What's wrong with "cat-boy"??

[markmaple]

Tom,

Good luck with your cat's health issues. I know how special a friend they can be. A couple of months ago, we had to put our 17 year old cat down after dealing with his diabetes for 9 years (2 insulin shots a day). Putting him down was possibly the hardest thing I ever had to do. Again, good luck.

Mark

[Cal Blacksmith]

Tom, I'm sorry to hear of your cats problems. We have had to deal with our dogs thyroid problem for years so I know what that is like. If you can't afford the treatment, is there somethng or somone the vet can send you to for help with the meds?

[RichardP]

An update....

the

needle that we need to use is gawd awful huge! It's about 14ga. (I use

a 30ga for my insulin). My brother and his wife did this same regiment

to one of their cats and she lasted another 7 years. They got to the

point where they didn't need to do it everyday but only 3-4 times a

week. A bag of fluid will only last about 3 days, this won't be easy at

the $25/bag they are charging (I really can't even afford that). Shame

we can't get this at Petsmart.

I recently had to put down both of my 16+ yr old cats due to kidney

failure, one in Dec and the other two weeks ago. They

deteriorated too fast to even begin the injections.

With that cost, you might see if there is a Veterinary teaching

hospital or department at any local state universities. They may sell

the intravenous fluids cheaper than at your private vet.

[Mighty Favog]

An update....<?xml:namespace prefix = o />

the needle that we need to use is gawd awful huge! It's about 14ga. (I use a 30ga for my insulin). My brother and his wife did this same regiment to one of their cats and she lasted another 7 years. They got to the point where they didn't need to do it everyday but only 3-4 times a week. A bag of fluid will only last about 3 days, this won't be easy at the $25/bag they are charging (I really can't even afford that). Shame we can't get this at Petsmart.

I recently had to put down both of my 16+ yr old cats due to kidney failure, one in Dec and the other two weeks ago. They deteriorated too fast to even begin the injections.

With that cost, you might see if there is a Veterinary teaching hospital or department at any local state universities. They may sell the intravenous fluids cheaper than at your private vet.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. Fortunately we found a Vet that sells the same fluids a lot cheaper. We now pay $25 for 3 bags of Lactate, 3 kits of tubes and 30 needles. This new vet is a little on the "holistic" side and agrees with us that the first vet was being way too aggressive in a treatment that would sustain him and not cure him.

He's still not eating but we believe he is urinating quite well. Sheila is finding fluid clumps in the litter boxes and it's way more than the amount of fluid missing from the water bowl. On the down side he did hurl 3 times so far today. Other people in the know have said that he's in the last stages of renal failure.

This is so hard to cope with.....

[SteelerFan]

Very sorry to hear your cat is so sick. I just recently got my first cat and I'm crazy about him already. I'd take it very hard if something bad happened to him. I hope the treatments work and wish you the best of luck.

[Coytee]

This kind of stuff can bring a tear to my eye. I know there's nothing I can say that hasn't already been said.

I can empathize with what you're going through and it's not going to get any easier. If/when the time comes for you to take any drastic actions, I'm convinced your cat will let you know.

It simply amazes me how bonded we can and do become with our pets. Sounds like you have a very atypical cat. I love cats (though I'm allergic to them). I love them more when they have rambunctious personality like yours seems to have!!!

We've got several dogs and had several more. Two of them (older puppies, not grown) were shot/murdered by a hunter one cold Christmas eve. I would have used his gun on HIM had I caught him and been able to do so. [:@]

Nothing will spare your pain but I see somewhat of a silver lining here in that like anything with a warning, you can now be sure to appreciate every day you have together.

Wishing you strength.

[Mighty Favog]

Thanks Coytee.

This is premature but I would like to dedicate an album to my little buddy. Art Garfunkle's "Angel Clair". If anyone here has it please play it for our Depo.

Also does anyone have that poem that was written about a lost pet. I think it's called "I'm Free" It talks about no longer being diseased or maimed etc.

His bad breath is back and he's vomited three times today. Once a very clear/ watery liquid and the last time was rather yellow/orange & foamy.

He is freqenting his more usual places to sleep which is about all he does anymore. I took him out today for a car ride but it may have been too much for him. Now that I think about it, one of teh meds we give him has a side effect of nausea and vomiting. But it's what they say he needs.

[PrestonTom]

Tom,

I am sorry to hear of your cat's illness.

I am also a pet owner and understand how much joy they bring into our lives and how much we get attached to them. It is a difficult time.....

[Mighty Favog]

Tell me if any of you have ever done this before. And this has happened to me more than just because of ol' Depster.

