Here’s a good-looking boxer dog for your viewing pleasure during the wee hours:
She looks kind of scared in the photo, but she’s not. Of anything. Ever.
I can’t sleep, so I’m watching “Parks and Rec” reruns. What are you up to?
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Little Boots
so no oom pah pahh.
Smiling Mortician
I can relate. I always look terrified in photos, but I’m really not afraid of a whole lot. She, however, is beautiful.
Hunter Gathers
I know that look.
“I’ve never eaten, ever. I’m sooooooo hungry. Can I have your sandwich? Or some pizza? Pleeaaase?”
opiejeanne
Just started watching Castle. West Coast; I love the DVR.
That lovely dog just made my evening. My daughter is having one of her cats put to sleep this week and she’s asking if we can take the younger one, because he cried so piteously while the old lady cat was at the vet’s overnight, even though she is mean to him. We have a lovely young lady cat, 2 1/2 years old, who might put up with him and they might make good companions. He is a gorgeous tuxedo cat, she’s a blue tabby, all three cats are rescues. We worry that she might really hate him, even though they were friendly when she was a kitten, so we are planning a sleep-over for him sometime this week.
Elizabelle
Watched the second half of Better Call Saul first season today. Marvelous show.
That, Wolf Hall finale, and Mad Men’s penultimate (and even though I’ve not kept up with MM, this week’s episode was so good, I shall mourn show’s passing into history) ….
Also got outside for some dog walks (friend’s very small dog who thinks he’s a Doberman).
So a good day.
Daisy Mayhem looks soulful.
Little Boots
mr bojangles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-LVXR6rjXs
Little Boots
the important thing is, where is omnes?
Betty Cracker
@Elizabelle: I love “Better Call Saul” — the camera work is outstanding, and the acting is terrific. I always liked Banks as Mike from BB, but I didn’t realize what a terrific actor he was until “Saul.” BTW, did you know Banks was one of the henchmen in “Beverly Hills Cop”? He had hair!
PurpleGirl
I’ve been watching a kitten cam. Shelly, a foster mom in Vancouver, Canada, is getting even more involved with cat population problems. She and other volunteer from the Langley Animal Protection Society are trying to catch feral cats to spay/neuter them and then return them to their colonies. She recently caught a pregnant cat and this cat gave birth tonight to 4 kittens (so far). We got see the birth and the beginning care the mom is giving to the babies. One tuxie and one ginger that we saw. Haven’t gotten a clear view of the others yet.
Plans: when the babies can be weaned, momcat will be spayed and returned to the colony. The babies will be socialized and put up for adoption.
http://www.livestream/tinykittens/nestcam
Yes, I’m a Crazy Cat Lady.
PurpleGirl
@opiejeanne: Oh, sorry to hear that.
The feral preggers momcat (see my comment #9) was complaining about being alone, but now that she’s had her babies she is busy with them and isn’t crying any more.
PurpleGirl
I don’t think Daisy looks scared… she’s caught sight of someone eating and is thinking… drop the food, please, oh please, drop some of the sandwich…..
PurpleGirl
@PurpleGirl: Let’s try this again
http://www.livestream/tinykittens/nestcam
ETA: I have no idea why it goes to a Time Warner search page. If you type in the URL it should go to the feral cat and the nest cam.
David Koch
Larry Wilmore is killin it.
Elizabelle
@Betty Cracker: A few hours ago I had never heard of Jonathan Banks, and now I am a fan. He’s excellent.
Learning about J. Banks and Mark Rylance the same week. Embarrassment of riches.
FWIW, caught my first “Amy Schumer” tonight, and she’s funny.
Friends with streaming TV, so got to see more telly than usual.
opiejeanne
@PurpleGirl: The kitty who is in failing health was left in a bag or a box on a dock with her kittens, and all were rescued. She is a Maine coon, or maybe half Maine coon because she was always a bit on the light side for one at only 16 pounds. Her age was only guessed at by the rescue organization so we think she’s between 15 and 18 years old; the bloodwork isn’t back yet* but I’m guessing that it’s kidney failure, just from the description of her ailments. Whiskers had a very good second life with my daughter but we are all sad.
Henry, the tuxedo cat, was about 6 months old when she got him so he’s about 7 or 8 now; I’d have to check.
