07/30/2024
There's a story I don't tell often. And I think it's something that's important to share and remember.
If you've followed me for a while you probably know I lovingly refer to Nova as my 20 thousand dollar mutt.
That is because, she has cost me well over that in vet bills in her lifetime. I am by no means a wealthy person, but my dogs mean everything to me, and I will do absolutely everything in my power to make sure they are happy, and healthy.
In fact, there was a point in time where I had to choose between feeding myself and feeding Nova. And I of course, chose to feed Nova. She was less than a year old, I had just spent nearly a month in the hospital, I had run out of short term disability, and had gotten denied for long term disability. I had gotten my student loan funding pulled because I had to drop out of a semester of school due to my hospitalization.
Obviously none of this was in my plans.
Luckily for me my city has a pet food bank run by our shelter, the level of embarrassment going in and asking for puppy food was definitely high. But they were kind, and compassionate, and talked to me about other options available to help me. I actually also used a low income subsidized spay program to get Nova spayed I think it cost me $100.
Those programs exist for that exact reason, and we shouldn't be ashamed to need them.
Now I'm in a better position in life - I've actually donated several bags of food to the pet food bank. I also took in and spayed a feral cat with my own money last year, because all the rescues were full. I now regularly foster dogs.
All of these things I am able to do, because once upon a time someone was generous enough to give me and my little brown dog a helping hand.
I'm not 100% sure where I'm going with this other than, give if you can, have some compassion for those struggling, and don't be afraid to access the any resources around you to help when you need β€οΈ