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There are times when my pets drive me crazy. Take Minnie the Chihuahua puppy, now a teenager at one year and two months old and currently snuggled on my chest. Suu, the eight-year-old Burmese cat, is dozing on the arm of my chair, and meanwhile she’s trying to concentrate and type on my laptop.
These perpetual annoyances have also come very close to killing me, which we will talk about later. However, I would spend my life savings to save them, or even Madge, the eight-year-old chihuahua, and Frieda, the 18-year-old elder.
So I could totally empathize with Katie Courts and Paul Giller, the couple whose cat Billie needed more veterinary care than any pet owner could have anticipated. So far it has cost them the £25,000 they had saved all their lives.
Billie has been dubbed ‘Britain’s bravest cat’ after she survived cat Covid, was mauled by dogs and succumbed to sepsis.
The first veterinary bill, in 2021, for the treatment of feline coronavirus amounted to £4,000. The attack by four dogs occurred when Billie was going for a walk with her owners.
Jenni Murray with her beloved chihauhas, who have racked up huge vet bills over the years
Katie Courts, whose cat Billie, dubbed “Britain’s bravest cat”, has so far cost her and her partner their life savings of £25,000.
His injuries were so serious that he was taken to a specialized veterinary hospital. The bill was £15,000. He is now being treated for sepsis, another £6,000.
Some might say, “Come on, it’s just an animal.” Let it go and get another one. Or: “Don’t give up your summer vacation just because of an unlucky cat.”
That’s not what I would say. I know how expensive animals can be, but I also know how deep the love for them can be, even when, like in my case, I’m the one who gets hurt.
It was Suu who caused my deep distress last year. After having friends over for Sunday lunch, I washed a heavy glass ashtray and set it on the kitchen counter. Suu knows that part of the house is off-limits, but despite that, she walked towards the ashtray and with a look of devilish determination, she pushed it away. Unfortunately, my foot was right underneath.
It hurt and the wound turned into a deep, infested bruise. The doctor at the hospital said they should admit me. I told him no, I had work to do and animals to take care of. “I’m going to say two things,” she said, “Sepsis and losing your foot.” I went home to get my nightgown and friends and neighbors took care of the pet.
The next disaster was more serious. She was in bed. It was a warm night. Minnie was lying next to me, creating even more heat. I moved. She snuggled up. I moved. She snuggled up again. I walked away and broke a vertebra falling out of bed. Minnie was fine.
Jenni’s dogs, Madge (left), the eight-year-old Chihuahua, and Frieda, the oldest, 18 years old.
Jenni Murray’s dog Minnie, photographed when she was a puppy. Jenni broke a vertebra when she fell out of bed while she was trying to hug Minnie, who was unharmed.
Both injuries cost me a small fortune. I went to a house to rest and recover, Suu to a cattery in the New Forest, which cost £17.50 a day. That cost almost £1,000 over six weeks.
The dogs went to see a friend at no cost, apart from a health check each (£159), a monthly osteoarthritis vaccination (£60 each), medicine for elderly Frieda and £375 for Minnie was sterilized. She didn’t want her to come home pregnant.
The biggest expense was for care homes, one in Dorset and another in London with daily physiotherapy. The stays cost £12,000, a huge expense that would not have been necessary if it weren’t for my animals. For me, as for Billie’s owners, there will be no expensive vacations this year.
Having pets is never cheap. The price of your food has gone up, along with everything else.
Annual pet vaccinations cost £60 each, plus a little extra for the vet to trim their toenails.
Looking through old vet bills, the most poignant was when my beloved chihuahua Butch was put down in 2021. His death cost £72 and many tears. I paid an extra £138 to ensure he would be cremated alone. I wanted to be sure that it was just his ashes that he scattered in my garden.
The only other expense, after keeping them healthy and safe, is the £20 fee for a chip inserted into a cat or dog to ensure it can be tracked if it is ever lost.
The cat’s chip is essential so that it can go outdoors and then return home whenever it wants. I also spent almost £200 on a new cat flap when the old one broke. Chip-dependent cat flaps allow your cat to enter and exit at will, but he will not let any other animal in without the corresponding chip.
As of this week, it is illegal to own a cat that does not have a chip. Failure to comply carries a fine of £500.
I hope cat owners do. I see so many sad stories on our neighborhood app of cats that were hit and killed, picked up by a kind passerby and taken to the vet, but without a chip you can’t trace the owner.
I suppose we all love our animals very much, often more than we love humans… even if they turn out, like mine, to be more dangerous to us than to themselves.
The Nigella with fewer spots is back
We haven’t seen much of Nigella Lawson since her divorce from Charles Saatchi in 2013.
It was lovely to see her at the funeral of novelist Sir Martin Amis, looking as beautiful as ever.
I’ve never been a fan of cooking, but I interviewed Nigella about her first book, written while caring for her first husband, John Diamond, who was dying of cancer.
The book, How to Eat, is the only recipe book I have ever used. Their lemon roast chicken is wonderful. More please, Nigella.
Nigella Lawson at the memorial service for Martin Amis, at St Martin-in-the-Fields Church, London, on Monday
My life-affirming tea with Michael
I am very saddened to learn of the untimely death of one of my broadcasting heroes, Dr. Michael Mosley.
I listened to him, read his work, and was once asked to interview him.
I invited him to Brown’s Hotel in London for tea. She came out with a great selection of sandwiches, scones, jam, cream and cakes.
“Help yourself,” I said. “It shouldn’t,” the country’s health guru responded, smiling. ‘But I’ll do it.’
The late Michael Mosley was a Jenni hero
I don’t give a damn about “not mowing the grass”
A survey comparing the attitudes of men and women towards No Mow May suggests that women are happy to let the grass grow wild.
Men prefer a smooth and tidy lawn because they love everything to be organized. Mistaken.
Steven, who helps in my garden, mows the grass gently and gets rid of the daisies, which I don’t like. Too many memories of making daisy chains while watching my dad play the most boring game in the world: cricket.
I have finally realized the dangers of online shopping. I was out of toilet bowl cleaner, which I should never be without. I thought about getting some from Amazon because they would arrive quickly. I thought I ordered two bottles: one for the top and one for the bottom. The box that arrived was so heavy that I couldn’t lift it. I had somehow ordered 12 huge bottles, enough for the Savoy Hotel.
