www.Straydog.org UPDATE posted WEDNESDAY 12/3/03 at ~8:47 p.m. CT

Bill Arnold's Daily Straydog Log

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 3 2003

Ojay does need surgery, and we've scheduled it for next Wednesday

     The low and high "ESTIMATES OF CHARGES" are $1,692.25 and $1,942.25 respectively, and that's with our discount and doing both ears at the same time, which they would prefer not to do, but doing both surgeries during one session will save us over $1,000.

     I asked Dr. Wilkens what would happen if we did nothing, and he said the infection, which has caused both ear canals to calcify over the years, is now in the middle ear and in the inner ear and antibiotics will not completely cure it. The dog is in pain and has been in pain for years. I asked how bad the pain is, and the doctor said it's a constant ear ache and that if we decided not to do the surgery, they would have to give the dog pain killing medications for the duration.

     I could feel Pat's presence in that examination room, and I said to the doctor that we had no option but to go ahead with the surgery. (Pat wouldn't have taken this long to make the decision.)

     So we have to have Ojay at the clinic before 8:00 a.m. next Wednesday, and he can't have anything to eat after midnight.

     Then I asked about Ojay's eyes, which our local vet, Dr. Morton, had said looked like glaucoma, and Dr. Wilkens suggested we see an eye specialist, so our next step will be to make an appointment with Dr Paulsen at the Animal Eye Clinic in Arlington (Texas). The outcome of the eye problem could, of course, also be very expensive, and this is NOT the right time to be encountering BIG expenses. But we will persevere. ... And we will make Ojay's eye appointment for before he goes in for his ear surgery.

We picked up the printed newsletters at my old printing company after the doctor visit

     We've already begun stuffing them into envelopes, and Volunteer Ofelia's coming tomorrow to help us with the mailing, which will take several days to complete. Hopefully this newsletter will raise enough money to get us through the rest of the year and several weeks into the new year.

We thank recent contributors and phone-in credit card contributors

     And we thank those of you who have already begun (or are regularly) sending contributions. And special thanks to those who have called in and/or emailed in credit card donations. All we have to have is the card number, the name on the card, the expiration date and the billing address. It is really simple, and we don't pay a very high fee for this Internet credit card service. After going to their website, I type in my password, and once in, I plug in the information the contributor has given to me, and the Internet credit card people transfer the donation instantaneously into Straydog's bank account, which is Straydog's operating fund, which is Straydog's only fund. Thanks to everyone who is helping us!