Annie, our kitty, complains that we don’t play with her enough but really we do play with her a lot; she’s simply insatiable until she’s tired out. It’s her misfortune that we live in coyote/bald eagle/black bear/bobcat/cougar territory, so she isn’t allowed outside. Breaks my heart because I’d love to have her in the garden with us but it’s not safe. We lost our previous cat when he slipped outside at dusk six months after we moved here; he had spent the day in the garden with us and it was the first warm day of spring. We are just 15 miles East-ish of downtown Seattle and about four miles away from the Microsoft campus in Redmond, and it’s astonishing what we have seen in our neighborhood. A neighbor emailed us a photo of the bear in the yard across the street from our house while we were on vacation last year, and it’s back again and now has a friend living about half a mile away. I didn’t sign up for bears.
opiejeanne
@PurpleGirl: She’s crying because there aren’t any people around? or other cats? If she’s crying for lack of human companionship, doesn’t that suggest that at one time she was someone’s pet?
Tommy
@PurpleGirl: What is it, 2 AM and my cat is rocking it. Last weekend mom was over. Mother’s Day and all. As always they just love my cat. She is a wonderful little guy.
opiejeanne
@PurpleGirl: She’s crying because there aren’t any people around? or other cats? If she’s crying for lack of human companionship, doesn’t that suggest that at one time she was someone’s pet?
David Koch
Monster.
Amir Khalid
@Little Boots:
This is very testosteroney (as Chandler Bing might put it) for Malay music, with its Hang Tuah and Semerah Padi references. I wonder what you make of it.
Tommy
@opiejeanne: I was reading a book the other day about animals. They stun me by their intelligence. My cat has a whole lot of shit going on in her head. My cat isn’t stupid. She often tells me she wants something. She tells me all the time about this or that.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
One week to go on the Kickstarter. It’s flattened out recently. I’m at my first goal, so the funding will happen, but I’m hoping to raise enough to do a print edition.
I have a post up talking about what music I listen to while writing Phoebe.
opiejeanne
@David Koch: Yeah, worst preznit evah!
Really, that’s a great thing to read. Thanks for sharing it.
PurpleGirl
@opiejeanne: The people watching for ferals say she is bonded to one of the other females in the colony. So Shelly figures she’s loney for her friend. She seems to be a true feral, doesn’t like humans. But now that she’s had her babies, momcat instincts have kicked in and she’s all over the babies, taking care of them. Shelly set up the room she’s in in Shelly’s house with dirt and tree limbs and the kind of ground cover the cat is used to.
opiejeanne
@Tommy: I’m sure your cat is quite bright.
I expect you already know that cats only meow when they’re around us humans. They don’t meow at each other much, more like yowl and hiss and growl.
opiejeanne
@PurpleGirl: Oh man, Shelly is a great sponsor.
We have been the beneficiaries of great sponsors a couple of times, with our current cat Annie, and with another much-beloved blue tabby who was raised by humans from the time she was a day or two old. The socialization in those cases seems to be quite a bit different from that of a kitten raised by its mother. Victoria was very small as an adult but a great presence in our lives. She died in 2009, and later I realized it was on her 13th birthday. We miss her every day.
PurpleGirl
@PurpleGirl: LAPS — Langley Animal Protection Society — has started several programs to deal with the “excess” cat population. This program has volunteers watching for ferals or homeless cats to catch them and spay or neuter them. Then the animal is returned to the colony. If it seems that the cat was abandoned then they resocialize them for adoption. Another program, held in conjunction with fundraising, is an amnesty for anyone to bring in to the shelter any kittens or pregnant cats they have that they do not want. LAPS will take the cats/kittens and take care of them and rehome them.
LAPS is a no-kill shelter, mainly for cats but they have taken in a dog or two and the puppehs.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
I have been very short of breath for the past few days, after about a week when it happened sporadically. I’m overweight but I do exercise regularly (3-4 times a week I walk a mile in the gym’s pool, and one night a week I work a post where I walk rounds three times in the shift at about two miles each), so I’m not sure where this is coming from. I occasionally have a sharp pain in the right side of my chest; I’m not sure if it’s in the lung or in the muscles between my ribs. I don’t know if it’s at all connected to a few other symptoms I have that have become more frequent recently: very painful muscle spasms in or around my esophagus that only subside if I swallow some firm food; my digestive system sometimes shuts down if I eat too much and I have to bring it back up; and a hacking cough that I’ve had off and on for about two years.
I’ve talked to multiple doctors about all of these symptoms and they’ve all said they have no idea what they are, what they mean, or what to do about them. I may go back again since persistent shortness of breath is new. But I’m not confident they’ll tell me anything useful. And scheduling things like a doctor’s appointment is a major pain when you work third shift.
bago
That’s a look of hesitation.
