Goodbye Bobby...

[isabeau]

fantastic, kis... hmmmmm how about barbarella? lololol.. b is hard to think of a name... buttons is too hokey. bouncer well hmm babs well thats kind of cute.. binky? lol. bonnie? barbarosa? ok that one was silly.. barbie? billie? i like male names for my female pets..

isabeau

 

[isabeau]

I'm so so very sorry to hear of your loss of Bobby.

I have a gorgeous persian cat called Honeybear, who we nickname him Shag Nasty as he loves to shag jumpers and dressing gowns etc.

I had to take him to the vets a coupla weeks ago because he suddenly started to lose weight and when the vet felt underneath him I had to look away as I wonder about tumours etc. When I looked back at the vet she said to me that he has very enlarged kidneys and she isn't even sure if he has tumours on them and whether or not the tumours could be cancerous. I really surprised myself by not crying there and then but my Dad was with me to support me. As he is coming up to 15 in June she said it wouldn't be worth doing blood tests or a biopsy as there is nothing they can do anyway. He is now on meds (a pill a day) for life. On top of that he also has a heart murmur. I just gotta give him all the love I can and look after him which I have done since he was born. I love him to bits and dread the day we will have to make that awful decision.

Here are a coupla pics of my baby...

aww hon i'm so sorry..... just give him all the love. maybe that day will never come.. and what a darling cat.

isabeau

 

[slap'n'ticklee]

Thanks...

Aw thanks isabeau, you are so very thoughtful. I have read some of your threads have you ever considered becoming a counsellor? I think you would be great at it

 

[isabeau]

Aw thanks isabeau, you are so very thoughtful. I have read some of your threads have you ever considered becoming a counsellor? I think you would be great at it

thank you slap'n'ticklee.. me a counsellor? hmm i have enough problems of my own lolol but i do try to say a kind, or encouraging word to anyone that wants to hear it and my pm box is always open for someone to vent.

isabeau

 

[kis123]

Yeah, Buttons is about as hokey as it gets-I should've changed it when I got him, but it stuck. Now he's 13yrs and it's too late to change it now. Well, I'm toying around with a couple of names, but haven't decided just yet.

Slap-n-ticklee, you have a nice kitty. Enjoy him while he's still here. At least you have some sort of a timeline. Bobby died suddenly with no warning at all. I know he's a lot happier and in no pain wherever he is. Sometimes, it feels like he's still hanging around the house. Hmmm...I wonder???

 

[isabeau]

Yeah, Buttons is about as hokey as it gets-I should've changed it when I got him, but it stuck. Now he's 13yrs and it's too late to change it now. Well, I'm toying around with a couple of names, but haven't decided just yet

o crap kis.. i didnt realize you had one called buttons lolol i wouldnt have said how hokey then. but get this, i named my first poor cat tigger. and some guy at the vets laughed his head off when i gave her name out.. grrr

isabeau

 

[Ticklerguy4u]

This is my cat, Rusty. He was with me for 10 ten years. He developed lukemia or that's what the doctor said. When I got him he was just little bit older than a kitten. I had him spade but the vet I went to used unclean knives to cut with and he got an infection. So I took him to another vet and they cut out the infection which left a hole in his lower abdomen all the way to his insides. I had to put a saf cream in that hole to keep it from getting re-infected everyday for two months. After that, we were inseparable. He was my best buddy. I even still have a picture of him hanging on my wall in my apt.

 

[slap'n'ticklee]

^^ Aww what a very caring guy you are and handsome puddy cat. I love cats and they each have their own personalities and quirkiness. I can watch them all day seeing what they get upto but its heartbreaking when they get ill.

 

[isabeau]

This is my cat, Rusty. He was with me for 10 ten years. He developed lukemia or that's what the doctor said. When I got him he was just little bit older than a kitten. I had him spade but the vet I went to used unclean knives to cut with and he got an infection. So I took him to another vet and they cut out the infection which left a hole in his lower abdomen all the way to his insides. I had to put a saf cream in that hole to keep it from getting re-infected everyday for two months. After that, we were inseparable. He was my best buddy. I even still have a picture of him hanging on my wall in my apt.

that is sooo sad i just might cry now... what a nice guy you are, but i already knew that about you.

isabeau

 

[Ticklerguy4u]

^^ Aww what a very caring guy you are and handsome puddy cat. I love cats and they each have their own personalities and quirkiness. I can watch them all day seeing what they get upto but its heartbreaking when they get ill.

that is sooo sad i just might cry now... what a nice guy you are, but i already knew that about you.

Sometimes the softer side of me seeps out.

