Cat thread

[rattran]

This is the Cat Thread. Dogs go elsewhere.

[Sand]

Duly noted and my apologies. Here is Louie (our cat).

[Hawkbit]

My dad's cat (18yrs old!) barely survived their trip to florida this year. Couldn't walk, they took it in and had to put it down, I guess it was a cancer on the lower spine and she was too old for treatment. As he told me about how he was holding her as the drugs took hold and she fell asleep purring for the last time in his arms....I was just devastated. I have no idea how I'm supposed to do that with Bart without being a total wreck.

My first cat only lived to be seven, he developed an issue with his gall bladder and it began to shut his whole system down.  By the time we realized there was a problem (yellowed skin), it was too late.  What is really odd is that in hindsight, he was acting differently for about a month leading up to the last days... but instead of acting in pain, he got really lovey with me.  He would curl up with me every time I was at home, no matter where it was at.  He slept in my arms for that whole month and I thought everything was okay... still beating myself up over not seeing it.  

I wrestled with having surgery, but at $5000 and only a 50% chance of survival, I just couldn't do it.  It sounds really, really stupid, but that was the hardest thing I've had to do, even after putting our dog and a few of my wife's cats down.  I stayed with him through the whole process and got to hold him through the whole thing.  I hated it at the time (tearing up just writing this) but I think it was extremely important for me to be with him through the process both for him and myself.  It was a little over 2 years ago and I still feel it... but it gets better.  More good memories than bad, now.  

That was a really shitty Christmas.  We took him in on the 23rd, specialist looked at him on the 27th and we put him down later that day.  Nothing better than spending xmas waiting to hear the news.  Eh, oh well...  I guess my point was that the euthanasia was really tough, but I'm glad I was there.  I'd like to think it was important to be part of completing the circle.  

[Reg]

My last cat died on me but he went quickly and naturally on his own without having to be put to sleep.  The vets had told me he had a very pronounced heart murmer and that it probably meant he wouldn't live more than six or seven years but it was still a shock when he had a heart attack and died.

It was strange, aside from dying like that he never had any symptoms at all of a heart condition.

[Sjofn]

Louie is a really handsome cat!

I am steadfastly keeping myself from sharing petdeath stories, I don't want to look like I'm wallowing. Suffice to say it sucks when it happens, but I find the tradeoff (having little sacks of awesome for pets for a while) worth it. But still... 

[tgr]

Losing Cat5 did suck hard, and replacing her took an awful long time (past just the physical act of getting a new cat), but there's no way I'll ever regret doing so. I'd much rather take the chance and have 10-15 years (or more) of unadulterated fluffy kitty love. The alternative is just worse, no matter how much it might hurt at the end. vOv

[01101010]

My dad's cat (18yrs old!) barely survived their trip to florida this year. Couldn't walk, they took it in and had to put it down, I guess it was a cancer on the lower spine and she was too old for treatment. As he told me about how he was holding her as the drugs took hold and she fell asleep purring for the last time in his arms....I was just devastated. I have no idea how I'm supposed to do that with Bart without being a total wreck.

My first cat only lived to be seven, he developed an issue with his gall bladder and it began to shut his whole system down.  By the time we realized there was a problem (yellowed skin), it was too late.  What is really odd is that in hindsight, he was acting differently for about a month leading up to the last days... but instead of acting in pain, he got really lovey with me.  He would curl up with me every time I was at home, no matter where it was at.  He slept in my arms for that whole month and I thought everything was okay... still beating myself up over not seeing it.  

I wrestled with having surgery, but at $5000 and only a 50% chance of survival, I just couldn't do it.  It sounds really, really stupid, but that was the hardest thing I've had to do, even after putting our dog and a few of my wife's cats down.  I stayed with him through the whole process and got to hold him through the whole thing.  I hated it at the time (tearing up just writing this) but I think it was extremely important for me to be with him through the process both for him and myself.  It was a little over 2 years ago and I still feel it... but it gets better.  More good memories than bad, now.  

That was a really shitty Christmas.  We took him in on the 23rd, specialist looked at him on the 27th and we put him down later that day.  Nothing better than spending xmas waiting to hear the news.  Eh, oh well...  I guess my point was that the euthanasia was really tough, but I'm glad I was there.  I'd like to think it was important to be part of completing the circle.  

Yeah... I was in the same boat with Wysh. He developed a small bump on his leg that I took at him running into something playing with the Xgf's cat. A month later it became sizable. Had the vet check it out - thinking it was just fluid build up and only needed draining. The tumor was attached to the ligaments and another was felt in his abdomen. Surgery was ~$2k for the leg amputation and a biopsy on the abdomen. Living pay to pay at the time... hardest thing I ever had to do was sign the papers to have him put down. Sat in the car at the vet's office for well over an hour trying to hold it together.

