Pet(s): Photos & Discussion

[Bastet]

That's horrible!  FIP is a terrible disease, so to have infection rates like that means the death toll is going to be shockingly high.

[SuprSuprElevated]

[SuprSuprElevated]

[SuprSuprElevated]

[peacheslatour]

Does anyone here have health insurance for their pets? My husband and I are thinking about insuring Elizabeth but he wonders if it's worth it.

[Bastet]

7 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Does anyone here have health insurance for their pets? My husband and I are thinking about insuring Elizabeth but he wonders if it's worth it.

Consumer Reports ran an article on this some time ago, concluding that for the majority of pet owners, they would be financially better off putting whatever money they'd pay an insurance company as a premium into a dedicated account each month, because almost everyone pays significantly more in premiums over the course of the pet's life than they get back as a covered expense.  So with the account, whatever money didn't wind up being needed is theirs to spend on something else, rather than sitting in the insurer's bank account.

I've never done the dedicated account part, I just make sure I always maintain enough in savings to cover an expensive emergency.

Edited July 18, 2023 by Bastet

[peacheslatour]

4 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Consumer Reports ran an article on this some time ago, concluding that for the majority of pet owners, they would be financially better off putting whatever money they'd pay an insurance company as a premium into a dedicated account, because almost everyone pays significantly more in premiums over the course of the pet's life than they get back as a covered expense.  So with the account, whatever money didn't wind up being needed is theirs to spend on something else, rather than sitting in the insurer's bank account.

I've never done the dedicated account part, I just make sure I always maintain enough in savings to cover an expensive emergency.

Yes, that was pretty much his point. Thank you!

[SuprSuprElevated]

[secnarf]

9 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Does anyone here have health insurance for their pets? My husband and I are thinking about insuring Elizabeth but he wonders if it's worth it.

I haven't had pet insurance in the past, but I do now.

For my childhood cat, we didn't have pet insurance and didn't need it. She lived til age 18 and a half, and it was really only in the last year that she had medical issues, and they weren't crazy expensive or anything.

For my first cat, Echo, I didn't get pet insurance. She died a year ago from lung cancer. I spent the entire year preceding her death chasing a diagnosis, which finally came 365 days after the first vet appt for this issue. Part of the delay was COVID/workload related, but a big part of it was also that we were doing things in such a stepwise approach, treating all of the things it "could be" rather than springing for a referral and CT earlier. And then even when I got the referral, I ended up opting for a less expensive lung biopsy, but was extremely worried she would get a pneumothorax (a possible complication) because a chest tube and overnight hospital stay would likely would have been upwards of $10000. Anyways, the day I took her for the biopsy, she reacted badly to the sedative and they couldn't do it. That day, we also found a metastatic lesion on her toe (lung digit syndrome). It was formally diagnosed as lung digit syndrome four days later, and she died four days after that, euthanized emergently after developing saddle thrombus as a cancer-related complication.

If we had diagnosed her a year earlier, she could have had surgery to remove the lesion and survived. Not that that would have been cheap either. Even if I could afford treatment, nobody wants to drop several thousand dollars if it's not necessary and there is a cheaper option - and often the drugs are cheaper than the diagnostics, so we would just try different treatments. I did do the math on Echo afterwards, and with the expenses I paid just in her last year, it was roughly equal to how much I would have spent on insurance over the time that I had her (almost 10 years). However, if I had insurance, I would have gone for more expensive tests sooner that might have allowed a diagnosis in time to save her.

So now for Ginny and Luna, I got pet insurance mostly for the peace of mind and impact on my decision making, so that cost isn't as much of a factor and we don't need to waste so much time trying different treatments. I also opted for a relatively high deductible ($700) because I can afford that for sure, and it's really the ++ expensive things that I want the insurance for. So I pay $20/month/cat (Canadian dollars).

This is Echo, the night before she crossed the rainbow bridge. She was the best cat ever.

