Life sucks ...

On the upside, he has started to put on weight at last. He scoffs a load of chicken each day, even when he doesn't fancy anything else and has gained almost a kilo (just over 2lbs in old money, I think) since January.

At least he has a bit of condition on him to help him fight off any nasties.

He's currently feeling the cold a bit having had a moult due to the prolonged warmth and sunshine, but the new growth is coming in quite quickly. Purple "blanky" is doing a great job and he lies wrapped up in it with just his head sticking out. Sweet!
 
God I hate it when the vets visit is painful, I cry more than they do. Poor Dougal. But very happy to hear he took it well and has put on that weight. : ~ ))
 
My dog's got a sore on her foot; I noticed it the other week and thought I'd give it a few days [it didn't look too bad]. Thought about putting some fucibet type cream on it, then thought better of it..eventually took her to the vets who said it was a sore that had become 'granulated' and gave me some fucibet type cream. I just can't work out how or why it happened so I'm thinking of all worst case scenarios. These things can just drag on and on, I believe. I think it's because I'm going away for a couple of days and leaving her with the S.O.; I planned this little adventure ages ago and ever since a series of things have happened to make me feel guilty. I'm not even doing anything particularly exciting; just helping a friend out so I can't let them down. Annoyingly, the vet said she would have advised me if the cream was suitable [they usually say they have to see the animal, don't they?]. Feel guilty about not taking her to the vets straight away, as well.
 
Guilt's a killer, isn't it Moehat? What if I had ...? What if I hadn't ...?

Problem is that something like that starts very small and is quite alarmingly big by the time we get to notice it. Then we beat ourselves up about being neglectful for not noticing what was probably a teeny weeny scratch or a grass seed at the time.

You probably feel even worse because you are going away and have begun to imagine all sorts of horrors.

I got quite tearful a few months ago when I spent a few nights away, imagining all kinds of awful things and how dreadful it would be if I got home and found that Dougal or Tilly wasn't there to greet me. In the meantime they were having a great time with Grandma (who moved in to look after them). She spoilt them rotten.

I'm sure the SO will take good care of your dog. You could always telephone to check up - and even talk to her.

Apparently the composer Elgar used to miss his dogs so much when he was away that he used to call home every evening and dogs and master would "converse" down the telephone.

Hope all is well, Moehat.
 
Nowadays I assume you could see your animals via videolink/mobile phone app? What the heck they make out of disembodied owners' voices, God knows. They probably get spooked out thinking you've died!
 
Looking a lot better today; I'm sleeping on the sofa with her to make sure she doesn't lick it at night! On the subject of disembodied voices, I've got a rotten throat infection at the moment and am talking [if you can call it that] with a very croaky voice. I phoned up, or so I thought, my daughter a couple of days ago; someone answered the phone and asked 'who's that'. Assuming she didn't realise it was me I shouted, 'your mother', only to realise I'd dialled a wrong number. Feel that I should phone her back [the wrong number, that is] and apologise in case her mother had been a long time gone and it freaked her out! Wish I didn't always go into 'worst case scenario' mode; dog has a cut on her leg and I'm reaching 'possibility of amputation mode' within a couple of hours.
 
Last edited:
Honestly, it's sometimes like a sitcom on this thread! (Just picturing the recipient of your anonymous call, Moehat!)

I hope Troodles might look in on here and post up a hilarious thread from Mumsnet about the fall-out from Lush Cosmetics' glitter bath bombs...
 
Beware of glitter! :D

Hope the dog is much better now Moe. (and your throat). I know all about the whole guilt trip and wild imaginations. I've got it too. :confused:

I never enjoy myself on hols because I want to know what the cats/horses are doing.

I have a friend who had a cat who tore up the stair carpets if she left him home alone. He would lay on the bottom step and kick like heck. The phone and answer phone was next to it on a table. So she would call him and shout down the phone at him! It was so funny, and it worked. Shame we do not have answer phones anymore .....
 
I know some people have complained that this thread is a downer, but I don't find it to be at all. It is realistic and that is life. But there is good humour here and a lot of support which helps us all out. I have to check in from time to time to make sure everyone is okay.
 