And??? is the question that face seems to he asking.
Major Major Major Major
My mom’s coming to watch my Krav class tomorrow. I was like “you should join! Just tell them you’re new” and she was like “oh heeelllllll no.”
Should be fun.
Aleta
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym: Sometimes the diaphram muscle can spasm and sometimes the muscles around the esophagus itself can spasm. I think the first one can cause shortness of breath, or the 2nd one can cause food to come back up. Since the esophagus goes through the diaphram, if the different muscles stop working together smoothly, I believe that area can get sort of stuck open or else cramped down, and it’s painful while it lasts. The valve going out of the stomach into the small intestine can also get stuck open. Relaxation breathing can help to keep the muscles relaxed so it happens less. But I think some drs would want to check on the other organs than are right below the diaphram. It’s said that stress or else too much breathing from the chest can affect the signals from the brain to the muscles. When my brother gets anxious, for example, he can’t swallow. Also, I recently learned that some medications can cause shortness of breath. By the way, I’m not that knowledgeable, just seen some family members have problems in that area. I hope your doctor pays better attention to you next time. It ‘s infuriating when they don’t explain or help. Grrrrrrr Also, I believe that acid reflux can cause coughing and other weird things. Too much coffee sometimes closes down the stomach or makes it empty. Some friends of mine have changed what they eat to stop getting cramps.
David Koch
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym: this is very serious. based on my family experiences.
it could be a pulmonary embolism.
it could be congestive heart failure
it could be dangerously high blood pressure.
it could be a blocked artery. (you might have to insist on angiogram)
you really need to push your doctor as they are often reluctant to order tests if the HMO (like Kaiser) is tight fisted.
My dad had sudden shortness of breath at age 47 and he was misdiagnosed as bronchitis, when it turned out to be a Puliminary embolism.
My grandmother had sudden shortness of breath at age 69 and she was misdiagnosed as bronchitis, when she had congestive heart failure.
My granddad had sudden shortness of breath at age 78 and he was misdiagnosed with COPD, when he had a blocked artery.
it was only after making a 2nd visit and strongly insisting for a solution that they received simple life saving treatment.
Major Major Major Major
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym: It’s not just while swallowing, right? In my family we have a history of esophogeal rings, specifically the scar tissue variety, that can seem like a lot of different things and you need to diagnose them with a barium swallow.
Aleta
Again, limited knowledge, but the organs right under the diaphram–pancreas, liver, gall bladder–all have ducts and valves to connect them to the small intestine. They can get blocked with a stone, etc. which is painful. Or the enzymes/fluids can’t get through properly, and there can be effects elsewhere. As far as insisting to a dr, sometimes it helps to write something down on paper and insist on handing it to them. Like, ‘can you rule out a heart problem.’ ‘Is x a possibility’. Etc, Especially if they are trying to rush out the door, I find them more likely to act and do tests if they are shown questions on paper. Because then if they are wrong, they have less excuse for missing a diagnosis.
raven
@Aleta: What do you know about wrist-forearm cancer? I sliced my pinky a week ago and they found a lesion on my arm.I’ve had the MRI’s and see an orthropod tomorrow to rule it out. The google tells me that kind of cancer is rare so I’m going with that.
BillinGlendaleCA
I have a cold and it sucks.
Raven
@BillinGlendaleCA: Take 2 of these and call me in the morning!
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym: Get things checked out as David suggests.
Another possibility, one that is not quite so scary, is that it is muscular. Have you ever been in a car accident or had other whiplash like injuries? Even if there’s no “major” damage, muscles can get moved around and cause lots of localized tightness as they try to adjust – even if the injury was 20 years ago – especially if you’re under stress (as you undoubtedly are now). Physicians are often almost useless when it comes to muscle problems. A good physical therapist can work wonders in those cases.
Don’t tell yourself it’s nothing. Get it checked out.
Good luck.
Cheers,
Scott.
danielx
Every so often – frequently, in fact – you read the title of a David Brook column, in this case ‘The Center-Right Moment’*, and you don’t even have to read the column to know at least the general theme of my man Dave’s musings/drivelings.
*No link for you, B’rer Brooks.
Tommy
@Raven: Or take some BC Powder. It is a southren thing. Make you feel much better.
OzarkHillbilly
@David Koch: My oldest Sis had sudden shortness of breath and died walking out her door for the 2nd day of testing. Autopsy showed a blocked scarred pulmonary artery.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Raven: I just took 2 NyQuils and it is morning, I think.