[peacheslatour]

Quote

 I spent the entire year preceding her death chasing a diagnosis, which finally came 365 days after the first vet appt for this issue. Part of the delay was COVID/workload related, but a big part of it was also that we were doing things in such a stepwise approach, treating all of the things it "could be" rather than springing for a referral and CT earlier. 

This is what happened with our Peaches. If they had even just done X-Rays instead of pushing pills on us, we would have known much earlier.

[secnarf]

25 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

This is what happened with our Peaches. If they had even just done X-Rays instead of pushing pills on us, we would have known much earlier.

We did lots of x-rays for Echo - they weren't normal but weren't diagnostic. Apparently lung cancer isn't always visible on chest x-rays. The last x-ray she got, at the specialized vet centre, they also initially told me there were no lesions/masses and that it wasn't cancer because cancer would have progressed in a year. The next day I was called back because under the fancy lighting they saw a faint shadow that looked like it could be a mass, and that's what we decided to biopsy. There are reports in the literature of not being able to see lung cancer in cats on x-ray but shows up well on CT.

[bosawks]

Just once in my life I want to be this happy…..

[AgentRXS]

I lost my sweet Ella last night. I found her dying and rushed to the vet. I am really not a fan of the vet trying to sell me on expensive bloodwork when my cat is clearly dying.

She was such a sweet companion and so laid back. She only hissed once in her whole life and she never had a attitude and loved to cuddle. I’ll miss my sweet baby so much. RIP my precious Ella. 

[Gramto6]

I am so sorry for your loss @AgentRXS.  At least sweet Ella is in no pain any more and you will meet again at the Rainbow Bridge. (((Hugs, Hugs, Hugs)))

[JTMacc99]

Oh @AgentRXS, I’m so sorry to hear this. 

[Gramto6]

On a happier note, I found a local organization that will spay/neuter all of my yard tigers at no charge and then bring them back to me. I was in tears after talking to the woman. I was afraid I was going to have to get animal control to pick most of them up and as ferals, they would all be put down.  My heart just couldn't let me do that. I'll gladly keep all of them as long as they won't/can't reproduce any longer. 

The woman said she would also help getting hay bales to build winter housing for them!

 

Edited July 20, 2023 by Gramto6

[emma675]

@AgentRXS I'm so sorry for your loss.

[Bastet]

51 minutes ago, Gramto6 said:

On a happier note, I found a local organization that will spay/neuter all of my yard tigers at no charge and then bring them back to me.

HOORAY -- Finally!  It stinks this was so difficult to find in your area, but what matters is there's now someone to help; what great news, and I'm so glad you kept at it after coming up empty.  Do they have a long wait list, or will it be done soon?  Here the organizations are all overwhelmed by the number of feral cats in need of TNR.

1 hour ago, AgentRXS said:

I lost my sweet Ella last night. I found her dying and rushed to the vet. I am really not a fan of the vet trying to sell me on expensive bloodwork when my cat is clearly dying.

Yeah, it doesn't matter knowing what she's dying of if she's clearly dying (and it's not as if you don't know more than the average bear about animal health!).  I'm so sorry to hear your sweetie is no longer with you.  It is just heartbreaking to lose them. 

[ginger90]

So very sorry @AgentRXS. 

[secnarf]

Aww @AgentRXS I'm so sorry for your loss.

[supposebly]

4 hours ago, AgentRXS said:

I lost my sweet Ella last night. I found her dying and rushed to the vet. I am really not a fan of the vet trying to sell me on expensive bloodwork when my cat is clearly dying.

I'm so sorry for your loss, @AgentRXS. She looks like she had a wonderful life with you. 

[Bastet]

On 6/29/2023 at 2:42 PM, Bastet said:

Riley has spent the day at the hospital, but I can go get her in about an hour.  It is so damn weird when she's not here!  Still many tests pending that have to be sent to outside labs, but from the battery done in-house, thus far it looks like another occurrence of her mystery digestive issue from three years ago.  Which is really frustrating, when even specialists can't find what's causing it, but it will be nice if it turns out there's no new, additional problem.

