OT: I love my pet

[mattola]

All our thoughts Ken

 

[Hank Kingsley]

Indy found some sun yesterday too. Another warm fuzzy belly for me to nuzzle..

 

[BigKen]

She's Home. Doing meds. Paid for a pallet of tests to see if they can figure out what exactly the problem is. She's really having a problem walking but she's doing what's necessary and then sleeping for the next four or five hours. Here's hoping it's Lyme or Bortatella or even Hepititis. All can be treated with strong antibiotics.

 

[BGDave]

She's Home. Doing meds. Paid for a pallet of tests to see if they can figure out what exactly the problem is. She's really having a problem walking but she's doing what's necessary and then sleeping for the next four or five hours. Here's hoping it's Lyme or Bortatella or even Hepititis. All can be treated with strong antibiotics.

hoping for good news for you

 

[BigKen]

Everything went south today. She tried to get to her dish and had to be carried. She struggled tostand up and eat. Took her out for a bathroom break and she just couldn't move well at all and tipped over twice. Vet called with all of her test results and all of the blood, urine and fecal work was negative or normal. Possible spinal tumors or cancer that could b treat at outrageous cost and no guarantees.

Took her out back so she could sniff the grass and then we took the last ride.

Choch is headed for the big dog walk in the sky.

Thanks to all of you for caring and all the kind words.

 

[puckhead]

So sorry to hear

 

[BGDave]

Me too, sorry for your loss.

 

[Debbie Does]

We're waiting for the first member of the heron rescue team to arrive. They were going to camp somewhere, but the family next door that usually only uses their place in the summer offered it, so the team will have a place to stay. I was out for a walk today, and I took my binoculars in hopes of spotting the heron, but no luck.

Meanwhile, our young cat Snowflake had an eye problem last week. She went to the vet and had a lot of tests, but it looks like the eye drops they gave her are doing the job. Anybody else have a cat that likes to play fetch?

 

[Hank Kingsley]

We're waiting for the first member of the heron rescue team to arrive. They were going to camp somewhere, but the family next door that usually only uses their place in the summer offered it, so the team will have a place to stay. I was out for a walk today, and I took my binoculars in hopes of spotting the heron, but no luck.

Meanwhile, our young cat Snowflake had an eye problem last week. She went to the vet and had a lot of tests, but it looks like the eye drops they gave her are doing the job. Anybody else have a cat that likes to play fetch?

Not fetch so much as we had one that would watch the road race set cars zoom around and when one went off, she'd go pick it up and bring it to you so you didn't have to go get it yourself. Self taught though.

 

[puckhead]

We're waiting for the first member of the heron rescue team to arrive. They were going to camp somewhere, but the family next door that usually only uses their place in the summer offered it, so the team will have a place to stay. I was out for a walk today, and I took my binoculars in hopes of spotting the heron, but no luck.

Meanwhile, our young cat Snowflake had an eye problem last week. She went to the vet and had a lot of tests, but it looks like the eye drops they gave her are doing the job. Anybody else have a cat that likes to play fetch?

my cat used to play hockey with erasers.
She was an awesome goalie. When she was done batting the eraser around, she'd bring it over so I could throw it again.

Ozzy was a good cat.

 

[Comeds]

We're waiting for the first member of the heron rescue team to arrive. They were going to camp somewhere, but the family next door that usually only uses their place in the summer offered it, so the team will have a place to stay. I was out for a walk today, and I took my binoculars in hopes of spotting the heron, but no luck.

Meanwhile, our young cat Snowflake had an eye problem last week. She went to the vet and had a lot of tests, but it looks like the eye drops they gave her are doing the job. Anybody else have a cat that likes to play fetch?

I did as a kid. My brother was doing a paper and kept balling up his mistakes and throwing them towards the garbage across the room. He looked down and saw our cat had fetched a bunch.

 

[BigKen]

Just a note to all dog owners. It appears that Choch had the canine version of ALS. It's called Degenerative Myelopathy. It generally effects dogs between 12-15 years and it's a spinal cord issue where the brain and back legs can't communicate. Balance is first affected, then the legs buckle. We as humans see it and don't think it's a problem. Then they have problems getting up and down stairs and again, we tend to ignore it until the problem becomes one for us. The really sad part is that there is no pain involved with the rear legs but compensating for the degeneration causes very painful problems for the front and when it's progressed then dogs will have extreme damage to muscles and tendons in their front legs because the rear aren't working properly.

There is no cure. Dogs can be fitted for a set of wheels so that they're mobile, but very quickly they lose control of their bladder and bowels.

Hope none of yours have to walk the path of mine.

