Some bad news and some good news ...

So, I won't be needing a "pet" category in the budget for a while. Tuesday night we came home from work and found that my pet rabbit Hunny Bunny had died. I don't want to be graphic, so I'll leave out details, just know that we hadn't noticed her to be much different in behaviour and not in pain. We did notice she wasn't eating as much and was more lethargic than usual. We had an appointment for the vet Tuesday night but she didn't make it. She was a great pet and friend and we will miss her a lot.

I don't plan on getting another pet for a while, maybe not even until we have old enough child(ren) to help us take care of it. Mostly because I want to be financially able to take good care of a pet and having Hunny Bunny made me realize that it can be a challenge. I took her from my brother because he wasn't taking good care of her at all. He was living in my parents basement and she was living in the bathroom. He was a 20-something that was unemployed and partying a lot. He couldn't take care of himself, let alone a rabbit (he got it from an ex-girlfriend he wanted to get back together with). So, I took her without realizing how much this would cost me. Don't get me wrong, the financial aspect aside, she was an amazing pet and I loved her to pieces, it was just more than I bargained for. Monthly expenses like shelter and food were quite cheap (under $25 per month!) but whenever it came to taking her to the vet it was really expensive. When I first got her I was still significantly in debt (about $20K) and maxed out on my credit card. The vet ran basic tests which cost me about $300 then he told me that I should get her fixed and that would cost me another $450! I couldn't afford it at the time, so we let her be. Over the years I've been tempted to get her fixed now that I'm better able to afford it (still in debt but not as much and I have an emergency fund) but I never did. I do feel guilty because it may have been a contributing factor in her death on Tuesday. However, I had her for 5 years and I believe my brother had her for a year or two before that so she still lived a pretty good life (rabbits live about 8-12 years) and I took good care of her otherwise, she always had food, water, pets, treats, and I changed her litterbox regularly. I wish I had taken her out of her cage more for exercise, but life gets in the way.

Anyways, this was longer than I expected, I just wanted to be clear about the background. My point was that having a pet is a big financial responsibility and I want to be better prepared for it for my next pet.

And now for the good news. I got a one year contract at my work that will see my pay increase by about $100 per week. More about this tomorrow, I've wrote enough for one day.

R.I.P. Hunny Bunny :(

Morgaine