Wednesday was another huge day. It started off with a trek down to the RTB clinic in Chalong to see about Babys operation. It took 2.5 hours to get there, spend the time waiting around, then to get back to the temple. All without any joy whatsoever. I asked to speak with Dr Aek, who Id dealt with previously, then I was quizzed by another man on why I wanted to speak to him, rather strange, I thought. I explained that Dr Aek had given me discounts on past operations on dogs that werent mine. This guy proceeded to tell me Dr Aek was not available for a month and there wasnt anyone that could do the operation…do you get the feeling he just wanted me to go away? He suggested I fly her cargo to BKK, what the???? I asked him if there was any way he could help the little pup at all. Then he said they have a new policy of not giving discounts to any organisations or shelters other than Soi Dog. How nice of the RTB clinic to only support one group that is extremely well funded and deny any others that are struggling to help animals in need. He left me waiting again, meanwhile I was sitting so awkwardly, trying to keep her in a relatively pain-free position. I showed the guy the x-ray that Trethep had taken, but he said it wasnt clear enough, so I said to take another. Eventually he took me into a room to view the x-ray and hear the prognosis. I asked for an estimated cost of the surgery, he said Between 5 and 6,000 baht Oh, fantastic, I said Great, I can afford that!. He said I would need to leave a deposit, no problems there. Suddenly the operation could be conducted the next day (today), wow, how did this become amazingly easy? I asked for some pain relief for her, as she was not comfortable, shed been crying at 5am. He gave her an injection and I went to the counter to fill in the paperwork and pay the deposit. I told the lady I wanted to pay 5,000 baht deposit. Well, that didnt go down well. I asked what the problem was. The guy came out again and said it was 60,000 baht (about $2,200). WTF? I was shell-shocked, how did this suddenly happen? I exclaimed that I couldnt afford that. The guy just looked at me. My eyes were filling with tears and I said I guessed Id just have to euthanise her then. I shoved the paperwork back to them and asked for the x-ray and the bill, as I wouldnt be euthanising her at that clinic, but going to the one I trusted. The bill was 1,500 baht, gee they are such a rip off. The place seems very different to my past experiences there. Usually the staff smile and greet you, even when they are walking through the reception area. The girl behind the front desk was a snooty little thing who would make me wait while she fiddled, rearranging papers and doing a circle around the small area, who knows what that was about, it happened in similar fashion the two times I went to the counter. The guy comes back and asks how much I can pay, I said nothing like that. Then he said they would do the operation for 30,000 baht. I said dont worry about it, it was still unaffordable as I already spend 75,000-80,000 baht per month on the shelter. I walked out of there feeling so helpless. I promised Baby that I would take away her pain and make her better. I got back to the temple as fast as I could to drop the frozen meat off to Vipa for the days cooking. My ever-reliable Rebecca was there, shed rung me on the way back from the vets and I was sobbing, not easy to talk, so when I got back, I showed her and the kids the little pup and went straight up to Dr Trethep who said he would try to operate on her and would do the best he could. I told him that if it looked as though she was not going to do well after the operation or there was a problem during the operation, to just put her to sleep. He agreed. There were 3 woman waiting to speak to me when I arrived back, the first one wanted me to sterilise her cat. I said I couldnt do that, Im not a vet, but she could go to Thalang. She said it was ok, shed been given a price of 850 baht and asked if it was good. I said I thought it was. She left and then I had the other two ladies to deal with. They were from Phanason Village in Phuket Town and said there were 6 dogs left behind by the Burmese construction workers. They had been feeding them, but security had told them that if the dogs werent removed, they would be poisoned. Could I please take them? Ugh, it is so hard to say no, but I explained that I already was beyond coping point with 76 dogs and that I never knew when there would be more that I could not control the addition of. They understood. I told them that Wat Para and Wat Tha Reua had dogs, perhaps they could take 3 dogs to each. They said they would give that a go. I was told that Sylvie, Danica and Sasha had gotten out and had attacked a rooster. Bloody hell, not again! I went to check on the bird and saw some bite marks on its body which I cleaned and dressed. I put him back into his cage and noticed he seemed to be losing balance, so checked his leg, but it didnt seem broken. I figured Id better take it to the vets. So, three trips to the same vets the day before, now three trips to three different vets. I worked out I had spent over 4.5 hours driving to/from vets or waiting at them. They said his leg was not broken, but he was probably not using it due to pain. I asked them if they could give him any pain relief and they gave him an injection to the breast. He needs these injections for 3 days, so I got two more to give him today and tomorrow. Will write todays update separately, as this is already so long.
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 13:29:52 +0000
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