Life sucks ...

I meant that I was amazed that a vet (who should be advocating castration!) was happy to suggest breeding!

When he goes for his booster next month I will ask them how much to do the scoring - like you say if only for my own peace of mind.
 
jinnyj said:
I always find it amazing when people turn up with dogs and promptly let them out on your property without even asking. I would never do the same at theirs - if there was a cat around for a start it would get chomped. But I have too much respect for other people's property etc to allow my dog out un-asked. We have had "friends" arrive with dogs, let them out only for them to chase and kill chickens, pee on the furniture - I could go on! Why are some people so ignorant?
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I know - amazing, isn't it? They only do it once here, though - with up to five Weimaraners, one HWV and Pant Rabbits the cow dog here at any one time, they've all learned to stay in the vehicle !
 
Young Shankly loves to play

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Dougal has just discovered that I am at home in my office almost 24/7 these days! Whenever something frightens him downstairs he charges upstairs and takes refuge with me until whatever it is has gone or he has calmed down enough to take a cautious look around outside.

It's a pity that he is not like my old boy Oscar, who loved to be wherever I was but would curl up on a cushion under the desk. Oh no. Dougal has to explore every nook and cranny and is very distracting.

I was talking to someone through the headset the other day and, on hearing my voice, Dougal decided that he was lonely and bored and wanted some attention so let himself into the office. He jumped up onto the desk, which is at right angles to my workstation, and got a very big surprise when he could hear a man's voice through the earpieces!!!!

He's quite lively at the moment as the sun is shining (at last). He has spent the last few weeks wrapped in blankets because he shed all his fur just as the cold snap started.

Better go now, he's walking all over the keyboard because he wants attention.
 
Oh dear. I'm in disgrace. Took him to the vet's yesterday for his monthly chemo. They had trouble finding a vein and hurt him. I could hear him yowling from the waiting room. He came out with both forelegs bloodied and bruised.

Wouldn't look at me all evening. Sat with his back to me all evening. Wouldn't eat. Three dishes untouched, fish, chicken and ice cream. Just lay stiffly on the arm of the sofa, looking very sore, uncomfortable and upset.

Got up this morning, he had eaten the fish and the ice cream. Still very subdued.

I feel rotten. So guilty!
 
We reached a milestone today regarding Rosie our spaniel, 1yr ago this week she started radiotherapy & chemotherapy for an aggressive mast cell tumour
I am glad to report after her latest scan & tests this morning she is still clear from detectable cancer, her initial prognosis was 2/3 months without treatment so to have her still healthy after 12 months is brilliant
 
Keeping a close eye on Dougal at the moment. His appetite is enormous (not too worried about that) but he is drinking huge amounts of water. It may be the warmer (?) weather and the fact that he is out and about a lot more, but last night he drank the equivalent of a mugful of water between 11.00pm to 07.00am.

I know that his steroids will make him thirsty, and am hoping that his increased activity levels account for the rise in intake.

It may be that he is hungry and drinking to fill his stomach - in which case I shall experiment and leave a dishful of Felix out tonight as well as his biscuits and chicken.

I'm not worried, but am keeping an eye on him. Dougal himself is absolutely full of beans - looks awful as very little fur due to heat - but he is happy and lively and is hunting (blackmail - feed me or the frog/mouse/bird gets eaten in front of you!).

He has been a bit stressed recently because we have new neighbours with young children and we've been a neighbourhood of people whose families have grown and left, until now - really quiet and rural, which suits his nervy temperament. I've also had a lot of builders and electricians in, so when he takes his afternoon nap (2.00 to 6.00) he has not been able to keep up his routine.

Otherwise he continues as spoilt (yes, I admit it) as ever, much to Tilly's disgust.
 
My whippet started drinking lots of water a couple of years ago. We'd cut her food back because a vet had said she looked a bit fat when she'd had her annual boosters [being spayed she does put on a bit of condition but she gets lots of exercise and we don't overfeed her; I did say we gave her cheese as a treat/reward and the vet rolled her eyes at this...I pointed out that a lot of people give dogs things like ice cream and cakes and that all my dog ever got was a small chunk of cheese or a raw carrot] and she'd also started to get stressed by the start of the firework season [which seems to go on for months]. The vet [another one this time] said she thought it was a behavioural problem and I gave her valerian to stop the anxiety [the dog, not the vet]. Either way, the water drinking stopped as soon as it had began. Never got to the bottom of it. Trouble with cats is they're so prone to kidney problems, aren't they and with Dougals other problems you must always be concerend. Must point out that I'd always felt if one of my dogs had a cancer that was treatable I'd probably refuse [did lose one dog that couldn't be treated] but reading this thread has totally changed my mind.
 
