The BEST Veterinarian in the WORLD !
Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 6:37 pm
Summer of 1963, I was 16 years old, working on a few local dairy farms helping with the haying and doing odd jobs and maintenance at a local nursing home after school & weekends to make a few bucks for whatever I needed.
The year before, I talked my father into letting me get a young Beagle female that a friend of a friend had for sale. My fathers stipulation was, "dogs are expensive, you got enough money to feed & pay the vet bills for this dog?" It took a lot of talking, but I talked him into it, and Molly came home with me. She was a decent rabbit hound & a cousin & me got our share of cottontails over her.
That summer, we decided to breed her, thought we could get some nice pups out of her. But when it came time for her to whelp, she had difficulties with passing the last pup, and a trip to the local Vet became necessary. She had trouble delivering the last pup, a 'monster-sized' pup as the Vet put it, and had to be operated on and kept over for a couple days because of a bad infection.
I was concerned about the cost, and told the Vet, I may not have enough to pay you all of the money right away, but I promise I will pay you. I told him how the dog was my sole responsibility, and I was working on local farms for the summer, along with my part time job - I didn't have a lot saved up, but I would pay him -- no matter what.
To make a long story short, after the operation and two days under the Vets care, he called me & said Molly was ready to go home. I got to his place as quick as possible and we sat down and talked about the problem & infection, and the operation and subsequent care. I thought to myself, there goes every dollar I made this summer -- and probably then some. Hesitating some, I finally got up the nerve to ask, 'How much does the bill come to Doc? - If I ain't got enough money with me. I'll pay you as soon as I can, no matter what.' Well, he hemmed & hawed, going over the operation, cost of expensive drugs, keeping her for two days - (dollar signs going thru my head) and finally said, " It's quite a bit of money, I hope you can afford it - I'm gonna have to charge you $ 15.00"
Even a dumb kid like me knew that that price was more of a gift than a serious Veterinary bill, and needless to say, he made a friend for life. Dr. Robert O'brien and his partner Dr. Joseph Renaldo took care of all my dogs, the rest of my life. And I learned more about dogs and life from these two men over the years than they can ever know. Dr. O'briens passed now, Dr. Renaldo retired. They will always be a couple of my heroes.
The year before, I talked my father into letting me get a young Beagle female that a friend of a friend had for sale. My fathers stipulation was, "dogs are expensive, you got enough money to feed & pay the vet bills for this dog?" It took a lot of talking, but I talked him into it, and Molly came home with me. She was a decent rabbit hound & a cousin & me got our share of cottontails over her.
That summer, we decided to breed her, thought we could get some nice pups out of her. But when it came time for her to whelp, she had difficulties with passing the last pup, and a trip to the local Vet became necessary. She had trouble delivering the last pup, a 'monster-sized' pup as the Vet put it, and had to be operated on and kept over for a couple days because of a bad infection.
I was concerned about the cost, and told the Vet, I may not have enough to pay you all of the money right away, but I promise I will pay you. I told him how the dog was my sole responsibility, and I was working on local farms for the summer, along with my part time job - I didn't have a lot saved up, but I would pay him -- no matter what.
To make a long story short, after the operation and two days under the Vets care, he called me & said Molly was ready to go home. I got to his place as quick as possible and we sat down and talked about the problem & infection, and the operation and subsequent care. I thought to myself, there goes every dollar I made this summer -- and probably then some. Hesitating some, I finally got up the nerve to ask, 'How much does the bill come to Doc? - If I ain't got enough money with me. I'll pay you as soon as I can, no matter what.' Well, he hemmed & hawed, going over the operation, cost of expensive drugs, keeping her for two days - (dollar signs going thru my head) and finally said, " It's quite a bit of money, I hope you can afford it - I'm gonna have to charge you $ 15.00"
Even a dumb kid like me knew that that price was more of a gift than a serious Veterinary bill, and needless to say, he made a friend for life. Dr. Robert O'brien and his partner Dr. Joseph Renaldo took care of all my dogs, the rest of my life. And I learned more about dogs and life from these two men over the years than they can ever know. Dr. O'briens passed now, Dr. Renaldo retired. They will always be a couple of my heroes.