Quoting myself to say, yeah, that's where we are -- she's acting very similarly to three years ago, and once again even the latest specialist and their additional extensive tests can't explain why.  I'm glad nothing terrible has popped up anew, but, damn, I'd have loved for some "She has X and needs Y treatment to recover" to emerge.  Last time took months to get her feeling 100%, and this time she's mostly been the same level of sick so that it's well worth asking of her if she can wind up perfectly fine on the other side as she did three years ago, but she had a bad day Monday that was so bad it had me questioning quality of life.  I'm hoping I'll soon get her back to the Eh, I'm not myself, but it's okay stage and then we can muddle through however long it takes to get her fully recovered. 

But, gods, it's torture on both of us in the meantime.  I don't want to see any of my babies feel unwell and not have anything to fix it, but it's extra hard in the cat who's the happiest I've ever had.  To see those eyes in particular looking at me in confusion is extra brutal.

Worst of all, the drug that helped a little last time and is indeed indicated again this time is part of a supply chain disaster, and we've thus far been unable to procure any.

Edited July 20, 2023 by Bastet

[Mindthinkr]

@AgentRXS I’m very sorry to hear about Ella 😿🌈💔

[peacheslatour]

I'm so sorry Bastet. 

[SuprSuprElevated]

@AgentRXS, I'm so terribly sorry for the loss of your sweet Ella. Let the joy from your time together see you through~

@Bastet- I'm hoping that Riley's health improves quickly. I will send you some virtual strength to help make whatever decisions are best for you both~

[Bastet]

I had to go with an online company, but I finally found a compounding pharmacy that has Riley's medication.  They're the ones who did Chester's chemo medication since the mom & pop place my family typically uses for compounded pet meds didn't stock it, and my parents were very happy with them.  (And they sent a toy with each refill; we'll see if they still do that.) 

So am I -- the hospital staff kept screwing up the Rx, and the pharmacy took the initiative to call and get it straightened out.  Excellent customer service.  It's called Mixlab, and all they do is pet meds.  Free next-day shipping nationwide, and in NYC and L.A. delivery is in person, and available same day for about ten bucks extra.  So if any pet parents here ever need a veterinary Rx, especially one that needs to be compounded, and don't have a good local option, I recommend it.  https://www.mixlab.com/

Edited July 23, 2023 by Bastet

[ABay]

Any advice/opinions on getting rid of rats? I stopped feeding birds last year and disposed of all the food because I saw a rat. Until a few minutes ago, I hadn't seen one since. I blamed the bird food last year but I wonder if my neighbors are doing something to attract it and it just decided to check out my yard while it was foraging. My usual feeling with critters of all sorts is, as long as it's outside, I don't care. But rats...Thoughts?

[Leeds]

Delilah's "What, me?" look.

 

Edited July 20, 2023 by Leeds

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, ABay said:

Any advice/opinions on getting rid of rats? I stopped feeding birds last year and disposed of all the food because I saw a rat. Until a few minutes ago, I hadn't seen one since. I blamed the bird food last year but I wonder if my neighbors are doing something to attract it and it just decided to check out my yard while it was foraging. My usual feeling with critters of all sorts is, as long as it's outside, I don't care. But rats...Thoughts?

We live near a lake in kind of a resort town so lots of restaurants. We get rats. My husband uses traps to kill them. Elizabeth would kill them too but we don't let her go outside.

[SuprSuprElevated]

[Bastet]

5 hours ago, ABay said:

My usual feeling with critters of all sorts is, as long as it's outside, I don't care. But rats...Thoughts?

We have a lot of rats in my area, and as long as they stay outside, I'm okay with that.  I periodically re-check potential entry points I'd secured (they need such a small space to be able to squeeze through!) to make sure they're still rat proof.

[Gramto6]

On 7/19/2023 at 7:00 PM, Bastet said:

HOORAY -- Finally!  It stinks this was so difficult to find in your area, but what matters is there's now someone to help; what great news, and I'm so glad you kept at it after coming up empty.  Do they have a long wait list, or will it be done soon?  Here the organizations are all overwhelmed by the number of feral cats in need of TNR.

