What nobody tells you about owning a pet

It is probably one of the best feelings in the world, being a pet owner.

You and this creature live together, can't communicate and you're still best friends.

They make you laugh at their silly discoveries, are always there to cheer you up when you've had a bad day and act as your personal alarm clock to ensure you don't miss breakfast time.

Animals are probably one of our greatest gifts the universe has ever granted us. It teaches us about love through, nothing exceptional really, but simply every day, acts and living. It teaches us love through companionship.

Someone once said, pets don't tend to live as long as us because they fulfil their purpose much sooner - or maybe nobody said it and it was a bumper sticker I saw on facebook back in 2008 when that feature was still around. Wherever it landed from, it stuck with me and this past week I was reminded of it.

You see one of my cats, Leo - whom I got in first year varsity - got extremely sick. A day after taking him to the vet, we got a call saying it was time to say goodbye.

I couldn't believe it. I wasn't ready. He was only 13 years old, which is considered senior for a cat, but I didn't see it that way. I thought we had more time. I had just arrived in Ballito to settle for three months and the day after I arrived I headed straight back to Pietermaritzburg to say goodbye to my little man.

The car ride was awful, I kept on thinking about how I hadn't spent enough time with him and since I had been traveling I wondered if he had felt abandoned. My eyes filled up and my throat had a lump stuck in it.

We arrived at the vet and we got the debrief. My mom and bestie were with me and after considering all the options, I simply felt like I didn't have all the facts - so we went to go get a second opinion from the specialist.

You see, what I now realise, is when the first vet told us there was nothing more they could do, what they were really trying to tell me is that it's going to cost you a lot of money and most people don't have that so this is the next best option we can give animals so they don't suffer.

Mr Leo spent 7 full days in hospital and the bill came to a total of R32 202.75.

To tell you the truth, it was a maricle I had the money. I had a tiny emergency fund, I had minimum investments that I pulled and I just so happened to get a deposit back. But do you know what I find interesting? I didn't really think twice about spending it. I later joked that the money I spent would have paid off some debt but I never once had the words in my mind saying "This is a lot of money for a cat" - because to me it wasn't that. The way I had thought of it was this creature had been there for me whenever I have needed him (albeit, maybe against his will, he is a cat after all) but all that I had in my mind was "I need to give him a chance and if he wants that chance, I need to have his back"

The very hard truth of this situation is that this financial situation does not offer a payment plan. You need to have the cash and if you don't - you don't have many options. Which caused my ADHD brain to stop and reflect: The things really worth keeping in life require upfront funds and all the things that have no real value offer you a payment structure. I'll come back to this point but this is when I knew this situation was going to change my spending habit behaviours.

Mr Leo has been home for 3 days now and we have a vet check up tomorrow - we are not out of the woods as we're still waiting on his gallbladder biopsy results.

But another thing that shocked me is the intensive care he's required. When I say intensive, it's only so hectic because again, he's a cat - but I've been brushing him because he isn't strong enough to groom himself, I've been taking him to use the bathroom because - shame our first night back home he peed on me while we were sleeping - we've put stairs in place so he can get to the top of the counter for his food and we make sure he does small walks so he can keep his leg muscles strong.

I don't know why I have it in my mind that things live forever but watching a loved one of yours age is a different reality kick and I need to figure out how to prepare for it because golly, I'm getting older which means all the ones I love are getting older.

What I really wanted to remember from this situation is the financial lesson here - because if you are going to take on the responsibility of another life, you need to be financially prepared for every single scenario. Because I am telling you, even if you're the kind of person who says you wouldn't do it, in these high pressure, high emotional moments - the best thing you can do is to give yourself the option to act.