Stella got the staples removed from her knee a couple of days ago. And the big satellite dish collar came off. The surgeon said she's doing great but can't go for a real walk for six more weeks. That means she's going to miss the carnival that's coming to town next week. Shame. It also means she'll be insane, with a capital "I", by the time we finally do go. Eight weeks is an eternity for a teenager (and sometimes for the parent of a teenager too) so we're ticking off the days already.
Several people have asked (as I did) what does knee surgery for a dog cost? There are some shifting variables of course, like the size of the dog, where you live, how experienced the surgeon is and which procedure is necessary (there are two, I think). I was given an estimate of somewhere between $1650. and $1850. Add a pre-op visit, and two post-op visits with x-rays and the total with tax, came to about twenty three hundred dollars. Strangely, once the bill was itemized, it all seemed really reasonable. For example, the surgery itself, was only $500. I don't mind saying that I wouldn't think of doing major surgery on someone's dog for less than a thousand dollars. In the interest of full disclosure, I haven't paid a penny of this bill yet (I was forced to charge it) but I have entertained countless funny ideas about how to raise the money and get it paid. Most of them were even legal.
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