Pet parent chooses to pay for her dogs' treatment over family gifts on Christmas, sparks debate

Dogs provide a lot of happiness and support to human beings. Oftentimes, humans forget that this is a two-way street. It is important that humans also provide the dogs with the same amount of affection and take responsibility. In the case of many, abandonment comes easy the moment their dogs get sick and become expensive. Moreover, people who consider dogs as their family are looked at weirdly by society. Therefore, when u/Thick_Wrongdoer_8542 announced her decision to prioritize her dogs on Christmas, her family was shocked. She shared the entire story on Reddit.

The woman began the post by explaining that she always gave gifts to her siblings, mother and dogs on Christmas as a tradition. However, due to recent developments, she decided not to continue on with the tradition this Christmas. The woman wrote, "As the dogs are getting older, they're (as can be expected) developing health problems. Both have recently been diagnosed with osteoarthritis; they have a treatment for it, but it's not exactly cheap." The expensive treatment, along with other factors, made her decide to forego the tradition of giving gifts this year. She reported the news to her siblings and mother.

The brother was fine with the decision, though the sister felt a bit disappointed but was ultimately okay too. The problem came with her mother. In her opinion, the "siblings should take priority over the dogs." This reaction shocked the woman, as her mother was also a pet parent. In a situation where she should have understood her daughter's position, she chose to criticize her. This meant that when her own pets got sick, she wouldn't give them priority, which flabbergasted the daughter.

Her husband was completely on the mother's side. This was not a shocking phenomenon for the woman, as this had been a pattern with her husband. He always teamed up with his MIL when it was something against his wife. Her grandparents are also against her in this matter and believe that the treatment should be surpassed in December. The only person supporting her is her aunt. But that does not hold much credence, as she is known all over the family as a 'crazy cat lady' for being childless with three cats at the age of 52.

The woman also mentions that she is not the only one giving children gifts on Christmas. She wrote, "They'll be getting gifts from the rest of the family, so it's not like mine would make much of a difference for them." Moreover, both siblings understand the situation and do not hold any grudges. But in this scenario, they are also of no help, as no one in the family listens to children. The situation has escalated so much that the mother wants to exclude her from the Christmas Eve get-together.

Even though the woman fully believes she is not in the wrong for acting responsibly towards her dogs, having so many family members against her has been hard and confusing. Therefore, she came to Reddit to get a third-party view. u/Individual_Ad_9213 does not understand why her mother is interfering in all of this and commented, "Your siblings understood and are fine with your choice. It's no one else's business. NTA." u/Keni-b2211 provided an alternative solution and wrote, "NTA, your pet's health comes over presents any day! I will say though, that there are a lot of cheap and thoughtful things that you can still do for your family. Baking something and wrapping it, buying their favorite candy/snack, writing a poem, etc. I’ve gone through many years where I only had $10 or less to get my family presents and I have always been able to pull it off without spending more. It’s the thought that counts, not the price tag."