The Cat Megathread

[sbr]

And then there were none. 

Missy, my last standing laying cat is no more.  She was 16 and I had had her for 10 years, took her from my ex when she got evicted from her apartment and had no where for the cats to go. 

Missy had a pretty severe thyroid problem that I was treating with a special diet, that worked very well.  Recently her kidneys started failing, which caused her to stop eating which caused her thyroid stuff to kick in again.  She crashed pretty quickly, seemed in decent shape for a 16 year old cat 7 days ago; by Friday night I was worried about her not eating but hadn't really considered the added problem of her thyroid treatment coming from her food.  By Monday morning she was in pretty bad shape so I stayed home from work and got her to the vet as early as I could; the doctor kept her overnight to give her IV fluids and get her blood work done.

Doc called me right at 8 this morning and said Missy was in real bad shape, that she would not have made it through the night if she hadn't been hospitalized.  I think she said that her temperature was like 95F (maybe lower; normal temp should be at least 100F) and that she felt that Missy wouldn't make it through the day and that I really needed to consider euthanizing her.  Doc asked if I wanted her to wait so I could come in and say good bye, I told her that there was no way I could be in before 3PM after taking yesterday off work.  Doc said as Missy's advocate she could not wait that long to do the deed so I told her to go ahead and do it ASAP.

This is the 4th cat I have had euthanized and the first I wasn't holding in my lap at the time.  Even though it was very clearly time I felt pretty bad that I wasn't there with her and had left her at the hospital overnight in her last hours.

Sorry about the long post but outside of a guy at work I haven't talked to anyone about this yet, my daughters don't even know yet.  Though if they would ever call me or return text messages they would know by now. 

I don't feel as sad/upset/whatever about this one as much as I did the others for some reason.  Not sure if it is because it is the 4th in total (and 3rd in 4 years) or that she wasn't really "my cat" or what but this one was much easier than the others.  Hope that doesn't make me a horrible person.

[Eddie Teach]

 

[sbr]

I keep looking over to her spot on the couch and there isn't anyone/anything over there but pillows and her blanket. 

[dps]

Well, that's unfortunate, but maybe you'll get some props from Seedy for actually spending some money on treatment for the cat.

Couple of stories about people paying out money on medical care for cats I've been meaning to post;  guess this is as good a time as ever.

A co-worker was telling me recently about one of his cats that was operated on for kidney stones about 10 years ago.  Ever since, she's been on medicine to help keep the kidney stones from coming back, but they now have returned anyway.  The vet doesn't want to operate again because he says that it's too dangerous at the cat's age, so they're trying some stronger medicine.

And my sister-in-law has a cat that was hit by a car and had his pelvis more-or-less crushed.  (This isn't aa's sister that gave us our cats, but the other sister, and the cat isn't one of our cat's babies.)  Anyhow, she paid to have surgery done on the cat to repair the damage.  It's been a long recovery;  apparently the accident happened last fall, and it wasn't until a couple of weeks ago or so that the cat was able to get in and out of the litter box on its own.

[CountDeMoney]

Well, that's unfortunate, but maybe you'll get some props from Seedy for actually spending some money on treatment for the cat.

Within reason.




Sounds like both of you were ready to let go, sbr.  Thyroid issues are difficult to deal with, and their little bodies crash so hard, so fast.  But it's supposed to be that way.


I'm sorry you couldn't say goodbye, but 16 years is a good run; she will let you know how much it was appreciated when you meet her again at the Happy Hunting Ground. 

[PDH]

I keep looking over to her spot on the couch and there isn't anyone/anything over there but pillows and her blanket. 

Get another cat, not too soon but not too late.  Love that cat.

[sbr]

I just found/remembered a shipment of the thyroid care food that Missy ate; it was auto-shipped from Chewy.com 6 weeks ago but I hadn't even cut the tape off of the shipping box yet.  I called their customer support line and asked if it was possible to return the food.  Within about 30 seconds she had approved the refund ($50)to my credit card and said they didn't need the food back but I had to promise to give it to a local animal shelter.

At the end of the business part of the call she asked about Missy and how old she was, then told me to call back anytime even if just to chat.

I can't recommend chewy.com highly enough to anyone that buys pet related stuff.  Great company!

[Jacob]

That was nicely done by them

[mongers]

Something for Seedy.

We can be heroes, just for one day:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/video_and_audio/must_see/39769576/man-rescues-cat-from-london-docks

[CountDeMoney]

One pissed puddy tat.

[Monoriu]

Some cat owner in HK found out that the cats have cancer.  They decided to off the cats, but didn't want to pay for someone to do it.  So they decided to perform the deed themselves. 

By throwing the two cats out of the window of a 40th floor flat 

[Grinning_Colossus]

[Liep]

Some cat owner in HK found out that the cats have cancer.  They decided to off the cats, but didn't want to pay for someone to do it.  So they decided to perform the deed themselves. 

By throwing the two cats out of the window of a 40th floor flat 

Who died?

[Tonitrus]

In case Seedy needs a new sofa...

[Malthus]

Some cat owner in HK found out that the cats have cancer.  They decided to off the cats, but didn't want to pay for someone to do it.  So they decided to perform the deed themselves. 

By throwing the two cats out of the window of a 40th floor flat 

Who died?

Well, if Seedy ever got ahold of him ...