So what WOULDN'T I do for my pets?

I had an experience today that left me shaking my head at myself and asking this question.

In my previous post, I mentioned that I am switching my standard poodle from a beef to a fish diet. Well, I have found that fish is quite a bit more expensive per pound than beef. While on beef I was managing an average cost of about $1.70 per pound and feeding her a pound a day. Well, the fish I found locally was $4 per pound! Quite a significant jump. Added up over time that works out to be a lot of money to feed my poodle. Not that I would begrudge her that, but if I can save money without sacrificing quality of life, that is the route I am going to go with. So I started a search for bulk fish suppliers. The likeliest source I found was in Myrtle Beach, located about an hour and a half away from me. They promised me fish at $1.75 per pound. That was more like it. So I ordered 50 pounds and they promised to have it ready for me today.

Well. What I had not planned on was the freak blizzard that hit this area of South Carolina last night. All in all most surrounding areas were hit with anywhere from 6" to 10" of snow. And these Southern towns are just not used to this weather. Living up in Ohio this weather was pretty common place and ODOT had everything well under control in time for the morning commute most days. Well, I don't think my county even owns a snow plow or salt truck! LOL! First I drove into town to go by the post office. If I hadn't been so scared of getting bumper-carred off the road I would have laughed at the spectacle of the drivers that had never seen this much snow trying to navigate through it all.

When I saw first hand how bad the conditions actually were, I almost decided to just go back home and forget about the fish or instead of the 1 1/2 hour drive to the beach opt for the 45 minute drive to PetsMart and pick up a quality fish-based kibble instead. But love for my pet and the desire to do the best by her won out over logic and reason. As it usually does with me! <g>

So off I went in a snow/sleet mix coming down upon my 4-Runner, navigating highway roads that had turned to one lane in either direction from the high snow furrows worn in them, the banks of which it was hazardous to veer into. I managed to make it all the way down there going no more than 45mph in a 60mph zone, and frequently getting stuck behind some local-scared-out-of-their-wits yahoo that was white-knuckling it at 20mph in a 60mph zone! I am sure this darn 'Yankee' got some pretty dirty looks when I made my own lane a couple of times, shifting it down to low gear to navigate through the snow-thick left lane. But I had left my town at 10:00 and if I was to make it back home by 3:00 to see my husband off to work I could NOT go 20mph for 100 miles!

So I got to the fish market in one piece, only getting lost once (I had the address wrong, I was looking for it on Hwy 17 by-pass instead of Hwy 17 business route), but you'll have that. I made my purchase and had the fish guy load up the 50 pounds of fish into my back hatch. It was then that I discovered that maybe I didn't think this venture quite through. You see, as I mentioned I have a 4-Runner. That is an SUV, thus it has an 'open' design where the trunk/hatch compartment is not closed off from the rest of the car. I had just bought 50 pounds of fish. Have you ever smelled 50 pounds of fish? Well *I* had to smell 50 pounds of fish the WHOLE slow way home back through those icy conditions, going 20mph towards home. . .

As I said. . . . "So what WOULDN'T I do for my pets???"