That's the one, Troods! Hysterical stuff. I think it'd be nice to dust the cats with glitter - especially glow-in-the-dark varieties!
 
I didn't realise how bad my throat was until I tried to speak to someone at work yesterday morning and justa croak came out. When you have a throat infection you should really rest it but I'd been on reception all the day before and couldn't do sign language. Voice back today. Got talking to some visitors from New Zealand who were wandering round the village. Had a lovely conversation about life, the universe and everything [as you do]. Got home and realised I'd had a Sooty hand puppet on my hand the whole time [it's a long story]. Bet they'll be glad to get back to NZ....
 
Long Haired Domestic had to be put to sleep yesterday. He had a large tumor in his kidney and spread to his lymph glands. It was a real bummer as he was only really low for one day, still eating and, up to the previous day, marauding for hours around the neighbourhood. I actually thought it a waste of money bringing him to the vet that he'd probably be grand the next day on his own. He was only 3.

Even now it's not over as that sort of tumor etc is sometimes associated with feline aids or leukemia. He tested negative for both, but apparantly that doesn't mean he didn't have either. It does mean we have to wait 6 weeks before Short Haired Domestic can be tested to be sure she is ok.
 
Is there still a lot of feline aids/leukemia around? I'm out of touch with cat problems these days. Hope the other cat is ok.
 
Moe, can just imagine the impact you and Sooty had on the visitors .... :lol:

Mel, so very sorry to hear about your poor cat. Tumours are rare in one so young. If it tested negative for feline aids/leukemia it is unlikely it carried it, but a possibility, from what my work with cat rescue taught me. I hope your other one will be okay.

Moe - Feline aids/leukemia is still not that common amongst domestic cats but is sadly amongst strays and ferals. Anywhere that large groups of cats gather the disease spreads. The risk factor comes into play when you foster or rescue a new cat. Although most welfare places do test for these some cannot afford it, and you can still end up with a cat who has one or the other. Worse is that you can have a very healthy cat who when outdoors has a fight with an infected stray and then catches it.

Some aids cats go on forever though and can have long lives, but are a risk to spread so need to be kept mostly inside and away from others. Or with another aids cat. Both feline aids/leukemia are awful and terrible to watch a cat go through these.

Our 2 ferals had cat flu virus. When we took them in they had been vaccinated, but the virus had probably got them when young before being rescued. It came out at times of stress and was passed to a kitten we had taken in. So now we have 3 cats who will always be belong par immunity wise and are subject to outbreaks of cat flu symptoms. Fortunately where we live now they are the only cats around and thus no danger to others.
 
Poor Long Haired Domestic got a cat bite that had formed an abcess which needed to be treated in early April. I'm not sure how it works that he could still test negative and yet be hit so devastatingly by it, if that is what happened. I wasn't in much mood to question the vet, I trust he knows what he's at.

The two cats never did more than very infrequent short play scuffles, usually Short Haired Domestic hiding badly in the bushes and ambushing Long Haired Domestic on his way home after a day's marauding. Short Haired Domestic rarely takes more than a few seconds to appear when called, she doesn't stray much further than the garden next door and has never been injured, or as far as I know, been in a fight with any other cat. You would imagine that being the case she should be pretty safe, but we'll just have to wait and see.
 
Isi, one of the ex-ferals I brought back from Saudi (and I'd had her since a tiny kit, along with her Mum and bro) died - or, rather, was pts - due to having feline AIDS. She was her usual vibrant self one day, then suddenly listless, with droopy tail and dull eyes. I took her right away to the vet, who did bloods and confirmed it. It was tragic to see her go from such an active, agile cat, to one so depressed.

Her brother was born with a thyroid problem which stunted his growth. He remained not much more than 3/4 size, but stocky and sturdy. He was treated (furiously) but was killed by a car when young.

The Mum died of kidney failure - or, again, was pts because of it. None of these cats quite reached into their teens, but given that they came from a desperate background, they did quite well. The sad thing seems to be that true ferals, as these were - originally not being fed or handled by people - are very vulnerable to these devastating conditions.
 
Mel, that is so sad! :( These feline diseases seem to manifest in a few different ways. Some cats die quickly and others are okay for years.