Tommy
@OzarkHillbilly: That is messed up. So sorry to hear that.
JPL
@danielx: Without clicking to the article itself, I managed to read the first sentence… Across the globe, voters are electing center-right leaders with fairly similar platforms. The notable exception is the United States.
Our current President is trying to fast track a trade bill and has agreed to new drilling in the arctic but continues to viewed as far left. I’m not sure what center right means.
Punchy
Christ, Nepal cant catch a break.
OzarkHillbilly
@Tommy: That was 20 yrs ago. I miss her terribly as she was my closest sibling (in character, not age). We live, We die.
BillinGlendaleCA
@JPL: Joe Scar.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
@JPL: Someone to the right of Obama. The ability of right wingers to seize on one or two things among a sea of conservative beliefs of the part of their politicians to condemn them as No True Republican is well mirrored on the left.
raven
@Tommy: BC or Goody’s. I haven’t had any since I quit drinking but I can taste them when I think about it.
PST
BJ is so full of animal lovers that I’m bringing my problem to the open thread here instead of some specialized pet forum with strangers. I’m struggling with the question of euthanasia for my ancient, declining cat. Tucker is probably 21 or so. The shelter’s vet thought he was around three when he came to live with us 18 years ago last October. He’s been a friendly, good-natured cat from day 1, but never a cuddly cat. Under the usual rules of introducing a new cat to the old one, he spent his first week isolated in a room where I was working from home, so he’s always considered himself my cat, which was a good thing since I’m the only member of that original household (human or animal) who hasn’t left home or passed away. He seemed to be in good shape up until less than a year ago. His kidneys were failing, as many cat’s do, so he drank like a fish. But he was able to keep up, so his BUN and creatinine never got much over normal. He’s been mildly anemic, too, which is part of the pattern. None of that put much of a cramp in his style, though, until he began losing weight rapidly last fall. He has gone from 12 pounds to six, and he looks skeletal, even though his appetite remains good. He loves his prescription kidney disease diet. He has diarrhea almost all the time, sometimes completely liquid, but he’s been to the vet several times for a complete workup and never been in acute kidney failure or otherwise sick with anything that can be identified. He poops on the floor sometimes, but never pees where he shouldn’t, and adding a litter box near his bed has helped. He throws up more than he used to, but he’s always been a gacker. It’s his only fault. He’s weaker than he used to be, he can’t jump very high, and he sleeps pretty much all day, but those things are normal for an old kitty. He isn’t grooming himself like he used to, and he’s starting to smell a little like a dog. (What an insult!) But he still gets up and walks around frequently enough, even when he’s just patrolling his territory or looking for company, that I can’t say he’s given up on life.
So what’s the problem? It worries me that he has begun to crave attention in a way he never did before. He had literally never, even once, sat in anyone’s lap until recently. Now he begs to be picked up. I could never hold him more than 30 seconds or so (and knew better than to try), but now he likes to be held for as long as I’ve got a free arm. I just wonder if that means he’s in pain or discomfort that he has no way to communicate, and that the desire to be held is a search for relief. That seems more likely than a personality change late in life. Then a couple of days ago he did something so contrary to cat nature that it broke my heart. He walked into the room, then suddenly crouched and let loose a huge puddle of liquid shit. He tried to walk forward, but staggered back, stepped in the puddle with both hind feet, and then sat in it. I was certainly glad I was watching so he didn’t spread it all over the apartment. As he stood up and walked away, seemingly without noticing, I grabbed him and rushed him to the sink to clean him off. In good times, I imagine only one of us would have emerged from the bathroom alive if I’d tried a trick like that. Now he only wiggled halfheartedly.
I’ve put dogs and cats to sleep before, but they all had cancer that either couldn’t be treated or seemed unwise to treat except palliatively. The decision isn’t difficult in principle with cancer, the only question is when. Now I’m not sure what to do. I’m leaning toward not yet, but maybe soon. He’s never going to get anything but worse. I just wish I knew if the old boy was in pain. I would like to know what other people think.
raven
@PST: Do your best and try not to beat yourself up. It’s part of our nature to second-guess everything.
I usually save this for after:
We who choose to surround ourselves
with lives even more temporary than our
own, live within a fragile circle;
easily and often breached.
Unable to accept its awful gaps,
we would still live no other way.
We cherish memory as the only
certain immortality, never fully
understanding the necessary plan.
