posted 03-22-2003 02:33 PM           

When a animal begins to show signs of distress do the right thing and get the boy or girl to the vet and maybe this will save yourself the grief from loosing a loving pet.

I speak this from experience if our boys and girls could talk they would say the same thing but being they our animals they act strange, wierd when they are in distress. This is their way of speaking to us in hopes we will respond the right way.

I just wish I would have taken a male cat of mine to the vet when he started acting strange. I just passed it off as a hairball or something and by the time I got him to the vet he died during the treatment from an infection that if caught early could have been treated and could have saved his life.

Just thinking thats all not to offend anyone.

posted 09-16-2003 07:48 AM         

I thought this was an excellent piece of advice that Mac posted a few months back and wanted to bring it to light again. Our animals are like our kids and we would take our kids to a doctor right away when they aren't feeling well or give them medications to fix the problem - and kids can actually tll us whats wrong and how they feel.

Animals can't be as verbally expressive - if at all - and we need to be more proactive on our part (as many of us are).

posted 09-16-2003 10:55 AM         

I don't take my kids to the doctor immediately. Most illnesses are minor and don't need a doctor. It's not a matter of money since we only pay $10 for an office visit. But it is a waste of the doctors' time and resources, it could potentially get my kids MORE sick by exposing them to illnesses while their immune systems are already weakened, and it causes them even more discomfort to go sit in a waiting room rather than napping in bed.

So in my opinion, the "wait and see" approach is not evil. Yes, sometimes things need immediate attention and by all means in that case GO! And go FAST!

We all hear about the tragic cases - be it humans or animals - when "something could have been done" if only we had got them attention sooner. But that's why they say hindsight is 20/20. If we could tell without a doubt which situations are emergencies and which are not, these tragedies would not happen.

BUT, you also can't live your life in fear of every little thing that COULD have bad results. Trust me, I have walked that line before and eventually you just have to let go and put some faith in your own instincts.

Educate yourself, take precautions, seek professionals when in doubt. But try not to agonize over every decision, and don't forget to live a little. Life is a dangerous thing, but it's worth it.

posted 09-16-2003 11:24 AM         

Whitey was neutered as all my cat's are but this experience taught me dearly and loosing a pet regardless if it's a dog or cat is never an easy process to go through.

I still grieve his lost along with Tom Socks a domestic long hair whom I had to have put down a couple month's ago while he was in the Intensive Care. God that was so hard saying good bye to Tom Socks and leaving the Vets office in total tears. I just remember feeling so empty and helpless as if this was all my fault.

Bereavement from a lost of a pet is filled with many emotions that don't make sense and are different from a human lost but are a normal part of the process that one should not go alone.

Cat, this was a good reminder and thanks for reposting. It was intended only in love and not judgment toward others as I'm sure you know and only hoped it would save someone a little grief when their little companions started showing wierd behaviour's that their not use to seeing.

posted 09-17-2003 06:39 AM         

I, too, have been in your shoes, Mac. My dog died this summer. She was 11.5 years old, but she was a terrier so she should have lived to at least 15-20. She was always very healthy. A few times over the years, she would get a little cold and stop eating. My husband grew up with dogs, so I usually followed his lead. He would advise watching her and waiting....and always after a day or two she'd perk right up and be fine.

The beginning of July, she stopped eating. Since my husband and I share feeding her (he fed her in the evening and I fed her in the morning) she had been off her food for a day before I found out. It was a Friday and I was already at work when I compared notes with my husband and realized she had not been eating.

So that night I spent some time evaluating. She was definitely droopy, but she would come when called, she wagged her tail, she was drinking her water. I felt all over her body and palpated her tummy, and she was not in any pain. We decided to wait, since it was after 5pm on a Friday at that point.

Looking back, I can see that she seemed a little worse Friday evening than she had Friday morning, and usually that was not the case. It was a mild enough difference at the time that I missed it.

She usually slept in her kennel in the garage, but it was really hot, so I found her old crate and cleaned it up so she could come inside. I went out to get her and she was not there. We had already bought tickets to a movie and were on our way out, and it was quite a nice temperature outside (the garage had not cooled down, but it was lovely outside) so we figured she was lying in her favorite spot on the deck and we went out.

We came home and she was not back in her kennel. My husband said I should not go outside to look for her, that she had probably fallen asleep and if I woke her she'd go back in the garage where it was hot. I shouldn't have listened, but I tend to overreact so again I followed his lead.

I woke up early Saturday morning, and she was still not in her kennel. I went out back and found her lying in the grass, dead. You cannot imagine how I felt. She died alone. I cried for weeks. She was such a good little dog.

My only consolation is that my husband pointed out that the vet might not have been able to do anything. She may have been alone, but at least she was home and not scared at some vet's office that she had never been to (we have a retired vet come to our home to do vaccinations and she had not been sick in years so she wasn't familiar with the vet's office). Also, she never had to grow old and be sick and get arthritis and go through the suffering that it seems a lot of old dogs go through. She chose her time to go.

I still rip myself apart over "what if's" and "should have done's" but it really doesn't help. We love our animals and we do our best for them. I look at my new puppy and am terrified I will give her the wrong chew toy and she will choke, or some other terrible thing will happen to her. But I am learning to let go.

Hocus, I loved you very much and I am so sorry I was not there to hold you in your final moments. Please forgive me.

posted 09-17-2003 04:30 PM         

The "What If's" are the biggest thing I believe to get over when we loose our pets to illiness or maybe even a big mistake we didn't mean to do. We are only human at least the last time I checked myself I was.

Cat, this message is for you too. All is well and glad you take the time to post.
The board is here to help and it only comes from caring people like yourself that read and respond to the post's that are given.

Mac :-)

posted 09-17-2003 04:39 PM         

Also there is a place in Atlanta called Spay and Nueter Atlanta. They do discount vetting. (umm, I think I made that word up) Anyway, it was 20.00 to get the boys neutered (or which ever you do to boys) and their rabies shots are 10.00. It's a great place. They found one of the boys had a heart murmur and referred us to a place that trains vets to do ultrasounds, etc, so one weekend a month, they have a free clinic.