Archive through November 14, 2003
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TV ClubHouse: archive: Cats (ARCHIVE): Archive through November 14, 2003

Djgirl

Thursday, November 06, 2003 - 06:06 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Oh, Sia I am so sorry. I have been there and it's horrible to find your precious pet that way. My heart is with you and your family!

Ruiner, et al... Well, we were hopeful that things were working out with Doyle. For the past three weeks we had been retraining him on his litter box, and things were going well. We had a minor set back the first time we moved the box to a location closer to the basement, but I covered his favourite area of the livingroom with tinfoil and there hadn't been any more accidents. This past Friday, I moved his box back downstairs and until yesterday, things were going great.

Tuesday night, neither Tim or I could sleep, and our routine got completely out of whack. Yesterday morning (which is not a good time for either of us) Tim pointed out that Doyle had moved on to a different section of carpet. Don't get me wrong, it's not the carpet we're worried about - it's the fact that this is quite obviously a behavioural problem and not medical. He has done this only when our "routine" has been upset even slightly. Or, that's what I thought last night until I got up this morning and found another patch of carpet peed on. I am at my wits end. I'm taking him to the vet tonight to see about the behavioural meds, but I'm telling you, if this is how he is with slight upsets, what is going to happen once we start really working on the house, and ripping up carpeting, flooring etc.??? What is going to happen when we introduce a baby to the family???

I am having a REALLY hard time with this. Tim has been good throughout this, but he's not a huge cat lover, more to the tune of - he likes Doyle & Willow because they came with me but given his druthers we wouldn't have cats. He's a neat freak who has a very sensitive nose and at his wits end. This is really starting to hurt our relationship, and as cruel as this is going to sound, I can't let my affection for my cat come above my relationship with Tim and may have to give Doyle away to a better home. He's obviously not happy with us any more, AAAAAAAAAA I don't know what to do!!!! This is seriously his last chance. If the meds don't work I'm going to have to find him a new home, and the thought of it just makes me want to cry.

Gidget

Thursday, November 06, 2003 - 06:17 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Sia I am so sorry. I can't imagine what a hard day this is for your family. I hope you can eventually find comfort in the love you shared with Fury. And I know how much he loved you for taking care of him and making his life more comfortable.
{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Sia & family}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Gidget

Thursday, November 06, 2003 - 06:18 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Djgirl, rather than get rid of Doyle, is there anyway you can confine him to a part of the house that does not have carpeting? Just a thought. You are really between a rock and a hard place.

Twinkie

Thursday, November 06, 2003 - 06:30 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Sia, I am so very sorry. That is the reason I never let my cats out. We lost our boy to a car and it nearly killed us. 4 years later and we still get misty-eyed over him. I will never let my babies outside. I hope they live longer than I do.

Meridian

Thursday, November 06, 2003 - 07:09 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Thank you Calamity, Denecee, and Ruiner for your kind thoughts about Riley and Delphine.
Please accept my sincere sympathy, Sia, for poor Fury.

Djgirl

Thursday, November 06, 2003 - 07:10 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Gidget, we only have carpeting in our livingroom - our house isn't very large, and the cats have had free reign since we moved in last year. Most of the time he spends his time on our bed curled up, or in the kitchen on the mat in front of the sink. Our house is very open concept, so in order to confine him I would have to lock him downstairs and he is a very loud kitty when he is locked up. He is definitely going to the vet tonight and they are going to withdraw urine to see if he has another bladder or urinary tract infection. If the results come back negative then he'll be put on behavioural meds and hopefully that will do the trick.

Mamie316

Thursday, November 06, 2003 - 08:06 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Oh Sia, I am so sorry. I know how you feel. We lost our cat Kismet that way and it was heart wrenching. My poor daughter found him and it was awful! My heart goes out to you. We just started letting our two boys, Pacey and Frankie go outside and I tell you, I am so relieved when they come back up to the door. The worst was once I actually ran over one our cats. Oh, I was besides myself. I didn't see her and she dragged herself up to our front door and when I found her, I could have died! I called my husband who was at work and told him that I had run over Gidget and he called the Animal Control people, who then came and took her for me. The woman was so wonderful to me as I was sobbing uncontrollably. We got her back later and buried her but oh man! You take care Sia.