 

They are coming to start the trapping Sept 5. They are on vacation for the month of August that is why the longish wait. 

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

We have a lot of rats in my area, and as long as they stay outside, I'm okay with that.  I periodically re-check potential entry points I'd secured (they need such a small space to be able to squeeze through!) to make sure they're still rat proof.

Rats and mice are 2 problems I don't have around here any more with all my yard tigers!! They are tremendous mousers and would make terrific barn cats. Once they are all fixed I'm going to see if I can find a few people in need of a barn cat.

[Bastet]

The problem here is too many people are still too ignorant or heartless and put out mouse/rat poison, which of course not only causes a prolonged, cruel death for the rodent, but also can cause serious illness or death in an animal who eats the poisoned critter during its doom period.  State laws have eliminated or restricted sale of the worst over the years, but there still remain available things that should never be used by anyone with a functioning brain and conscience.  An electronic or even an old-fashioned snap trap is a more humane death for the rodent, and, depending on where placed, may eliminate the risk of collateral damage to other animals.  But there are still too many people who either don't know or don't care.

[peacheslatour]

7 hours ago, Bastet said:

The problem here is too many people are still too ignorant or heartless and put out mouse/rat poison, which of course not only causes a prolonged, cruel death for the rodent, but also can cause serious illness or death in an animal who eats the poisoned critter during its doom period.  State laws have eliminated or restricted sale of the worst over the years, but there still remain available things that should never be used by anyone with a functioning brain and conscience.  An electronic or even an old-fashioned snap trap is a more humane death for the rodent, and, depending on where placed, may eliminate the risk of collateral damage to other animals.  But there are still too many people who either don't know or don't care.

Yeah, we use snap traps. I would never use poison. The snap trap works instantly.

[Gramto6]

1 hour ago, peacheslatour said:

Yeah, we use snap traps. I would never use poison. The snap trap works instantly.

That is why I feel like the yard tigers catching and eating these critters is the way Nature intended for control. They give life to nourish another life...maybe not by choice...bad luck maybe, but natural at least.

Edited July 21, 2023 by Gramto6
typo

[peacheslatour]

5 minutes ago, Gramto6 said:

That is why I feel like the yard tigers catching and eating these critters is the way Nature intended for control. They give life to nourish another life...maybe not by choice...bad luck maybe, but natural at least.

It is but we don't allow Elizabeth to go outside. We live near a busy street and there are coyotes around here.

[Gramto6]

6 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

It is but we don't allow Elizabeth to go outside. We live near a busy street and there are coyotes around here.

My yard tigers are feral, not much I can do about bringing them all inside. My late cat Boo (avatar) was strictly an indoor cat but these guys just showed up and liked the food! Fortunately there are enough dogs around here that kind of keep that bad wildlife at bay. The feral cats seem to get along fine with the raccoons and skunks. They just sit by and watch while the visitors chow down on kitty food leftovers.

Edited July 21, 2023 by Gramto6

[isalicat]

My two feline overlords kill (on average) a rat a day....the little girl tends to prefer to grab mice, bring them inside (the cats have their own door) and let her brother finish it off, whereas the boy tabby hunts purely rats outside in the big drainage ditch right across the street. We don't have any coyotes right here and what cars do come down the street tend to drive very slowly due to the huge bumps from the cypress roots, so I trust that they are going to be okay outside.

Yesterday my mail carrier came by and both cats were in the front yard - I heard her little truck so went out and she was happy to tell me that my cat had trapped a "gopher" and there it was, still very much alive in the front yard but it had hissed at her. I went around the bush to see the "gopher" and of course, it was a big wood rat. Told the mail carrier and she immediately freaked, jumped into the air a few inches like the rat was now going to come after her, and skedaddled back to her truck muttering about how she had never seen a rat before and yikes! Iggy (the boy cat) then dispatched the rat of course, and spent the rest of day resting. We never had mice or rats hereabouts until my former neighbors started putting out bird feeders. The feeders are gone and so are those particular neighbors but the vermin persist.