— Irving Townsend
Central Planning
@PurpleGirl: You need the .com at the end of your link
http://www.livestream.com/tinykittens/nestcam
Sleep-deprived mistake ;)
OzarkHillbilly
@PST:
gogol's wife
@Elizabelle:
Check out “Wiseguy” — it’s on YouTube. Jonathan Banks is the most hilarious sidekick ever on that show. The immortal McPike.
JPL
@PST: How sad! Sometimes it sucks having to be the adult and make decisions but the cat sounds like it’s on his ninth life. hugs
gogol's wife
@PST:
The problem is that sometimes, when they do start to be in pain, it’s all of a sudden, they’re howling, and it’s not at a time that you can easily get to the vet. It sounds to me as if you might think about it, if you can bear it. 21 is a very ripe old age for a cat. But what Raven said — do the best you can, and whatever happens, don’t beat yourself up. There’s no perfect time for it. I am so sorry — you sound like such a loving companion to your cat.
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: @PST: I know it’s difficult, but he is only going to get worse, and I would suspect he’s in a bit of discomfort due to the wanting cuddles and the last episode. He’s had an extraordinary long and I assume happy life with you, but if he was mine I would consider euthanasia at this point. We can spare them suffering we can’t spare our human family, and he sounds like he’s getting close to the end anyway.
And, I know how it feels, so sorry you and he are going through this.
OzarkHillbilly
Shorter Texas Gov. Greg Abbott: Texans are absolutely wacko and it’s all Obama’s fault.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
Well, Obama is black. Can’t blame that on Texas.
OzarkHillbilly
Good short read about Water: the weirdest liquid on the planet A lot of things we know and don’t really think about but when added all together… just amazing stuff that old H2O.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: Why not?
PurpleGirl
@Central Planning: Thank you. Yes, I went to sleep shortly thereafter.
(I even fell asleep on my bed. For most of a year, I’ve had sleep problems and slept in my recliner.during the day.)
@PST: Is your cat purring more than normal? I read somewhere (don’t remember where, though) that cats purr for any number of reason, not just because they are happy or content. Cats can purr as a way to relieve stress or cope with pain. (Other BJers are welcome to correct me if this wrong.)
Germy Shoemangler
@raven:
That put some tears in my eyes. Thinking about all my gone companions.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
Thanks. Good read.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
Oh…um…well…Don’t mess with Texas!
debbie
@JPL:
White.
Josie
@PST: Your kitty is showing you how sick he is by his uncharacteristic behaviors – cuddling, not grooming, and not fighting the bath. He may be hiding his discomfort because animals do that as a survival mechanism. If he were mine, I would be thinking seriously about euthanasia. Every animal lover has their own feelings about this, but I would err on the side of saving the animal from suffering. It is the last, best thing we can do for them. It is up to you to decide what you are most comfortable with. I’m sorry that you are facing this. It is not ever easy.
ThresherK
@OzarkHillbilly: I can only declare, mouth agape, this to be “mighty white” of Abbott:
This is the kind of horseshit that Joe Lieberman would be proud to claim. I’d much rather meet Abbott in a dark alley than trust him to have my back.
MomSense
@PST:
I waited too long with my kitty because I kept looking for signs that he was improving and because I kept thinking that I should let the antibiotics run its course to give him a chance to recover. He was definitely in pain the last day and a half and I wish I had acted sooner to spare him that.
Cervantes
Non sequitur.
At best.
Anyway, insomnia is akin to torture. Hope you vanquish it soon — or if soon is too much to hope for, then eventually.
WereBear
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym: Here’s what it sounds like to me:
The Many Strange Symptoms of GERD
It’s a whole series. It’s incredibly common and right now doctors do the wrong thing.
Germy Shoemangler
@ThresherK: But did he really ever label it as “workplace violence” or is that just more strawman bullshit?
I’ve never seen a president with more words put into his mouth. If someone can find me a link where Obama calls that incident workplace violence, I’ll believe it. And not the Blaze.
Also, last night we watched Michelle Obama’s commencement address. We got tired of seeing tiny little fragments of it on the news. The college posted the whole speech.
OzarkHillbilly
@ThresherK:
Well, considering that he is wheel chair bound…. ;-)
Germy Shoemangler
Zimmerman’s shooter is a white guy (which is what the RWNJs were all wondering)
http://www.wesh.com/news/george-zimmerman-involved-in-shooting-in-lake-mary-police-say/32943828
Which means we won’t be hearing much about it from them. If a black guy shot at him, we’d be in an endless news cycle: “Was Zimmerman right? Are they all dangerous animals? Up next on Fox”
OzarkHillbilly
@Germy Shoemangler: Not surprised. I didn’t think George hung out around too many black people. (“long running dispute” they said)
Paul in KY
@PST: Sounds like it’s time to let him go. 21 great years with you is more than most any cat gets. Make sure he’s not in pain.