Lucy

Thursday, November 06, 2003 - 08:58 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Sia, I'm so sorry about your kitty, Fury. Losing a pet is always so difficult. Hugs to you and your children.

Gina8642

Thursday, November 06, 2003 - 09:39 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Oh Sia - I'm so sorry. Losing a kitty is the most impossible thing!!

For Djgirl or anyone else who has trouble getting their kitty to eat. My vet gave me great advice for my first kitty when she got old. Try meat based baby food. I just went up and down the baby food aisle and picked out anything that contained mostly meat - preferably smelly meat (fish, liver, etc). Both my old kitty and later my sister's old kitty loved at least one or two of the varieties I picked out.

Denecee

Thursday, November 06, 2003 - 09:51 am EditMoveDeleteIP
{{{{Sia & family}}}}

Mygetaway

Thursday, November 06, 2003 - 04:36 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
{{Sia}}
I'm sorry for you and your family.

{{DJ, Calamity, and others}} Hugs to you too.

Djgirl

Friday, November 07, 2003 - 07:39 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Here's an update following the vet visit.

Since Doyle has a "large" abdomen (a polite way of saying that he's overweight) the vet couldn't take a urine sample from him. I hadn't realized it, but the little weiner had gone to the washroom 10 minutes before we left for the vet! Anyway, (RUINER, this info is for you) I got more information from the vet last night about the type of bladder infection that he had. He has Interstitial Cystitis which is recurring and could be causing the improper litter use.

I told the vet what measures I had been taking - ie, bringing the litterbox upstairs, trying to slowly retrain him, etc. I think that I had moved his box back downstairs to prematurely... I'm going out tonight and purchasing a THIRD litterbox (another suggestion that I had forgotten about) and leaving one litterbox with a cover on it upstairs to be SLOWLY (meaning over months) moved back downstairs. The vet was very pleased with the things that I was doing.

The spot that he has chosen to use over the past couple of days has been absolutely saturated with Nature's Miracle and covered with tin foil (with holes in it to let air in) so hopefully once it's dry he won't return to that spot and I can remove the foil. I'm going out next weekend and renting a steam cleaner and utilizing the products out there to remove cat urine, and hopefully, our carpet will be all clean and urine free!!! Keep your fingers crossed!!!

Sia

Saturday, November 08, 2003 - 03:50 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Djgirl, I'm glad you're working with Doyle's medical issues and giving him a chance to stay at your house. I know you love him and how much it would hurt to have to send him to another family. I hope he's feeling better soon and gets his infection all cleared up!
cat

Sia

Saturday, November 08, 2003 - 03:57 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Thank you, friends, for your kind words regarding my kitty Fury who was killed the other night. I haven't even been on-line since I posted about his death because I knew I couldn't handle all the notes and just dealing with thinking about it. Now I'm back and I can breathe again.

In the almost nine years we've lived in this house we've never lost a kitty cat to a car on our country road, although I've always dreaded it and admit that I've always held my breath for the last quarter-mile as I approach our house from either direction.

My husband buried Fury near a big patch of spearmint beside our garage. What a big kitty with the nicest temperament, especially for such an imposing, rough-bitten air. He looked like he could be trouble, but he was just a very nice boy and I will miss him.

Pannie

Sunday, November 09, 2003 - 05:40 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Oh Sia, how tragic for Fury and your family; many hugs! a few years ago, I lost my lovable, active Bob (age three) from a neighbor's car antifreeze. I still can bearly stand the thought of the loss.

Djgirl, best wishes in solving Dolye's medical concerns. Sounds like you've got a workable plan.

I get soooo scared when my cat get ill. For the last week, I've been nursing my sick kitty, Annie, back to good health. She had an infection; then minor surgery, enmena, catheter, etc. She seems to be doing well tonight, yeah! Tomorrow, we return to the vet's to remove an abcess drain-mechanism and the cumbersome collar-shield.

I prefer that she gets back to purring instead of growling at me soon!

Djgirl

Monday, November 10, 2003 - 08:37 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Thanks for the well-wishes everyone!!!