[ABay]

Thank you, everyone, for the rat feedback. If I see it again, I'll call animal control. There are too many other creatures who could be accidentally caught and killed in snap traps and I frankly would never be able to confront the corpse of any of them including a rat. I can't see catching and releasing them either. Fingers crossed it stays away.

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, ABay said:

If I see it again, I'll call animal control.

They'll do something about that in your area?  Here, that would get an "And?"

[meep.meep]

20 hours ago, Gramto6 said:

They are coming to start the trapping Sept 5. They are on vacation for the month of August that is why the longish wait. 

Would they be willing to lend you the traps in the meantime?  I've had to trap feral cats and they are really suspicious of the traps, no matter how good the food is inside.  If you could leave them around with the trap mechanism disabled, then your cats would get used to them and you could start feeding them inside.

Hooray for finding someone to handle this!

[Gramto6]

14 minutes ago, meep.meep said:

Would they be willing to lend you the traps in the meantime?  I've had to trap feral cats and they are really suspicious of the traps, no matter how good the food is inside.  If you could leave them around with the trap mechanism disabled, then your cats would get used to them and you could start feeding them inside.

Hooray for finding someone to handle this!

Good idea! I will call and ask them that. My guys are really smart and the younger ones very shy. Getting them used to the traps might help. Though once the first trap actually snaps shut, they would probably steer clear of the rest of the traps.

Thanks for the suggestion!!

[Bastet]

10 minutes ago, Gramto6 said:

Getting them used to the traps might help.

That's the standard practice, to feed them in un-set traps for a while to get them used to them.

11 minutes ago, Gramto6 said:

Though once the first trap actually snaps shut, they would probably steer clear of the rest of the traps.

And that's the problem with trapping a colony -- the first one to go into a set trap is captured, but the others scatter.  It's a process.  But if the people in this organization have a good bit of experience with this, they'll know how to maximize the chances of getting all of them in a reasonable period of time.

[Gramto6]

The woman I spoke to said they have many very experienced volunteers and can often capture a whole colony in just a few days at most. I sure hope so!

[nokat]

So which is better in a small apartment? A small dog who needs walks and sits in your lap (or a big dog that thinks he fits in your lap) or a cat that secretly judges your every move and knocks things off shelves?

Or a guinea pig that will eat salad with you?

[SoMuchTV]

19 minutes ago, nokat said:

So which is better in a small apartment? A small dog who needs walks and sits in your lap (or a big dog that thinks he fits in your lap) or a cat that secretly judges your every move and knocks things off shelves?

Or a guinea pig that will eat salad with you?

Your username and avatar are sending mixed messages about which you might prefer!

[nokat]

8 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

Your username and avatar are sending mixed messages about which you might prefer!

I admit to loving cats. Nokat has nothing to do with my preference.

[JustHereForFood]

3 hours ago, nokat said:

So which is better in a small apartment? A small dog who needs walks and sits in your lap (or a big dog that thinks he fits in your lap) or a cat that secretly judges your every move and knocks things off shelves?

Or a guinea pig that will eat salad with you?

If the apartment is very small, maybe an aquarium, so that everytime you complain how small the space is, you can always see that someone else has it worse.

[SuprSuprElevated]

Couldn't be more true!

[GHScorpiosRule]

My cousin, who was raised with me as a brother, came to visit over the weekend and through Tuesday. They live in Chicago. I met my new "nephew” Denver! He’s a Pitt/Lab mix; four years old. My brother (technically cousin) and his wife got him when he was six weeks old-no one wanted him as he had Parvo, was undernourished. 😪😪 and his mom and brothers and sisters were adopted right away. And he’s such a happy doggie now! It was ❤️ at first sight!

Second picture is him “kissing” me bye-bye.

 

Edited July 27, 2023 by GHScorpiosRule