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our cat is dying...

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by shockey, Jan 6, 2011.

  1. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    Just got call from vet today that our 11-year-old dog is experiencing liver failure. Seems to stem from seizure medication she's been on her whole life. We've been encouraged to change her diet, cut back on that seizure medication and consider ultrasound and/or biopsy to learn as much as we can. They're saying it's "progressive" for now. Haven't used stronger word than that.

    Horrible news at horrible time. The year 2010 was brutal in taking some family and friends from our lives, and now we're starting 2011 with this. One of best pals, two- or four-legged, I've ever had.
     
  2. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    We've had a beagle for two years. My daughter is five years old and my wife felt she should have a dog to grow up with, much as she did. Fred, my wife's dog, sounded wonderful and she still tears up talking about him.

    I have had thoughts sometimes about our dog dying sometime when my daughter is a teenager and how hard that will be for all of us.
     
  3. albert77

    albert77 Well-Known Member

    It won't matter how old she is, playthrough. Our son was almost 22 and a three-year Army guardsman who was getting ready to go to Iraq, and he still cried when our cat was killed. Fact is, so did I.
     
  4. cranberry

    cranberry Well-Known Member

    Sorry to hear. We had black cats from same litter. My wife adopted them several months before we met and they lived 18 years with us and, eventually, our kids. They died within days of each other about seven years ago and they're buried together in our yard.
     
  5. SoCalScribe

    SoCalScribe Member

    On the topic of pets, please be safe with dogs and vehicles. We all see lots of dogs riding in the back of trucks. Monday I saw something I wish I could un-see: a freeway accident involving a truck and another vehicle that threw a fairly big dog out of the bed into the freeway. I don't know if he was run over or just hit the road hard, but by the time I got past the accident, the dog was still lying on its side in the middle of the freeway spasming, trying to get up, but not being able to. I hope he was just injured and not paralyzed or killed, but who knows.

    I think there are a few states that have laws saying you have to secure your dog in your truck bed by running a chain from a couple tie-downs to their collar, or whatever. I think they've also started selling pet seatbelt-type devices as well.

    There's nothing worse to me, pet-wise, than seeing a pet in that kind of pain. I had a great dog that got a big tumor that we never knew about until he woke up one day with his head tilted way to the side and couldn't walk in a straight line or navigate from point A to point B. He would just go in circle after circle after circle, usually getting further and further away from where he was trying to get to. We had to carry him from place to place. And he was so confused and terrified. Gosh, it was heartbreaking. As it turned out, we had to put him down.
     
  6. Our cat died last summer after a strong 14 years. She failed quickly, went blind, didn't move much, all in the span of a couple of months. One day she was at the back door -- she spent a lot of time outdoors, loved it, but always came home. She was meowing/crying to go outside. We let her go and it was pathetic as she nudged her body outside. We figured she wouldn't go far and we'd carry her back in once she started crying to come back in. Nope. She went down the stairs, under the deck and died. Saddest thing. But it was the best for her and we were relieved for her that she wasn't struggling or hurting any more. It was sad, but not as painful as we thought. We have the memories and she wasn't hurting.
     
  7. Jesus_Muscatel

    Jesus_Muscatel Well-Known Member

    Shockey,

    This one really pulls at me. Pets are family members. Whether it's a dog or a cat, they are such a part of your life, if you give them a chance.

    When I moved to the border, and became "Jesus Muscatel" in 1991, I decided to let my 11-year-old fuzzy, knucklehead little white dog, Duchess, hang with my folks in Georgetown, rather than accompany me on my journey/misadventures/taking any job I could find on the Rio Grande. Duchess lived another four years and my parents loved her. They had to endure the daily pain of this process. I even had some guilt about it.

    When I got back to the Deep South three years later, I traveled so much and lived alone and decided I couldn't have a dog. (I'm a dog person rather than a cat person.) Now I travel much, much less -- on account of the fact that my paper, well, uh, never mind ... you can fill in the blanks -- I might be ready to consider having a dog again.

    It's amazing how much you miss them, once they pass. They are such a part of your life. I'd never gotten through six years of a newspaper disaster in the late '80s without The Duch. And I'm happy my parents had her too. They had not had a dog since the family mutt passed in the early '80s, at a very advanced age. As some on the board may remember, my dad passed away last year.

    Whatever you decide, I wish you and your family the best, and understand your dilemma.
     