Thanks for sharing your experience Moe. I think because of the more clement weather this summer Dougal has been able to get out and about more, so is needing more food and water. He is just tucking into the first half of his 3rd sachet of Felix, having had biscuits in between.

I am so glad that Dougal's experience has been able to convince someone that giving their cat or dog a fighting chance is really worth it.

My vet is brilliant because she just charges us for each injection and his tablets (plus consultation), whereas a lot of other vets charge for a whole course of treatment up front, which leaves a lot of people desperately upset because they cannot find the money to help their beloved pet. I think that is a cause of great distress for many people who want to help but cannot afford to.

Dougal is happy and enjoying life and I thank Heaven for vets like Mary and her partners.
 
Thank Heaven August is over. For some reason the majority of bad things have happened to me in August. Got flooded for the first time seven years ago on the Glorious Twelfth. Lots of niggling things in between then and now.

This year involved a smashed car and broken floor boards. Absolute pig of a month - not to mention expensive.

Saturday 3rd: nearly put foot through hole in floor when a floorboard damaged by the gas fitters finally gave way. Carpenter not available until 29th - booked for a morning as decided to get other bedrooms checked and replaced if needed.

Sunday 4th: car shunted 6 feet by a young man who tried to change radio stations on a bend! Mis-steered, clipped my car and shunted it 10 feet along and turned his over. Normally go to bed at 10.00 on Sunday for an early start, but this time decided not to, luckily.

Monday 5th: insurance company great. Just took over everything. Courtesy car provided for as long as needed. Garage coming to collect car and assess.

Tuesday 6th: Courtesy car.

Wednesday 7th: garage arrives to fetch my car. Chap looks it over and says that he thinks it should be reparable. Nice little car in excellent condition.

Settle down and try to get some work done.

Following Monday insurance company calls to say that, so sorry, car has been written off. Damage more extensive than first thought. Don't worry. Third party has admitted liability - (couldn't really do much else). As my car was stationary and unoccupied they reckon that all should go my way.

Thursday 22nd: a neighbour knocks at my door and asks if the grey Corsa is mine? Yes. So sorry, she thought she had better let me know that it - along with 11 other cars - had been keyed. Apparently mine had been the worst of the lot as there were three lines along the whole of the driver's side, and all around the door handle.

Police visit later. Say they are going to make a big thing of it.

Friday 23rd: just sat down to work at 7.00 a.m. - knock at the door. Police again. They are clearing three houses either side of one in the corner. Please would I leave the house and go down to my neighbour's who was taking us all in. Apparently it's a drugs bust and they suspect the culprit is armed. Four police cars arrive, then an unmarked car with four more policemen, then another two cars with the dog handlers. Much shouting, crashing, smashed windows and then a gunshot and the dogs start barking. Can't see anything because of the bend in the road. Whole morning's work lost.

Monday 26th: go to local garages to check out car prices. End up buying one with a good deal on servicing and gap insurance. More expensive than I had budgeted for, but a nice little car.

Tuesday 27th: called by courtesy car owner's insurance. Lost the £50 excess as expected for the keying, but am liable for garage fees of £700!

Wednesday 28th: call from insurance company to say that they are still negotiating the payment but expect to close it tomorrow. Am I okay with that? Not much I can do, really.

Thursday 29th: Ben the carpenter arrives. Checks out the other floorboars. Sorry, there are quite a few damaged ones that haven't been put back properly. Do I want them all done, or just the urgent one? Gives a quote for both jobs. Sod it, might as well get the lot done. Spend the afternoon running between banks getting money into one account to pay for car tomorrow.

Friday 30th: due to take delivery of new car. Insurance calls, they have settled on the payment for the old car and because she was in excellent condition for her age (10) they are paying top dollah. That's a big relief.

Get another call from one of my banks. So sorry, when I closed the account and took the money out I actually had not got the funds quoted, so am actually £250 overdrawn. What would I like them to do, take the balance from my ISA or keep the account open until the balance is paid - as it is their error they will not charge interest for the first two months.

Friday afternoon, drop off courtesy car and get lift to garage. Pick up new car, drive to bank in village, check funds enough to pay car, bills etc, withdraw £250, drive into town, pay bank and close account.

