The Everything Pet Thread
Posted by biodancer on Jul 04, 2008 · Member since Jul 2007 · 978 posts
I wanted to start this thread to be all about our pets. Ask questions, help answer questions, tell a funny story about something your cat/dog/ferret/bird/rat, etc did, update everyone on your pet's health, tell us about a new pet, vent, grieve, laugh, etc. I know I'll be posting here a lot and I hope you'll join me!
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I guess I'll go first. Cat has really deteriorated during the last few days. He has a hard time walking, doesn't eat, and sits at his water bowl but doesn't drink. I trying to get the resolve to call the vet on Monday.
I wanted to start this thread to be all about our pets. Ask questions, help answer questions, tell a funny story about something your cat/dog/ferret/bird/rat, etc did, update everyone on your pet's health, tell us about a new pet, vent, grieve, laugh, etc. I know I'll be posting here a lot and I hope you'll join me!
:)>>> :)>>> :)>>> :)>>>
Great idea!
I guess I'll go first. Cat has really deteriorated during the last few days. He has a hard time walking, doesn't eat, and sits at his water bowl but doesn't drink. I trying to get the resolve to call the vet on Monday.
As someone who just went through this, I know how hard it is. This weekend, I would buy some organic baby food, and a big syringe. Mix some of the baby food with water and gently syringe some in the side of his mouth. Do they same with just water. He needs hydration or his kidneys can fail altogether which can be quite painful. Rescue Remedy also helped Harold in her last two days. I could see her physically relax and feel more at peace. As well, if it is Cat's time, do call the vet. It is a kindness.
Tell Cat how much you love him and that is alright for him to leave you. That you will be fine. I forgot to do that with Harold until the day before she passed. Once I told her and several times, she also seemed more at peace.
I so feel for you right now as I am still grieving.
This morning, I went in the laundry room and Harold often slept on a pile of clothes that shouldn't have been on the floor but that were. I actually put my foot down and thought, OMG...I hope I didn't just step on Harold. You have been a great mom. I read your thread in Aimless Chit Chat. Don't blame yourself. It can eat you up inside. We all go through the guilties when a pet is dying or after their death. What if I had done this....why didn't I think to do that. Why did I yell at her/him the other day. Did I keep them too long.
I for the first time in many years got the critters some incredibly good kibble about 4 weeks ago instead of cooking for them. Now I feel guilty. Although I also bought some canned in the same brand for Harold and often added water to the kibble, she got bad during this time. She had been very feeble for a couple of years but of course she had to make it her time when I changed what she ate. Harold had kidney problems for a couple of years. I am going back to home cooking. I home cooked the night before Harold died and she ate some of it.
Humboldt Honey, you have given Cat a great life. Better than he would ever have had. Spend quality time with him this weekend, get fluids in him. Some don't like to force feed but with bad kidneys, it is important he be hydrated or the pain could be unbearable.
You will make the right choice and Cat will help you.
My heart goes out to you and Cat.
hugs
Di
Hearing about your cats actually made me cry. :-[ They were really lucky to find a good home where they could be happy as long as possible.
HH, your cat's name reminds me of my husband's former friend, Mr. Cat. He could open doors with doorknobs and figure out how to escape from any cage.
I just got a kitten, and as soon as we were completely in love with her (it didn't take long), we found out for sure that she's FeLV+ (her mom was tested and was positive too). We don't have any other cats, so she's here to stay for as long as she's got. But it's sad to think about how short that may be, and not knowing when or how sick she'll get, since she's still just a baby.
By the way, if anyone has had a cat with feline leukemia and has any advice at all for me, I'd appreciate it.
So I noticed something on my cat that's different. It's a swollen patch that looks enflamed. Does anyone know anything about it? The vet is usually open on Saturday. I'm not sure about this weekend because of the 4th. If I take him in to be looked at for it, I'm sure they'll want to euthanize him tomorrow instead of Monday, so I'm torn about making an appointment. I'm thinking it might be tied into why he has been walking funny on his back legs.
eta: The problem with euthanizing him on the weekend is that then I'll have to trust the vet's office to handle the cremation. I always envisioned me driving him to the crematory, not abandoning him halfway through the process.
Here's what it looks like. The stuff in his fur is World's Best kitty litter, not diahhrea.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3148/2636963303_fa39e521a9_m.jpg
Here's a close-up:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3083/2636963575_4e113be9b9_m.jpg
And if you're going to see one end, you should get to see the other:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3267/2636963775_c672fb10b1_m.jpg
http://files.blog-city.com/files/aa/31561/p/f/cat_tattoo_01.jpg
I'm not too sad to laugh my ass off. That's brilliant!