 

[Comeds]

Just a note to all dog owners. It appears that Choch had the canine version of ALS. It's called Degenerative Myelopathy. It generally effects dogs between 12-15 years and it's a spinal cord issue where the brain and back legs can't communicate. Balance is first affected, then the legs buckle. We as humans see it and don't think it's a problem. Then they have problems getting up and down stairs and again, we tend to ignore it until the problem becomes one for us. The really sad part is that there is no pain involved with the rear legs but compensating for the degeneration causes very painful problems for the front and when it's progressed then dogs will have extreme damage to muscles and tendons in their front legs because the rear aren't working properly.

There is no cure. Dogs can be fitted for a set of wheels so that they're mobile, but very quickly they lose control of their bladder and bowels.

Hope none of yours have to walk the path of mine.

That sucks man, sorry.

 

[Debbie Does]

I worry that a lot of pet owners keep pets alive not for the animals but for themselves. It's hard to lose a companion who's been with you for over a decade, but there's a point where it is suffering and will never get better.

 

[mattola]

Just a note to all dog owners. It appears that Choch had the canine version of ALS. It's called Degenerative Myelopathy. It generally effects dogs between 12-15 years and it's a spinal cord issue where the brain and back legs can't communicate. Balance is first affected, then the legs buckle. We as humans see it and don't think it's a problem. Then they have problems getting up and down stairs and again, we tend to ignore it until the problem becomes one for us. The really sad part is that there is no pain involved with the rear legs but compensating for the degeneration causes very painful problems for the front and when it's progressed then dogs will have extreme damage to muscles and tendons in their front legs because the rear aren't working properly.

There is no cure. Dogs can be fitted for a set of wheels so that they're mobile, but very quickly they lose control of their bladder and bowels.

Hope none of yours have to walk the path of mine.

I've had 3 boxers with DM varying degrees of severity but Luke and Han were the most affected. Luke and Han I carried up and down our stairs for months as walking for them was ok (like a drink stumble) but stairs were not possible. My wife and I know exactly what your going through .. all our best

 

[Hank Kingsley]

I worry that a lot of pet owners keep pets alive not for the animals but for themselves. It's hard to lose a companion who's been with you for over a decade, but there's a point where it is suffering and will never get better.

Our first cat to encounter renal failure was kept going by us with subcutaneous fluids. We'd hook her up to an IV twice a day. She's walk around with overly fat legs until she'd hit the litter box and then it sounded like Niagra Falls.

We did this for almost a month.

Then we wised up, realized it was for us, not her and let her go with dignity.

We are always there when our pets are put down. They've been with us their whole lives, trust us and love us. To abandon them to a stranger then just seems wrong.

My beloved Mika (taken by tongue cancer) looked at me with panic filled eyes after the first shot. She wanted on my shoulders which was her safe spot, and it just about crushed me to have to say no Miks, you'll fall.

But I'll never let them go alone.

 

[Debbie Does]

My Mom had a living will, saying she didn't want to be kept alive by artificial means when there was no hope of recovery. She had also reached the point where the pain meds for cancer kept her in an unconscious stupor.

I had to ask the doctor to let her go. Her own words made that easier, but it was still hard.

 

[BigKen]

I worry that a lot of pet owners keep pets alive not for the animals but for themselves. It's hard to lose a companion who's been with you for over a decade, but there's a point where it is suffering and will never get better.

Most often, we humans tend to ignore the first signs of a problem with our pets. When it gets to the point where something is obvious, usually the problem has progressed and takes a lot of treatment and we bitch about the cost.

The best example are dogs ears. They tell us immediately that there's problem and they scratch them. We think it's an itch and don't pay attention until they do it constantly or the smell is bad enough that it can't be ignored. By the time "we" take a close look, it's beyond our ability to take care of it and we have a $300 vet bill and bitch at the dog.

Pets love us and will do most anything they can to make us love them. When it comes to their care, they can't tell us what the problem is, they can only show us. We have to pay attention and take two minutes to check out an ear scratch, a constant side scratch or a very slight limp. I learned a lot having five dogs over my 71 years. The most important is that "Chocolate will kill a dog." Is a myth. Every dog I've ever owned has loved chocolate and while I never gave any one a load of it (I had one that ate a two pound bag of Hershey minitures), I always shared a Devil Dig or a Funny Bone. They loved it and I loved the tricks they'd do for it.

 

[Comeds]

The most important is that "Chocolate will kill a dog." Is a myth. Every dog I've ever owned has loved chocolate and while I never gave any one a load of it (I had one that ate a two pound bag of Hershey minitures), I always shared a Devil Dig or a Funny Bone. They loved it and I loved the tricks they'd do for it.

Hershey's products mostly are milk chocolate. Dark or baking chocolate is much more serious. But all are not good. Youre lucky your dogs have not gotten sick, but it is not a myth.

 

[mattola]