into the dark

Hugs on the kitty, Lara.

Big hugs again on losing your kitty, babe. :(

And you KNOW how much I love the Kiss of Crimson cover. In a HUGE HUGE way. *snicker*

So sorry about the kitty. Big fat hugs.

And I can't wait to see the Crimson cover. Hurry! Hurry! Post!

aw, lara. so sorry about the kitty. that's really tough. when we got the diagnosis for our cat, i immediately knew he should be put down. ER vet talked me out of it. oh, we can do this, and we can do this, and we can do this. the cat was in misery for two months. it was awful. don't know if that makes you feel any better, but i'd never go the subcutaneous route again. plus he hated the diet food, plus the pills gave him a belly ache and made him puke. constant blood tests. no quality of life in any of that. my only regret was putting him through those two months. oh, and the $3000 vet bill.

Thanks for the sympathy, you guys.

Anne, I'm sorry to hear about your cat's ordeal. It's so hard sometimes to know what's best, and, ultimately, to be willing to give up if nothing else seems right. At least you can say that you tried, but I hear you about the extended torture.

Max was sent home with a collection of medicines that would have required six doses per day, plus the kidney diet food, plus Pepcid AC for the nausea, and the added bonus of weekly vet trips for the SQ fluids. And bear in mind that this cat was almost wild when she arrived on our back deck four years ago. Her previous owner had declawed her (bastards), and whether she was tossed out, abandoned, or ran away, we can never know. She came to us a skinny, filthy, frightened little thing. We loved her instantly. :)

I am certain we made the right decision for her, but I only wish we could have caught her condition sooner. And yeah, the $800+ vet bill (not counting euthanasia, which hasn't come in yet) only adds insult to injury.

(((hugs))) on your loss. I lost my beloved Geordie during our move last June, and putting her to sleep was easily the hardest thing I've ever done. I still can't think about it without crying. Which I'm doing now. So big hugs. It sounds like you gave her a fantastic life. :)

And congrats on the cover!!! I wanna seeeeeeee!

Thanks, Larissa. I'm sorry to hear about Geordie, too! ((hugs)) It's so hard letting a pet go. They're family members. To me, since I don't have kids, they're my babies.

I wanted to tell you that I checked out your pet pages on your (fabulous! brand new!) website and wow, that's a lot of helpful info. We actually had been feeding Max almost exclusively wet food, rather by her choice, since she would turn her nose up at dry and wait for the "treats" of her favorite, Fancy Feast. Eventually it ended up that she was on a wet food diet. Perhaps too little, too late, however.

There are just so many conflicting sources on how to best care for your cat. Like raising children, you get informed as much as possible, and then all you can do is try your best.

Again, big hugs on losing Geordie.

Awww, thanks, Lara. Pets are SO special...my husband thinks I'm crazy when I do thinks like sleep on the bathroom floor with my sick kitty all night or get up every two hours to nurse baby mice, but heh--I keep telling him that if I'm that nuturing, it bodes well for him when he's in diapers and I'm having to take care of his dumb old ass! *g*

And yeah, like everything, there's a lot of conflicting info on pet nutrition. The problem is that vets spend very little time learning about nutrition, and what they learn is determined by the pet food companies--total conflict of interest.

Finally, some schools are getting with it, and many of the younger vets are eschewing recommendations of the "prescription foods," and crap in favor of decent canned diets. It's about time!

BTW...Fancy Feast is the wet food that got Geordie off dry food and into diabetic remission! :) You done good! *g* And (((hugs))) again on your loss.