Say your going about life as usual and you meet a new friend. This friend stays with you year in and year out to where you totally forgot about what you were doing before from day to day. You two are just about inseperable.

All of the sudden the friend isn't there anymore. For whatever reason, the friend moves away or maybe you've both graduated school and that friend has different plans than being around you, though he/she isn't mad at you or whatever.

Now that you two are seperate you gently try to remind yourself what you did from day to day before you met this friend (and can once again do those same things to pass the time).

This also happened to me recently. I met a friend some 30+ years ago. We lived across the street from each other from the day we were born. Over the early years we (and a few other neighborhood kids) did everything together. Hung out till dawn, played street wiffle ball, street football, later it was softball. It was a cross between the TV show Cheers and the movie Sandlot. Us guys (the 5 of us) did everything together for a lot of years. Even after we started getting married and having children we stayed together, it was just something the wives had to deal with. We'd even wrestle and rough-house with the kids the same way we we would wrestle each other 15 years before.

Within 5 years or so we went our seperate ways; military career, wife clamped down too hard or the rest of our family moved and we had to go with them to show solidarity.

It came down to just 1 guy, the "leader" of our group and myself. I now lived across town but would not hesitate to drive 28 miles to just sit on his front porch (no chairs) to shoot the bull and watch life go by. It was still a place I had provinance with. It was a place I never had to ring the doorbell, I just walked in the house unannounced and was always greeted with hugs by their kids and last friends' father who was also getting up there in years. Even if that friend wasn't home you could still stay and run the bull with anyone who was there.

That last friend moved out of the house that he has lived in since he was 2-years old, he's now 44. The neighborhood has gone to hell with mostly Section 8 government housing taking over and has driven out all the respectable neighbors you've known since you started grade school. The friend moved to a house 35 miles in the opposite direction from the direction of town I moved to.

Yes, I have a car and I can see him just as easily as I did before. But it won't be the same without seeing the old neighborhood too.

Now, what was I doing from day to day before I called him "my friend"? Oh yea, I remember now. But I don't think I can go back to watching Popeye and Mr. Rogers on TV. It's incredible how much life has changed around me with that one friend as a constant through it all.

Thanks Timothy R. Thomas, I'll still come over when I can.

[codhead]

Tom,

Check and see if this is the same medication the vet is selling you:

http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?PGGUID=30e072f0-7b6a-11d5-a192-00b0d0204ae5

It's only $3.49 for a litre if ordered online (even less in quantity).

Best wishes that all turns out well.

- Jeff

[Gilbert]

He can never be replaced; to try would only downplay his importance in my life and those who also love him.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

I'll write more about him later.

Tom, I know exactly....EXACTLY what your going through. My best friend Duphas pasted away almost 3 years ago from the same thing. Kiddey failure. I drove many many miles trying to find a Vet that would tell me they can help him. I even drove to the Veterinary College at OSU, and contacted a feline urinary track specialist, and spent a few grand hoping to save him. But in the end, I had to watch him pass and it was heart wrenching.

As the end got nearer for Duphas, I noticed that his coat didn't shine anymore, and his hair began to pull out easy. I initially thought he was shedding, but my sister (now a vet) told me that that was a sign that the end was near.... and it was. RIP Duphas, I still love you.

You are correct, in that you'll never be able to replace him, but you can come pretty damm close. Please trust me on this,,,,, you need another cat.

As for me, I now have Beaudreaux, and he is special in his own way, and I love him everybit as much as Duphas, but differently..... GET ANOTHER CAT.

Please trust me on this.

[Marvel]

Tell me if any of you have ever done this before. And this has happened to me more than just because of ol' Depster.

Say your going about life as usual and you meet a new friend. This friend stays with you year in and year out to where you totally forgot about what you were doing before from day to day. You two are just about inseperable.

All of the sudden the friend isn't there anymore. For whatever reason, the friend moves away or maybe you've both graduated school and that friend has different plans than being around you, though he/she isn't mad at you or whatever.

Now that you two are seperate you gently try to remind yourself what you did from day to day before you met this friend (and can once again do those same things to pass the time).

Tom,

I've hit 57, and the buddy I had at the end of high school is like that. But we don't see each other for years on end. When we do, it's like we've never been apart. No one else has ever been like that. We both play guitar, and the last time he was here, we hadn't met up for a few years. We started playing songs together like we had just been rehearsing for the past month. His wife even commented on it. And I just heard from him this past week. There's the possibility he could get a job within ten miles of where I live. We certainly can't go back, but some friends are just... well special that way.

I have been trying to remember what it was like without Barbara, before she came into my life. That's a very hard one to think about.

Blessings,

Bruce

miss my cats too. they were the best cats ever.