WereBear
@PST: He is in pain.
He’s asking for help. And, sadly, there’s only one kind left to give.
Dear Pammy, But my cat still has good times!
You’ve given him a wonderful life. Keep going.
Tom
@Betty Cracker: Actually, he was one of Nolte’s fellow cops.
Still awesome, though. One of my favorite character actors.
“How’s the wife?”
“Mean as a snake.”
Tom
@opiejeanne: That’s why cat owners get very good at reading body language.
They meow at us humans because we’re too dumb to recognize visual cues.
J R in WV
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym:
I was prone to low back muscle spasms, and finally my Dr put me on flex-aril, which is a muscle relaxant, and now my back spasms (which were crippling!) are much less frequent/severe.
Another relaxant specifically for the digestive system is lib-rax, which I use occasionally for irritable bowel syndrome – a life saver for that problem.
Of course I have added hyphens to those names optimistically hoping FYWP will allow me to post them for your interest.
Shortness of breath is nothing to ignore!
Good luck!
J R in WV
@PST:
The last hardest responsibility to our fuzzy kids is to take them for that last ride. I have lost count, as I am 64 and have had as many as 9 cats at one time (after a surprise birth of 5, 3 or 4 is a more number census).
One was snarfed by an owl, a youngster, one by a coyote, and one by a car. The others (like 15 or 20) have all made that drive. Our vets are very compassionate, and hate that responsibility as much as we pet supporters do. But once they have trouble even getting around on a flat surface, you have to consider that the time is now.
I have always thought that I waited too long after the sad event rather than wished I had waited longer, as the relief is so apparent – our vets give a very mild sed-ative, to relax the little person, who is usually either on the quilt on the floor or on a lap while we sit on the floor on the quilt. Then in 20 minutes or so two of them come in for the big dose of barbit-uates to stop the pain.
While Mrs J was in the hospital with septic shock (59 days, pretty complete recovery after much home therapy!) I had to do two very elderly tomcats who both had kidney failure, and then go to the hospital to be with Mrs. They would sneak into bed as I fell asleep and lie against my head to help stay warm, that’s how close we were. Rufus first, and then Harvey… both were nearly 20, which is like 110 in cat years!
Good luck! And get another youngster right away, we never wait more than a couple of weeks. It helps your loneliness and saves a kitty life!!
It absolutely does not reduce the respect you had for your lost fuzy buddy, so don’t worry about that at all!!
shell
Thanks, Betty. That pic made me laugh out loud. Was she watching with you.?
*********
At first I thought she was looking spooked. We had our first spring thunderstorm yesterday and my dog was freaking.
Paul in KY
@J R in WV: Excellent post. You are a fine person, JR.
PST
Thank you to everyone who provided insight with regard to my old cat. I’m not reluctant to do what is necessary when the time comes. It is difficult, though, to know when a cat is suffering quietly. He’s not crying or flinching or running or hiding. I appreciate the suggestions.
Aleta
@raven: Is there a reason why they didn’t do a biopsy yet? Someone earlier wrote about benign nodules on the wrist or fingers being common. My mom had them, too. When I had a cancer possibility, I found an anecdote to my worry was to look at how various the good parts of my life had been.
Aleta
@PST: It helped me during that anguished period of doubt (which is horribly painful) to decide on some criteria, and I ran them past my vet. They were sort of pleasure based. Did she enjoy being groomed (I used a toothbrush when she got thin, and she did feel a lot better after). Did she still have interest in eating. (A limited ingredient diet with probiotics is easier to digest. I used wellness chicken canned because that has the right levels of ingredients for kidney diets plus has no grains, which is easier on their intestines.). The thing that really eased their comfort was giving fluids at home. I swore I’d never do it, but if your vet thinks it’s Ok for that cat, it can help because it flushes out the toxins that the kidneys no longer remove. It’s the toxins that make them hurt, and make them nauseous so they won’t eat. The increased desire to be near you can be because they crave extra body heat. I had a cat warming pad that only went on if they got on it. It helped their comfort, cost about 35 dollars, and still works after 10 years. If the fluids seem an option, the vet can do it once and you can see if it helps. But I also believe no answer is the best one because it’s rough no matter what.
Aleta
@raven: although, that last idea only worked for the anticipatory anxiety, doesn’t help when I have something actual like depression or torn ligaments etc.