10 Pet Parents Who Panicked Too Soon and Paid Full Price for It

You would think being a pet parent couldn’t possibly come with that much hustle. Read the stories below, and you’ll definitely change your mind. The issues people have described show us that owning a pet truly comes with a rollercoaster of emotions. But it’s bearable, don’t worry, as long as you have a solid sense of humor.

1.

We rushed our Labrador to the emergency room late at night, convinced she had bloat. One X-ray and a scrubbed-up surgeon ready to go — turns out she’d found a gallon bag of dog food, eaten the entire thing and was too full to contract her stomach enough to throw up.

The vets laughed so hard, gave her some fluids to help her digest, gave us a bill of a few hundred dollars, and told her to be less of a Labrador. © basiden / Reddit

2.

Took my hairless rat to the vet because I suspected a mass/cyst/abscess that might need surgery or antibiotics. Nope, it was a pimple. The vet popped it and I paid 142 dollars for her to pop the pimple on my naked rat’s back. © fuzzysham059 / Reddit

3.

I thought my standard poodle had a skin disorder that does affect some in the breed but turned out it was chapped lips. $100 to find that out, $2.50 for organic lip balm. © Active_Recording_789 / Reddit

4.

A little girl’s hamster was only standing in the corner of its cage. It would not eat. Would not drink. It just stood there. The mom loaded up the hamster and the little girl. Off to the Vet they go.

Once there, the Vet observed the hamster in its cage. It just stood in the corner. Upon taking the hamster out of the cage, the hamster ran around. Ate food and drank water. Everyone was perplexed.

The Vet asked if anything had happened to the hamster recently. The little girl told him the hamster had gotten out and ran under the refrigerator. After examining the hamster, the Vet said, “Found the problem.”

The hamster had a magnet in its mouth pouch. So every time it stood in the corner of its cage, it became “stuck” to the cage bars and couldn’t move. © Az_woman / Reddit

5.

I was running late to class (it’s always when you’re running late) and told my tortoise I love him and to be good when I saw red stuff on his claw. I ran over and cleaned his foot. I was freaking out trying to figure out how I’d get to an exotic vet (I didn’t have a car, lived on campus).

I started crying because I didn’t know what to do. After a bit, I saw a strawberry seed in the mess. The dude stepped in a strawberry. Thank goodness my professor is forgiving. © HiddenPenguinsInCars

6.

Several thousand dollars and a CT scan on my 9-month-old Lab to find out his limping was from “growing pains”. He went from small and chunky to really tall and 75lbs in a short period of time. Basically we went to multiple urgent care visits and imaging to find out he had the exact same thing I had as a kid. But he was being super dramatic about limping. © ferocioustigercat / Reddit

7.

3 years ago, my husband was fixing our toaster oven on the floor. The (new to us) cat walked over the parts at one point. At the end, my husband was missing a screw. We searched everywhere, and determined the cat must have swallowed it, googled it, and decided we’d better take her to the vet.

I waddled my unstable pregnant hips out of town to the closest emergency 24hr vet available. Hours and $600 later, we shockingly found... nothing. Except that she’s gained 50% of her body weight since we adopted her, and we need to stop believing her when she claims to be starving.

Moral of the story. Don’t fix stuff in reach of your cat. Expensive lesson. © Complete-Finding-712 / Reddit

8.

My sister had a cat who got into an argument with their dog, resulting in a weird lump on her abdomen. The cat was covered in dog spit, but that was all.

But she wouldn’t walk, and that lump made my sister fear serious injuries, so they rushed to a vet. A thorough exam led to a diagnosis of “embarrassed and/or disgruntled cat who has fat tummy rolls”. © PorchDogs / Reddit

9.

Mom rushed the Bernese Mountain Dog to the vet because he wasn’t eating and was acting weird, whimpering and cowering. His belly was very sensitive. Mom was sure it was bloat.

The vet has him walk around a little and then palpates his belly. He lets out the longest fart known to man, takes a gigantic dump on the floor, and farts some more. Afterwards he’s all wiggles and wagging tail. $300 emergency vet visit for a fart. © ca77ywumpus / Reddit

10.

I took my cat to the vet because he had become aggressive toward my other cat. They’d been housemates for years at that time. The vet asked a lot of questions and then said, “Your cat is hangry.”
As soon as he said it, it made perfect sense. I had recently reduced their food amounts, and he was always aggressive within an hour of dinner. © annibe11e / Reddit

Up for some more pet shenanigans? Be sure to check out this article, too, which features a heartwarming collection of animal stories we’ve gathered from the internet.