I concur though, I have nothing but good memories outside of that last trip to the vet's. He and his brother, well I could not imagine getting through grad school at LSU without them, or being in Miami Beach. But I can not do that again and will not have another.

[Sand]

Louie is a really handsome cat!

Thank you!
You know whats funny? Denali (our dog) was supposed to be for me and Louie was supposed to be for my wife. Louie has turned in to a total daddy's boy.
Our morning snooze alarm cuddle and then having our first cup of coffee together (no coffee for him) is our daily ritual. If my wife heads up to bed and Im still awake in the office playing Realm Of The Mad God, he comes back down and cries at me till I turn it off and come to bed.

[Sjofn]

We got our first cat because I wanted her soooo baaaaad. We were going through a rough time with our rabbit at the time (shut up, I wuvvumed Usagi!) and while I was at the vet picking up medication for her, Lizzie would not be ignoooooored. I didn't even think she was that cute to look at, but she seemed really adamant that she wanted my attention. I'm allergic to cats (although I do alright with ones I live with, as it turns out), but I cared not, I wanted that kitten, dammit. As it turned out, she grew up to be very pretty, but also most definitely my cat. She likes Ingmar fine, but she likes me way more. 

Jack is a rebound cat, as I mentioned. We go him to replace St. Gilly, a kitten we had die from FIP, who was Ingmar's baby. Biggest cuddlebug on the planet, I thought ... before we met Jack. Jack is a huge, huge, huge, HUGE attention whore. So he turned out to be a great rebound. I was a little worried Gilly was too tough an act to follow, but he is all about the snuggling, and he loves Ingmar like crazy. And me. And NO ONE ELSE. It's weird. He's not as nice as Gilly, he actually bites hard (He bites my ASS if he wants something and I have the nerve to still be sitting down, ignoring his demands. >< >< ><) and he challenges Lizzie a lot more, but all in all I am pleased he managed to escape the "You're nice and all, Rebound Cat, but you're not Gilly" trap I was afraid we were laying for him.

[Azazel]

Taking Little Girl to the vet to be put down was pretty traumatic. I had the top of my head pressed against hers and we shared breath until she was gone. She wasn't happy about it either, a fighter until the end, but she just couldn't get enough air into her blood, so she was gasping and breathing heavily, and just too far gone. She should be draped across my computer desk right now, grumbling at me when I dare to move my arm which she'd use as a pillow.

So yeah, I'm still pretty fucked up. But I have to say that without the new kitten, who we've named Leonard, I'd be a fucking basket case.

When we went to the pet shelter, we had our hearts set on another kitten or even a pair of them from their website, but when we went in, Leon went up to the edge of his cage and made eye contact with M, and she immediately wanted him. I'd seen him on the website but dismissed him because 1) he looked too much like Little Girl's mum who died many years ago (I think it was Cat AIDS, had to take her to be put down as well) and 2) The other kitten(s0 we liked looked much nicer. When we had a look at him, he immediately started grooming my beard, so that sold me. We also picked out one of the other kittens from the website, who was one of the most beautiful tabbies I'd ever seen, and again was very friendly.

When we got them home, the tabby proved to be a bit of a bully, and Leonard (a week or 2 younger) kept running to me for protection. We first thought we'd give them a day or so to work out their pecking order, but the tabby kitten was biting Leon HARD and he was squealing in pain. So we took the tabby back the same day (they have a 2-week cooling period for adpotions) and ended up getting our money back - better to do so right away for their benefit than let something bad happen. We were going to pick up Leon's littermate, but he'd been sold/adopted in the 2-hour meantime.

It's already been amazing to see him grow in just 2 weeks from a little kitten to much more of a small cat. He's settling in nicely and no longer has to sleep on our pillow for protection. He's pretty much got 3 modes - content kitty who you can pat, super-relaxo cat who sleeps in all kinds of crazy contorted positions, and psycho-kitty, which is playmode. We've got him all kids of toys and cat poles and junk - we're spoiling him I guess because we're so sad about The Grill, and because we can afford that kind of thing for him now, wheras we didn't have that kind of disposable money when she was a kitten.

But yeah. It's been painful, but having the kitten has made life able to be bearable and fun in parts, which is a much better way to live than to be constantly depressed and in mourning. It also helps that he's almost channelling a lot of her behaviours, especially her more unusual-for-a-cat ones. It lets me smile when remembering her, instead of just crying.

[Sky]

I was a little worried Gilly was too tough an act to follow, but he is all about the snuggling, and he loves Ingmar like crazy. And me. And NO ONE ELSE. It's weird.

