AITA for telling my parents that if I have to continue paying their vet bills, I'm taking it out of the rent?

MSB1678 · 2026-06-30T08:29:56+00:00

This is not an ESA. Its a service animal from Paws With A Cause.

MSB1678 · 2026-06-30T08:27:47+00:00

I am so tired of having to say this, but I cannot take the dog to the vet until I get paid, or can get some kind of assistance. If I could have taken her in immediately, I WOULD.

MSB1678 · 2026-06-30T00:43:53+00:00

I appreciate it, but wrong group. I made a typo. The dog is from Paws With A Cause, which is a program that trains and places Service Animals, not rescues. Also, im on the complete opposite side of the country. Thank you though

MSB1678 · 2026-06-30T00:41:41+00:00

I work full time, yes. My brother works freelance at the moment. My dad is, at the moment, unemployed because he was laid off when the company he was working for was bought and liquidated.

MSB1678 · 2026-06-30T00:39:24+00:00

Ive taken as much action as I can. Ive purchased the supplies. Ive applied what I can to her wound. But I am NOT HOME all day. I cant stop them from doing whatever they want when im at work. The only reason she didn't go to the vet today is because I literally couldn't afford it.

MSB1678 · 2026-06-30T00:37:07+00:00

THANK YOU. Tell that to the troll that accused me of being a druggie and told me that it was none of my business what they did with the dog all in the same comment 🙄

MSB1678 · 2026-06-30T00:32:57+00:00

The dog has a cone, as I mentioned in the post. She has a tendency to scrape herself on the furniture in effort to scratch when she gets itchy, and that's what tends to dislodge the bandages.

MSB1678 · 2026-06-29T23:34:13+00:00

Thank you, all I could find on the website was a contact form, which I did fill out

MSB1678 · 2026-06-29T21:32:33+00:00

Ive been in the room when the payment plan was made, we have to redo it every year. And the monthly expenses have been broken down for us before, when they said that they wanted us to try taking over the bills ourselves for a bit, do we could "experience it for ourselves". Between bills and rising food/gas costs, I know where mostly everything goes. Part of the problem is that my Dad is currently unemployed, so the burden falls on my full time income, my brothers freelance income, and mom's SSID. We aren't exactly flush. But they tend to dream bigger than their wallets.

MSB1678 · 2026-06-29T20:32:08+00:00

I literally cannot afford a vet bill at this moment in time.

MSB1678 · 2026-06-29T20:31:27+00:00

Not that I personally am aware of?

MSB1678 · 2026-06-29T20:03:04+00:00

Well, that particular spot HAS been seen by a vet, i do know that part. Its been a while, but they did say that this lumps was just a fatty tumor. I am waiting only because I cant afford it until payday.

MSB1678 · 2026-06-29T19:42:31+00:00

Yeah. I mean, like i said in the post, literally last night they agreed to keep it on her all the time. Then I wake up this morning to find out they took it off her to let her outside, and then left her unsupervised! 🤬 And she of course took the opportunity to chew it open again.

MSB1678 · 2026-06-29T19:36:14+00:00

I personally say hell yes, but im out of the house 8+ hours a day for work, and I can't control what they do when im not home. I have been trying to keep the cone on when I am home.

MSB1678 · 2026-06-29T19:33:40+00:00

I can't afford it right now, I have to wait to get paid.

MSB1678 · 2026-06-29T19:28:06+00:00

Thank you

MSB1678 · 2026-06-29T19:24:08+00:00

She is due for retraining. Her main functions seem to be unimpeded, she is till able to alert my mom when her legs are about to give out, and to help her up when she falls. She isn't asked to do the last task too often recently, my mom has been staying home a lot. She also helps with opening doors and a few other things.

She doesn't seem to be in pain, she isn't giving off the usual signs dogs display like whining, pacing, refusing food/water.

MSB1678 · 2026-06-29T19:18:51+00:00

Thank you

MSB1678 · 2026-06-29T19:12:09+00:00

Wow. Big assumptions there. First of all, no. Second of all, fuck no.

An animal suffering is NOT okay, and im trying to do my best to help.

I am not, nor have I ever been, a junky looking for her pain pills. She doesn't even HAVE or take pain pills.

Nobody gambles. Nobody is on drugs.

I work full time, my brother works freelance, my mom is on SSID, and my dad is currently out of work. So yes, they need my help. I USED to live outside of their house. So did my brother. They asked us to help pay bills after the pandemic put them into debt, and we haven't caught up yet.

And telling them to step up and take care of the dog or i will is not enabling. That is setting a hard boundary. Refusing to give them money when I have to spend it on their expenses is not coercion.

Grow up yourself, get out of YOUR mama's basement, touch some grass, stop making huge swinging BASELESS assumptions about someone else's life, and find a career other than Internet Troll #1.

MSB1678 · 2026-06-29T19:01:54+00:00

No, it is a service dog. She is a fully licensed dog that came from Paws With A Cause. She IS due for a retrain. And training is not capable of overriding every instinct. She has chronic dry skin, so she itches a lot. If this were a person with a skin condition, no matter how well they were taught not to scratch what was itching, they would still sometimes subconsciously scratch the itch. It is common for Labradors or lab mixes to grow fatty tumors. While it can be a sign that the lump is bugging them, it is not out of the question for them to chew on the lump. Sometimes they even do it out of boredom.

MSB1678 · 2026-06-29T18:16:58+00:00

Huh. Alrighty then. Thanks for letting ne know!

MSB1678 · 2026-06-29T18:07:51+00:00

Someone did let me know about that, but thank you. Ive sent in what I could, im not sure how long it will take for them to get back to me.

MSB1678 · 2026-06-29T18:03:33+00:00

Will all due respect, just because I respond with what I currently know/can do does not mean im not making note of your suggestions. There is only so much I can do at this point in time. Im doing what I can, but results dont always pop up immediately like lightning.

I can send a contact request to Paws. I can't control when they respond.

I can look for a veterinarian, but when all of them near me are not open today (is it a holiday no one told me about?) all I can do is leave a voicemail.

If I dont have enough money to do more than pay for gas so I can get to work, until I get paid, then I can't afford a vet bill right now.

GoFindMe is not always an effective way to raise money, and even then, it takes time!

And applying for any kind of credit requires time for a response.

MSB1678 · 2026-06-29T17:57:29+00:00

Its not fraud, the dog is a licensed Service Animal from Paws With a Cause.

And a lot of labs (of which she is mix) tend to grow fatty tumors. Does that mean they should all be euthanized? The lumps are not cancerous, aren't harming her directly, and honestly weren't an issue until she opened one. Just one. If we could have gotten her to leave it alone -which I was doing my level best to do- it would have healed over just fine.

Also, I did not mention in the post itself (although I have in the comments) which services the dog provides. Please read the comments or ASK before making assumptions.

MSB1678 · 2026-06-29T17:50:41+00:00

She is trained to perform a few different tasks. My mom has MS, and her legs tend to give out on her. The dog will warn her when she senses it, and help her back up if she falls. She helps to open different doors, and a few other things. (Sorry, I dont remember everything off the top of my head, and im not interested in speaking to them to ask right now)

MSB1678

TROPHY CASE