Today started off normally. I got up, enjoyed a Greek yogurt (tried a new flavor, pomegranate. Yum!) and made some delicious scrambled eggs with spinach. It was sunny and there was snow on the ground, and I enjoyed looking out our huge kitchen window at the squirrels and birds in the forest. Everything indicated it would be a good, regular, day. However, that quickly changed and it turned into the most expensive day I’ve had in months.

Here’s how it broke down:

Last week I took my car in for a routine oil change. This time I took it to one of the Toyota dealerships because we were being reimbursed for a mystery shop. As part of the oil change they did a full inspection (looking for additional charges and stuff to repair, of course) and told me that the serpentine drive belt was starting to crack and needed to be replaced. They also mentioned that with the high mileage on my car that it was time for a transmission and power fluids flush, (neither of which had been done before) along with a few other small things. Of course this was several hundred dollars and I wanted to shop around because I knew the dealer would be costly.

So this morning I took my car into a local repair shop and was able to get the same services completed for nearly half the cost. Even with the discounts, it was still $300 in car repairs when everything was said and done. I know we are very fortunate to have a car like Agnes the Toyota, who doesn’t need a lot of work. In fact, this is the first expensive servicing she’s had since we bought her. Which is pretty great considering she’s 12 years old and nearing 100,000 miles quickly. I could deal with a needed (and infrequent) $300 charge for taking care of the car, even if I didn’t like it very much, and handed over my debit card. And when I drove home the car definitely felt lubed up and was handling beautifully.

Then this afternoon is where the costs really started to rise. We have two cats, and one of them, Jackie, had peed outside of her litter box on my work bag last night. I thought it was anxiety, or maybe we didn’t clean the box as well as we should have. Not a big deal, and more annoying than anything else. I scrubbed everything down and continued about business as usual. She was acting normal, so I didn’t think anything of it. Today she peed next to the fireplace, and before peeing there made a noise of pain. When I went to clean it up I noticed blood. My sweet kitten was peeing blood and in pain! No wonder she wasn’t using the litter box! I knew a trip to the vet would be costly, but I also knew that I couldn’t let her suffer and didn’t want to have to clean up more messes. The vet was awesome and got her in quickly this afternoon. They did a urinalysis and I’m waiting for the results of the culture. It’s either a urinary tract infection or bladder stones and inflamation, and we won’t know for sure what it is until the results of the test come back. They did find some bacteria in her urine, along with the blood, so gave me an antibiotic and pain medication to help. Hopefully this clears everything up and we don’t need to worry about more serious issues. The total cost for her medication, exam, and all the tests, came to $250. Ouch. (And this was after I turned down some optional services) I don’t regret taking her in to the doctor, because I love her and want her to feel well, but I do wish it were cheaper.

Suddenly a normal day turned into a $550 dollar day. I’m glad we have an emergency fund to cover costs like these, but it still stings.

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Tagged as: emergency fund, pets