Bart's really well-mannered but mostly wants to be left alone. I respect him as The Dude, but it's tougher on my fiancee and mom who are used to snugglers. And Bart will, but always on his terms. What bothers them the most is that he tends to run from them if they make a sudden move or loud noise. Not so much that in itself, but that I can do quite literally anything and he will at best crack an eyelid to make sure I'm not coming after him. I can run through the house doing some operatic interpretive dance and he's all 'whatever'. Then my fiancee giggles and he runs for cover. I feel it's balanced by the amount of time he spends curled up on her lap because she's always using fleecy blankets, he never curls up on my lap (the adhd, I move around too much).

When the fiancee was leaving last night, I tried finding him so she could say goodbye, looking in the usual place, under the bed, etc. Didn't see him. As I turned to say "I don't see him", I hear this tiny 'mrrrurr?' I had dumped some clean laundry on the bed to sort earlier, and while he usually LOVES sleeping on the laundry (he's often waiting for me to come up from the basement with the basket), last night he was UNDER the laundry. I saw about three inches of black fur exposed (out of his 2'+ length). Then he lifted his head and it was inside a pair of my underwear, he starts looking around, it was hilarious.

[Sand]

Azazel Im so sorry for your loss.

[Sjofn]

Bart's really well-mannered but mostly wants to be left alone. I respect him as The Dude, but it's tougher on my fiancee and mom who are used to snugglers. And Bart will, but always on his terms. What bothers them the most is that he tends to run from them if they make a sudden move or loud noise. Not so much that in itself, but that I can do quite literally anything and he will at best crack an eyelid to make sure I'm not coming after him. I can run through the house doing some operatic interpretive dance and he's all 'whatever'. Then my fiancee giggles and he runs for cover. I feel it's balanced by the amount of time he spends curled up on her lap because she's always using fleecy blankets, he never curls up on my lap (the adhd, I move around too much).

Jack is scared of everyone not us. It's freaky. I think he'd probably settle down if he was staying with someone a few days, but his initial reaction to a stranger is OH FUCK GET AWAY AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH. Lizzie doesn't give a shit, though. She's not nearly as affectionate (when the mood strikes her, she's awesome, doing the head butting and the purring and the snuggling, but it always has to be her idea), but she's also not ... well, not as big a pussy.  It's a nice balance, really, I just feel bad when someone wants to meet Jack and has to settle for watching him run away like the devil himself is coming after him.

I'm glad your rebound cat is helping you, Azazel! I'm sure he doesn't mind the spoiling, either.

[tgr]

http://www.viddler.com/explore/cheezburger/videos/1098/
http://www.viddler.com/explore/cheezburger/videos/1099/

[Engels]

Had to take our male kitty into emergency today. Turns out he has a blocked urinary tract. We caught it in time, so he's going under for the catheter surgery to unblock his urethra. He could have died, but it looks like we went to the emergency just in time. We'll hear more in the next hour.

[Hawkbit]

Hope it turns out a-okay.    kitties.

[Engels]

Kitty is ok. We caught it in time. Would have probably died if we waited till Monday. ER costs are  , but better than dead cat.

[apocrypha]

Glad to hear it Engels. Been dodging this thread cos Azazel's tale was too painful. I know it means very little from a complete internet stranger but much  directed your way Az.

In a good news direction it seems like we're homing in on a suitable insulin dose for Sputnik. Currently on 2 units twice a day and yesterday her weekly blood glucose series had 3 readings below 20 mM, which is still high but a definite improvement and a sing that the insulin is working and we're getting close to the right dose. I'm hoping for 2.5 to 3 units twice a day will stabilise her around 10-14 mM minimum, which is what we're aiming for.

It's still slightly traumatic doing the injections if only because she knows it's coming and doesn't like it, but it's getting easier as I get better at doing it.

[Engels]

Ya, shots are hard to do for kitties. We had to hydrate one of our cats with a bag of fluid for a few months, with a needle going into her back twice a day while we held her and slowly pumped it in. She didn't like, it, but not half as much as we didn't like doing it. She lived for a good while longer because of it, tho.

[Azazel]

Glad to hear it Engels. It's really good to hear about a cat getting through something like that.

I know I've said it a few times now, but I'll get some pics of Leonard up very soon. He did a nice job on my hand over the weekend leaving a deep but clean 3.5cm slash across my hand as I was dangling one of his many toy mice to get him to chase it across the house.

Thanks Apoc - I hope things work out for Sputnik and you guys. It was bad enough giving Little Girl her kidney tablets so I can't imagine how difficult it must be for you to have to give your cat shots twice a day.

[Azazel]

Leonard:


Last night, he wandered onto the computer desk and what I thought was going to be through my empty salad bowl.
Instead...


Oh Leonard. You are an idiot.

[tgr]

Aww cute kitteh

Looks almost identical to Luna, only smaller, and with a white dot on his forehead instead of a small white mustashe.

[Bunk]

I'm currently showing my appartment and the cat is quite pissed at me for hiding all of her cardboard box perches. She does seem to be helping on the whole showing thing though, old lady last night asked if I'd include her with the place.

