither my mother nor I were at our mental best. This is one of the reasons why I prep, so instead of having to think I just got dressed, grabbed my ER bag, and got in the car. Unfortunately, my mother isn't a prepper, and she tends to panic in high-stress situations, which is why I prep for her. This will become relevant in a moment. 

Long story short, we got Precious in the car, took her to the hospital, had her seen, and were told that the surgeon needed to operate on her immediately. All well and good, but less good was the price quoted to us, which was just shy of $2000. Given that Precious could die during the operation, we were asked to pay before services were rendered. 

Normally this wouldn't be a problem as we have that much in our emergency funds. However, remember that panic I mentioned? Mom forgot to bring her checkbook along. She did have her wallet with her debit card (we don't use credit cards anymore, given the debt that my father got us in with them due to his dementia), but the debit card had a hard limit on it that wouldn't cover half of the procedure. 

If I knew then what I knew now, I'd ask mom to give me her debit card, call the 24 hour customer service number on the back, and have her talk to whomever answered about temporarily lifting that limit. If you didn't know you could do that, now you do, so keep that in mind. 

Unfortunately we didn't know that at the time, so we needed to get credit another way. The receptionist at the hospital told us about CareCredit and Scratchpay, which are both businesses which help finance medical bills. They are functionally the same, with the chief difference being that CareCredit doesn't do as deep of a credit check as Scratchpay does, and so were told to apply to CareCredit first so that if we were rejected for it the credit check wouldn't hurt our chances for Scratchpay approval. 

Fortunately for us, we were approved (likely because my mother had clawed us out of the debt my father got us into) and we were able to pay the hospital for Precious' surgery. As of now, Precious is doing fine, the debt is paid off, and we have a CareCredit account in case I (who can't afford health insurance) get hurt. 

So remember: if you ever need to pay a medical bill in the middle of the night on a weekend and don't have the money for it, you can apply to one of these medical financing companies. 

This knowledge weighs nothing, so always carry it with you.

Portable Cat Litter Prep

Don’t forget your pets!

Here’s a little DIY to help make your getaway easier.






Godspeed to you all.

Your Pets After Your Death

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

Today was the memorial service for a family friend, Tex. He died at age 96 and was married for 70 years, so he had a great run... but he left behind his little dog, Daisy.

Tex's daughter took Daisy in, but her other dog didn't take too kindly to that. Mom offered to adopt Daisy, which came as no surprise to me since we've had a void in our home ever since the dog who attacked me six months ago was put down.

So meet Daisy, the newest member of our family.

This is the day we adopted her. She took to us immediately. 

If you're a prepper with a pet, then I'm certain you've made preps for that pet. (In fact, pet prepping is how I got my mom into it: "Sure, we may be okay if we need to evacuate, but what about the dogs? Maybe you should make a bug-out bag for them, with leashes and food and some toys and their vaccination records?") But have you made preparations for your pet's well-being after your death?

Some people make sure their pets are cared for after their deaths by including provisions in their wills for them; others open a trust fund/savings account to ensure that whomever "inherits" their pets will not be on the hook financially. Most people just ask a relative, a close friend, or a next-door neighbor to look after the pet. This is fine as far as it goes, but remember that without your wishes being in writing and recognized by the court, there is no way to enforce your wishes after your death.

Be a responsible pet owner, and do what is needed to ensure that your beloved furry (or feathered, or scaly) family members aren't sent to the pound or euthanized after your death.

As for Daisy, she's settling in nicely. She's adorable, and she knows she is, so she'll probably be ruling the house by the end of the month. Not only is she a joy to have around the house, but it makes me feel good to know that I'm taking care of a friend's beloved pet by making her my beloved pet.

Daisy with her new nametag and scarf. 

Emergency Veterinarians

We had a bit of chaos in our house last week when our geriatric cat developed a sudden and severe abscess on Monday. The swelling was severe, and due to his age and the sudden onset (he showed no symptoms 24 hours prior), we were very concerned for his health. Unfortunately, we didn't see it until he came out from wherever he had been hiding to go to bed at 10 pm.

The geriatricat and abscess in question.

10 pm is a really inconvenient time to need a veterinarian. Everybody knows (or should know) where their local human emergency rooms are, but what about animal ERs? As good fortune would have it, I have had to find a late night vet once before in this town, and so I knew where to start to solve our feline emergency. The first time I needed one, though, I was well and truly lost.

I've found two good ways to find after hours vet care. The method I used the first time was a simple Google search for "24 hour vet [my city]." The other, far better way is to ask your regular veterinarian ahead of time. In conversation with our normal vet, after the chaos had settled, I learned that we actually have three after-hours vet clinics in town, and she was able to make recommendations for which ones have specialized treatment facilities. Being forewarned is being very forearmed!

Usually, the after-hours vet is kind of like an emergency room for humans: they address the immediate symptoms, buying you time to get to your normal doctor. In our case, they gave our cat painkillers and a broad spectrum antibiotic, and eased our concerns about his immediate prospects, but we still had to take him to our normal vet for further treatment and a complete diagnosis.

He'll be fine, by the way. He was diagnosed with an abscessed tooth, which my vet assures us presents exactly as quickly as we observed. I'm going to pick him up from getting his teeth pulled after my work shift, and the furry jerk is expected to grumble at us about the state of the world and his lot in life for years to come.

Talk to your vet, and find your local after-hours clinics. You owe it to yourself and your animals to have that information at hand.

Lokidude