Loss of Ketsia, gain of others

Victoria has been through a lot lately. We relied on her for most of the move and she handled it very well. We relied on her for most of the final cleanup and turning in of the keys to the Fairfield house and she handled that well also. We relied on her to begin unpacking at the new location - the Jennie house – and she has done well handling that. Ketsia got sick and had to be taken to the vet for evaluation. That, she had trouble with.


After a $30 office visit charge and a $60 x-ray it was determined that she had eaten something that was blocking her bowels. Surgery was estimated to cost $900. When she and I talked I told her, “No way.” Ketsia was a fine dog, but I am not going there. After Mama got involved the bill was cut to “bare bones” charges of $400. I still said “No.” Of course the vet hated to put down such a young dog, a dog obviously loved by this owner, but to put her down, the cost was covered by the money already spent so far.

I talked with Victoria again and explained that I thought it was very unwise to spend several hundred dollars on surgery for a dog and that we should go ahead and put her down. She said she could not do it so I called the vet and made the request. Turned out that the dog was registered to her and she had to approve the euthanizing anyway. It was a sad night in north Texas.

At the same time we were working with the vet in Amarillo, Grandma was talking with the pig farmer we have gotten to know and asked about something he said in passing when we were at his place the other night. He had mentioned having three burrows – actually Jerusalem donkeys – at another location that he was looking to find a home for. Grandma asked about the price involved and he said as far as he knew they were to be given away.

After Grandma conferred with Grandpa that we did want them the arrangements were made to herd them up and deliver them to the farm. The final answer will come this morning so I do not know if it is a sure thing but it appears to be settled. The pig farmer’s wife said she had several cowboys in the family that would love to wrangle up the burros and transport them to us; so we will see how that works out.

Mama is working on a free Great Pyrenees that I found in Wichita Falls. I am not sure I want another dog at this point and I am sure I do not want another dog raised with Rosie, but Mama is determined to check this out. I explained that this is not a lap dog and we have no way to haul it back to Amarillo properly; no kennel or cage in the van. The answer seemed easy to her, “just put it in the back of the van.” Not a good answer for me.

So she came up with the idea that Grandma and Grandpa could follow us to Wichita Falls with Grandpa’s little ranger and take the dog back to Bowie in that truck; after all, that is how we are going to transport the pigs we are planning to buy. I am okay with that if the dog is free, but I am burned out on buying and raising dogs. I am going to stay away from buying things that cannot be eaten. If an animal eats the food I provide and poops on my property, I had better be able to either make money off of them or eat them.

Mama and I head back to Amarillo tomorrow. It has been a good week here – for the most part. We look forward to coming back in two weeks.