Mother tells children 'Christmas is cancelled' over £8,000 vet's bill
A mother has had to tell her children that Christmas is cancelled after she was given a vet's bill of £4,300 for their family dog and is faced with needing to pay thousands more.
Joely Eaton, 29, from Sale, Greater Manchester, was hit with the huge bill following the amputation of her Staffordshire Bull Terrier Buddy's leg after he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer.
The CT scan and subsequent surgery came to £4,299, while Buddy must also undergo six rounds of chemotherapy, costing £669.68 a time, which will bring Ms Eaton's total spending on the pet to £8,317.
Eaton, who owns a cleaning business, says she will now cut back on Christmas, relying on her credit card to buy her sons Ollie, seven, and Jaeden, 10, some of the cheaper items from their Christmas lists.
She was given Buddy as a gift for her 21st birthday, while her mother owns the pet's parents.
“I couldn’t have put him to sleep, he’s like another child to me," said Ms Eaton.
The family plan on having a quiet Christmas with Buddy and their seven-month-old French bulldog Spencer.
Eaton said that Buddy had a scan in October after she spotted him limping. She was told he probably had arthritis and was given some anti-inflammatories.
But two weeks later they returned to the vet because Buddy had stopped putting weight on that leg entirely.
“The vet told me the worst case scenario can be a bone tumour, but of course I didn’t think it was," said Ms Eaton.
“Then he rang me just as I was getting ready to get the boys from school and just said, ‘It’s not good news, it’s a bone tumour.’
“He didn’t even bring him round from the sedation, he asked me if I wanted to put him to sleep now and said that, if not, I would have about two weeks with him.
“I was just like ‘no’. The boys couldn’t come with me to drop the dog off and then not pick him up. I told him I would come and bring him home.”
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She then sought a second opinion from a different vet who recommended she see a specialist.
She travelled 40 miles to a practice in Liverpool so Buddy could undergo a CT scan, where medics discovered the cancer had not spread to Buddy’s lungs.
But it was recommended he undergo a costly operation to amputate his leg, plus six rounds of chemotherapy.
Ms Eaton has been told Buddy may only live for another 18 months.
“I just told them to do it, I don’t care. As long as he is with us, I don’t care.
“I just said to the boys Christmas is not going to be as good as it is every other year.
“I’m kind of relying on everyone else, which feels really nasty. But my mum will give them money and my grandparents will go all-out.”
She has managed to pay off almost all of the initial vet bill, but is still faced with payments for the chemotherapy and some of the cost of the surgery and CT scan.
She has agreed with her siblings and her boyfriend to skip present-giving this year, and had to ask her grandfather for her Christmas money a bit earlier.
Her family members have set up a GoFundMe page, which has raised more than £4,000.
“I really hate asking for help, but this is just reality at the moment for us," she said.
“With the whole cost of living crisis, a vet bill to pay as well as his chemo to pay on top of that - and it is Christmas.
“The boys took it well. My seven-year-old had his birthday recently so he’s not really bothered about Christmas, he’s one of those dead easy, relaxed kids.
“I just said to them, ‘We’ve got Buddy, and that’s all that matters this Christmas’."