I have done a lot of reading on this condition that Doyle has, and it is going to be there the rest of his life. It's sad really, because he was always a playful, sociable, happy cat, and now all he does is sleep and look so unhappy. I have bought a little tree house for him to jump up on and get away from Willow, (she's not the jumper) and have purchased a THIRD litterbox that is now upstairs. I have put the treehouse in the corner where he used to pee, so that will hopefully disuade him from using that spot anymore, and I'm still waiting for the other spot to dry from the treatment I gave it last week. We're at least down to one spot of foil!

The vet put him on a nutrient to replenish the ones that he's losing with this condition, however, everything that I've read says to reduce the stress on the cat - giving him the medicine, is definitely stressful, and I'm waiting for him to come pee on me! It's awful!

Apparently, this is a rather painful condition, and I just wonder if we're treating him unfairly by making him go through all this... As I said before - I don't know what to do. I'm trying to do everything possible to make sure he's comfortable and keep him from peeing on the carpet (which he will always do no matter what precautions we take)... Thanks for listening everyone, I think that's all that I need right now.

Ophiliasgrandma

Monday, November 10, 2003 - 09:26 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I think the hardest decisions we ever have to make is 'What's best for my beloved pet'. I am sorry!

Gidget

Wednesday, November 12, 2003 - 07:28 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Jake has a perfect internal clock. He shows up every night exactly 10:30 to tell me to go to bed. Now if I could just convince him we don't get up at 4:30 am

Mamie316

Thursday, November 13, 2003 - 10:46 am EditMoveDeleteIP
We found a little stray kitten yesterday. I had all my daycare kids outside playing when we heard a little meow in the bushes in our front yard. We couldn't see it but we could sure hear it! I tell you, it was the most quiet those kids had been all day! Eventually as it got darker, the kitty ran out. Well my daughter and nephew chased this poor thing all over our street with a flashlight but it got away. I'm hoping it reappears or leads us to it's mother and other kitties if there are any. And no, I can't keep it because I already have three and that started because we found a little stray orange and white kitty...

Calamity

Thursday, November 13, 2003 - 07:05 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Ruiner, thank you so much for the ultrasound suggestion! Casper has a follow-up appt Monday and I'm going to ask the vet about that. And thank you, Mygetaway, for your kind thoughts as well.


Sia, I'm so sorry for poor Fury. I hope you and your family are coping okay. And my thoughts to everyone who was reminded of their own losses by this story.

Lostintheglades

Friday, November 14, 2003 - 08:31 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Aww Mamie!! Here's a picture of our newest cat. My #1 DD works for a veterinary hospital and someone found a cat with 3 kittens who were not in very good shape. The mother was spayed and the kittens were taken care of and adopted by us and DD's co-workers. We ended up with Nalah.
Nalah

Edited to add...I have no idea how to spell this cat's name lol....but it comes from the Lion King. One of DD's coworkers DD named the cat and was supposed to take it home with her but she was in a bad car accident and is in rehab still. We weren't supposed to have her but things happen.

Mamie316

Friday, November 14, 2003 - 09:04 am EditMoveDeleteIP
She looks so much like my 3! Sophie and Frankie are both very orange and white and Pacey is more of a tan and white. She is a cutie!

I heard the little kitty last night again but this time I think I saw the mother trying to get to her. I hope so.

Lostintheglades

Friday, November 14, 2003 - 09:55 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Hopefully kitty is back with her mother. My neighbor across the street has 3 cats. They are all outside all the time. ( At least I think they belong the them.) I worry about them being on the road as our street is used by a lot of people as a shortcut.

Nalah is as wild as her mother was but that's a good thing since she has to deal with my JRT. Her eyes are as golden as in this picture when the light hits them. She's only 7 months old and is already quite tall and long. I just love her color though.

Mamie316

Friday, November 14, 2003 - 10:00 am EditMoveDeleteIP
My Sophie is very petite and thin but her sons are huge! I call Pacey my little lion king and sing the song whenever he struts into the room. But he is quite the lover cat! Frankie is the playful one. Everyone always comments on how much bigger the boys are than their mother but I say look at me and my son..He's 6'8"

Lostintheglades

Friday, November 14, 2003 - 10:08 am EditMoveDeleteIP
LOL Mamie. DH is not crazy about about cats but with me and my two DD's he's slightly out numbered and really has no say when it comes to the pets we have. My #1 DD would be bringing all the animals home from work if she had her way. It's really bad when the puppies and kittens come in for their first checkups.