 

[Fidji999]

impossible decission

I have 2 cats - 10 years old, got them, when they were only 9 weeks old. no need to say I love them a lot. about 3 years ago I developed an allergy against cat hair, which turned into allergic asthma. I removed all carpets in my appartment, taking medicine regulary, but it got worse and worse. I seriously had to start thinking about giving them away and was desperately trying to find somebody who would take two 10 year old cats, as i would never want to seperate them, there's brothers. I could'nt find anyone. now 2 weeks ago I had another test taken and the result was as bad as can be. the doctor told me, it's kind of either the cats or me.
so I went to one of these animal homes, which I never wanted to even think about. it was even worse then I ever imagined. more than a hundred cats and dogs in very small cages, I looked into their eyes - it was the most depressing thing i ever saw. and they told me, some of them are waiting for someone to pick them up for month, even years, not few actually die in there from depression - and the chance of somebody taking 2 cats at once is close to zero. I left after 10 minutes just crying my heart out. I can't do this to my cats. NEVER!
a friend now very gently asked me, if I ever thought about taking them to a vet and put them to sleep. I am horrified just by the though of it, but could that be the solution? I try to see it from their point of view, would i rather spend month/years in a cage with no room to move at all or would I like to get an injection, fall asleep and never wake up again, without any pain, without any fear. I would choose the latter, but can i take this decission for my cats? what would you do?

 

[isabeau]

hon is there anyone that could take your kitties? please try to find someone. and about ads. hmm cant always trust someone who answers an ad.. wish i could take them for you..but please try and find someone you know that could take them before putting them to sleep...

isabeau

 

[slap'n'ticklee]

@ Fidji999

I do feel for you and this awful decision to make to help alleviate your health. Personally, I could never put my cat(s) to sleep unless it was the last resort as in nothing more a vet can do. If they are still healthy and happy I could never put them to sleep, that would haunt me for life.

I do hope you can find suitable people to take on your cats, so you don't have to choose the other option.

 

[giantfan121262]

Kis, I am sorry about the loss of your cat. As Ray said, any animal, whether it be a cat, dog, bird, becomes part of your family. Losing a pet is as hard, probably harder than losing a parent or sibling.

Please accept my heartfelt condolences.

 

[Fidji999]

I do feel for you and this awful decision to make to help alleviate your health. Personally, I could never put my cat(s) to sleep unless it was the last resort as in nothing more a vet can do. If they are still healthy and happy I could never put them to sleep, that would haunt me for life.

I do hope you can find suitable people to take on your cats, so you don't have to choose the other option.

god knows I try. tried for 6 month now, asked everybody I could possibly think of.

As according to my doctor I have to make a decision pretty quickly, it seems like the only alternative is taking them to the animal home and hoping and praying, that someone will pick them up quickly. but what if not? I cant stand the though of them spending month there, being afraid and depressed.
I know it WILL haunt me for life if I decide to put them to sleep, but it will also haunt me to think about them being locked up for who knows how long. How will I not go there every day looking after them? and doing that, seeing, that they are still there day after day would kill me.
I'm trying so hard not to make a selfish decession, trying to figure out what is best for them, no matter how I feel about it, but how can I be sure? would they want to live under such circumstances? I would definitely not.
god help me to make the right decission. I will be screwed up either way.

anyway, thank you for your nice words slap'n'ticklee and isabeau.

 

[desdemona]

Kis, My heartfelt sympathy. It's been two years since I lost my first cat Chelsea. I now have another seal point Siamese and I still found myself calling her Chelsea instead of Jasmine. They never leave - all pets leave pawprints on your heart.

I'm glad to hear you rescued another lost soul from an animal shelter. The boys will hopefully work things out and learn how to play nice.

And as for placing older pets - trying to find no kill shelters is hard enough. Getting them to take on older animals is even harder. Contact local veterinarians - sometimes, they may be looking for a special clinic cat or blood donoro or just know someone who lost their own cat and would be a welcome home. It never hurts to check.

As for euthanasia...unfortunately, I have far too much experience performing it. It's never a wrong decision - or at least it is not mine to make. It has to work with the caregiver and the pet - or it's a disaster waiting to happen. Age is one of those things we can't stop and reverse, so a lot of times, older pets just get put to sleep because the owners don't want to see them suffer. If there's ever any alternatives I can offer, I try to. But I also don't try to dissuade someone who has agonized over this ultimate choice for the pet. It's a very delicate issue and it really get to the staff - sometimes to the point of depression.

Have heart - share a hug. You never know what kind of day they may be having. I did 5 euthanasias this week - including my aunt's dog on Saturday who had had a stroke and was in congestive heart failure. She also had glaucoma and was looking at surgery to remove the eye in the near future - very high risk surgery considering her condition. It was heartbreaking because due to my aunt's age, she has decided this is the last dog she will own. She's the one who inspired me to become a vet and it just tears me apart thinking she will never have a furry companion to love again. I wish I could have done something, anything to prevent it from happening. That's the helplessness we feel. Animals mask illness so well that we often don't discover things until it's too late. So, please, remember that just like yourself, annual check ups ARE important - even more so because animals age so much more quickly than we do. If discovered early, many cnnditions are at least treatable if not curable. So even if you don't do vaccines, at least go for a wellness checkup. It's money well spent if you catch even one thing 🙂 Ok, PSA over.