Win some, lose some

Every morning around 6.45am, I walk the dogs to the coffee shop and buy myself a strong flat white.

I was waiting to cross my busy road yesterday when Charlie the Moodle took a turn. He started panting, running around frantically in circles and holding his leg up in the air.

I had been texting DD and not paying attention, so I wasn’t sure if I’d accidentally sprained his leg by letting it get tangled in the leads or something.

He’s a bit of a sook, so I patted him and hoped he’d recover, but no dice. So I carried him home, sans coffee.

While I waited for the vet to open, I worked at my computer with Charlie on my lap, scratching him furiously to take his mind off the pain. After 45 minutes, he wasn’t getting any better and the panting was really freaking me out.

The vet didn’t answer the phone at 8am, so I drove up and waved through the glass door. We have to sit outside at the vet these days due to COVID-19, so I waited for 30 minutes until someone came to take my distraught dog inside for a check up.

The vet called from the examination room to say Charlie had major swelling across the top of his back foot and would need x-rays to make sure nothing was broken. I was warned it was going to cost about $500 for the x-rays and pain relief.

I sighed and told them to go ahead.

About five hours later, the vet called to say she had good news – the x-rays showed nothing was broken. But, when she shaved Charlie’s foot afterwards to examine him more closely, she noticed he had a little spot of blood between his toes and a puncture wound.

So she reckons it might have been a bee sting or something like that.

I told her that was great news, while actually wanting to yell “Why the frigging hell didn’t you shave his bloody foot first and save me $350 in x-rays? WHYYYYYYYYYY?”

I am too polite.

The final bill was $568 for a sting. Actually, two stings – one for Charlie and one for my bank balance.

I’m a cynical creature – I can’t help wondering if they seek ways to charge like a wounded bull. When was the last time treating an insect bite in a human involved x-rays and a $500+ bill?

Although, I feel partly to blame because I couldn’t give them any clues as to what had happened because I was texting.

But it’s not all bad news. Centrelink emailed to say my Family Tax Benefit payment had been approved. No explanation for why they emailed the previous day and said it had been knocked back. FFS. Ah well, at least I have the money to pay the vet bill.

There are many, many other things I’d have preferred to spend my Family Tax Benefit payment on, but let’s just add that to the list of shite stuff that’s been happening during COVID-19.

Charlie wandered around looking very stoned for the rest of the day, before taking a slight turn last night when the painkillers wore off, but I’m hopeful he’ll make a full recovery.

Song of the day: ABBA “Money, money, money”