Originally posted by luckies4me
I did want to come back to this thread to offer some advice. Jynelle, I do not know if you have this in Canada, but here in the US we have something that is called Care Credit. It's like a Credit card except it's for people with pets, so that if there is an emergency the owners always have a way to take their animals to the vet, and not have to pay right away. It works the same way a regular credit card does and you make monthly payments to pay off a bill. It's a GREAT card to have. The limit is in the thousands so even if an owner needs an expensive surgery the animal can always get it done. As long as you pay your card off every month it's fine.

Also, you may want to start looking for a job right now since I know you are old enough, just in case something else goes wrong. It helps a lot to have your own money and not be so dependent on your mother. Or how about getting a baby sitting job for extra money? Bathing dogs, walking dogs? Take about 10 to 50 dollars a month of every paycheck if you can and put that in an envelope that is reserved for trips to the vet only. It adds up quick, trust me. This way if one of your rats needs to see a vet you already have at least enough money to cover an exam, and more. You can also ask to volunteer your services at a vet clinic and get to know them better, so if something does happen they know you are trustworthy and are more likely to set up a payment plan with you, especially if you keep the same vet and have a rapport with them. It does help a lot. Hope all goes well with Merry.
Wonderful advice, Cass!

We started a saving account when we fist got Chester and at first I just put in $5 a week. We were pretty poor, in our eyes, so I skipped lunches to save that $5. Then as we were able to, we put in more money each week. When Chester had to have his emergency room visit and surgery earlier this year, we were able to pay for it easily, and it all started out as $5 a week. His surgery was nearly $1000.00 and there is still money in there! We ONLY used it for this one surgery, it's strictly for emergencies ONLY.

Sure, it took 5 years to build it up, and it seemed impossible 5 years ago, but it sure made that difficult time a lot easier knowing I could pay for anything he needed.