All in all it has been a ruddy expensive month, not just in outlay but in work lost as well.

Fortunately the cats can afford to eat. I am going on a diet.

Welcome September!
 
Sleepless night. Dougal not well. He has got very thin, is drinking about 1/2 pint of water a day. He had been eating well but yesterday got very subdued and spent all day under a blanket. He has gone right off his food and only managed to lick some of the gravy off a fresh bowl of Felix late last night, but has taken nothing since, not even milk, which he loves.

He went to bed with me last night but went downstairs at about 2.00 in the morning. He has been cuddling a radiator since.

Dougal has had a couple of illnesses during the last four years but my mother and I are fearing the worst this time. Hope not, but I must be prepared.
 
Seeing Mary at 1.50. He has got too thin to leave overnight.

He is lying curled up now, which is an improvement on his hunched up posture of last night - but he has not eaten anything since a little bit of gravy last night and has drunk a large bowlful of water in that time. I let him out this morning and he headed straight to the water butt and drank the water from there.

If this is the bad moment, I will bring him home and get the vet to visit to put him to sleep. I want him relaxed and comfortable at home, not stressed out in the surgery when he goes.
 
I'm so sorry for you, the drinking could be one of many things, we have had three cats with hyperthyroid/liver/kidney problems & they all drank lots & went off their food when first diagnosed, its not nice, has he had any bloods taken recently to indicate any problems?
 
Thank you, Aldaniti. I am going to request them today if Mary thinks fit. I too was thinking kidneys, thyroid etc. Last time he went one of the nurses suggested hyperthyroidism because he was eating twice as much but losing weight - so if that is the case we shall go with it.

My mother is not the best person to have around at times like these as she is something of a tragedy queen.

Every time that he has been ill she has suggested that it is the end and I should do the kind thing, but Dougal has recovered after a few days and become his normal happy self.

If Dougal had been her cat he would have been put down as soon as he was diagnosed. When I told her that he had lymphoma she got all tragic without listening to anything about possible treatment.

If she keeps this up it may well be her end cos I might throttle her. I don't need any encouragement to get upset about Dougal. I have always known that his life would be shorter than average, but I am hoping for a bit more time with him.

All my toes and fingers are crossed, but I'm rather tearful and typing a load of rubbish because I cannot see the screen.

Thank you again for your kind suggestions, I want to give him every chance to rally and I know that Mary will too. I shall leave Mother in the waiting room.
 
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Sounds like the best thing to do!

You have to go with gut instinct sometimes, I know with meggy the cat who had kidney problems she wouldn't eat the special food the vet tried to palm us off with & as for the pills it didn't take long for her to start running under the bed every time she saw us, I decided I would rather have quality time with her & not quantity so we dropped the food & the pills, as it turned out she lived another 14mths!

its all a bit of a juggling act at the moment here, Jess who was diagnosed hyperthyroid early last year, her T4 levels have gradually increased & so her meds have, trouble is now she is on a very high dose its causing problems with her liver so we know she is on borrowed time sadly but she is 16yrs old so not a bad age at all

Good luck this afternoon & call me Helen ;)
 
Thank you for your very reassuring words, Helen. I am hoping with all of my heart that this is the case.

I have managed to solve the steroid tablet every other evening by crushing it in yogourt or evaporated milk, which he loves. Not sure how thyroxine would go with that. Still, I have plenty of practice at catching flying pills - as has Dougal in throwing them!

Thank you again for your kind support.

Denise.
x
 
Thinking of you today. When I was on holiday my daughter told me that the vet said her elderly cat had got throat cancer but they'd do a b/t just to be on the safe side. Turns out he has an infection; no sign of cancer at all. Mind you, he'd been on special diet food for years having been diagnosed with pancreatitis in his youth, and was having a great time eating Whiskas etc which they were giving him thinking it would make his last few weeks happy.
 
Thanks for all your kind words ladies.

Mary did a blood test and it's his kidneys. She said "they are not awful, but they are not great".

Dougal is staying in overnight with an i.v. drip to rehydrate him. If he starts eating again tomorrow she will let him out and we will have to start a special diet for him. The plus side is that as he has gone four years without a recurrence of the lymphoma we can stop the chemo as Mary doesn't want anything knocking his kidneys further off balance.

We shall see what tomorrow brings. At the moment I have hope.

Thank you again for all your kind thoughts and support.

