Animals are great, but they can be expensive......
Took my dog on a hike yesterday at our favorite park. As I have always done, I let him off leash to run an play in the woods and do some swimming in the lake. Unfortunately he found a discarded fishing hook with line attached and swallowed it. I didn't see him actually swallow it, but saw the line dangling from his mouth. At his point, I knew we were in deep crap. And we had 2 miles of walking to get back to my SUV. Thankfully he wasn't in distress but by time we get to the vet, he swallowed the rest of the line.
The local clinic takes an xray and the picture shows the hook was stuck in his esophagus. In a small town like this no one has the equipment to do a scope so I was forwarded to Mississippi's one and only vet school some 90 miles away. Of course they have to put him under anesthesia to do it, but they were successful in plucking the hook free with line attached. Thankfully avoiding surgery. So they will call me later this morning after a night of observation and I will get to pick him up later in the day. An expensive $1,200+ hike.