Official RJ Pet Thread

[DMT]

My diabetic cat does the same thing sometimes...really frustrating. I haven't tried those pads, will pick some up.

[nullnor]

yeah i have a 3.5 feet by 2.5 feet litter box. just a big clear tupperware container i got at target. my cats handicapped and needs more room. how's their poop? is it brown or black, hard or soft? sometimes my cat won't eat when she's constipated. if the cats need fluid therapy it's really not hard. first you have to make sure a cat needs it. it seems REALLY scary but after you've done it a few times you actually enjoy doing it (sort of) because it makes them a lot feel better. it seems like a hard thing to do but after you do it a few times it's a lot easier than it looks. im convinced my cat doesn't even feel the needle.

when cats complain in the litter box or just do odd ****, the first thing you do is bring them to the vet and have urine drawn and cultured and tested for a urinary tract infection. that said, mine complains but i can't find any infection. which tells me it's constipation. i used to give her a gram or so of miralax, but that also pulls water from her kidneys so i try to give her fluids instead. if you want to keep your pet longer, it's probably something that you're eventually gonna have to do. but i've been there. totally scary imagining administering fluids, but a lot easier than i thought. good luck.

[Judge Jude]

thanks to all

the male had several rounds of fluids at the vet months ago, fortunately hasn't needed since.
will digest the other advice today....

[nullnor]

make sure he doesn't have a tooth infection too. that could make a cat complain and have trouble eating. my cat has really bad teeth, but with her heart condition i don't trust putting her under to have a tooth pulled or cleaned. i know i should. tooth did become infected last year, i gave her something called antirobe drops and the bump on the side of her jaw went away.

[revo]

wow, it was almost the end of the line for my dog today.

I'm at work in a meeting when I get a frantic call from my wife saying our dog has disappeared, that he must've walked off when she got the mail. She's home with the three kids now, and is kinda distracted, and didn't even notice he was still outside when she (or my oldest son) shut the door. Sometime late when she noticed he wasn't in the house or yard, she called the local police station. They said a dog matching his description was found about 20 blocks from our house and was at another police station about a mile away. I have no idea how a little white maltese just took off for a stroll and didn't get scooped up or hit by a car after walking that far.

All this within my one hour meeting. Unreal!

[heyelander]

yikes. glad he's home and safe!

[nullnor]

'live..like somebody left the gate open'

1:the first goal of a road trip is not to get caught right at the start.
2: then you decide which way to go. you go towards the more unexplored or bigger area.
3: along the way you try to identify familiar faces.
4: after 10 blocks your still an untouchable ball of fur.
5: ok, 20 blocks now and you're pretty tired and almost ready to go home. you realize 2 things, you don't remember the way home exactly but you know the direction. you're too tired to do either.
6: suddenly somebody picks you up and calls the cops!
7: you're busted waiting for your 1 phone call for your mother to come get you.
8: you get to get in a car, again. and on the way home you look at everyone unaware about the things you just put them thru and you're like, that was great!.

[The Dane]

Well, today at 3pm, I'm having my old cat, Turtle, put down. She has kidney failure and hyperthyroid, so she really doesn't want to eat anything and when she does she either fails to metabolize it or pukes it up. She's less than 5 pounds and I decided that today is the day. She isn't acutely suffering but her quality of life is very poor and I don't want to see her have to drag her little carcass around all day when it just isn't working right. She can't retract her claws anymore so she sticks to the carpet at almost every step, and takes fluids with a needle in her skin from me every day which she doesn't like one bit.

I just finished digging her little grave under a big Japanese Maple in my backyard, and I will find a cement turtle garden sculpture to put there as a marker. I will miss her. She's been my girl for 14 years.

[nullnor]

im dreading the day it comes to it for me. i've never don't it before. my cats 16 and her list of problems are like stars in the sky. time goes by fast.

i tell myself that i learned the skill of taking care of something in old age but i know that im old too. i won't last long enough to raise a kitten and do this again. then i realize there are older cats in need of adoption. the housing thing took care of that.

so i try to make the best of it and get ready to try to adopt a 13 year old cat or something. and as a result probably end up going thru it again. but not without a fight again also.

[SeaDogStat]

Well, today at 3pm, I'm having my old cat, Turtle, put down. She has kidney failure and hyperthyroid, so she really doesn't want to eat anything and when she does she either fails to metabolize it or pukes it up. She's less than 5 pounds and I decided that today is the day. She isn't acutely suffering but her quality of life is very poor and I don't want to see her have to drag her little carcass around all day when it just isn't working right. She can't retract her claws anymore so she sticks to the carpet at almost every step, and takes fluids with a needle in her skin from me every day which she doesn't like one bit.

I just finished digging her little grave under a big Japanese Maple in my backyard, and I will find a cement turtle garden sculpture to put there as a marker. I will miss her. She's been my girl for 14 years.

Sorry to hear, Dane...one of the toughest/saddest things in the world...

[heyelander]

Yeah, very sorry to hear mate... sounds you like you are doing right by her though. It's the last good thing you can do for them.

[Fresno Bob]

no one knows better than you when it is time, buddy. sorry for your loss

[DMT]

Sorry for your loss Tim. I too have a cat nearing the end of her life. She has diabetes and has stopped eating so she's lost a lot of weight. Her blood sugar spiked to 430 this weekend but we've gotten it back down to 160. The blood work showed elevations in her liver & kidneys but not to the point where it's hopeless. And she doesn't appear to be suffering pain as she isn't meowing or wailing and even purrs when I hold her. She was in even worse shape around Xmas of 2009 and managed to pull through so we're taking her in for IV fluids to see if we can get her stabilized. She's only 10 but the diabetes has aged her beyond her years.

[The Dane]

Thanks for your warm thoughts. That was no damn fun. But, she's in my backyard keeping her saucy little eye on me forevermore.

[revo]

Thanks for your warm thoughts. That was no damn fun. But, she's in my backyard keeping her saucy little eye on me forevermore.

That sucks, Tim. Sorry for your loss.