My dog ran through the sliding glass door the other night. She was ok, couple cuts but nothing bad. Soooo glad it was tempered.
It's good to hear she's alright, blueheeler. When I read the first sentence I was worried about head trauma.
Here's a maybe less pathetic picture of him.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3129/2637079947_c5739d2866_m.jpg
Oh HH. I love Cat. I love. love, love him. I'm so sorry.
By the way, if anyone has had a cat with feline leukemia and has any advice at all for me, I'd appreciate it.
This is what my second cat (Mackenzie) had. But... we were too late to do anything for him and the vet said... well, I think you get the picture. To me, it was so odd. He had LEUKEMIA! Cat's get that? I don't think there was anything we could have done anyways. It was just so sad and maybe even inevitable. I loved that little guy.
I clearly don't have good luck with cats. They all get sick :'(
I sure don't want this thread to be too weepy! Pets are the best! I love having animals around me - a purring cat on my lap is heaven.
My two cats have switched places in my heart. Terminator was my favorite, always sleeping with me, letting me hold/pet him whenever I felt the need to and comforting me when I was sad. Now Kane is stepping it up while Terminator spends all day laying outside in the sun, sleeping outside and only coming in when he wants food. He won't even let me pet him lately (unless he's hungry). I want my old Termy back! I also have too many nickanmes for each of them that I can't even keep up with myself sometimes
Maybe they have a pact they that they each get to take a turn being the favorite and being lazy. Cats. They're clever that way. :)
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I'm going to try to get in at my vet's office tomorrow. If not, I'll drive to the Emergency Hospital. It's nearly 30 miles away. I hope I can navigate a car that far. My neighbor offered to come with me. She was the one who rescued Cat during the evacuation last summer.
So, I hope this thread can be a place of support and stories fun, wacky animal adventures. I'm (kinda) sorry to derail it for downer reasons.
HH, I hope everything turns out alright with your beloved kitty.
HH: the sore looks like it's in the penis region? It's a bit too far down to be scrotum, so I wonder if he had a UTI? It wouldn't be all that unlikely since he hasn't been drinking much and stuff couldn't get flushed out, hence causing an infection. It's hard to tell just from the picture, but that's what it looks like to me.
Thanks. Tomorrow he'll be euthanized. Because he's Cat to the end, he's not into my displays of affection. I wish he'd go so loopy that he'd let me cuddle.
HH: the sore looks like it's in the penis region?
I found a diagram online and that's what it looked like. I wasn't sure though. He was fixed before he was abandoned when he was one, if that makes any difference.
HH: the sore looks like it's in the penis region?
I found a diagram online and that's what it looked like. I wasn't sure though. He was fixed before he was abandoned when he was one, if that makes any difference.
Yeah, it's probably not scrotum. We can still see Joe's "nut sack" as bp so nicely put it ;) and it doesn't look like that. I'm guessing it's his penis and it's inflammed. Perhaps from just being overall sick or maybe a UTI or maybe both?
HH, Cat really doesn't look very well. I am glad you are going to the vet tomorrow. I couldn't really tell from the picture but I am thinking UTI as well.
Please know we are all on this board for you and Cat. I will be thinking of you both tomorrow. What a sad week. My Canada Day and the day after and your 4th of July and the day after. :'(
Big hugs going your way.
Di
Sadly euthanizing a pet and getting them cremated with ashes back is hugely expensive. At least in Ontario.
When I had my beautiful Harold to to sleep on Wednesday and requesting ashes back, my vet bill was $563.
I am so in debt right now but had to have her ashes back. So once again, thank God I have Visa.
My bedroom bureau is soon going to look like a pet cemetery.
I have Teddy and Willie, my dogs in little off white clay type urns with black flecks, Boobie and Pie Shop, my cats are in little square wooden boxes, Tammy Turtle in in a clay/ceramic pale blue urn and Isabela is in a large blue/grey larger pebble stone ceramic type clay urn. I also have Isabela's paw print in clay in a large frame. The vet and girls at the clinic did that for me because they so loved Isabela and knew it would touch my heart. Harold is going to be coming home in a cedar box. The other choice was the identical urn but smaller than Isabela is in.
No one that comes in my bedroom would know that my bureau contains the ashes of my best friends. They would just think that I have unusual taste in decorating.
Yet, every night that I go to sleep, I feel a sense of peace that my babies are somehow near me.
I so don't want to pick up Harold's ashes. Twenty years of love. I am finally starting to grieve because it is the weekend and I have time to be my myself.