  8. shockey

    shockey Active Member

    many tears have been shed while reading through these posts. thanks so much for sharing, everyone...

    when i met mrs. shockey she had an 8
    -year-old cat, 'chino.' (pronounced 'chee-no'). now, despite my indifference to every other cat i've known, chino was different. he always showed his affection for me, loved to sit in my lap as we watched football games, etc. and after eldest shockey son was born, chino took to him like a loving big brother.

    when chino was about 16 (little man shockey was about 4), he'd been treated with medications for a variety of ailments for a year. mrs. shockey had just given birth to middle man shockey and we were about a month away from moving from our 2-bedroom co-op into our first house, a great 4-bedroom tudor-styled house we'd still be in today if not for my disability... it was perfect for us from both a practical and esthetic vantage point.

    but we knew there would be no way chino would be up to managing the many stairs in the house as his condition worsened and some pain started to kick in. it was time for us to let chino go... there was no way mrs. shockey could take him into the vet to be put down so it was up to me, the tough guy who had always spoken of chino as a distant second choice to a dog....

    so, mrs. shockey hugged chino that may morning, kissed him goodbye and gently placed him in his kitty carrier, or whatever it's called, and i drove him to the vet's. i took him in -- he had an appointment for the injection -- and the nurse asked if i wanted to go in with him to keep him comforted until he, um, dozed off for good.

    i remember asking, 'do some people really like to do that?' i was told some do, others cannot. i honestly thought i'd be up to it, no problem, but politely declined -- there were other errands to run, after all.

    back to the parking lot i went. i entered the car and started the engine... then quickly shut it off -- and spent the next 15 minutes bawling like my newborn, so pissed at myself for leaving an unsuspecting chino behind, so blindsided by the sudden realization about how much i loved that stupid effin' cat...

    crying, just like i am now as i type this. i'm so glad we've given the three stooges the joyous life lessons of unconditional love 'kobe' and 'shockey' have taught them. and so very proud to know they will be future dog/cat owners/lovers when they're running their own households...

    after we told eldest son shockey about kobe's condition and prognosis the other day, he and his girlfriend -- also raised in a dog-and-cat household; kobe, not always warm to strangers, adored annie from the get-go, almost as if he knew how much she and little man mean to each other -- anyway, he and his girlfriend thought it a good idea to visit an animal shelter nearby.

    of course, little man came home raving about the most adorable, mellow, affectionate puppy who took an instant liking to him; it hurt to walk away but little man understands his time to be a shepard/bulldog owner is not yet here. and i advised him, based on my own experiences visiting shelters or even pet stores, that you're only asking for more heartache if you go to these places without intending to take one home with you...

    darn, those puppies and kittens...
     
  9. shockey

    shockey Active Member

    another great post. thanks for sharing, jesus... i believe i've mentioned before that i found an abused shepard-mix mutt in the summer before my senior year of college. i was working at a hotel in the catskills and several of us (i was on the 'athletic staff,' believe it or not) took 'skippy' in, fed her, bathed her, took her to the vet, nursed her back emotionally into the most loving, smartest dog on earth hidden underneath. i brought skippy back to school with me. she became the mascot of the suite i shared with five other guys. she was a babe magnet, enjoyed free reign on campus; when i'd take her for walks, many students i didn't know would say, 'HI, SKIPPY!'

    heck, even my folks -- who vowed never to let a dog live in their apartment -- loved skippy. the summer after my senior year, i returned to the catskills hotel for one last fun summer job before entering the real world. long story short: on day 1, a maid freaked out upon discovering skippy in my temporary room and i was fired -- unless skippy was no longer with me.

    knowing how my folks felt about having a dog, i panicked. i took skippy to a local shelter, as if giving up this huge part of my life had to be done so i could keep this stupid, two-month, 80 bucks a week job.

    as soon as i returned to the hotel, a couple of my buds ambushed me with the guilt trip i deserved. 'how could you give away skippy?' etc. it didn't take much to get me bawling. i ran into a phone booth off the lobby and called home. my mom picked up.

    'mom, i-i-i-... had to... gi-gi-give... ski-skip-skippy... a-a-a-away--'

    my mom: 'what are you, nuts? of course we'll take skippy for the summer. you know we love her... can you get her back? go get her and bring her home.'

    i grabbed one of my buds who had guilted me and begged him to take me to get back skippy. he had a car, obviously, and said, 'we can get her to brooklyn and be back here for dinner...'

    when we got to the shelter, skippy was gone, already adopted by a couple and their little boy. 'yeah,' the shelter director said, 'that skippy hooked herself right up to that little boy...'

    of course, i was thrilled for skippy. but unforgiving of myself. it's now 32 years later and it's amazing how often i think of skippy still or mention her to mrs. shockey and the boys...

    and i had her for barely a year! yes, it's incredible that these creatures leave such a impression on our being.
     
  10. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    I lived in Florida several years ago and adopted an old racing greyhound. He was a fine pet, completely uninterested in doing anything after his racing life except turning the occasional blazing-fast laps in the yard. We got along great and had a memorable car ride to the Midwest when my wife got a new job. But she and him didn't quite get along so well, and when our daughter arrived the wife wanted no part of the dog home with the baby. I had to take him to an adoption agency. Cried the entire way over there.

    A few years later we got the beagle, and just last month moved back to Florida. The beagle, daughter and I rode in one car, which I felt kinda completed the doggie circle.
     
  11. Shaggy

    Shaggy Guest

    Pets are so worth it. It's awful when it's their time to go, but when that initial pain calms down, you realize just how awesome it was for them to be a part of your life.

    I've hurt several times due to pets dying, but I've never regretted having any of them.
     
  12. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    Shockey, if you want more, here's a thread from a few years back.

    http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/41834/

    Without any doubt, pets are every bit family members, at least in our house.
     
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