[Sky]

That's actually a genius idea for staging a home for sale. Get a couple kittens and let them bonk around a bit...then offer to throw them in "Oh yeah, place I'm moving doesn't allow pets."

 

[Sand]

Kitty is ok. We caught it in time. Would have probably died if we waited till Monday. ER costs are  , but better than dead cat.

What were the sings or symptoms? Is this common? I wouldnt know what to look for with my kitty!
Help!

[Sand]

Az those are some very cute pictures!

[Engels]

Kitty is ok. We caught it in time. Would have probably died if we waited till Monday. ER costs are  , but better than dead cat.

What were the sings or symptoms? Is this common? I wouldnt know what to look for with my kitty!
Help!

Well, the symptoms were invisible till he got a clogged urethra. Then he couldn't pee. So, seeing your cat strain at the litter box and nothing happening is a warning sign that I didn't know how to interpret at the time. When he finally was in pain, he was obviously in pain. He was seized up and mewing piteously. When we stroked his abdomen, he squealed pretty horridly, a sound I'd never heard before except in another kitty we had when she was in pain. He also hid from us, something all cats do when they are ill. They will go under a bed or something else to hide. This was very uncharacteristic of Burger, who is a very sociable cat. That's what really sent me into panic mode and made me take him to the ER.

He's still in the ER. Apparently he still has a lot of magnesium crystals in his urine. We're awaiting a call from the vet with the latest results of the centrifuge test they are doing as I type. Hopefully he's cleared up and we can pick him up today or tomorrow.

[Azazel]

Is that like a Cat kidney stone? I know the human version is incredibly painful. All the best for you and your kitty.

[Engels]

Nope, cats get regular kidney stones also. According to the vet, in this case its an accumulation of magnesium crystals in the bladder, not kidneys, which is a fairly common reaction to certain cat food with cats that have a certain metabolism, although what makes these cats different from others is a mystery to veterinary medicine. Its sort of an allergic reaction that noone understands but is 'treatable'.

We are going to get a prescription food that stops this magnesium crystal accumulation for him to eat, but I'm not sure that's a long term solution, since prescription food is always way too expensive. There must be some cat food out there that doesn't have the substance that this prescription food doesn't have either.

Vet called back, and after the 4th batch of pee, his magnesium levels are now clear, so he's good to be taken home tomorrow. Vet says he's not a happy cat right now, hates them all, but that he's ok. I just hope that he's not so traumatized that his nature's changed. He is the most snuggly affectionate cat ever, very good natured without a violent bone in his body.

[tgr]

Found in the useless videos thread, figured it just had to be here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00vDFQ_d2mE

[Sjofn]

Nope, cats get regular kidney stones also. According to the vet, in this case its an accumulation of magnesium crystals in the bladder, not kidneys, which is a fairly common reaction to certain cat food with cats that have a certain metabolism, although what makes these cats different from others is a mystery to veterinary medicine. Its sort of an allergic reaction that noone understands but is 'treatable'.

We are going to get a prescription food that stops this magnesium crystal accumulation for him to eat, but I'm not sure that's a long term solution, since prescription food is always way too expensive. There must be some cat food out there that doesn't have the substance that this prescription food doesn't have either.

Vet called back, and after the 4th batch of pee, his magnesium levels are now clear, so he's good to be taken home tomorrow. Vet says he's not a happy cat right now, hates them all, but that he's ok. I just hope that he's not so traumatized that his nature's changed. He is the most snuggly affectionate cat ever, very good natured without a violent bone in his body.

Glad he's better! That must've been scary. Lizzie had pee issues a year or so ago (I cannot for the life of me remember what specifically was up, she was drinking a lot and peeing constantly, but it WASN'T a urinary tract infection, she was just acting like it was) and they seriously scared the fuck out of me with all the OKAY IF SHE STARTS ACTING LIKE THIS BRING HER IN RIGHT AWAY BECAUSE SHIT IS GETTING REAL.

You're right, though, prescription food is ridiculously priced! Jack is on some for Poop Issues but I am pretty sure we're going to try to ween him back onto something else and see if he just had a bug (my vet for some reason decided to give him antibiotics AND put him on new food, so of course we don't know which actually fixed the problem, graaah). It's extra silly because I can't keep him out of Lizzie's food no matter how much I try, so we'd be feeding both cats this shit. ><

[Minvaren]

Purina One has the low-magnesium food at many stores, $10 per 7-pound bag around these parts.  I need it for one of my cats as well.

The vet I use indicated it's usually around the 5-year mark when most cats with the issue will have it pop up, so that might help others watching for the same thing.

[Engels]

Yep, Burger is 5 and a half, so that makes sense. Thanks for the tip on the Purina cat chow.

[Engels]

Well, Burger's finally home. Weak, but alive and himself.

[Sand]

Congrats!