It sounds so expensive what I paid but when you see the breakdown, it makes sense.
1 IV catheter $42.00 (That is instead of putting the needle in the heart.) Done mostly when people want to stay with their pet until the very end because the needle in the heart upsets people but is not horrendous in reality. I worked for a vet and helped assist with both. I preferred spending the $42.00.
1 Euthanasia - feline: $139.50
1 Cremation: $115.00
1 Ashes returned: $240.00
When one only wants cremation, many pets are cremated at the same time. When one wants ashes back, it is done individually, hence the extra cost. We have a couple of very reputable pet cremation places here. They treat your pets as they would any family member.
Years ago, my avian vet changed crematoriums because they found out you could be getting any pets ashes back. Not that you would know so in your heart they would be your pets. But to me and my avian vet, that was unacceptable.
When my sister had to have her cats put to sleep years ago, she chose not to get ashes back and instead made a donation to the humane society (which is wonderful). It is important to me to get ashes back. As well, I support many animal rescue groups regularly so by me getting ashes back, they are not losing out.
I give to the Cozumel Humane Society every year on the day Isabela died and on her birthday.
I give to Happy Tails Greek Animal Rescue Canada on the day I got Cali and her birthday.
As well, I support local shelters and animal rescue groups around the world. Some may think it is insane I spent so much to get Harold's ashes back but I had to do it. For others, it is not a necessity. It is illegal here to bury a pet in your yard. Doesn't help that I don't have a yard.
Nugget, my little Maltese and Timothy Turtle are buried in my uncle and aunt's back yard. My uncle is dying of brain cancer and the house will soon be sold. I will have to go over and say a little goodbye to Nugget and Timothy.
Worse, I will have to say goodbye to my uncle in the near future.
No one should feel guilty if they don't get ashes back. It is just a personal choice, as we all know, the second we take our last breath, our body is just a shell.
Not sure why I posted this. I am just in a sad mood tonight because Harold is not yowling for food or slinking across my livingroom floor.
I so wanted her to be with me when I got Hannah Rose, my hedgehog this fall.
I still have 9 beautiful critters sharing my life.
Biko: African Grey - 18
Tobi: looks like a lynx point Himalayan -stray born in a barn - 14
Emma Orange Blossom: born from a feral mom - will be 8 July 30th
Smedley Hoover: Emma's litter mate
Cali: rescue dog from Greece - was two December 8th
Yellow Bird- budgie - must be at least 6
Chickpea- budgie- probably 3 by now
Blue Bird- budgie - about the same age as Chickpea
Little Blue Bird - budgie - same as above
I usually keep such good stats on my critters but for some reason, when Isabela was dying and life went on, I lost track of when I got the budgies.
This is a great thread and I hope we get many happy stories on it. As well, a great place to share our sadness when a pet is not well or is crossing over to the Rainbow Bridge.
I doubt we will ever have to bump it up because it seems daily someone is reporting on their furry, feathered or scaled loved one.
Hugs and Veg On!
Di
My heart goes out to all those dealing with pet losses, and pet illnesses or injuries. It is not fun.
I do have some good news, I have finally figured out The Great Birdcage Mystery. I got my budgie a new cage a couple weeks back and for several weeks he didn't want to sit on the perches...spent all his time walking around the bottom of the cage, tho he was his bright, chirpy self. Di and I emailed back and forth about it, and eventually he did start using the perches, but spent a lot of time in the bottom of the cage.
I just stumbled on the answer. As the cage doesn't have a plastic guard around the bottom, a lot of seed gets dropped on the floor or kicked between the bars. I had made a sort of "bag" to fit around the bottom of the old cage, that came up high enough to cover the seed cups because he spent all his time taking the tops off them and spilling food everywhere. When I put him in the new cage we were very busy so I never got the "bag" washed and disinfected until just lately.
The key to the mystery is this: For years, he hasn't been able to see past the "bag" so he was just investigating, looking at the room from that angle! When I finally got the "bag" cleaned up and on his new cage, he has lost all interest in the bottom of his world.
Duh me. We put new cups inside his cage for this new one, so maybe the bag won't be so necessary.
Last night we went to sleep at around 10:30p and I woke up at 1:30a. Cat wasn't on the bed. I looked around upstairs and he wasn't there. I finally found him in a downstairs closet, stiff. I came to my computer, posted here about his passing, then went back to sit with him, but his body was gone. Since he's as close to perfect as you're going to find on earth, I figured spontaneous ascension. I thought I'd safeguard that by looking in other rooms. I found the undead in my bathroom. He was just being Cat to the end.
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