Kri, I would agree that ferals always seem to have a lessened immune ability. I guess it is like people who have had an unfortunate childhood devoid of security and food. But you did good, and had a few nice years with them. :D
 
Mel, so sorry to hear about your young cat. It's amazing how quickly downhill they go once something like that gets a hold.

Hope your other cat is okay.

Re Isi's comment that some people find this thread a bit of a downer, I opened it to let off steam when very distressed and no-one around to talk to (all at work). I got immense support from other forumites and there is good advice to be had too.

There are some funny bits, also.

Loved that link, Trudi!!
 
Had a blocked sewage pipe over the weekend [I mean, my house did]. It's amazing how, suddenly everything in life doesn't seem so bad now the plumbing's sorted out. Went into work this morning light of step and with a song in my heart. Having said that, drains; very complex issue..back up plan always needed in case of emergency. Probably the only thing in life I'm not insured for, as well.
 
It's strange how just one thing can overshadow our whole lives, isn't it, Moehat? Once it's sorted, you wonder how you could have let yourself get so stressed over it all. Hope your drains don't turn out like the one on the link that Trudi posted (washed seeds from a bath bomb down plughole and it sprouted).

The Dooligan is hanging upside down in the rowan tree at the top of the garden at the moment. He has a strangely manic expression, something like the Siamese cats in Lady and the Tramp.

Everytime a bird flies over he ducks, freezes and tries to hide himself in the large clump of mistletoe on the tree. He sticks his head into the mistletoe and thinks that because he can't see us, we can't see a big, white and red backside sticking out of the other side.
 
I agree about things hanging our heads. I've been trying to get a new summer house/shed built in the back garden for a year now .... grrr. Still clearing debris away and making a space. Everything that ought to be in shed is in our conservatory. Quite a mess! :( One day .....

Ha ha can just see Dougal hiding. Our cats crack me up too. They will get in the window behind curtains and think they are hidden. But big fat tails sticking out. I can't resist, always have to pull them when I see that! :D
 
Poor short haired domestic got attacked by a big lump of a cat right outside the back door last night. She's only a little dexter of a thing, about half the weight her big brother was. She squeezed in under a bbq where the other cat couldn't go. When I tried to shoo him away he just hissed at me, he only reluctantly jogged slowly off when I hit him with a football and SHD made use of the distraction to run into the house.

Maybe I'm getting paranoid. I don't know for sure LHD had the disease, and it could be any of a number of wild cats around that infected him if he did have it but I'd easily have thrown a rock at that cat if it had come easier to hand than the football. There was no sign of blood on her and she didn't seem to be hurt or licking herself anywhere in particular afterwards so I'm pretty sure she didn't get a significant bite.

Looking at the internet there seems to be a vaccine available that may protect her from any future incidents with feral cats, but we'll have to get the all clear first. Should we start the clock again for another couple of months after last nights incident? Once she gets the vaccine she will always test positive, as the test is to detect the antibodies that are present in the vaccine, which a cat will generate itself if it has the virus, rather than to detect the virus.
 
What news on SDH, Mel? Waiting for the results of tests really can be nerve-racking.

The Dooligan has had a cough and a course of antibiotics - all such fun! One pink tablet twice a day, plus his usual steroid tablet alternate days.

Gearoid would envy the gymnastic tongue of the Doog at such times!

I honestly thought he had taken the first one and gave him his treat. An hour later I went to switch the TV off and give the cats their evening biscuits before bed - and found the pill stuck to the lid of the "bicky-pot".

Chemo this evening. He was a bit apprehensive and cuddled up to me, trying to hide in my hair as I was trying to put him in his basket. Thankfully, he didn't put up a fight this time so it was quick and a lot less stressful for everyone.

He's a bit subdued at the moment, so I shall try to tempt him with some rice pudding later and will give him some honey for his cough before bed.

I know that he needs the treatment, but I always feel so bloody guilty afterwards.
 
Dougal eats rice pudding? :lol: So funny. Hope he is better now.

One of ours loves custard, the other 2 like ice cream. The big stripey grey thing has ice cream if we place the bowl far away form us. He gets really absorbed into it and ends up with a cream mustache.

Any news on the tests yet Mel? Fingers still crossed for you.
 
Back
Top