Denise.
x
 
Well that's "good" news if you know what I mean, the trouble with kidneys is that they are almost packed up before you know something is wrong & if the levels aren't horrific which it doesn't sound like they are then there is certainly a lot of hope, the most important thing as we found out with meggy is to get them eating, if he doesn't like the food & a lot don't (its a low protein food) don't push him to eat it, unfortunately a lot of these prescription diets have been disproved for a lot of the illnesses, has he been put on any meds? Meggy was on something called fortekor (sp) when she was first diagnosed but her levels were extremely high
 
Hi Helen

Thanks for your help and support. The websites are very informative and quite reassuring. We have a great vet who is very knowledgeable and knows that we will do everything we can to help our cats.

Poor Dougal. Rescued from living wild and then all this. Still, the look in his eyes yesterday said that he is not ready to go yet. That is a good thing if he still has a bit of fight left in him.

I'm going to ring the vet in a minute to see how his night was. Will keep you posted.

Thank you again for the most helpful websites.

Denise
 
I don't want to be insensitive by saying this, but at least you treasure the time you spend with Dougal; sometimes, much as we love our pets we take them for granted and then suddenly they're taken away from us and we're left wishing we'd appreciated them them more at the time [heck; I sound like my ex who, when I found out I was going to lose my 6 year old spaniel in a few days just told me to 'enjoy her while you can'; never did forgive him for that]. Again my cousin had a cat whose kidneys packed up; whe was incredibly old [even older than my daughters cat] but she was ok for ages on medication. Dougal sound such a dear little chap so lets hope you get some more good news today.
 
Hi ladies, thank you for your kind and comforting words. Moe, that is not insensitive, it is so easy to not give some pets your attention when there are more pressing matters. I have a very bad habit (I am told) of regarding them as people in fur coats, so they do get as much attention as a human person.

Mary has just called me to say that Dougal had a comfortable night and ate all of the chicken that was left for him. He has eaten well this morning and even appears to like the new diet food that we must use for him now. He was given a second drip bag this morning and that will be finished about 6.00 this evening - and he can come home.

Dougal is a real character and very affectionate. He has always been terrified of strangers- especially men and children, but has recently started to make a fuss of people that I know and even went to a strange lad the other day because he was with the grandson of my neighbour, whom he knows. Apparently he ignored James completely and went straight to his friend.

He has come such a long way in the five years I have had him. From hardly any manners at all to a really sweet-natured and affectionate cat. He does have a bit of a temper still, but has learned to take it out on his toys and not on me, because he gets a smack if he bites me. The evening battle over his pills would fray both of our tempers and one evening - after four attempts - I managed to get the pill down his throat and him to swallow it. He glared at me all the time then jumped off my lap, went over to his toys, picked up his Ratty and proceeded to bite and shake it, throw it around a bit then finally bit the ears off and spat them out, glared at me again and stalked out of the room.

He has also learned how to be cute and appealing - and he plays me like a fiddle sometimes! When he first came and got told off, he used to roll on his back like a naughty puppy, with his paws held up under his chin. He was a bit bewildered the first couple of times that he did this because I would laugh, lean down and rub his tum. Then he got to like that. Eventually he began to greet me when I came home from work by running to me and rolling over at my feet to have his tummy rubbed.

He has also found that I can ease a tummy ache for him by doing this, so he will let me massage his tum until the wind escapes (yuk) and then he makes a run for the catflap.

He tries so hard to communicate and tell me what he needs. He also asks for my attention by stretching a paw out to me and looking into my face. He was doing that yesterday morning when he started to go downhill.

A thought has just occurred to me that if he comes off his chemo he might grow his beautiful long fur again. He is pretty, even when almost bald, but as a long-haired cat he was stunning as he is red - not ginger but a lovely dark red - and white. It would be lovely to see again his fur rippling as he runs and jumps. I do hope his fur grows again. I might even get techno-savvy and be able to post a photo for you.

All-in-all, I hope that my little friend will be with me for another year. I know that his will not be a long life, but it would be hard to lose him just yet.

Thank you again for all your kind words and support.
 
I feel with you Redhead - our lovely cat Lady (who was catnapped earlier this year!) is starting to show signs of aging and in the last couple of months has lost condition and weight but not her zest for life so its a tough choice. On the one hand we dont want her to suffer but on the other hand how can we say goodbye to her when she still has a voracious appetite and is jumping up and down the beds/sofas etc and plonking herself on our laps?!

We hope that she will let us know when she has had enough but we know the decision wont be too long away - praying its after Xmas.
 
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